"Thank you guys for coming, two of you will get a call by the end of this week but thank you for your time" I said before standing up to shake their hands, today I was doing job interviews for the 'pending' Reigns Restaurant in Atlanta. With Mia still on vacation, I was facing all the work. I love what I do but it was axhausting. I gathered my things and their folders and left the boarding room after them. I walked down the passage to the reception

"Hello Mario" I said smiling while waving at one of the cleaners on our floor, Mario was a sweet 42 year old Mexican man. He literally had the biggest heart, me and him talk from time to time. He came from the city of Tijuana in Mexico, one of the places on the top of my bucket list to visit.

"Miss Amanda, good morning." he said setting the mop down and turning to look at me

"How was the visit back home? How is the family" I asked him, I met Mario's family through Skype when he asked me to lend him my iPad to contact them . He had a wife and 6 kids, 5 boys and 1 girl, that's a lot huh?!

"It was refreshing to be on familiar lands and the family is doing well. Oh ! and Pedro told me to tell you that he's much better in school now. They all sent their greetings to you " he said smiling proudly, his family was his greatest joy.

"Send them kisses for me and tell Pedro that I'm super proud of him. I'll talk to you later Mario, I have plenty of work to do." I said before hugging him goodbye

"Bye Amanda" he said when he pulled back. I gave him a squeeze on the shoulder before I continued walking down towards the reception.

"Any messages for me Paige?" I asked the receptionist when I reached the reception

"No Manda, nothing for you " she said in her British accent, I could listen to her talk every day. Her accent was beautiful

"I could never get over your accent" I said while making googly eyes at her, she chuckled

"I could say the same about your African accent" she said with a wide grin displaying on her face. My accent was my favorite thing about myself that I loved, my dad was Xhosa but my mom was Ghanaian. When my mom and papa had me they were not married yet so I spent most of my life in Ghana, which is why I have this accent. When my mom and papa got married when I was 16,my mom, me and my brother moved to South Africa. I adupted to my father's culture easily since we always kept in contact with our father's family but my Ghanaian accent always stuck with me.

"Thank you darling" I said in 'white woman's' voice and Paige burst out laughing at my horrible attempt.

"I'm just going to leave now and please scan these and email them to Mia" I said placing the folders on the reception desk with a fake pout on my lips

"Lighten up baby, I'm just joking" she said while wiping tears on the corner of her eyes

"Deuces bitch" I said laughing chucking up my deuces as I turned to leave, I heard her laugh before I stepped on the elevator to the 5th floor . I hummed a song while waiting for the elevator ride to end. When the elevator doors opened on the financial department I stepped out and headed towards the Head Department's office,Ms Jones. I knocked and heard her say 'come in'. I entered her office and walked to her desk, her office was so spacious and beautifully decorated and the view of cabs driving up and down on the street was beautiful too.

"Good morning Ms Jones" I said offering her a smile

"Good Morning Ms Gaffley , please take a seat" she said taking her glasses off and setting them on the table

"Thank you." I said sitting down before continuing, "Uhmm... I tried contacting your assistance but I couldn't reach him so I came here to deliver these" I sad giving her the file

"David didn't come in today because he wasn't feeling well, what's in this file?" she asked as she paged through the file.

"That's the spreadsheets that shows how much funding we will need to restore one of the restaurants in Atlanta, it was sent to us by our interior designer and architect." I said with my hands on my lap

"I'll have Debbie look through them, thank you Ms Gaffley." she said setting the file aside

"It's no bother, let me get back to work" I said before standing up and fixing my skirt

"Okay, thank you" she said as I turned to leave her office. I hurriedly walked towards the elevator and got in just in time before the doors closed.

"That was a close one huh?!" I heard a familiar voice and instantly snapped my head towards the voice and locked eyes with Mason.

"Mason? H-hey, what are you doing here?" I said stuttering and he chuckled

"That's an ironic question don't you think? Considering the fact that my bestfriend owns this company" he said smirking, I diverted my eyes somewhere before tucking a strand of hair behind my hair

"I-It was good seeing you Mason" I said unintentionally stuttering again before stepping out of the elevator when the doors opened

"You're sure about that Cara? “ he said smirking as I turned to look at him. Him calling me that didn't sound right, it didn't stir any kind of emotion in me either . He winked at me as the elevator doors closed, wasn't he gay? I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when he was out of sight. I hurriedly walked to my office, greeting some of my colleagues on the way. I opened the door when I arrived in front of my office, I jumped placing my hand on my chest when I saw Luciano sitting in my chair . What the heck was he doing in my office?!

"Luciano?!" I said whisper-yelling at him with my eyes narrowed and my hand on my hip

"Did I scare you? Just so you know that wasn't my intentions pooh" he said before chuckling, 'not my intentions' my ass

"How can I help you? and please get off my throne" I said before taking my heels off and sitting at one of the couches that I had in my office

"As you wish your majesty" he said as he stood up from my chair and bowed, clown.

"Anywho, we're throwing Mia a surprise birthday party this upcoming weekend when she comes back" he said as he took steps towards me

"Okay?" i said puzzled, I don't know why he is telling me this

"I'm telling you this because I want you to come to the party, probably make a... Speech? And besides Mia would love to celebrate her birthday with you " he said grinning before sitting next to me on the couch, I got off the couch and walked towards the glass window that gave me the perfect view of New York.

"Forgive me but I can't, I love Mia but I don't think it's a good idea for me to come. " I said still looking out the window with my arms crossed, I heard him stand up from the couch and approach

"Don't push Mia away because of Leonardo's mistakes or our family, you know how much that little girl adores you " he said as I turned to look at him. Was I being selfish for actually putting my feelings before my friend ? I don't think so.

"I hope to see you there Mandy" he said placing the invite on top of my coffee table and walked out. I stared at the pretty decorated invite on top of my coffee table and exhaled heavily, what do I do?

A/N

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