Episode 26

Episode 26.
"Ashley?" Trevor's voice called before he tried to push the door open.
"Don't," I stopped him,voice trembling "I wanna be alone"
"That's enough, Ashley. You need to go home now"
"I'll leave when I want to,just go"
I was suddenly feeling angry. I was over the hurt and pain of having faced that embarrassment and now I just wanna fight for justice. I wanna make this right and I just feel angry because I can't do anything, I can't do anything to feel better. Curse him!
The door slowly opens and Trevor stepped in,a pitiful look on his face. I knew my face was probably swollen from all the cries so I turned away,my chest hurting.
"Ashley, I'm sorry about...."
"It is not your fault" I cut him off. I have put up with that man's shit for quite too long. I've let him stamp on me like I meant nothing,like I was a trash. No more. I turn around again and went past Trevor.
"Ashley..."
I don't stop. I walked out of the restroom and headed towards Mr Marcello's office. I burst through his door and met him standing at his window,towering over it with his back to me.
Watching his back,I could picture what just happened in that conference room thirty minutes ago. I force the thought from my mind and tried to concentrate on what I'd intended to say to him before walking in here.
"What the hell was the meaning of that,Mr Marcello?" I demanded,teeth gritted and tears stinging the corners of my eyes again.
"Exactly what do you mean?" He asked,still not turning to face me.
The nerve!
"What the hell was the meaning of what you did in that conference room?!," I yelled "you had no right to do that!"
He turned around to face me now,amusement in his eyes "I had no right to correct you?"
"That was not correcting,Mr Marcello! That's embarrassment! You embarrassed me in front of all those people!"
"Publicly correcting your flaws is now a thing of embarrassment?" The smile on his lips we're causing me more pain,I wanted to reach out and smack it off.
"Flaws?," I repeated "you call that a flaw?"
"What else would you call it,Ashley?," he screamed "When you cannot handle a mere presentation!"
"What?! You called me here by surprise and now you talk about my presentation flaws?! You did not even tell me any of these in advance!"
"Because that's part of my job?"
"Yes,Mr Marcello, it is! How long have I been organizing your meetings,huh? How long?! How long have I been handling your meetings and making proper presentations?! But you would not even tell me about something like this beforehand!"
"Just because I refuse to tolerate indiscipline doesn't mean...."
"Indiscipline?," I let out an exasperated scoff "This about something I did?! Why don't you just tell me like a normal person instead of challenging me the way you did?!"
"You call that a challenge?!" He matches away from his window towards me, stopping right in front of me,towering over my smaller figure.
"Well you wanna tell me what that was,Mr know-it-all?!"
"You might wanna watch what you say,Ashley"
"Or what are you gonna do? Fire me? That might just be the best idea yet!"
"Why don't you just accept your own damn flaws and live by it?!"
"I really don't have a problem with you but if my flaws bothers you,you call me and correct me! Not publicly embarrass me! For all there is,you haven't told me what the hell I did wrong in there!"
"What you did wrong is that you don't know what you're doing here!"
"Really? I don't know what I'm doing?! You just made me lose the chance of going to a very important event in Atlanta because of your stupid,so stupid party! I did everything for you! I did,Mr Marcello! You wouldn't even give me a break and the next thing I know,you're calling me here on a Sunday and putting me before a meeting I was totally unprepared for"
"That is my fault?!"
I stared back at him in disbelief. This is it. This is just it.
I threw my hands apart and said "if you don't want me working for you,all you have to do is say it. And frankly," I leaned closer to him "I'm not sitting around waiting for you to fire me anymore. I'm done! And I quit! You go out there,get yourself another assistant and see if they will put up with your shit or not!"
I quickly turned away and hurried out,prepared not to stop if he called me back,not that I thought he would. And he didn't. Screw him. He should get himself another assistant who'd put up with his shit.
Trevor is standing right outside and when I walked out,he doesn't say a word and just follows me into the elevator. I was fuming with anger and I'm glad I said all I said to him. I'm the first to sit inside Trevor's car before himself. I buckled up angrily and let him drive us away.
As soon as we left the place and was on the road,my anger started to subside. It felt suddenly good knowing that I'm gonna go home,shower, eat,read my favorite book,watch the TV and sleep without being haunted by thoughts of my ex boss.
"Really sorry about that,Ashley" Trevor glanced at me before facing the road again.
I gave him a small smile before replying "No,I'm sorry. I think I was way too angry and got hard on you. I'm just really glad I'm off that jerk's life for good"
"Are you really serious about that?," he corners into my block "You know,quitting the job"
I watched my apartment come into view. I realized I didn't know what to reply. Today,Mr Marcello had hurt me and I'd been angry and I'd said a lot of things to him but....was I ready to quit the job? Hell,yeah.
