Double take | T. Blyth

02

Esmeralda sat at her desk in her office, where a bunch of papers were spread out while said woman was currently restraining herself from grabbing her hair in frustration. 

"Anteros." She said as she pressed the button that ensured her that her brother would get her message sooner or later. In her case, sooner was the only option she would settle for. 

"Esmeralda. To what do I owe this one sentence message?" Her brother replied a few minutes later. She could tell that he was smiling as he said that. 

"What kind of unfinished documents have you left at my desk?" Esmeralda asked with a strained voice, barely being able to hold in her irritation. "The documents are completely useless and if I remember correctly I did ask everyone in both departments that are dealing with this project to hand me promising ideas and designs. Is that what I got though? The only correct answer is no." She continued as she underlined another paragraph with her red ink pen while writing a professional feedback with hidden insults that would require a google search tab open to understand them. 

"I can clearly tell that you are upset, little sis. But they can't be that bad?" Anteros responded, his voice serious as he noticed that this was not a joking matter. 

"I have 5 piles of documents, each pile holding around 10 bundles of papers from different employees. And let me tell you, every single pile is going into the bin." Esmeralda explained as she put down the ink pen and just closed the bundle she had been currently reading. "They are all useless, brother and I don't mean the employees, I mean the documents. We also have to consider the time limit that has been set, so having us ask them to draft up new ideas and designs is going to set us back too much. Do you know what that means, brother?" 

"It means you will have to do everything by yourself to meet the deadline." He simply answered. Anteros thought about what his little sister had just shared, not fully convinced that his assistant would place piles of documents at her desk just for them to not be usable. However, he did know that Esmeralda tried her best to never lie about things to him, especially when it came to important projects that were centred around their family's company. 

"Precisely. I usually try not to complain about it, Ros. But how am I supposed to not only sketch thirty-five outfits, have them designed and made so it can be worn on the day the fashion show is, all alone?" Esmeralda asked, her frustration and stress sipping through her complaints. 

Her brother took some time to think about an answer that would not lead his sister to turn her stress and frustration into anger towards him.  "Why don't you take a break for the rest of the day? You know, call it a day and find a solution tomorrow?"

"Excellent idea. I'll do that then." She grumbled as she ended the call and threw one last look at the piles that were in front of her, grabbing the document that she had commented and underlined on and her bag. 

Esmeralda stepped out from her office with an empty expression, her heels creating loud sounds as she walked on the marble floor towards the elevator. 

"Mr. Peterson, I will head out for the day, please be kind enough to postpone all meetings until tomorrow if possible." She said as she turned around to stare at the receptionist that sat on her floor plan. 

"Of course, Ms. Belamour. I'll do it right away." 

The woman nodded as she entered the elevator, pressing the button that led to the entrance floor. She simply did not have the energy to enter the third floor to leave a bundle of documents that did not even reach her criteria. 

As she waited for the elevator to reach the bottom floor, Esmeralda could not help herself but think about the man that she met at the movie premiere four days ago. Somehow he had managed to worm himself into her thoughts.