1.1 ʟᴏᴠɪɴɢ ᴍᴀʏʜᴇᴍ | ✓

08 | law of judgment

I had adjusted to Aiscelle's presence and she had gotten accustomed to me. My prior anxieties petered out into a faint humming. But it didn't mean that I wished to meet more people and risked getting my cover blown.

"You are?" Acrylic demanded, forehead creasing in impatience.

"I'm Caprice."

"You're pretty," he muttered in nonchalance.

I returned the apathy. "Thank you."

Acrylic arched an eyebrow. His upper lip twisted into a mocking smile. "You think you're pretty? Even with a job like that?"

The audacity! I moistened my lips. I detested his hubris. I might be detached from people with lower standing but I was never impertinent. Etiquette was as vital as pride.

"You can call me ugly if you want. It's your opinion. I don't mind." My eyes narrowed at him. "You know what I mind? When people give compliments they don't mean. That's trashy."

Acrylic was taken aback. Before he could say anything, I pushed past him. I wasted enough time already. I heard the guy stomping away that a triumphant grin slid down my face.

It was almost noon when I finished my task. I dried the mop, returning it to the cleaning box. Just then, my phone rang.

"Priz? Are you breathing?" It was Rage on the other line. I could hear his twin brother, Sage, grumbling his wish to talk to me.

The twins were as rowdy as ever that I couldn't help but smile. I massaged my arm which ached from the cleaning Aiscelle and I did. And would ache again after what I just did.

"Yes. I'm alive and I'm wearing an apron," I replied.

I heard them laughed. Jared roughly saying he's going to send me a whole drawer of sexy nighties and undies. The idiot!

I heard several groans of pain and profanities before someone spoke.

"Caprice? Where are you?" It was Indy this time. I was quite sure that he was the cause of that clamoring from earlier.

"I'm okay but as I said, my clothes don't live up to my taste. And on top of that, I'm cleaning men's restrooms and I'm hungry. And worst of all, I think I'm in hell." I exclaimed, thinking about my encounters with Colt and the other jerks. I badly wanted to tell Indy about him but I feared my best friend would overreact and kill him or something. No one disrespected us like that.

Indy snorted. "You mean you're a janitor."

I whined. "Please don't look down on me. I have enough of that."

"They look down on you?" The furious edge in Indy's voice gained a regretful groan from me. "The bastards!"

"Can you blame them?" I inspected my fingers, seeing them prune from being soaked.

"¿Me jodes? I don't remember looking down on my employees." Indy's rant commenced. "Hell! I'm not nice but I say thank you to people who clean my shit and deliver me good bourbon."

I rubbed at my temples. "Everyone is different, I guess. Money or not."

The uproar in the background was gone. Indy had shifted away from the others and this implied that the topic was crucial. I held my breath for his next words.

"Galahad Alvarez is a secretive man."

"And?" Indiana wouldn't call for a measly detail like that.

"His electronics company is in the red for a while now. Investors might save it, especially if SM Group will take over. But even before that, there's nothing notable about them. I understand marriage of convenience. This isn't one of them."