assistant; caleb mclaughlin

thirteen

"what?" caleb chokes out, disbelief coming across his face. "you can't quit. don't quit."

"stop caleb." i croak. "it'd be better if i do it now."

"no, you can't. please. i'll let you spit into my coffee everyday." he tells me, grabbing both of my cold hands.

"is that supposed to make me feel better?" i sniffle.

he shrugs, "a little. just don't quit."

"let her do what she wants." finn cuts in.

caleb's eyes narrow and he turns to face finn. oh no. they're pretty much seething at one another.

"i know your game." caleb's voice slightly raises. "you want her to quit so you can go out with her."

"i want her to do whatever makes her happy, and obviously being held in this building everyday with you, isn't making her happy!" finn retorts and caleb takes a step foward.

thinking it's the right and good idea, i grab caleb's sleeve. he notices right away and looks down at my hand and back up to me.

"don't hurt him. he has nothing to do with this." i tell caleb, wiping the tears off my face.

"it's super clear that he wants you." caleb grumbles. "he wants whats mine."

"you're being ridiculous." i shake my head.

"get back to work." caleb commands to finn and then he looks back at me. "and come back to my office with me. i won't let you quit. you don't have to do anything if you stay here. i'll pay for you company."

i shake my head, "that's not fair to everyone else. i need to work hard for the money i make."

"mila." caleb breathes. "you can't quit. please."

i look down to the floor, trying to blink away the rest of the tears that are slowly ceasing to a stop.

"do you want what's best for me?" he suddenly asks, his low voice ringing in my ears.

what?

i look up at him, "of course i do. i want what's best for everyone."

"then don't quit. if you want what's best for me, then stay." he takes a step towards me, a pleading look on his face.

"now you're just being rude." i tell him, taking a step back.

i can't be fooled by his acting. he's extremely good and if his business wasn't taking off, he could easily star the leading role of a movie.

"i'm not." caleb shakes his head. "i'm being reasonable."

"you aren't being reasonable either. if anything, you're being very unfair."

"well, what do you want? want the rest of the day off? will that get you to continue to stay here?" his eyebrows raise.

what i want is for him is to actually tell me what he feels. if he didn't like me, he wouldn't be asking me stay. this job is so simple and someone could replace it right away. they'd just have to deal with him everyday.

"i would love the day off, but that doesn't guarantee that i'll come back." i honestly tell him.

he loudly sighs, rubbing the side of his face. we both look like complete idiots in the lobby right now and i'm sure that people are staring at us like we're crazy.

makes me want to not come here even more. what if i'm labeled the attention seeker in the office? this would literally be the mean girls of business. 

"i can't let you completely go." caleb tells me, shoving his hands into his pockets. "if i let you go this easily, you're gonna complain about how you're nothing. you females tend to do that a lot." he whistles through his teeth. 

"so, you're holding onto me because you think that's what i want?" my eyelids lower. "clearly you've never had a girlfriend if that's what you believe."

"i've had many girlfriends and that is the reason why i know to hang on longer. you're not the only one fed up, you know? you probably come to work and complain about being stuck with me, but you should know that i have it worse." he seethes.

whoa, change of direction.

"what do you do? fetch me coffee and files and that's pretty much it. i run a company." he emphasizes. "do you see me crying."

"i think you're taking this the wrong way." i murmur. 

"am i really? all i'm just trying to say is don't quit." caleb tells me. "it's that simple. take the rest of the day off and come back tomorrow." he shoos me off.

"i'm not quitting because my job is hard!" i exclaim, but not too loudly.

that grasps his attention and he turns back to face me once again, genuinely confused. 

"it's you. you're the reason!"

he's taken aback, "excuse me. me? i'm the reason you want to quit?" he points an accusing finger at his own chest.

"yes, you. one moment, you're wanting to kiss me and the next, you're shoving your tongue down someone else's throat!"

he ignorantly and arrogantly chuckles, "you're jealous, aren't you?"

"what'll happen if i admit to it? it's not going to stop you from doing it-"

"it'll give me sometime to think about." he cuts me off. 

"you can't lead me on to some things and then completely turn to someone else. i've dealt with people like you in high school, i don't want to again." i say.

"what do you want me to do?" he asks. "name something and it'll be done. don't think about the price or how long it'll take."

i purse my lips, wondering if i should actually say what i want to. it'll make me seem shallow and low, especially because this is strictly business and it's really unfair.

"say it." caleb urges me. 

"fire alexa." 

his eyebrows furrow together, "what?"

"did i stutter?" i suddenly snap.

"you want me to fire her? she just got hired a few days ago, i can't"

"okay, then go through some other job applications. i'm sure you could easily find a new personal assistant." i nod.

"what? no. mila, stop." caleb grabs my arm to stop me from further walking away.

"let go of me." i seethe, ripping my arm from his grasp.

his facial expression softens and i feel the familiar welding in my eyes. i rarely ever cried. i just started crying all over again after working for caleb. he hold his hands up in surrender.

"i'll fire her." he gently says. "just come back to work tomorrow, okay?"

i hate being that type of person, but i just can't work in this building with her in it. i've never talked to her, but our very little and short encounters tells me everything i need to know about her personality. she doesn't like me. 

i don't like her.

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