he was disappointed in himself.
He went into his office and tried to busy himself so her lack of response didn’t drive him crazy. Unfortunately, no amount of work could accomplish that. This was fucking crazy. Jordan closed his laptop and left his office. Sometimes you just need to do things in person.
Gianna was wiped out. Back-to-back interviews were exactly what she needed, but it left no time for her to even think in between them. Unfortunately, only one-fourth of them were someone she’d even consider extending an offer to. This weekend she’d draw up the employment packets and see which ones accepted. She believed the wage was fair, but what people thought they were worth didn’t always match reality.
This was her last interview of the day, but it was difficult to conduct it with the noise coming from the reception area.
“I’m sorry, but if you could excuse me for one minute. I need to check something.” She left her office and closed the door behind her. Not something she normally would do, but in case there was something serious going on, she didn’t want anyone else involved.
Immediately she understood what the problem was. “Marvin, what are you doing here?” she snapped.
“I wanted to see you,” he said.
Gianna looked at her receptionist who was obviously rattled. Whatever Marvin had said, it couldn’t have been appropriate. Not surprising.
“We’ve had this discussion. I don’t want to see you. Please leave.”
“Only if you agree to have dinner with me,” he said.
“That’s not going to happen,” she said firmly.
Marvin sat down and said, “Then I guess I’ll be here for a while.”
The hell you will be.
He had a smug look on his face that irritated her even more. “I won’t say it again Marvin. Leave and don’t come back.” He didn’t budge and only smiled at her. Gianna walked over to the desk and picked up the phone. She was about to call the police and have him removed when the door opened. A tall man walked in and looked her straight in the eyes. Don’t be another applicant. Not now.
The man turned to Marvin and in a gruff voice said, “I don’t believe you’re welcome here.”
Marvin looked the guy over and then back to Gianna and said, “I didn’t know you dated married men Gianna.”
“I…” she was so angry she couldn’t even speak. Any words that would’ve been spoken surely weren’t going to be professional. At this point, she wasn’t sure she cared.
“You can get up on your own, or I can assist you. Trust me, you don’t want the latter,” the man warned.
Gianna thought for sure Marvin was going to challenge him again, but instead he got up and said, “She’s all yours.” He turned to her and added, “For now.”
When Marvin was gone, she turned to the stranger and said, “I don’t know who you are, but I’m pretty sure I can find a job for you.”
The man smiled. “I have one, thanks. My name is Sal.”
“Salvatore Marciano?” she asked.
He raised a brow and said, “Yes. I don’t believe we’ve met before, have we?”
“No. Jordan took me to your parent’s restaurant earlier this week. It was delicious by the way,” she said. She didn’t want to discuss food, but it beat talking about Marvin. “If you’re not here for a job, what brings you into Today & Tomorrow?”
“Your visitor,” he replied dryly.
“You’re…you’re the one that Jordan said was keeping an eye on Marvin?” He nodded and she added, “Thank you. I was just about to call the police to have him removed.”
Her receptionist said, “That man scares me. There’s something in his eyes that creeps me out. You know like he thinks if he stares you down, you’ll give in.”
Gianna said, “And yet you didn’t.”
“Hell no. I have six older brothers who taught me not to fall for some guy’s bullshit.” Then she reached into the desk and pulled out a can of pepper spray. “And I also have this.”
Gianna smiled. “We might need to talk about a pay increase for you. I didn’t realize you were also acting as security.”
The receptionist said, “I’d rather you hire Sal. I get tired of looking at the four walls.”
Sal laughed. “You’d get tired of looking at this face too.” He reached into his pocket and handed Gianna a card. “This has all my information on it. If he starts to call or harass you in any other way, let me know.”
“You mean you’re still going to be keeping an eye on him?” she asked.
He