Locked Into You

Nine

          Nina put down her drink and straightened her posture. "It's normal," she shrugged. "Nothing big actually." She plainly answered, avoiding Mateo's eye contact and trying to look confident.

          Mateo's brows both raised in disbelief, "Really?" He stared Nina down as he knew that it wasn't like that, he knew that Nina was lying.

          As Nina finally looked at her intrigued boss, she exhaled deeply. "Fine. It's intimidating really. How would you expect that a petty employee who just works as a waitress in a hotel just jumped into being the assistant of the hotel's CEO?"

          "Wouldn't you want that? High salary, socialize with higher people—" Mateo continued to give her reasons to convince her of how good her job was. "And you work with me." He put a grin on his self assured face.

          Nina nodded, considering all what he said. "But that's a big adjustment to me, you know. At least give me weeks or a month to learn all of this bull–" She stopped her sentence as she realized she was about to curse, Nina cleared her throat, "—business."

          "Right, I see your point." Mateo exhaled, adjusting his seat that showed how Nina's response bothered him.

          "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say that in a bad tone." Nina frowned. "It's all just too fast." Her face contorted.

          Mateo knew that moment would come. "I know, I understand and I'm sorry that you feel that way." A half smile plastered across his face.

          "Thank you though."

          "For what?" Mateo's forehead creased as he was curious about it.

          There was a few moments of silence between them until Nina found the courage to speak. "Thank you for opening this up. If you haven't asked me, we wouldn't know what we–" she gestured her finger pointing at him and herself. "feel about this situation, about everything."

          Mateo nodded, "I agree."

          Nina's phone vibrated against her pocket. She looked at it and Ellah's name flashed in the screen.

          "Nina where are you? Are you okay? I was looking for you when people panicked because of the alarm!"

          She read Ellah's text message and replied right away.

          "Hey! Yeah, I'm fine. You? Are you with Joey? Don't worry about me, I'm with Mr. Rodriguez." Then she hit send.

          Not too long, her phone buzzed again. "Yes I'm with him right now. And speaking of which.... Mr. Rodriguez huh... 😉"

          As she read the message, Nina lips formed into a sly smile.

          At first, Nina hesitated if she should tell Ellah about how she was locked inside Mateo's penthouse. But she wouldn't want to hide anything from her bestfriend.

          "Honestly... hey, don't ever tell this to anyone. I'm all alone with Mr. Rodriquez in his penthouse.."

          "What?! 😱 What do you mean you're all alone with him?! Talk to me!" Ellah replied as fast as she read the message.

          Ellah's real tone for that text was pure excitement and curiousity because being with Mateo all alone in a huge room may only happen once in a blue moon for over decades.

          Nina didn't noticed Mateo to leave the living room as she looked around.

          "Here." A voice spoke behind her. Mateo handed her a brown envelope that was secured with a string in the middle.

          Nina grasped the envelope with her one hand. She put her phone on the table and wasn't able to reply back to Ellah.

          "What's this?" She laid the envelope on her lap and looked at Mateo.

          Mateo returned to his seat. He leant forward, his elbow acted as his support to his upper weight as he brought his hands together and clasped it. "Inside that envelope are some files that can help you familiarize with almost everything about the hotel. So that you won't have a hard time coping of being my assistant." He informed Nina in a serious tone.

          "Oh. Uh– thanks." Nina seemed to be confused and overwhelmed. She run her hand against the rough envelope, fully aware of how important the files inside are.

          "You can review it." Mate side noted. But he noticed her a bit nervous about the files. "Don't worry, that's only a copy. I have the original files." He gave her an assured nod.

          "Okay." Nina whispered, as she started to pull the string of the envelope.

          As Mateo was watching her, his phone rang loudly. He looked at the screen, "Excuse me, I need to take this." He stated.

          "No problem." Nina nodded in response. She watched him trail off to his bedroom.

          She stared down at the envelope on her lap and thought if reviewing it was all she's going to do the whole day if she's still to be locked inside with him.

          Just then, she was brought back to her senses and heard Mateo's voice. "Yes, I told you I'm fine. I've got it all under control."

          As Nina got curious about Mateo's penthouse suite, she stood up from the sofa and left the envelope on the table. She strolled around, appreciating the furnitures perfectly on their places and the modern design of the suite. As she came to Mateo's bedroom wall, she heard his eavy footsteps on the wooden floor pacing around inside.

          "Alright. I'll call him. He hasn't answered his phone since yesterday. Try talking to dad, you know he will listen to him." Mateo's voice was louder than earlier.

          "Okay honey. And for the last time Matt, please call me from time to time, you know how I miss you." The woman's soothing voice came out loud from the phone's speakers.

          Then Nina heard a small genuine chuckle from Mateo. "Heh, yes I will. And I know, I miss you too."

          On that moment, Nina's heart started to slow down and she felt her chest a bit heavier. He has a girlfriend.... she thought.

          She decided to go back to the living room, as she was about to sit at the sofa Mateo came back from his bedroom, looking a bit more refreshed. Although he was on his casual clothes – a plain white tshirt and a dark colored jeans.

          Nina found the courage to ask him what's been bothering her since she heard the conversation.

          She stood casually, trying to look more comfortable and casual. "You're girlfriend?" She gestured her hand back to the bedroom, expecting Mateo would understand her blunt question.

          Mateo's brow raised, "Oh, I'm sorry you have to hear that." He made his way to the kitchen counter. Nina turned and stayed at the living room, still expecting an answer. Both of them was silent for a moment.

          "Uh, it was my–" He started, but just then his phone rang again.

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Hey guys, thanks for reading! I hope you liked it as much as I do!
Please please, don't forget to vote & comment if you think this chapter is 👍

ALSO, I may change the name Mateo to Matt for the next chapters, since that's his nickname.. I find his name long (when it comes to syllables) So yeah. Sorry for the inconvenience for the next chapters. Thank you! :)