Victor tried to stop her. “Tessa, you’re interpreting things wrong. I realize this is a shock for you, but things aren’t that bad. You are not fired; you are just asked to step aside for a while. Just until the investigation is over. I think it’s a good idea for you to take a couple of weeks off; try to clear up your head, sort things out, relax and then we’ll call you back in.”
Tessa held a hand up as if to stop him and left without a backward glance—except the sideways glance she threw at Alessandro. She went to her office, made a terse call to the office in Vienna announcing she wouldn’t attend the meeting after all and left. She almost knocked Eva off her feet when she came around the corner. She mumbled a short “I’m sorry” and disappeared inside the elevator ignoring the shocked look on her assistant’s face.
Tessa drove like a maniac ripping out of a straightjacket with quick stops and starts in a jerking fashion. But she didn’t care. All she wanted was to get home as soon as possible and try to understand what had just happened.
Why aren’t you answering your phone? Where are you? I need you. She called Daniel’s phone numerous times, but got no answer. Her fear turned to anger. She slammed down her phone. She willed herself not to cry again.
She had invested ten years of her life in that company. She remembered how shy and overzealous she had been in the beginning; trying to learn everything, helping everybody and making herself irreplaceable. She remembered how she started working directly with Victor and how he took her under his wing, taught her all he knew in the business. Then her first success came when she closed a deal with a big real estate company. She loved going to work and she considered herself happy and lucky for having such a career. Her pride, her sense of accomplishment was now threatened. She thought she was in the right place; all of a sudden everything disappeared. After all the hard work, this is what she got back?
Then she thought maybe this was a sign; maybe she really needed to shift her priorities and work on her relationship with Daniel; after all, they had been together for so long. Maybe they needed to take their relationship to the next level and as much as she didn’t want to get married, maybe they should start building a family. She imagined several scenarios in her head how she’d get home and when Daniel returned in the afternoon from work they could have a serious talk about their future.
With this arrangement in mind, she parked her car then noticed his car parked next to her parking spot. Concerned for him she rushed upstairs. When they last spoke, before she left for work that morning, he didn’t mention feeling sick.
The front door was unlocked. As Tessa walked in the house, she heard music playing and voices in the bedroom. She passed the kitchen, down the hall towards her bedroom and then heard a female voice.
“If she knew, we’d both be in trouble,” followed by laughter.
A sinking feeling in her stomach, Tessa stopped confused. That voice sounded familiar, who was it?
Then she heard Daniel, “Don’t you worry, dear, she isn’t coming back until Friday. We have the house to ourselves.” More laughter.
She opened the bedroom door on Daniel with another woman, both naked and drinking wine. She only saw the woman’s back.
Daniel froze with his glass of wine halfway to his mouth. He jumped out of the bed, pulled his shorts on and grabbed Tessa by the shoulders.
“Oh my God, this is not what you think,” he exclaimed and turned her around towards the living room. He guided her to the sofa and helped her sit down.
For the second time that day, Tessa’s world had turned upside down. She felt numb with shock.
Daniel knelt in front of her, held her hands tight between his. “Tessa, it’s a mistake, it means nothing… I… I didn’t expect you back.”
Emptiness rose in Tessa’s heart and soul; no feelings whatsoever left inside. This was simply too much. The sudden urge to vomit made her jump and run towards the bathroom.
He followed her and after she vomited, he tried to help her wash her face but she pushed him away.
“Leave.” No rage, no emotion, nothing behind her words.
By the time Tessa returned to the living room, Daniel waited for her fully dressed. The other woman was gone.
“I cannot tell you how sorry I am… I didn’t mean to hurt you… I thought you were on your way to Vienna…it doesn’t mean anything to me, it’s you I love,” he pleaded.
She looked at him and saw a stranger.
“How long?”
He didn’t answer right away then he cleared his throat and said, “It’s not important, she means nothing to me. Look, Tessa, I know I have some issues, but I do love you, you have to believe me and give me another chance. I can change; just let me prove it to you.”
He tried to get closer and hug her, but she pushed him away. “Do. Not. Try. That. Ever. You have until tonight to move all your stuff from my apartment. I’ll change the locks afterwards and I’ll throw away whatever is not taken. Do not call me ever again, and if you ever see me, please walk on the other side of the street,” Tessa said with an infinite burning rage behind her voice. She turned, fury driving her actions, grabbed her keys and purse and stormed out the house.
Daniel knew better than to follow her.
By now Tessa functioned by instinct. She drove to her mama’s house, went straight for the bathroom and threw up again. When she thought it was over, that she had nothing left to give, the urge to vomit shook her body violently and purged itself once more. Her stomach emptied, she crawled in her mama’s bed and cried until she fell asleep. When she woke up, it took a moment to recognize her surrounding. The day began to replay itself in her thoughts. She looked at her watch and saw it was after midnight. She had slept more than twelve hours. She made herself a cup of tea and mindlessly turned the TV on.
