Creed of the Leviathan I

51 | E + M

Emmanuelle

Marco and I were both intensely working when Rosie came in for the second time that day. This time it was to remind us that the meeting was about to start. When she first mentioned that she had received an invitation from Lana on behalf of Dimitri, I could see that Marco was surprised and certainly not aware that his brother had started working again.

"I'll be ready in five if Lana calls to ask."

"Okay. I will get ready too."

"You can sit this one out. Emmanuelle and I will attend the meeting." Marco stopped her. Rosie wore a puzzled look on her face.

"Okay." She replied in a soft voice and walked out with her head down.

Guilt ate away at my feelings as my mind reacted to my betrayal towards her. As soon as she had left I turned towards Marco. "I think it's better that Rosie attends the meeting with you. Besides, she's your assistant."

He put down his pen and looked up at me. "I want you to come with me."

"I'm just—"

"You're worried that she's going to find out. Is that it?"

"I am. But, that's not what worries me at the moment. I just think it's better that she takes care of anything that has to be done by her; your assistant. I know that you've been ignoring her since the two of you broke up, but it was your choice to have her take on this role."

"And if I want to replace her ?"

"Than you should talk to her about it and maybe ask her if she wants to work on another department. Certainly don't push her into a corner and ignore her. It's not fair."

He leaned back in his chair and blankly stared at me for a quick second before he stood up. He straightened himself, grabbing his pen and notebook. "Let's discuss this after the meeting. You're one of the shareholders, you have to come either way. So, let's go."

I did not continue to argue with him about this topic. I followed him out of the office with a heavy heart, unsure and fearful about how Rosie might preview this. In no way did I intend to take over her role within the company. However, at the end of the day that decision belonged to Marco. My body tingled with nervous as we exited the elevator and entered the conference room. My eyes immediately began to scan the room in search of Dimitri. I fought well to stay as discreet as possible, hoping that my heart would be satisfied with the quick glances that could easily be lost within a blink of the eye whilst I also argued with my mind to stop being weak. Sadly, my mind was stubborn, unable to focus because in front of me sat the only person that could treat me the way he did and still mean so much to me.

I followed Marco to the right side of the room and we sat down near the end of the long table where Marissa was already seated next to Lana. James walked in after us and sat down next to Marco. The different department managers had occupied the seats around us. Dimitri's eyes were fixed on his laptop. Not once did he look up from the screen, at least not until Lana had walked up to him to let him know that the group was complete.

"Good morning, everyone. First and foremost I would like to thank all of you for joining this meeting at such a short notice." He looked around the room. "And I would also like to thank you for the amazing work you have done during the past few months that I have been absent. I've read through almost all of the e-mails that were sent regarding our various projects and it surely is a great welcome back to work, knowing that all went well. Now, we still have quite a few months left before the new year and we usually go over our business plan for the coming year during our end of the year meeting. But, I have had more time than ever to work on a strategic business plan which—"