Episode 9

What a beautiful voice.

Vivian

The weekend has arrived, marking the end of my first week working at Salvatierra Industries. It's 11:55 in the morning and I'm already packing up my things to go to work. Mr. Salvatierra and I are the last ones left in the place due to his meeting. I grab my bag and walk towards the elevator, at that moment Mr. Salvatierra exits his office and quickly catches up with his long strides, both of us enter the elevator.

"Miss Smith, I must congratulate you on an excellent week," he says, smiling happily. "If you continue like this, that permanent contract will be yours."

"That would be incredible, thank you sir, I will keep working hard," I reply, blushing at the thought that he looks too handsome when he smiles.

"Miss Smith, may I give you a ride home?" he asks.

"Well, if it's not inconvenient, yes," I answer somewhat shyly.

"Not at all, I'm offering it to you, am I not?" he asks, smiling again. I look ahead and nod.

"Thank you," I whisper. The elevator doors open in the parking lot and we walk towards the car.

"May I know why you don't have a car?" he asks. I smile at him while he opens the passenger door for me, I get into the car and take a seat, and as he gets in too, I sigh.

"I'm afraid of driving," I confess, he looks at me incredulously.

"Can I know why?" he asks as he starts the car.

"When I was learning to drive, I crashed my mom's car, it was a terrifying experience. I didn't suffer any serious injuries, but I was traumatized. Every time I put my hands on the wheel, I panic," I explain.

It surprises me that I've told him that, it's a bit embarrassing for me. Until now, only mom and Jeimy knew about it, other people just believe that I don't have the money to buy one, although that's partly true.

"I understand." he murmurs. "What kind of music do you like, Miss Smith?" he asks, pressing the screen next to the steering wheel.

"I don't have a specific taste, I'm very versatile in that aspect," I reply. He smiles.

"Alright, let's play this one then," he says, pressing a button on the screen. The melody of "Bitter Sweet Symphony" starts playing in the car. I smile.

"That's a good one," I say, he nods and smiles.

After a few seconds, I hear him humming along to the song, and I smile.

"What's wrong? Am I doing it that badly?" he asks, smiling.

"No, your English is good, and you have a nice voice," I say, blushing again.

"Thank you, Miss Smith. I bet you can sing too, I bet you have a nice voice," he says, and once again, I feel my cheeks burning. I remain silent for several seconds, but in the end, I play along.

"No change, I can change. I can change, I can change. But I'm here in my mold. I am here in my mold. But I'm a million different people from one day to the next. I can't change my mold. No, no, no, no, no. (Have you ever been down?)" I sing.

"I knew it, you have a beautiful voice, Miss Smith," he says.

"That's not true," I say and smile.

"I'm not lying, you're really good," he says. I smile.

"Thank you."

For some reason, his words feel refreshing.

...

"Thank you," I say as I get out of the car, as always, Mr. Salvatierra opens the door for me.

"You're welcome, Miss Smith. Have a nice weekend," he says.

"Thank you, likewise."

"See you on Monday," he says, bidding farewell. I nod.

"You too," I say, and I walk towards the house. Upon entering, just like last time, he gets back in the car and drives away.

"Good afternoon, Miss. How was your day?" Carmen asks, coming out to meet me.

"Good, Carmen, thank you. How about you?"

"I'm good too, likewise. Are you going to have lunch now?" she asks.

"Yes, I'm very hungry. I'll wash my hands and come down," I inform her. She nods and turns around. I sigh and go up the stairs. When I reach the room, the first thing I do is kick off my heels. Then I put on my comfortable slippers and go to the bathroom to wash my hands. When I come out, I hear the notification sound on my phone and I go to the bed where I left my purse, take out my phone, and see that it's a message from my friend.

Jeimy.

"Do we meet later at the New Milenium mall?"

I sigh.

Vivian: "Yes, what time?"

Jeimy: "Four in the afternoon, I'll pick you up. Is that okay?"

Vivian: "Alright, see you then."

I leave my phone on the bed and sigh again, then I wash my hands once more and head down to the dining room.

