Mr. Smith

27: Shorty's

I sit down in one of Mr. Smith's chairs in front of his desk, waiting for his typical lecture about how I'm not doing things his way. 

"You were supposed to fire Ms. Heathens."  He utters, looking away from his computer to me.

I cross my leg and look him evenly in the eye.  "Yes I know."

"So why didn't you do what I ordered you to do?" 

"Because she needs this job at the moment."  I answer simply. 

Mr. Smith crosses his arms as he leans back in his chair.  "And what makes you think you're the boss of that?" 

"Well she told me why she wasn't sending in her reports on time."  I reply. 

"Why is that?"  He presses on. 

I was going to tell him, but felt my brave side kick in and decide not to.  "It's not my story to tell." 

"Well I'm your boss and you're going to tell me."  He manipulatively says. 

"Maybe if you took the time to know your employees then you'll know more about them."  I say, shrugging. 

Mr. Smith took that into thought as he begins to stroke his non apparent beard.  "You know, that's not a bad idea.  I could throw an office thanksgiving party.  Since you know we'll be busy most of October," he starts, "although, we could throw a Halloween party. Yes that's it. Elizabeth mark your calendar. Smith Enterprise is hosting a Halloween party." He announces more to himself than me.

I didn't think that he'd be serious about what I said. I was just throwing my thoughts out there. "Um...sure. Okay." I mumble.

Mr. Smith finishes marking up his calendar and then turns back around to look at me. "Back to the issue we were discussing. I will let you slide this time since Ms. Heathens finally turned in her economic report." He states.

I crack a small smile, glad that he didn't yell at me or give me some lecture on how he likes to run his business and how he doesn't have time for me to be "messing" around.
"So can I go?" I ask.

"No.  I'm not done talking."  He frowns.

I slump in my chair and lean back, preparing myself for his lecture. 

"If Ms. Heathens isn't consistent with her reports from now on, then you and I will have some problems.  Got that?" 

"Yes," I say, nodding my head, "May I go now?"

Mr. Smith shakes his head, "No. I want you to go out and buy me a cheesesteak from Shorty's."

I look at him like he's ridiculous. "Shorty's? That's like a ten minute drive from here." I whine.

"Oh cry me a river. Its only a few blocks anyways." He says.

"Can't you get your personal driver to do that for you?" I say.

Mr. Smith knits his eyebrows together as if he was getting irritated with me. "No Elizabeth, I want you to do it." He groans.

"But-"

"There's a reason why I want only you to go out," he starts.

"And please, what is that? Enlighten me." I say, crossing my arms.

Mr. Smith gets up from his chair, walks around his desk, and bends down in front of my chair. He grabs both arms of the chair and leans in real close. If I moved my face forward a centimeter our lips would touch.

"Because I don't want you to go-"

Before he could finish his sentence, someone opened the door, making us jump a little. Mr. Smith pulled back real quick and looked at who's at the door. And believe me, if his face could drop at this instant, it would. It was Vianna Capperini herself.

Vianna looked like she couldn't believe what she saw with her own eyes. Her face turned a tomato red-which doesn't look good on her- and her lips got all puckered up.

Mr. Smith slowly walked back to his desk and sat back down in his chair as Vianna is still taking in the scene.

"I'm going to walk back out and count to ten and by the time I come back in, I better see this hoe out the door. Got it?" She snaps at Adam.

Mr. Smith narrows his eyes at her but nods his head anyways. When Vianna walked out, he looked at me with apologetic eyes.

"Sorry about that. She-" He begins.

But I don't care what he has to say. I feel tears brim along the edges of my eyelids as I cut him off. "No, I don't want to hear it." I sniff, wiping my eyes. "I get it. I'll leave you two alone."

I get up from my seat and walk over to the door. I had a few seconds to spare before Vianna walks back in so before I open the door, I turn back around to look at Adam. "Tell me why you're still with her." I say.

I don't give him time to respond back as I open the door and walk out. I feel Vianna's glare bore through my head as I grab my bag and head towards the elevator.

I hit the garage button and wipe my eyes as the doors close. I don't even know why I care so much as to why Adam is with Vianna. I shouldn't even care. I'm with Ian and Ian likes me. I should be happy that I have someone like him. Someone who doesn't hurt me.

So why does it bother the hell out of me when I see Vianna and Adam together? She's such a bitch and is a brat with her Yves Saint Laurent wardrobe. She thinks just cause she's rich she is better than everyone.

Ugh, as much as it pains me to say so, Adam deserves much better than her. He deserves someone who will care for him and would not dictate on who he hangs out with.

Someone like me. That thought startled me. I don't know where that came from. I shake the thought out of my head and walk over to my car. I still have to go down to Shorty's.

I start my car up and drive out of the garage and onto New York's busy roads that's full of traffic. The whole time I couldn't stop thinking about how I would be a perfect fit for Adam.

But I can't be with him. He's my boss and that would be just unprofessional. And besides I have Ian. Whom I'm not sure is my boyfriend or not. I can't tell.

Ugh, my emotions are running high right now. My period must be close. I need someone to talk with. And I'm glad Carly is there to talk to.

I dial up her number and she picks up on the third ring.

"Hey Lizzie." She chirps.

"Hey." I mumble, sitting at a red light behind a yellow taxi.

"What's wrong? I can tell something's not right." She says.

So I tell Carly everything. From meeting Adam to meeting Ian and the whole drama in between.