Chapter Nine – São Paulo Part 3
When I walked off of the elevator into the lobby Mark and Carol were already sitting on the white couch waiting for everyone else to arrive.
"Hi guys, how was your flight?"
"It was surprisingly smooth, no turbulence at all. We thought you might have missed your flight because we didn't see you on board. Did you take an earlier flight?" Carol's question was innocent but I instantly felt nervous because they were not supposed to know about Sebastian and me and there was no way that I was going to tell them I flew private with the boss. Thankfully just as I was about to answer them I heard Sebastian's voice behind me.
"I see we're all here."
"Sophia is not he … ". As I turned to remind Sebastian that we needed to wait for Sophia, I was shocked into silence by the sight of her arm linked through his as they approached us. She gave me a withering look and then smiled sweetly at Carol and Mark.
Great. Not a good way to start this trip if she can barely look at me. I had dealt with women like her before many times and it always pissed me off how catty they could be. I never understood why women couldn't support each other instead of being petty and jealous. Sophia was a beautiful woman but I knew the minute she saw me at the gala that she wouldn't like me because she seemed to still have a thing for Sebastian, and Sebastian definitely had a thing for me.
Sebastian looked at me with no expression as Sophia clung to his arm and that pissed me off.
"Sophia, this is Elena Sumner, our new VP of marketing, Elena this is Sophia Hudson, our PR global chair of creative strategy."
I did my best to give her a genuine smile but it was difficult with the daggers that I had to dodge which flew out of her eyes at me. Does anyone see the way this girl is looking at me? I'm going to be the bigger person here.
"It is so nice to meet you Sophia, I hear that we are going to be working together and I am really looking forward to collaborating with you on new strategies for the hotel."
"It's nice to meet you as well Elena, I think I have it all figured out but I'll give you a minute and listen to your little ideas, I guess."
I was totally stunned that she said that in front of everyone, including Sebastian. I glanced at Carol and Mark who quickly looked at the floor when our eyes met and then I looked at Sebastian. He was checking his phone and was completely oblivious to what Sophia had just said to me. He must have felt me staring at him because he glanced up from his phone and I was sure he could see the look of astonishment on my face because he furrowed his brow and then glanced at everyone else.
"What did I miss?"
"Oh nothing, Elena and I were just discussing when we might be able to get together to discuss strategy."
She gave me a sly smirk that I wanted to slap right off of her face. I decided not to let her get away with the lie and I held her gaze as the words rolled off my tongue.
"Actually Sophia, that is not what we were discussing. I told you that I was looking forward to working with you and you said that you had it covered but you would give me a minute and would listen to my ideas. Little ideas, were your exact words."
Her face was beet red and I savored every minute of it. I was not going to let her disrespect me and treat me like I was an idiot. I earned my position and I wanted my ideas to be acknowledged along with hers. She was not going to take credit for everything we did that week.
Sebastian stepped away from Sophia and put his hands in his pockets as he held her gaze, completely annoyed.
"Sophia, I want you two to work together this week, I mean it, together. There is plenty of room for everyone's ideas and we only hire the best people to come up with those ideas. I always believe that two heads are better than one, so I expect you to work with Elena. Understood?" His words were firm and even.
I could tell that she was completely embarrassed and she looked at the ground as she answered him. "Yes."
"Good, let's go eat." Sebastian and Sophia started walking toward the restaurant and Mark, Carol and I followed behind them.
Mark and Carol looked totally shocked but gave me a small smile behind Sophia's back and didn't say a word as we all walked into the restaurant. Dinner was pretty uneventful and Sophia seemed to be pouting through the whole thing, which was really annoying. Sebastian laid out an abbreviated version of the plan for the week and Sunday would be our only day off. We were going back to the States the following Tuesday morning. After dinner Sebastian told us all that he would see us the next morning at 8:30 sharp in the main conference room in the hotel. Everything had been set up for us in anticipation of our arrival so we would all have computers and workstations in the room.
When he left the restaurant I wondered where he was going but I had to push that thought out of my mind because it was almost 9:00 and Clarissa would be meeting me in my room. Mark and Carol were sipping coffee and Sophia was sipping her martini when I said goodnight to everyone. I was almost to the elevator when I heard the loud, clicking heels behind me getting closer. Now what. I stopped and turned to see Sophia's green eyes glaring at me and I braced myself.
"Elena, why did you do that earlier?"
"Do what?" An exasperated sigh escaped my lips because I didn't have the patience for her issues.
She narrowed her eyes at me as the blood rushed to her cheeks. I had never noticed how many lines she had around her eyes. When I first saw her at the gala I thought she was probably my age, but when I looked closely she had to have been at least 30. Her dislike of me was starting to make more sense. She still had the hots for Sebastian and he was interested in the younger, fresher version. I wanted to tell her that jealousy was not a good look for her but I didn't care enough to even waste my breath. I didn't have time for her petty jealousy.
"Call me out in front of Sebastian! I think that you need to learn what your place is Elena. I can make life very difficult for you at the company and I don't think you want that."
She had a lot of nerve, but it didn't faze me as I narrowed my eyes at her. "Are you threatening me?"
She sneered at me as her green eyes became tiny slits. "You say threaten, I say informing. Don't step out of line again."
I wasn't scared of that bitch. I took a giant step toward her and was about two inches from her face when I lowered my voice to a sharp whisper. "I'm here to do a job and no one is going to get in the way of what I came to do, not even you. You can take your little threat and shove it up your ass!"
I took a step back from her and smoothed the front of my dress and gave her a saccharin filled smile. "I look forward to working with you tomorrow and I can't wait to show Sebastian our work. Have a nice night." She stood there stunned as I turned and went to the elevator. I didn't even look back at her as the elevator opened and then closed behind me.
I was not the type of girl who was intimidated by other women, I never had been and I wasn't about to start then. I was ready to get to work on brainstorming new strategies and it was important to me that Sebastian could see what I was capable of. I wanted him to be confidant in his choice of me as the new VP of Marketing. I would do everything without Sophia if I had to, even if it meant staying up all night, every night I was in São Paulo. I was still fuming when I went to my room but I was able to let it go when I saw an impeccably dressed woman waiting for me outside my door.
"You must be Clarissa, I'm Elena Sumner and I am so sorry to have kept you waiting."
She turned and smiled at me. "I just arrived so you have nothing to apologize for. I'm sure that you must be exhausted after the long day that you've had so we can make this meeting really quick."
I liked the sound of that. We walked into my suite and sat on the couch and chatted about the types of clothes that I liked.
"Who are your favorite designers Elena?"
"Um, whoever TJMaxx has on clearance?"
Her mouth turned up in amusement and she put her pen down and looked at me. "Tell me what kinds of clothes catch your eye when you see something on someone walking down the street."
"I like simple dresses that are figure flattering, pants that are comfortable yet flattering, and I like bright colors along with basic black pieces."
"Okay, that gives me a general idea of what to pull for you, and what about the style of dresses? Do you prefer a dress with sleeves or without sleeves?"
"I really don't have a preference, I like all kinds of dresses."
"Okay, that makes things kind of easy for me."