He is himself Magnate?

(Renata Pellegrini)

Watching the clouds, I can equate my mood to them. Gray. It seems that the days go by and one is more stressful than the other. I need to improve more in my calculus subjects, I don't want to have to do the final exam. My head hurts just remembering the formulas.

I hope I don't get robbed, I think as I sigh and put my headphones on. A music by James Arthur plays and I allow myself to close my eyes, leaning my head on the window of the crowded bus. The traffic today is, as usual, terrible.

It's almost six o'clock in the afternoon, and judging the way things are going, I won't get home until seven. What a horrible routine, I get up at four thirty in the morning, and only return at seven o'clock in the evening, all this only because I can't afford to buy even a lousy little bike so that I don't have to stand at the bus stop, and it is still a profit when I manage to return sitting down.

I was born and raised here. I have lived in this slum of a town for twenty-four years and it used to be a good place to live, but today? It is known as the most violent slum in Rio de Janeiro: Jacarezinho.

The policemen? The politicians?

I don't trust them, they are a bunch of corrupt people who only want to extort the population and spread terror, because Jacarezinho is not a noble area, they think we are garbage that can be stepped on and killed, having our bodies dumped in the gutter... The businessmen, tycoons, and famous people? It's all part of the same bag of shit. I hate them!

I am the daughter of Giovanni Pellegrini and Sandra Moreira, and the story of my parents is beautiful as well as tragic. Both of them are no longer with me, unfortunately, they were taken from me nine years ago, when I was fifteen. I have no one else, my relatives never accepted me and never even told me the reason, my mother always told me not to give a damn. Maybe I even had some relatives on the Italian side, but I have no idea who my dad's relatives are, I only know that he is Italian, so maybe they would reject me too.

"I want you to succeed in life, my little one," these are the words that make me endure this routine and not give up my studies: My mother, she had no opportunity to study, the only thing she could do was to write her own name and it took her a long time to get it.

I feel my stomach turning in search of some source of energy, the end of the month is always very tight, even if I regulate from the beginning, in the end there is always very little left. Since my parents died when I was still a minor, my grandmother didn't let me stay in her house and made a deal with me, because of my mother's work, I had a state pension entitlement, my grandmother wouldn't leave me in an orphanage and in exchange, she would keep half of the pension.

So I have only $150 a month, and thank God I don't have to pay for transportation to go to college. They gave me a scholarship and I use that money to go back and forth.

I need to prepare myself mentally, Friday next week is an important day, I will travel to the United States and have my first job interview. I try my best to control my anxiety. I really want to get the job and the salary will be very good, I will have a full fridge for longer and better yet, I will be able to say goodbye definitively to this horrible place.

It's not my dream job, but being the personal assistant to the richest tycoon in the world today would come in handy. I have to thank my teacher, Juliana Lueni, she is the one who got me this interview and is paying my fare. I just hope I don't disappoint her, it is remarkable how much she cares about me. Besides paying for my ticket, she also paid one month's rent for me. A friend of hers, who also works for the magnate Filippo Valentini, will be waiting for me at the airport.

I don't expect him to treat me well, or to have compassion for my life story, maybe I will even be eliminated because of my origin. I wish I could lie and say that I lived somewhere else, a luxurious place in Brazil, but my mother always taught me to be honest and never be ashamed of who I am or where I came from.

Filippo Valentini in the magazines is regarded as the most handsome man in all America. I looked at him in a photo, he appears to be no less than six feet tall, his hair is black as night, his eyes are amber with some green streaks. I was enchanted by the look in this man's eyes. You could see the muscular body underneath his suit.

I can't lie, this man is very handsome. But that doesn't fill my eyes, surely he is like all the others. An arrogant asshole!

The jolt of the bus brings me back to reality, I squeeze between the other passengers and get off this old junk. It is such a disregard for the residents here, the bus looks like it is going to fall to pieces and nothing the politicians can do to fix it.

People in this community think I'm a meddler, but my papa always told me not to trust anyone and never to talk more than necessary. People like to hurt others. And I have seen so many good people get hurt because of bad people. I don't want to be one of them, so I don't make friends with anyone here. In the world, it is me for me. And God for everybody.

Finally I get home, take a quick shower and go to see what is still in the pantry. There is still a pack of crackers, I'm going to split it in half, then have coffee tonight and tomorrow before I leave.

Just one more week, I think and cross my fingers.

One week later:

I can't stop shaking! I thought about ten times that I was going to die, with every bump the plane made, my soul went out of my body.

Keep calm, I think. Thank God I'm already out of the plane and have picked up my suitcase, now all that's left is to find my teacher's friend.

"Renata Pellegrini?" a female voice calls me.

"That's me," I answer and feel relieved.

Now I can breathe easily. New life, here I come!

(Renata Pellegrini - United States )

"You'll do fine," Carol tries to reassure me.

