There's no way I had just exclaimed in an annoyed tone in front of my boss. His eyes held anger as he looked at me and I instinctively took a minuscule step backward.
"I beg your pardon?" He finally said after about a minute of silence.
Okay, Lou, everything will be fine as long as you don't say something stupid.
"What I meant to say was that you told me to get out without saying a thank you for the food or something like that." I said quietly and mentally facepalmed myself.
He dropped his cutlery back on the plate and it made a loud sound at the contact. He then stared at me with an incredulous look on his face and said. "Who do you think you are? You've only been here for two days and now you think you have the right to say whatever you like?"
He was seething in anger as he said every word and I did not know why. He might find the anger management videos more important to him than it is to me.
"No, I-"
"Get out."
"But sir-"
"Get out of my office now!" He slammed his hand on the table causing me to flinch.
I left without saying a word as my heart hammered rapidly inside my chest and my breathing was uneven.
My blood suddenly felt hot and I walked down the steps in my own anger. "He didn't even give me a chance to explain or apologize!"
I threw my hands up in exasperation and walked out the front door. Dré was already seated inside the car as I opened the car door, sitting in the passenger's seat.
"How do you deal with that guy? He's so...Urgh!" I yanked the seatbelt from its holster as I buckled in and folded my arms.
"Who?" Dre said chuckling and turning on the ignition.
I turned to look at him. "Who else besides our egotistical boss?!"
"Well, the master is quite fond of himself."
"Fond? He acts like he's the only person that matters in the world and looks down on everyone. And enough with the whole 'the master' thing. He really wants everyone to kiss his arse doesn't he?" I ranted angrily, fisting my hands.
"You'll get used to it Scarlet." My hands softened as blood flowed to my cheeks. I stared at Dré whose eyes were glued to the road and turned my face toward the window immediately to hide my blush.
Why was I blushing?
"What's the matter? Did I say something offensive?" He exchanged glances between the road and me quickly as I shrunk into my seat getting redder by the second.
What is wrong with me?
"You called me Scarlet. Why?" I asked in a low voice.
"It could be my little nickname for you since it looks like we'll be around each other a lot. Or do you not like the name?"
I turned my face away from the window and stared at him. "No, I didn't say that. I...I guess you could call me that if you like."
Now I'm stuttering? Real smooth Lou.
He let out small laughter and the rest of the ride was quiet until he pulled into the parking lot of a big supermarket I had definitely not seen before.
"What is this place?" I asked unbuckling my seatbelt and gaping at the large building.
"This is the master's supermarket. We only get our groceries from here."
It was my turn to laugh but Dré's face looked serious. "Wait he actually owns this? Just how rich is he?" I got out of the car as Dre followed suit.
"You have no idea." He chuckled said and chuckled
"What even is a medium-rare, half-cooked, half raw steak?" I asked sprinting with the trolley as he tried to keep up with me.
"I have no idea. I usually wait in the car for the maids." Dré replied as he tried catching his breath beside me, just as we reached the frozen section.
"Aha! There it is!" I picked up the cold meat and dropped it in with the other things.
"Now to pick up the deserts. I'll race you to the ice cream section! That is if you're up for it." I say with a smirk on my face.
"Oh, you're on!"
"That took longer than I expected." We both chuckled as we pushed the trolley to the car.
"Yeah. It would've taken longer if you hadn't burst into a sprint like a madman, right in the middle of the store." Dre said, laughing while I fake-pouted and turned my head to the side sharply.
"Eep." He poked my side causing me to wiggle.
"What was that?" Dre asked with a teasing smirk on his face.
"Nothing." I brushed invisible strands of hair away from my face just as he did one of the worst things you can ever do to a person.
Tickle them.
"Oh my gosh! P-please, p-p-please s-stop." I laughed frantically and I now looked like an actual madman. People passing by gave us weird stares.
"Who would've guessed you're ticklish."
He was mocking me. I had to stop laughing.
I took in air with my mouth and puffed my cheeks, folding my arms to prevent me from laughing as I turned red while he tickled my sides. But I failed instantly at that.
"Okay, okay! Fine, fine! You win." I said as I pried his hands from me. "I am ticklish. Very. So don't ever do that again."
We both laughed for a bit and stopped, continuing our staring contest again.
Beep beep beep beep!!
"Shit!" I was the first to look away as I grabbed my phone that made the beeping sound from my purse and turned off the alarm.
I opened the car door and said to Dré. "We need to go. Now!"
"Okay. Let's go." I strapped myself in the passenger's seat as Dre started off to the office. By my calculation, I would get there at exactly 1 pm to drop off the boss's food. I was scared I would be tardy but I'm glad I was right on time.
The car ride was quiet. Too quiet. "Hey. How long have you been working for this so-called master of yours." I said and he smiled after hearing my question.
"My mum first worked as the maid of his family before personally working for the master. Myself and the master used to play a lot together. Think of it like childhood friends. So I can say it's been well over 15 years."
I nodded my head but a question came to mind. "Your mum?"
"Yeah. Didn't you know? My mum's the maid/ caretaker of the master." He glanced at me briefly before staring back at the road ahead.
I gasped. "Oh! So you're Miss Clara's....oh." I said realization hitting as Dré nodded.
"Please, go on." I urged him to continue what he was saying.