She couldn’t process a normal thought; the image of Daniel and the naked woman intruded in her thoughts, no matter how much she tried to push it away. She knew that voice, but couldn’t put a face to it. She rummaged through her brain for signs that should’ve raised red flags for Daniel’s infidelity. Since high school they’d been on and off together. They’d broken up before. His spending addiction and too much partying were the only reasons they ever fought. But she’d compromised; she wasn’t perfect either. Not that her business trips and her workaholic life style made up for his flaws, but they’d managed to work out their differences and stay together.
Did she push him in to another woman’s arms? Is this my fault? What did I do wrong? What went wrong? She could forgive and forget many things, but cheating? Never, she’d never accept that. Her whole being protested against it. She felt empty, like someone or something had erased any love, any care, any feeling she had for Daniel. She felt humiliated and hurt.
Victor’s voice persisted in her mind—alongside the hurt—telling her she was no longer needed in the company. And seeing Alessandro again, under the least expected circumstances. True, she knew he worked at a bank, but she had no idea which bank or what exactly his job was. Seeing him now brought back the memories of that summer night, his feverish hands ravaging her body, her total abandon to desire and raw passion.
Tessa turned off the TV. She went and lay in bed staring at the ceiling. She’d lost her mama, her job and her boyfriend. Her life was in pieces; she had no control over anything. An overwhelming, helpless feeling threatened to drive her insane. For two days straight she cried, drank tea and slept.
She made no effort to contact the outside world and thought she could live like this forever. But her body insisted differently. She needed food and had some delivered the evening of the third night. Not tasting the food, she ate listlessly, enough to stop the growls of her stomach, and put the leftovers in the fridge. She remembered her luggage for the business trip in her car and brought it into the house. She feared to turn on her laptop or check her voice messages, so she chose not to.
Mama, why aren’t you here? I’m so desperate. I need you. She went through her mama’s closet and her
jewelry box. She looked at some photo albums and cried more. Her days turned into nights and her nights turned into days. Nothing made any sense.
She lived like this until Thursday night, no contact with anybody but the delivery guy who brought food once a day.
She jerked when the house phone rang. The ringing ripped through the silence like a car crash on a still night. She couldn’t think of who would be calling; after all, everyone knew her mama had passed away. At first, she refused to answer the phone, but then it rang again. And again. Finally, she gave in, if for nothing else than to stop the incessant ringing.
“Hello?”
“Oh, honey, thank God I found you,” Octavia’s voice sounded relieved. “We were so worried. I called your house a zillion times, your cell, and your office. Even Daniel’s phone until he finally answered. He told me you two had a fight…you okay?”
“Hi, sis. Sorry I didn’t call you or Chiara…I just didn’t want to talk to anybody and I didn’t realize how long I had been hiding. Sorry, I didn’t mean to worry you.”
“Worry us? Honey, if something happens, we’re the first to find out. You can’t put us through this again; we were beside ourselves with worry. I was calling one more time and then I would’ve bought a ticket to come to Bucharest and start searching for you.”
Tessa felt horrible for putting her sisters through so much anxiety. “I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to cause any trouble for anybody…” She sighed and felt the need to cry again. “I…my life fell apart a couple of days ago when I was asked to step aside from all my work. And then I go home and find Daniel in my bed with another woman. Can you believe it? That was too much for just one day, so I just felt the need to get away and not see or hear from anybody. Mama’s house seemed like the right place.” She paused, inhaled and let a big whoosh out and then continued, “I asked Daniel to remove all his stuff from my apartment, but didn’t want to stay there until he does it, so I came here. I just had a meltdown.”
“Honey, you don’t have to go through this alone; you could’ve called and we would’ve helped you…he is a bastard and never really deserved you. If I ever see that bastard again, I’ll cut his balls off, I swear!”
Tessa laughed. Octavia always managed to cheer her up. It helped release some of the tension she had felt for so many days.
“And I can’t believe you were asked to leave the office, that is absurd; after all these years?”
“As it looks, I’ve been accused of fraud and until the investigation concludes, I should just sit at home and wait for them. I’m furious…I’m hurt. So I told Victor screw it and I left. I quit. I mean, all I’ve done for the past ten years, all the nights I slept with my head on the desk to finish damn reports and worked like a maniac, nothing matters. I don’t deserve, out of courtesy, to be asked what I think about the whole situation…nothing…just told I’m no longer needed. Period. End of story.”
Tessa paced the room, furious again. She talked for a while with Octavia, venting and feeling so much better when she hung up. Octavia promised she’d call Chiara to update her on what happened. Tessa promised she’d check in every couple of days with her sisters, so they’d know she was okay.
A horrific dream awoke her middle of the night. Something chased after her and she ran from it until she reached the edge of a ravine. Nowhere to go, she jumped and jerked awake before hitting bottom.
Fully awake, she lay in bed afraid to sleep again. A heavy feeling settled in her stomach. Her instinct told her it wasn’t over.
***
Friday morning Tessa decided to return to her apartment to change the locks. She needed to pull herself together and stop feeling sorry for herself. She finally checked her voicemails, on her cell and at home; both full. Most messages came from Daniel asking for forgiveness, a couple from Chiara and Octavia before they found her. Her assistant as well as Victor had called, texted and even stopped by her door; a note stuck on her door said she should call him right away.
