Meeting Mr. Mogul (Book 1 of Mr. Mogul series)

Five

I concentrated on the work at hand. Terry accompanied me in the bar as he waited for Andrew, encouraging me the whole time. At least my busy job helped me forget what had happened earlier. By the time the club closed, I felt reassured I still have a job. For that, I was grateful.

Jack offered to drive me back home again. We were silent for the first few minutes as he drove out of the parking lot. But then, he broke the silence with words I prayed he wouldn't mention at all.

"So, why does William Maxwell want you fired?" he asked, his voice low.

I turned to him abruptly, stunned by his sudden question. "Did he call you?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

"He did before you came in. He told me to fire you. Though he didn't tell me why," he said, curiosity evident in his voice.

I looked away from him, relieved his attention was on the road. I bit my lips to prevent curses from pouring out of me. In an attempt to calm myself, I took a deep breath and exhaled. "I quit my other job and insulted him," I replied, my voice wavering from suppressed emotion.

He slowed down to a stop when the traffic light turned red. He turned towards me, his lips twitched in amusement. "You insulted him? Why?"

"Well, he insulted me first. I just returned the favor."

There was a pause, then his laughter rang throughout the confined space of his car. He was still laughing when the light turned green. It took a while before he could reply.

"I can't believe someone is brave enough to go against a Maxwell."

I kept my mouth shut and stared straight ahead at the dimly lit street. When we reached the apartment, I softly thanked him. He didn't bring up the topic anymore. He simply smiled. From the way he acted that night (or morning), I thought Terry was wrong about him being a serious person. After all, I just saw the man look amused, smile, and laugh.

~~~~

A few hours later, I woke up before Terry. I made breakfast, freshened up, and waited for him to get up, as per usual. When he emerged from his room, I greeted him warmly, as if yesterday's events didn't happen.

"Are you going out early today?" he asked, assessing me for a moment before walking towards the kitchen.

"Yes. And I might get home a little late since I quit my waitressing job," I said, adding that last tidbit calmly.

"So, you're going to look for another job again?" he asked, his voice slightly distorted from chewing his food.

"Maybe. I haven't received any responses from the companies I've applied to earlier this week. I'll wait some more before I start looking again."

"Oh. I remember Andrew telling me about this work that was available. I could talk to him about it if you're interested," Terry said as he nibbled on the bread he was holding.

"Tell me what the job is first, and then we can talk more from there," I countered, smirking at him mischievously. I need to be careful about accepting Terry's job offers since the last two he gave belonged to 'him.' I am barely staying afloat, and my job at the club was hanging in the balance. The last thing I needed was to give him another opportunity for him to fire me.

When I reached the hospital, the attending nurse was bemused when I arrived earlier than usual, though she didn't say anything about it. Instead, she gave me a friendly greeting and told me about my father's progress. After our little chat, I went to my father's room and silently opened the door. I knew he was awake because I heard muffled noises.