Chapter One

The annoying sound of the alarm went off and I opened my eyes, too euphoric for that hour in the morning. Monday, six in the morning and there I was, running to the bathroom to take a shower. It was not at all common for me to wake up with all this energy at this hour, but I was looking forward to the first day of work.

Wearing black pants, a frayed white coat and underneath a black and white striped blouse I managed to keep my seriousness. I put on a black high heeled shoe, let my hair loose naturally and to finish a light makeup, highlighting the red lipstick.

After having breakfast, I took my purse and the key to my red Spark and went down to the garage of the building, wishing he wouldn't give up on this very important day, which used to happen often.

I had been unemployed for a few months now, and the insurance time was over, and if I couldn't stay there, I would lose my huge, ironically speaking, apartment. It wasn't big, but it was up to me and my cat, Teo, which was enough. One bedroom, bathroom, living room and American style kitchen.

The morning was going well. I managed to get through the huge, crowded city, but the traffic took me a few minutes. I was waiting to get into the parking lot of the huge building that was right in the center of the city, until my car finally decided to let me down. The engine stopped running.

— Great! — I said, slapping my hands on the steering wheel. — The first thing to do after paying the monthly payment of the apartment would be to check in a new car.

I started to hear horns behind me, from people who probably wanted to get in there. I looked in the rearview mirror, the line seemed to be huge, but what could I do? I had not yet learned how to do magic and I knew that when the car was bad, it was not so easy to solve.

I saw the man in the back car get out and come towards me. He looked angry, in a hurry, maybe. He stopped at the window beside me, fixing his blue tie that was too tight, and hit the glass.

— Will you move that or do I need to call a tow truck? I opened my mouth to answer, but I couldn't.

I stood there looking at his pretty face, while he looked at the hours on his watch which, in my view, was worth more than my car and apartment together.

— I'm late for a video conference, can you get out of the way?

How thick! The pretty face was not enough to stop me from disliking him on the first day of work. Lucky for the day: the building was too big to have to see that arrogant man again in front of me.

— My car doesn't want to start, then, either someone will fix it, or nobody will work in that place today. — I gave a cynical smile.

Here is something that my late parents taught me: never, ever, under any circumstances, let someone demean you or humiliate yourself before someone.

— Okay, you won! Let me take what you call the front car.

I unlocked the belt, opened the door and got out of the car, immediately jumping into some hole in the asphalt and falling on top of it. The man even had a strong grip. His big, strong hands held me firmly by the arm, preventing me from falling to the floor.

— I'm sorry! — I left him, somewhat embarrassed. I apologized, but soon regretted it, given the fact that he just got in the car and started turning the key. Doing that was a total waste of time, because nothing made him catch it and it just made me feel ashamed in front of all those people apparently late for work. Why was my fault if they didn't leave the house early?

In the end they had to call some security guards to push the car until the passage was cleared and to improve the situation, I had my car towed. Where was I going to take money to get it back? I had no idea!

After the suffocation and shame passed, I finally managed to reach my destination. A completely minimalist space and quiet too. A not very large room, with an incredible view of the city, where you could see the main avenue for miles.

Two tables occupied by two middle-aged women, and a few sofas facing the glass wall. It looked like a reception or waiting room, I don't know. Occasionally I saw some people circling, entering and exiting through doors on the sides, then one of them came out, a tall, thin and very beautiful woman coming towards me.

— Dulce Maria Saviñon, right?

Asked a woman approaching me. I nodded and she immediately held out her hand, offering me a smile. His black hair fell just below his shoulders, his clothing was too elegant, but nothing compared to the shoe on his feet. She didn't even need that much makeup to get men's attention.

— I`m so sorry for the delay, my car broke down right here at the entrance.

— It's okay, but we can't tolerate delays every day. By the way, my name is Natália, I am responsible for helping you to adapt. Can you come with me, please?

— Sure, I can!

I started to follow her while she said a lot of things that I would try not to forget. We entered the first door on the right and behind it a small room.

A table with just a phone, a pen holder, a computer and some stacked papers and just ahead, another door, and just in front of the table is another solid glass wall and two armchairs with a coffee table in front and some magazines on top.

This would be my job for the next few year, or at least I hoped it was so. Natália explained to me, in detail what I was going to do there, but the main thing would be to take care of my boss's personal agenda.

— You should never enter his office without knocking on the door, and do not let anyone in without being announced and authorized. You are now simply the personal secretary to the president and owner of sixty-three percent of the company.

— What? — I opened my eyes wide. How could it be posible? I did the interview for a simple secretary job.

— Yeah! It is not easy to please him, so if you really want to keep that job, I hope you work hard. — She spoke calmly to someone who was already more than used to the situation.

— Wow! — Okay, too much information for one day.

When they called me saying that I passed the interview, they didn't give me so much information. Important things like this and the salary would only be passed on the first day of training. I was so anxious about the possibility of a job that I didn't stop a minute to think what kind of salary I would receive. Maybe I was just desperate and was shooting all over the place to see if I hit any target. And I did it.

— As for the salary ... — She took a white sheet, a pen and scribbled something, then handed it to me. — Given your salary claim, I think we agree, don't we?

I gasped when I saw that. — Is that right? In dollars? — She nodded and went back to looking at the paper. No less than two thousand dollars, that is, three times more than a secretary or assistant used to earn in Mexico.

— Mr. Uckermann may be a boring person, but let's say he is very generous in this part with his employees.

OK! That explained the look of the woman in front of me. If I was going to receive that amount as a simple secretary, how much did she not receive?

— Inadmissible! — I heard a loud voice coming from inside the room. As if I knew that voice from somewhere, I shivered from head to toe.

— Excuse me! I hope you gets used to it, he gets nervous sometimes. Business, understand? — She ran her hand over the dress trying to make it even more perfect than it already was.

— It's all right. Where do I start?

— Well, that`s what I like to hear. Let's get to work!