Tessa tended to some financial business. She called the bank and removed Daniel’s name from her account. She verified the balance and to her relief, he hadn’t withdrawn anything since she’d last seen him. The first rental fee from her cabin in the mountains brought in a nice lump of money. The two apartments she owned and had rented in Bucharest, one to a law firm and the other to a finance and accounting company, made their regular payments. As it looked, she didn’t hurt for money, quite the opposite; she’d never suffer financially if she never returned to work.
Tessa called the locksmith who promptly came and changed the locks before dinner. She cleaned the house, dumped the bed sheets, scrubbed the toilet and bathroom spotless with the rigor of an army private, until her rubber gloves thinned out and broke. The need to feel normal in her own home was her number one priority. When she finished all her chores, she called one of her best friends, Paula, and met her for dinner.
“I know how much you like going to the theater…I have two tickets for tomorrow night, come with me,” Paula said between bites.
“I don’t know if I’m ready to go back there…Mama and I used to go together all the time…I haven’t seen any plays since she passed away.”
“I think your mama would’ve loved for you to continue doing this…in a way it’s her legacy, you know?”
Tessa’s eyes filled up with tears and Paula placed a hand on top of hers and squeezed it.
“It’s too soon, but you’ll see, time will help. When my mom died, I grieved for six months…I still miss her…” It was Paula’s turn to choke, then quickly she caught herself and said, “By the way, your favorite actor interprets the leading role, you don’t want to miss his performance, do you? The reviews have been fantastic!”
In the end, Tessa agreed to go. When she returned home, Victor waited at her door.
“I knew you were stubborn, but not like this,” he said when he saw her. “Do I need to get you another cell phone, one that you answer?” Victor followed her in the house without waiting for an invitation.
“No, thanks. It turns out my life functions just perfect without one.”
“Look, kiddo, I didn’t want to do what I did any more than you wanted it. I’m so sick and tired of all this. It’s time the two of us sit down and straighten things out. And you better shut up and listen to what I have to say.”
He walked to the little bar in the living room, filled half a glass with whiskey. “Ice?”
“Help yourself.” Tessa pointed him to the kitchen. She waited for him in the living room where he returned shortly, his glass filled with ice.
Victor took a big gulp of whiskey, smacked his lips and looked at her. He took another sip of his drink and sat on the sofa. He rested his glass on his knee and placed the other arm on the back of the sofa.
“Here is the deal. Someone anonymously sent a complaint to our CEO in Berlin that stated several farmers had negotiated a price for their land, but they were given less mon—”
“What? And you believe it?” Tessa took a step towards him, flames threatening to shoot from her eyes.
“Can you just let me finish?”
She rolled her eyes and continued to stand, tapping her foot and crossing her arms on her chest, but didn’t say anything.
“An investigation had started right away. We don’t have any proof other than this letter, not even handwritten, no return address, nothing. We were apprehensive whether to believe it or not, but to clear the situation, we had to investigate what happened and if the complaint was true.”
“And you couldn’t tell me earlier?”
“Please, let me finish. I’ve tried to keep it a secret, hoping it was just a false alarm and I could take care of it without dragging you into it.”
“How could you make such a mistake? If someone accuses me of something, I have the right to know right away, and most importantly I have the right to defend myself. How could I do that when I don’t even know?” Her arms swung wide open then she slapped her thighs. She paced
the room, one hand on her waist the other on her neck.
The lion in the cage had been released.
“If I remember correctly, you’ve been going through some tough times, sorry for trying to be considerate,” Victor said, impatience rising in his voice. He went for more whiskey and poured a second glass. He returned to the sofa.
“Look, kiddo, I feel guilty for not telling you sooner, but truth be told I didn’t believe for one second you took the money.”
“You didn’t?” She stopped in her tracks and turned to face him.
“Of course not, what do you take me for?”
She marched to the bar and with trembling hands, poured herself a drink. A strong one. She needed it. After the first sip, her throat and stomach turned in to fire almost instantly. Maybe strong emotions can’t be controlled with strong drinks; at least it didn’t work for her.
“Tessa, I have no idea who is behind this. We sure work in a cutthroat market; you probably pissed off someone so bad that they want you out. But never once did I believe you stole the money.”
“Why haven’t you said something when you called me in your office? You called that awful man in and you crushed me like a bug. Do you have any idea how much you’ve hurt me?” She finally came to sit on the sofa next to him.
Victor sighed, placed a hand on her shoulder, softened his voice and said, “Believe me, it hurt me and I hate what I’ve done to you. I never was one to be very, how should I say it?” He stopped as if trying to find the right words, and then continued, “Let’s say diplomatic or considerate; never knew how to say things without hurting people. How many times have I hurt Dina? but let’s not talk about me. What I’m trying to say is that you have my support in this. We’ll clear this mess up. I don’t want to lose the best employee I’ve ever had. I believe in you and there is nothing out there that could convince me differently.”
Hidden Heart Page 6
