Page 381 of Valentino

I roll my eyes, no shit, Sherlock. A diamond python. Looks pretty…. but if left unattended, will suffocate you to death.

“Okay….. if you say so.” I roll my eyes.

Thump, thump, thump goes my heart. I can’t wait until the end of our meeting; I need to tell him now. I pull out the envelope and hold it out to him. “I’ve got something for you.”

He turns and his eyes fall to the envelope and then rise up to me.

“What’s this?”

I swallow the lump in my throat. “It’s my resignation.”

His face falls. “What?”

“I…..”

“No.”

“Gabriel…. I’m not asking for your permission. I am leaving.”

He snatches the envelope from my hand and tears it in half and then throws it in the rubbish bin. “You will do no such thing.”

Here we go.

He marches to the door and opens it in a rush, “Go back to your desk and get to work.”

“No.”

“Do. As. I. say,” he growls.

“No.”

“Do not tell me no!” He’s about to go into cardiac arrest. “You work for me, not the other way around.”

“You’re in your underpants, you know?” I gesture down at his body. “The whole office could walk in and see you.”

“I fucking know that,” he screams, but he must realize that I’m right and he slams the door shut again. He marches over to his suit as it lays on the chair.

“And where do you think you’re going to work, hey?” He picks up his pants and being so angry, he struggles to put them on. “Do you think you are going to work with a competitor? Because I call fucking bullshit.”

“I’m taking some time off for me.” I cross my arms as I watch his tantrum unfold.

He flicks his pants angrily in front of him. “You can’t afford to take time off.”

“Yes. I can.”

“Well, you can get this harebrained idea out of your head right fucking now, Grace,” he yells, he pulls his pants up so fast that his leg gets caught, and he nearly falls over. “Fuck off,” he cries in frustration.

I roll my lips to hide my smile.

“Get out,” he screams, the veins in his forehead are bulging, and he’s going red.

I let out a deep exhale, “There is no need to be this dramatic, Gabriel.”

“I tore up your letter, it doesn’t count. Take the day off and come to your senses.”

“That’s not happening, I’ve already emailed my resignation to HR and will be finishing up on the twenty-second of December.”

“What?” he explodes. “That’s four days away.”