Flawless // z.m

Four.

I woke up the next morning with a pounding headache and a numb left arm. My curtains were wide open and the purple and orange hues of the sunrise swept across my room, bringing me out of my slumber. I brought my fingers to my temples to relieve some of the tension behind my eyes but to no avail. I couldn't even come up with a plausible reason as to why there was an unbearable throbbing in my head. It's not like I did much last night, I came straight home from the encounter with the Devil and crashed into my bed.

I groaned and my cheeks flushed as I recalled the horrible embarrassment I had felt leaving his office. If he didn't hate me enough, I definitely gave him a reason to last night. I must have been completely out of my mind to have thought snooping through his belongings was even remotely a good idea.

Extremely poor judgment on my part.

When he walked into that office and I caught sight of his eyes darkening, it was like my whole body had frozen in time. Nothing could describe how terrified and humiliated I felt. I couldn't even began to think of the consequences I would suffer and when he let me off so easily, I couldn't even dwell on it. I half expected him to grab me by the hair and personally escort me out the door and dump me onto the streets, but he did no such thing. It was surprising really, someone as angry and guarded as him letting me go after a simple warning. I didn't think about it too much as it would only do more damage.

Today was Tuesday and I was expected at work in an hour. Luckily, Mr. Malik is going to be in meetings all day so I didn't have to face him. I sighed and pushed myself off the bed. The second my body left the captivating warmth, I was overwhelmed with fatigue. The pressure in my head only grew as I squinted against the light pouring into my room. I turned my back against the window and dragged my feet to the bathroom to get dressed.

After showering, shaving and spending a good half hour on my hair, I stepped out of the steamy bathroom and ventured to my closet. My apartment was fairly large and located near South Wacker, which gave me the perfect view of the Sears Tower. The rent was through the roof but my parents insisted that I only get the best and practically begged me to let them pay for it. I agreed, only so they'd get off my back but I had every intention to pay them back now that I had a well paying job.

I pulled out a tight black pencil skirt, a dark blue cotton button up and quickly pulled them on. I didn't have time to find the perfect pair of shoes, so I grabbed the first ones my hands could reach.

It was cold, obliviously, and the walk to Malik Inc. was long and tiresome. My breath came out in short puffs of white air due to my heavy stride and aching limbs. People pushed past me, cursing and rushing to their own jobs. The tall black building was just ahead so I slowed my pace, taking the time to enjoy the wind pushing against my skin.

I was enveloped into warmth the second I stepped into the building, and greeted kindly by the valet staff. I slumped against the golden walls of the elevator as I was taken up to the twelfth level. There was a button for the thirteenth floor, but you needed a password to reach the floor. Intrigued, I brushed my finger against the button, biting my lip as I pulled away; I couldn't afford to get into anymore trouble.

"Good morning, Arabelle," Catherine smiled at me from behind her computer screen and her eyebrows raised when she saw the state I walked in in. "Jesus, you could give Rudolph a run for his money," she giggled at her own joke and I grimaced as I went to my desk. I pressed the 'on' button on the computer and set my things down before going into the break room. I filled two cups with the scorching hot liquid, adding milk and sugar to mine and carefully retreated to Mr. Malik's office.

When I entered his office, the same two people that dropped off his package yesterday were seated at his desk. The younger girl was wearing a look of annoyance and the woman had her arms crossed tightly across her chest. They both turned to me when I cleared my throat, the young girl rolling her eyes and turning her attention towards the large glass window overlooking Chicago.