Chapter 70

I couldn’t stop thinking about actually being in Costa Rica. I never thought I would even leave the slums, but here I was, waiting for dawn with views of the nighttime sea. Like a little girl, I stood there watching, wishing for morning so I could go to the ocean for the first time. I remembered all the stories my grandfather used to tell me, and once, I told him we would go together when I was older. Now that I had more opportunities, I could soon go wherever I wanted on my own, and maybe… maybe I could travel with him. With those thoughts in my mind, my eyes started to close.

۩

"Mmmm…" I opened my eyes to the fresh morning breeze and the scent of the sea. A smile spread across my face when my phone rang, and I saw it was Mr. Cesar.

“Oh my God! What time is it?” I rushed to the bathroom, realizing how late it was, tripping as I got tangled in the bedsheets, and ended up answering the phone with my face.

“Can I know where the hell my so-called interpreter and assistant is?”

“S-sorry, Mr. Cesar. I’m running a bit late. I’ll be there right away…”

“I don’t care where you are. Do you think this job is a game, or that you’re on vacation? You’re this close to being fired, so don’t take my generosity for granted, Miss Belle.” He hung up without letting me respond.

"Damn…" I cursed, getting up as quickly as I could to hurry out.

When I got to the hotel entrance, just before crossing the threshold to the street, I slipped on the shoes I had been holding and checked myself one last time in the lobby mirror, fixing the mess of my hair. With no time to spare, I rushed out with all the meeting documents in hand. I saw the SUV and the driver who had brought us yesterday, greeting me with a warm smile, which I returned. But as soon as I got into the car, my smile faded upon seeing Cesar's furious expression.

"Sorry… I…"

“Shut up and do your job.” I nodded, feeling small as I looked at the papers, but everything was in disarray, and my nerves weren’t helping.

“You have… a meeting with one of the branches,” I said, unable to recall which one or the supervisor’s name. I heard Mr. Cesar grunt in frustration as he got out of the car when we arrived at a small F.F. branch.

“If you can’t handle my schedule, at least act as an interpreter for these men. Or is that beyond you too? Do I have to do everything myself?” I quickly got out of the car, dropping all my papers onto the ground. Gathering them hastily, I said, “I can handle your schedule. Please give me a little time.” I struggled to keep up with his pace as we entered the branch.

“More time! How long have you been working with me, a week? Are you completely useless, unable to handle two simple tasks? I don’t know what I was thinking when I believed someone like you could do this. I’m starting to doubt it now.” I stared at him in disbelief, feeling a sharp pain in my chest.

“I’m sorry. I’ll try to fix it…” I muttered, looking down, feeling like this was all my fault. Maybe he was right, and this was too much for me, but I couldn’t turn back now, not this time.

“Good morning. Sorry for the delay. I’m the manager of the F.F. branch, Guzmán Prada.” The man introduced himself in somewhat broken English. I extended my hand and responded in Spanish.

“Good day, Mr. Guzmán. My name is Belle, and I’m Mr. Montenegro’s assistant, the CEO of F.F. Company.” Surprised by my Spanish, he shook our hands excitedly.

“What a pleasure that you speak Spanish! You and I will understand each other very well, Miss Belle.”

“I hope so. The idea is to find a solution to all the issues happening in the area. So… how about we get started? My boss will just be an observer.” He looked at Mr. Cesar and, addressing him, offered a handshake.

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Cesar,” he said in English. Mr. Cesar shook his hand with almost icy coldness. It seemed to me… or was he more irritated and distant than usual? Ever since we set foot in Costa Rica, he hadn’t been himself.

“Follow me this way, Miss Belle,” the man said, placing a hand on my back while smiling at me. I returned his smile, glancing at Mr. Cesar out of the corner of my eye, who looked away from us.

۩

"Sales have dropped significantly, and the brand is in decline," the man began, recounting everything with sadness as I wrote it down in a notebook.

"I want you to know we’re aware of that, Mr. Guzmán. My boss and the whole company are trying to identify the problem."

“The issue is the fruit. Do you want me to show you what we have received?” I nodded as he led me to a cold storage room.

“We try to keep the rooms cold to preserve the fruit as best as possible when it arrives from you, but look…” He approached a basket and picked up one of the fruits, which was completely rotten and fell apart in his hand.

“This is the worst case, but most of the fruit arrives bruised and smells awful.” I looked at Mr. Cesar, who picked up one of the fruits. I approached him and remarked,

“This is worse than we thought. How is it possible that our company is supplying rotten fruit?”

“Someone isn’t being honest. I’ll find out what’s going on.” He took his phone and left the cold room. I turned back to Mr. Guzmán.

“How have you managed to keep selling this fruit? It’s inedible…”

“The truth is, we sell the good fruit, but we order from another company as well.”

“I see…”

“I know we have a contract with F.F., but this is unworkable. In the end, many people depend on this job, so I had to keep sourcing fruit.”

“This isn’t your fault. That’s why we came here—to investigate the problem ourselves.”

“I know you’ll get to the bottom of it, or we’ll have to shut down.” I nodded, and just before leaving the cold room, he asked,

“Miss Belle, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?” He gestured toward the door, his hand now resting on my lower back.

“Well, I…”

“Belle!” I flinched, quickly replying,

“Y-yes, sir.” I ran over to his side, feeling uneasy under his intense gaze.

“Do I need to step aside to leave the lovebirds alone?”

“Flirting? I’m not flirting with anyone. Don’t get it wrong.”

“Don’t get it wrong? I asked you to work professionally, not to act like when you worked in that seedy bar as a companion…” Before he could finish, I slapped him hard as tears filled my eyes.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but if you’re going to treat me like your damn dog whenever you feel like it, forget about me being foolish enough to just take it. Don’t underestimate me, Mr. Cesar. I’ll let you get away with it once because I respect you, but twice… twice, never.” I walked past him, drying my tears, and quickly ran outside, almost bursting into tears.