Total Respect (Sample)

Chapter 1

"Kiara—" Somebody grabbed both of her shoulders, shaking her body hard as they yanked a book from underneath her head. Kiara lurched away from the offender. Her eyes opened wide. "Kiara, wake up! You have to wake up now. If Mr. Vega catches you, there will be hell to pay."

"Lourdes?" Kiara breathed with relief, still not fully awake. She had a dream that Julian found her and was holding a knife to her throat. He was about to kill her when Lourdes woke her up. Her cheeks flushed as she looked at the clock on the wall. It was eight-thirty in the morning. "Oh my god, Lourdes. I fell asleep again." Kiara threw her schoolbooks in her bag before any of the regular office workers showed up. She was thankful Lourdes always arrived first.

"Come on! You left out the cleaning supplies." Lourdes picked up an armful as Kiara scooped up the rest; they hurried to the supply closet.

"I'm sorry," Kiara apologized. "I don't know what happened. I haven't been able to sleep lately. I guess it hit me again."

"No, I get it, but I'm not the one you have to worry about."

Kiara yanked out the flash drive and tried to reboot the computer, making it look as it did the night before. "I know; it won't happen aga—" Kiara looked at a man with horror as she turned around, the man ripping the flash drive from her fingers.

"Mr. Vega?" Lourdes blurted out. Kiara had never met him, the owner of the prestigious cruise line and half of her known world. He stood taller than she did by almost a foot, glaring at Kiara. His brown eyes probed every passage to her soul, slowly choking the life from her conscious mind. If not for adrenaline pumping through her veins, Kiara knew she would have collapsed. Miguel probably had no idea she had cleaned his travel agency at night for the past year.

"Mr. Vega, I can explain." Kiara panicked with being caught.

"Lourdes," he pointed, "get to work."

"Yes sir," said Lourdes, giving Kiara a sympathetic glance on her way out.

"Who are you? What do you think you're doing with this?" He showed no sign of backing down as he dangled the flash drive within her grasp. "What are you stealing from my computers?"

Kiara adamantly shook her head. "No, I would never steal anything. I clean here at night."

"Really?" He pressed his lips together. "Since when do office cleaners need flash drives to clean?" When she gave no answer he motioned with his hand. "Follow me to my office."

She was in trouble. She knew she was. Judging by Miguel's reputation, all of her belongings would be confiscated. She received fair warning when she took the job. Kiara was told not to touch anything. The hiring manager explained how the owner trusted few people. Kiara knew her name was not included on that list.

On the tenth floor, the elevator opened to a v-shaped hall. Offices lined both sides with one singled out at the end. Kiara assumed that it was Miguel's as he steadily approached the door. After shifting through a large ring covered with keys, Miguel entered, leaving the door open and sitting at his desk.

Kiara's body trembled. She could lose her job, a job she absolutely needed to stay in school. Then she waited, watching him as he started his computer and slid in her memory card. While he clicked through the contents, his eyes narrowed and he rested his cheek on his fist. Now he seemed confused. "What is this?"

"It's—" She tried to speak up, but her throat went dry from the fear of losing her job. Saying one word led her to cough. She coughed again and then again. "It's...my...school work."

Miguel snorted and twisted in his chair to grab something off a table behind him; then he handed her a bottle of water. "Explain yourself."

Kiara took more time drinking the water than actually needed. Miguel merely crossed his arms, not happy that she made him wait for an answer. Kiara wanted to delay being fired and slowly returned the lid.

"I'm in my last year of school and I clean your building at night. I don't have anywhere else to use a computer. So when I'm done cleaning, I sort of...borrow one of yours."

Silence. Miguel did not say anything right away. Kiara considered the stare-off that they were having, one that he was winning. She had to look away. Kiara never remembered being more intimidated than she was now. "What is your major?" he asked, surprising her by not immediately firing her for using company resources for personal use.

"Finance," she answered.

"Then that makes you numbers smart. How do I know you aren't giving my numbers to the competition?"

She shook her head again. "I would never steal. I'm trying to get my degree so I can help my family. I really need this job."

"Bring me your bag." Kiara looked at her bag, her body slouching, defeated as she handed it over to him. Then she watched as he laid each of her books on his desk, all four of her spiral bound notebooks and several pens and mechanical pencils. "What time did you come to work yesterday?" he asked, pushing aside her bag.

"At twelve."

"Twelve in the morning? We close our offices at five. Who authorized you to come in that late? This building should be empty by ten." Kiara stayed quiet. She knew he did not want answers to his questions. "Why aren't you using the school's computers? That's what they're there for."

"I can't, Mr. Vega. I have another job too. The school is closed when I get out of work."

Miguel leaned back in his chair and faced the window to the right. He paid careful attention to some people walking to and from his agency. For a man who didn't trust, the three large windows surrounding his desk were probably more for peace of mind than view. It gave him constant sight of what was going on outside.

"If you want to keep your job, I'm going to need to see your phone."

"My phone?"

"It's your choice. I need to make sure you didn't take anything."

"Okay." She slowly handed it over. His trust issues went beyond normal caution, almost to the point of paranoia. Kiara reflected on how lonely he must feel.

"So you came in at twelve and made no calls but have about a dozen calls from this one number."

"Oh," Kiara looked away, "it was the wrong number."

Miguel's brow rose. "A wrong number that you named Julian?" Kiara gave a sheepish shrug but stayed silent. There was nothing incriminating on her phone, so she assumed that he would let her keep the job.

"Two jobs and school. How old are you?" He handed back the phone.

"I'm twenty-three." Kiara noticed how the clock on his wall showed nine and grew nervous with every tick of the hand.

"Are you expecting someone?" he asked, irritated with the lack of undivided attention.

"No, it's that my next class starts at nine-thirty. If I'm not there at exactly that time, the professor will lock me out."

"But the college is only ten minutes away. You have plenty of time."

"Not if I walk."

"I see," he said, realizing she did not have a car. "Okay, you're clean. I'm going to let you keep your job here, but if I catch you staying overnight again, you're fired. That's it. No surprises. No talk. Instant dismissal. Got it?"

"I understand."

Miguel started putting all of her books back in her bag; then he took out his phone and held up a finger to her. "It's me. I'm sending down a young woman who has been held up in my office. I want you to take her wherever she needs to go. She'll be down in five minutes."

He hung up and looked at Kiara. "My driver's name is Andres. He will take you to class."

"Thank you." She smiled an appreciative smile. It was nice of him to have someone drive her to school. She was grateful that she would not have to miss class. "And thank you for letting me keep my job," she said and hurried through the open door, racing to the elevator.