"Thank you for everything, Miss Carol," I thank her once again, even if I don't pass the interview, what she and my teacher are doing for me, I can't find a worthy way to say thank you.

She blinks and walks away from me, leaving me in front of this huge building.

The blue colors dominated everywhere, you could barely see the metal parts, the mirrored glass covered everything like a sheet, it surely has more than fifteen stories here.

I take a deep breath, it's not even two hours since I set foot on solid ground and I already feel like I'm drowning.

I wish my parents were alive, I really wish I could bring them with me, give them a better life. I really wanted to see them smiling, even if it was just one more time...

This is no time to have sad thoughts! I pat my cheeks and stew my chest, now is the time to have courage.

I open the doors and hold tight the handles of my purse, I need to meet the manager and give him the letter of recommendation, my teacher told me that as soon as I delivered it, I would be practically hired, all I had to do was to say the name of her friend: Matteo Valentini.

Could this man be a relative of Filippo's? They have the same last name, but I have never found anything about this Matteo. It doesn't matter, I just want to be hired, and if this name will guarantee it, so be it.

When I enter the building, the inside is much more luxurious than the outside. I need to control myself. This environment will now be my workplace. I have to treat it like any other place.

I walk up to the counter, my legs feel unstable, but as I get closer, my jaw gets stiffer.

"How can you be so incompetent, you imbecile…"

"Good morning!" I interrupt the blonde girl who is looking me up and down.

"Who are you?" she asks, and I can read in her eyes that she thinks someone like me shouldn't even think of stepping foot in there. "Do you know this is Computing Diamond?"

I hold myself to keep from rolling my eyes, it makes me so angry to be treated like this, why did I think this place would be different?

"I'm Renata Pellegrini, I came here to…"

"Oh yes, Carol told me you were coming here."

So she must be the manager of this place, I didn't like her, but what can I do? Accept and hope to be hired, I don't even have five cents in my pocket, imagine some dollars.

"How nice that you were already aware of my arrival…"

"Not only yours, other people were also told they would be here today."

What a rude woman! Breathe, Ro, you need this job, and I should be used to dealing with people like that by now.

"I see, so I guess you know that I came here for the interview for the position of…"

"Go away."

"What?" I blink my eyes in confusion.

"Are you by any chance deaf? You're not fit to work here, look at your clothes, you haven't even put on makeup. Go back to the little place you came from."

"Please don't do this, I have come a long way, I was told that I was already practically hired, that the interview would be just a formality, I dropped everything I had to come here, please give me a chance, I promise you won't regret it!" I say it all at once, my heart pounding in my chest. I press my tongue to the roof of my mouth, I can't cry here, not in front of all these people.

I was aware that I might not be accepted, but it never crossed my mind that I would even get to do the interview.

She looks at me with a mean smile on her face, under her gaze I feel inferior, how can anyone be so overbearing?

"So you are willing to accept any service?"

I came here to become Filippo's personal assistant, but it's looking like I won't even set foot here tomorrow, I don't want to starve.

"Yes," I can't hide the disappointment in my voice.

"Okay, there is a cleaning position open, if you want it, it's yours."

What a load of crap! I don't want to disdain those who work as cleaners, because in a certain way the company only works because they clean the environment, but it's that I studied so hard to get a good job, and in the end I will end up as a cleaner.

No matter what they tell me, this is frustrating, I wanted to work in front of a computer, not cleaning toilets.

"Yes, I do," I answer. "When do I start?"

"Right now, come with me."

We walk to the end of a corridor, stopping in front of an aluminum door. Well, it seems that not everything is so luxurious.

"Here is the staff locker room."

She enters and I follow her, she opens the door twenty-three and hands me the key to the locker.

"The uniform you see here is size S, it should fit you, let's get you dressed soon."

I go to the closet and get the clothes: a green coat, a white apron with two front pockets, and pants in the same fabric as the coat. I can't tell what fabric it is, but it's not a coarse fabric.

"Oh, I didn't say my name, I'm Veronica."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," I hold out my hand out of politeness, but she rolls her eyes.

"Let's get to the point, last night, Mr. Valentini asked me to clean his office, as you could see we were short of cleaners. He hasn't arrived yet, I want you to clean his room properly before he arrives, don't touch anything at all and be out of that room in thirty minutes, am I clear?"

"Yes, ma'am."

Oh how I hate her, how I wanted to slap the face of this wretched woman.

"Good, there is the material you will use," she points to another aluminum door. "Use the cleaners' elevator and go quickly."

She leaves me alone in the changing room, hoping that fate has no more negative surprises in store for me.

I take the materials and go to the elevator, I forgot to ask which floor was Mr. Valentine's office, I will press the last button, whatever it is.

(Renata Pellegrini)

Who would have thought, I am actually stepping into the headquarters of the company Computing Diamond. Currently occupying the fifth place in the ranking of the most profitable companies in the world. And its owner, occupying the first place in the ranking of the richest man in the world, having a fortune of over $359 billion.