After eating, I take a relaxing shower and lie down for a nap. When I wake up, I get dressed to meet Jeimy. I choose a striped skirt, a tight long-sleeved blood-red sweatshirt, white sneakers – after a week in heels, my feet need a break – sunglasses, gold earrings, a long gold necklace, a ring, and finally a cross-body bag in a color that matches the blouse as closely as possible.

I apply just a little bit of sunscreen on my face, translucent powder, and red lipstick. I smile and leave the house after saying goodbye to Carmen.

"Hi," I greet my best friend, who is inside her car, a purple Ford Mustang S550 - her pride and joy.

I enter and give him a kiss on the cheek.

"So, how's everything going?" he asks while driving.

"What do you mean?"

"Everything, your work, your marriage, I haven't heard much because you've been busy with your practices."

"Work is going great, my boss even congratulated me this morning for an excellent week. He told me that if everything continues like this, the permanent contract is mine," I respond excitedly.

"I'm glad, I know it will be. You're very capable and smart, my friend."

"Thank you."

"And what about the other thing?"

I sigh. "Well, that's just normal, the truth is I barely even see him," I reply sadly.

"I understood that Grandma warned him to go."

"Yes, I know, he goes, comes back late at night, and locks himself in his room. He usually has dinner outside and breakfasts in his room, I know this because Carmen tells me," I explain.

"Tomas is an idiot," she mutters angrily.

"But well, I'm sure he will come to his senses," she says and smiles.

"I don't think so. Tomas still blames me for that night, he still believes that I drugged him," I mumble. She stays silent for a few seconds.

"Nonsense, that stupid man doesn't want to accept that he drank too much," she says, looking at the road. I sigh and look out the window. The truth is, no matter how much I love Tomas, I don't see a future in this.

...

A while later, we are wandering around the shopping center, going from store to store. Jeimy has already bought several things because my friend is addicted to shopping, while I have only bought a blouse and a dress that I liked for work.

"Oh God, look, let's go in there," she says, pointing to an intimate clothing store. She takes my hand and pulls me inside; we browse through the aisles, I choose a fuchsia floral print lingerie set, and she frowns.

"Oh Vivian, you have such lousy taste in choosing underwear!" she exclaims. I look at her confused.

"There's nothing wrong with it, it's very pretty," I defend myself, looking at the set.

"That's the problem, you don't choose underwear based on how pretty it is, you choose it based on how sexy it might make you look," she rants, rolling her eyes.

"Let's go to the lingerie section," she says, pulling me to another part of the store.

"Look at this," she says, pointing at a black lace set. "Or this," she now shows me a red one. "Oh, look! This one will look spectacular on you," she exclaims, showing me a deep red one. "Which one do you like the most?" she asks, and I furrow my brow while looking at the garments.

"None of them cover anything," I comment. "The bras don't have padding, and the panties are just strings with a small triangle in the front."

"Vivian, you have to be more daring, you're already a married woman," she grumbles, and I furrow my brow.

"Jeimy, your brother doesn't even look at me for God's sake," I remind her.

"Well, but if you take a risk and show yourself in something as sexy as this, maybe things will change," she says, waving one of the sets in front of me.

"No... no way," I refuse, turning around and walking towards the exit.

"Don't be like that," she pleads, following me.

"I'm not going to buy any of those," I say, about to leave the store.

"Fine, just wait for me to pay for mine," she tells me, and I nod.

"I'll wait outside."

She's crazy, I would never wear something like that, or rather, I would never stand in front of Tomas wearing something like that. Either way, I don't think it would achieve anything.

"Alright, I'm done," she announces, coming out of the store.

"Let's go."

"You should have bought one of the sets," she mutters.

"Just drop it, Jeimy," I tell her. She huffs and doesn't say anything else.

Hours later, as I unpack the clothes I bought, I make a face when I see the deep red set in one of the bags.

"Gosh, that idiot!"

***This work has been signed with NovelToon, and piracy such as reprinting without permission is strictly prohibited.***

***Download NovelToon to enjoy a better reading experience!***