Hidden Heart (8 page)

He too stood and walked out
of the room to ask his secretary something, then left the door open
and came to the middle of the room to face Tessa.

“
Our headquarters have sent
someone to investigate your case.” He stopped and waited for the
gentleman entering the room to join him. “Tessa, this is Mr.
Alessandro Santinelli from the Alita Bank & Investments. As you
remember, our company didn’t have the necessary cash flow to
finalize the land acquisition. Alita Bank & Investments is the
bank that loaned us the cash. He will conduct the investigation in
your case.”

Tessa looked puzzled from
one face to the other. She felt as if the floor opened beneath her
feet and the world crumbled before her eyes.

Alessandro?
Here?

The man she abandoned in a
hotel room after a passionate night?

Investigating her
case?

What case?

She needed support for her
wobbly knees and before she fell, Alessandro caught her and helped
her sit. She looked into his eyes and saw nothing. No expression,
no recognition, no emotion—
nothing
.

With the last sign of
dignity left, she spoke in a calm tone, “I understand there is a
case and I’m the suspect. May I ask what’s the nature of this
investigation?”

Alessandro spoke in the
same voice that reminded her of a lover’s whisper.

“
You’ve been accused of
fraud.”

Accused of
fraud?

She had never stolen a dime
in her life, let alone
done anything to be
accused of fraud
. How could that be
possible?

Victor avoided looking at
Tessa and Tessa couldn’t believe what she had just heard. Her
stomach knotted like she’d been kicked in the gut. How could he
just decide to give away her projects without even consulting her?
Didn’t she deserve at least some consideration? She became short of
breath fighting the urge to cry, helpless and outraged at the same
time. She clenched her fists for fear she might punch someone, her
muscles tense.

Tears rolled silently down
her cheeks. She hated being weak, but she couldn’t control herself.
Crying in her boss’ office
with
Alessandro present was the last thing she wanted.
Alessandro handed her a box of tissues, but she pretended she
didn’t see it. Instead, she wiped off her cheeks with the back of
her hands.

“
Tessa…please…it isn’t easy
for me and, believe me, I dreaded this moment, you have no idea…”
Victor paused for a second, then finally looked at her. “Look, I
know how difficult these past weeks have been for you, I know
you’re still trying to cope with losing your mama.” He sat on the
chair next to hers, covering her hands with his.

They had known each other
for so long, built together a team of strong and very capable
people. They’d developed a relationship beyond work, becoming close
personal friends. The two of them could communicate just by looking
into each other’s eyes and no one and nothing could alienate their
relationship—or so she thought. They could talk about everything,
no matter the subject, but this one was beyond anything they’d
encountered since the beginning of their collaboration.

She took a deep breath,
shook her hair and straightened her jacket in an attempt to regain
her bravery. “I’m very disappointed and I’d be lying if I don’t say
I’m also very hurt. The fact that you worked behind my back and
talked to people in our company about taking over my projects
before you talked to
me
leaves me no choice. I either stay and fight the
accusations or I quit.” Her belly tightened in a knot. She saw the
short look exchanged between Victor and Alessandro with Victor’s
resigned facial expression. “Fine then. I’ll leave.”

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?”