Suspicious, how come his company is fifth and he is first? Well, he must have investments in other fields besides his own company.

This is none of my business, I have seen so many advertisements of the computers and their operating systems created here, the cell phones, smartphones and smart tvs sold with Computing Diamond systems are some of the most expensive on the market, my consumption dream was to have a notebook from Diamond line (both its physical structure, as well as all the circuits were created and produced in this very company). Who knows, as I now work here, maybe I will get some discount when buying.

My profession is systems analyst, I studied for four long years, but now here I am, as a cleaner. At least I'm working for one of the biggest companies in the world, and I'm sure the salary is good. At the end of the day, I will look for Veronica to settle the outstanding issues and sign my work permit.

"Good morning, could you tell me where Mr. Valentini's office is?" I ask a young woman.

She is dressed in a pencil skirt, a white shirt, and her hair is tied up in a high bun. She's very pretty and unlike Veronica, she doesn't look down at me.

"Good morning, are you new here?" she asks nicely, I like her.

"Yes, I was hired a few minutes ago."

"I see, my name is Sophie, I am Mr. Lucas Parmanel's assistant, what is your name?"

Lucas Parmanel. I looked him up on the Internet. He is the vice-president of this company. The gossip sites say he is a womanizer, but his intelligence is second only to the CEO's. The rough idea of the Diamond line notebooks were thought by Lucas, Filippo improved them and put them into practice.

"Renata Pellegrini, nice to meet you," we shake hands. At least one person in this company is kind.

"Welcome to the Diamond family, that door at the end of the hall is Mr. Valentini's, there, the extra key to the door is under the rug" he guides me and mentally I thank God for putting him in my way.

"Thank you very much," I thank him and walk to the door.

What a big door, mirrored glass, all very fancy.

I am not an envious person, but I wish I was dressed like that girl. I studied to go to work in those kinds of clothes, but look how I am. Wearing a cleaning uniform, cleaning and dusting, I studied so much... I left everything behind, could I get a better job in Brazil?

I enter the room, it smells like money, the cream colored walls are well lit, on top of the large rectangular table are several papers, a computer from the Diamond SX line, behind the table a large padded chair. I'm sure that this room alone is worth more than my life. I observe the bookcase full of trophies and whiskey bottles of various types, there are also several picture frames with huge photos, I take one of them in hand and look closely at my boss, here he is even more handsome than in the magazines and gossip sites, the full dark eyebrows and frowns gave him a bad face look.

I put the portrait holder in place and immediately begin my work. I observe another bookcase, where there are several types of weapons. I imagine they are plastic, I have never seen these models. What kind of boss collects weapons in the company where he works?

I take the duster and start to remove the dust, being very careful not to move anything. Then I organize the table and pick up the little balls of paper from the floor. I decide to open one of these little balls, is this a weapon design? Meticulous drawings of each part, did Mr. Valentini draw it?

What an ugly thing to do, looking at your boss' things, that's not what your mother taught you, my conscience scolds me, I crumple the paper again and throw it in the trash bin.

The room was not as dirty as I thought, I used the vacuum cleaner on the two-seater sofa next to the door and on the floor, finally only a little red stain remains on the top hat. I take the damp cloth and get down on my knees, I start to rub the stain hard, but it is too persistent.

You won't be able to beat me, you stupid stain! I bend over even more and put even more force into scrubbing.

"Who are you?" an extremely deep male voice speaks behind me.

My heart feels like it is going to come out of my mouth, what a day Lord, what a day... Why do I have to be so unlucky?

I turn around, Mr. Filippo is looking at me with a frown, and just like in the picture, he has the look of an evil man, all my danger alerts are firing inside my head, my blood is freezing, I can't take my eyes off his deep, deep gaze. Can he see my soul?

"Are you going to stay there on the floor, ragazza?"

"N-no, sir," I stand up and adjust my apron in an attempt to look as presentable as possible.

Suddenly this room seems to have gotten so small.

"Who gave you permission to enter my office?"

Why do I feel so intimidated? What is it that exudes from this man? Rather, what has happened to my voice?

I feel as if I am being caught doing something wrong, and he is going to punish me. My fingers tingle.

"Sir... Clean... Stain... Sorry, I…" damn, I'm so nervous that my voice is shaky and my sentences come out all disjointed.

"Be clear, damn it! Who do you think you're talking to?" he shouts and approaches me, I take steps back. I feel that this man could kill me!

My whole body is trembling, I'm afraid, today should be a day of joy, but it is only coming trial after trial. When will this end?

Veronica enters the room with a big smile on her face, taking Filippo's attention away from me.

When she sees me, her smile dies and she gives me a deadly look.

Oh my God, I'm going to be fired... My portfolio hasn't even been signed... I've only worked for ten minutes and I've already lost everything, I think.