The Job, Mary-Kate Olsen

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I opened the door. I walked in before her as I noticed she was hesitant about entering and wouldn't do it unless I led the way. I told her to give me her coat, so she took it off and handed it to me. I hung it on the coat rack. Her coat must have cost more than three times the price of all the other coats hanging on the rack. I liked that she didn't seem to notice that. Other rich people would have asked me to put it somewhere else, not on a crude coat rack surrounded by coats from budget stores. Maybe I was exaggerating a little bit. My coat wasn't from a ready-to-wear store. I was more into thrifted or vintage pieces of clothing.

I looked back at her. She was zoning out, blankly staring at her feet. "Mary-Kate?" Her head snapped and she looked at me.

"Yes?" She said.

"So, the girls are in the living room," I said and she nodded slowly. She looked down at her feet again and sighed.

"I'd rather there had been no one..." She whispered.

I looked at her softly. "Look, you don't have to talk to anyone here, okay? Only Valentina really knows that you're here. The other ones barely heard me mentioning your name when I told Valentina you were coming."

"Valentina?" She asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah, she's my best friend" I replied, and she gave me a small nod.

"What does she know about me?"

"That you're my boss basically," I said.

"Okay..." She muttered. "So, the others, they don't know I'm your boss?" I nodded and she paused, looking like she was lost in her thoughts. "Let's keep it that way... maybe?" Her eyes met mine and they were big and wide I couldn't help but melt at the sight. I didn't know if she wanted to keep it that way because she didn't want to bother explaining to them why she was there if she was my boss, or because she really did consider me her friend.

"Yeah, okay" I said and smiled.

We stepped into the living room, me first, then Mary-Kate following. I wanted to take Mary-Kate to a more private room so she could tell what was wrong and what made her be in that state back in her car. She looked more composed now, but I knew it was only a facade, either because she didn't want me to see her crying or maybe because there were Valentina and her friends here. The only way to slip away into a private room was to go through the living room. So, we inevitably needed to confront the dining table where all the guests were.

As we arrived at the table, I instantly looked over at Mary-Kate. She looked somehow intimidated, which was something I didn't never expected to see in her. All eyes were on her, then on me, until it shifted to our hands when Mary-Kate took my hand in hers. I tried my best to keep it together and to remain calm, even though it was making me uptight and confused.

I finally opened my mouth and introduced her to the group who were longing for me to say something. I unobtrusively let Mary-Kate know who Valentina was out of all the people around the table. Mary-Kate looked over at her. It was awkward seeing both of them in the same room, let alone in Valentina's apartment. Valentina knew about how Mary-Kate had been behaving at work, and I kind of had the impression that she wasn't so fond of her.

"Ana, why don't you show Mary-Kate the thing she wanted to see by coming to my apartment?" Valentina said.

I frowned, confused. Then I understood that that was my way out of the living room to take Mary-Kate somewhere we could talk. I nodded and gave the girls a small smile. My hand was still holding Mary-Kate's hand gently., I lead her to a small walk-in wardrobe next to Valentina's room.