First Person POV
"Are the etings over?" I asked, my voice heavy with tiredness, as I discreetly massaged the bridge of my nose.
"Did you write down everything I asked?" Vanessa replied without showing the slightest bit of empathy, her tone calm, almost cold.
Before I could retort, she approached slowly, raising a hand to fix my tie. Earlier, she had asked to wear formal clothes, since we would be spending the day eting important people, and according to her, ’first impressions are everything.’
"Of course I did," I said, showing her the papers I was holding. I forced a smile, even though my eyes felt heavy. "You can count on ."
"Thank you," she let out in a soft sigh, finally stepping back. Her eyes evaluated from head to toe, and for a mont, I thought I saw pride there. "You look good."
Her smile was weaker than usual and her gaze was sohow hesitant. Sothing seed to be worrying her.
"Did sothing happen?" I asked, trying to decipher her expression.
"No..." Vanessa murmured, discreetly clenching her fists at her sides. The slight tremor in her hand didn’t go unnoticed. "Anyway, let’s go to the last eting of the day."
"Who are we eting?" I insisted.
She turned around quickly, her hair swaying with the movent, as if she wanted to avoid any eye contact. "My family," she answered briefly, almost dryly.
I stood still for a mont, watching her. But before I could fall behind, I took a deep breath and quickened my pace to catch up.
Vanessa walked faster than usual, her high heels echoing on the immaculate floor of the cruise ship.
Without exchanging many words, we walked through the luxurious corridors, illuminated by crystal chandeliers and decorated with discreetly displayed works of art on the walls.
A few minutes later, Vanessa stopped in front of an ornate double door. She took a small key from inside her purse and, with a slight click, opened the access to the room reserved by her family.
The environnt revealed itself to be grand: Persian rugs, light leather sofas, heavy golden curtains. A bottle of champagne already rested in an ice bucket next to the central table.
But I wasn’t very surprised because I was used to that kind of room by this point. All the etings we had were in luxurious rooms like that.
In fact, what really caught my attention were the three figures already seated at the table.
The first was a woman I presud to be Vanessa’s mother. She observed the dishes in front of her with a slight air of disdain, as if none of them were worthy of her attention.
Her hands, protected by thin gloves, held the cutlery with a forced elegance, and the excess of botox hardened her features, removing any trace of natural expressiveness from her face.
Next to her was, probably, her husband. A bald man, with a severe expression, wearing an expensive suit, which was clearly getting tight given his growing weight.
His aggressive posture and the clumsy way he held the cutlery made him seem out of place in that environnt, as if he were trying to play a role that didn’t belong to him.
Finally, my eyes focused on the man whose smile gave chills.
He had a friendly expression, and a face whose beauty was enough for people to like him.
But sothing told he wasn’t trustworthy. And no matter how much I couldn’t explain it, I trusted my instincts.
"Finally, you’ve arrived, daughter," the bald man comnted in a severe tone.
Out of the corner of my eye, I admired the girl beside . Vanessa didn’t have her usual calm and confident posture.
Her shoulders were slightly hunched. Her gaze wandered anxiously from side to side.
"Forgive ..." she said in a higher-pitched tone than usual. It seed like she was out of breath.
"Forgive us," I took the initiative to step forward and greeted the man respectfully.
"I understand your ti is valuable," I began to explain in a polite tone. "But our clients held us longer than expected today."
Vanessa gave a complicated look out of the corner of her eye. I wasn’t sure if she was grateful or annoyed by the way I interfered.
"Calm down, calm down, father," the handso man interjected.
His voice had a pleasant softness that made those around him calr. And the way he gestured naturally drew attention to himself.
"We arrived a little earlier than necessary." His eyes turned to Vanessa. "I’m sure my little sister was busy with really important etings."
At first glance, one would imagine he was a friendly person, even seeming to be intervening on Vanessa’s behalf.
But I couldn’t ignore how her posture stiffened as soon as he started talking. She fiddled with her fingers, trying to relieve the tension, and seed paralyzed.
I’d like to know what the story was between those two.
"I’m sure you were eting very important people, weren’t you, sister?" He asked in a soft tone.
"Ye... yes," Vanessa replied awkwardly.
"But, more importantly," his eyes focused on .
He took a step forward, approaching with a friendly smile.
"I see we have a new person here." He extended his hand towards . "My na is Leo, I’m Vanessa’s older brother."
I accepted his handshake, trying to respond kindly.
"My na is Liam,"
Imdiately after, the older woman looked up at . Leo responded promptly and took the job of introducing us.
"This is my mother, Henriqueta, and this is my father, Alfred," she introduced the two.
"Humph!" The bald man snorted. "Daughter, shouldn’t you have introduced him from the beginning?"
"Sorry..." Vanessa murmured weakly.
"More importantly," Leo clapped his hands, drawing attention to himself.
Then his eyes traveled between and Vanessa and with a curious and innocent tone he asked.
"And what is the relationship between you two?"
"Well..." I hesitated to give an imdiate answer.
What should I say at this mont? Probably the most correct thing would be to say that we were business partners. Or that I was her employee.
Anyway, I looked at Vanessa out of the corner of my eye, hoping she would take the initiative to say sothing.
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