"Don't get me wrong...I wish you'd stop having to put up with his sh...."
"Yes,Trevor" I cut him off.
He nods,stopping in front of my driveway "you know I had no idea he was gonna call that meeting. He called me very late last night telling me to be at the office this morning. If I knew this was gonna happen, I'd have called you last night to give you a heads up"
"It's okay,Trevor. I'd probably not have picked your call. I was so drunk last night. Found myself in a hotel"
His eyes grew wide for a while"what the hell happened? I thought you were supposed to be out with Mr Marcello "
"Yeah,I guess I had too much to drink" I unbuckled the seatbelt and pushed the door open "Thank you for the ride"
Trevor's hand reached for my forearm as I tried to step out of the car,stopping me.
His eyes watched mine with care and fear "Are you gonna be okay?"
I gave him a smile "yes,T"
"If you want we could go out and..."
"I'll be fine,Trevor. Right now all I wanna do is sit inside my living room watching the TV and eating chicken"
He laughs before letting my arm go "Okay. See ya"
"Bye" I watched him drive out completely before going in.
When I stepped into the room,silence welcomed me. It reminded me of Luca's and Katie's absence. I sighed painfully as I dropped myself on the couch. Katie and Luca are probably having fun right now. I realized I hadn't called them since on Friday but I felt so tired, so weak. Somehow, I knew there's still alcohol in my system, no matter how small. And it still made me feel drowsy and the headache at the side of my head grow again.
I decided a good shower will help me rid of the sinking feeling in my chest. I moved into the bathroom and had a long,warm shower. In the shower,my mind was able to wonder about today's events. As much as I tried to prevent it from coming into my head,I couldn't. Each time I tried to feel remorseful of my actions in quitting my job,words from Mr Marcello's mouth at the conference room resounds in my ear again and I just curse him,feeling the pain all over again. When I finally walked out of the bathroom, I lost all appetite and decided to take a quick, early afternoon nap.
I hadn't realized I even slept at all until I was waking up to a dimly lit room,golden sky light seeping through the curtains and into the room. I grabbed my phone and checked the time. 4:48p.m. that's when I saw the missed calls. From Katie. I'd slept for nearly five hours straight and missed two calls from Katie.
I sat up and dialed her number back. She doesn't pick up. She must still be hungry. My stomach rumbled. I haven't eaten anything today! I hurried into the kitchen and prepared myself something to eat. My phone starts ringing from the table and I grabbed it,glad to be seeing Katie's name on my home screen.
"Hey Katie"
"Ashley!"
"How's the party and everything over there?"
"It went well,how about your party with your boss?"
I suppressed a grunt "went fine. Listen I'm really sorry I couldn't come today,even just to say hi to your dad"
"It's alright. I know the kind of man your boss is and when you didn't show up,I knew"
"Thanks,Katie. So when will you be back?"
"Tuesday, probably"
"Okay. Have fun,okay? And say hi to your dad for me"
"I will"
I spent the evening watching comic shows on TV while munching on the popcorn I spent plenty of minutes making. I tried every possible thing that prevented me from thinking about Mr Marcello. At a point I succeeded, at some other point I'm lost in thoughts and self pity. I knew before taking the job that I needed the money and I didn't care what I had to endure. I wasn't about to regret my decision of self peace but deep down,I didn't know what to do. Severally,I'd looked at my phone,hoping that Mr Marcello would call me back and tell me he's sorry and wants me back because he couldn't afford to lose me. But I also know that would never happen. I mean nothing to him.
Riccardo's POV.
The anger inside of me was immeasurable. Having to endure the pain of watching Ashley walk out on me was one thing but having to accept the fact that she'll never come back was unthinkable.
For the first time I accept that I'm wrong and that she deserves better than my ill treatment but she had no right to walk away from me like that. I didn't know what she expected me to do,call her back? Huh. I may feel remorseful but calling her back is the last thing I'll ever do.
I'll always get another assistant. Deep down,I know I'll never find the one like her but screw her. She'll be back.
I sat still in the bar,scooping my shot into one hand and holding the piece of paper from the other night. The piece of paper with an anonymous letter on. The one that was sent to me with a drink.
I read the message over and over again,at some point looking over my shoulder to the men seated around the dark bar,hoping to catch a suspicious person looking at me but nothing.
It angered me and somehow,I could finally bring myself to understand why I did all I did at the office earlier. Why I'd been so hard on Ashley.
Damn her.
My phone begins to ring and I checked the caller. Jasmine.
I let it ring out. I wasn't in the mood for one of her good girl talks. She would never have me in a public bar. The last thing I wanted was her seeing me this way too. . .