"It was sometime when were 18, that things started turning out differently. He started distancing himself from me and suddenly demanded I call him the master, threatening me with my job. Simply put he became a dictator. I lost my best friend."
"But it doesn't even have to be that way!" I exclaimed.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean you two could make it work. Remind him of the good days you had together in the past with him. Your friendship should not have to end this way!"
"That's quite impossible right now. He's a very very busy man and I'm just a mere driver. I can't make him lose track of his priorities." He sighed and I fell silent at his words.
"We're here." I looked up at the high-rise building and asked myself a question in my head again.
Just how rich is this guy?
"Thank you. I'll be back before you know it." I said opening my door.
"Take your time. It seems the master has taken quite a liking to you." He stifled a peal of laughter. I leaned down after exiting the car and gave him a look.
"What? You think that arse has taken a liken to me? I'm a hundred and one percent sure he hates me, and I him." I folded my arms and huffed.
Dré laughed at my antics. "What I mean is that none of the other maids ever made him lunch and brought it personally to him in his office. You just might be his personal favorite."
"Well, he's my personal enemy. I'll be back soon." I closed the door and caught Dré laughing and shaking his head.
"Now which way is his office? This place is ginormous!" I walked toward the receptionist and stated my business.
He gave me the directions and I took the elevator to the last floor, walking to where he had directed.
I was about to knock on his door when I saw both him and some other gentlemen talking animatedly about something inaudible to hear, some distance away from his office.
I waited patiently for him to finish before he began making his way toward me. He barely glanced at me as he entered his office.
I followed him in and he looked at me with a scowl. "Get out. And knock."
Well someone knows how to keep a grudge.
I sighed, went out, and knocked thrice before he said I could come in. "
I walked toward his table and raised the paper bag in my hand. "Your lunch sir."
"Drop it here." He patted the corner of his desk and so I placed the food there just as my curiosity decided to get the best of me.
"I heard I'm the first maid you've asked to personally make your lunch. May I ask why is that?"
He looked up at me and rubbed his temples. "I'm even busier lately and so I can't afford to be going in and out of restaurants at this time of the day. If that is all, you may leave."
I rolled my eyes and turned to leave as I caught his name tag laminated on his desk. "Mr. Charlie Chadwick."
"What?" He called out.
"Nothing, I was just reading your name. I'll be taking my leave now."
I left without a backward glance as I made my way downstairs.
Charlie huh? He has such a nice name despite him being an arse.
I laughed to myself and got out of the building, moving towards the car where Dré was.
"Hey."
"Hey. I knew you would take your time." Dré gave me a look and I then realized what he was trying to say.
"Ewww. Ew ew ew ew ew. Dré !" I playfully slapped his shoulder as he laughed and drove home.
The ride home was filled with small talk and we ended up in silence. But the comfortable kind of silent. Dré pulled into the underground garage which held many brilliant cars owned by the boss.
"No way!" I exclaimed and examined the different types of cars that were there, like a child staring at a lolly.
We entered the house and stopped at the kitchen. "Shall I make you something to eat? It's been quite a long day and I feel bad for dragging you around." I asked as I retied my hair into a ponytail.
"You didn't drag me around, Louise. It's basically my job. But I don't mind you making something because I would be lying if I said I wasn't starving." He grinned and sat at the chairs in the aisle.
"Okay." I said with a smile as I hurriedly prepared the most basic meal ever, spaghetti and meatballs with tomato sauce.
I served us our food and we chatted for some time during the meal. Dré was done with his work for the day. He would just have to pick up the boss when he was done at the office. I on the other hand had a lot of work left but I planned on tending to them after the meal with Dré.
I learned a lot about Dré. His mum, Clara, had worked part-time for Charlie's family but after her husband's business went bust many years ago, she began to work full time.
Dré's dream was to go to business school, travel around the world, and someday get employed in a good company. But life doesn't always go as we want it to, so his dream remained as nothing more than a dream.
"I'm sorry that you experienced all of that, Dré." I managed to say. I didn't know what else to say.
"It's alright." He shook his head and then gave me a bright smile. "And what about you? You mentioned you were trying to save up money for university, yes?" I nodded and he continued. "What do you plan to study when you get in?"
"I plan to major in mainly marketing and then photography on the side. I would like to go to marketing school to learn the basics of selling my services and ideas to big companies. I have many ideas I could show them and inventions that could be created, camera-wise. And I've always had a passion for photography that's why I want to be very good at it, professional even, and then teach the people who don't have the opportunity to learn about it without paying an arm and a leg. I'd also like to create opportunities for them to make a living from the artistry of photography. Then a little later, I would love to build a creative academy where people discover talents they didn't know they had and many, many more." I finished my rant and took a deep breath.
I could talk about photography for hours and hours and not get tired of talking about it. I really wanted to travel the world and experience different things too, just like he did.
I turned to look at Dré and caught him just staring at me. "Oh, I'm so sorry for the rambling. Sometimes, I get a little caught up when talking about my dreams."
He didn't say anything but kept staring at me as I tucked a stray strand of my hair behind my ear. "What?"
"Nothing. I've just never met someone who has this many dreams and such a ferocious passion. You're also very beautiful when you talk about your dreams and you have pretty big ones." He chuckled.
I instantly blushed as he said that, turning aside and huffing and puffing air to cool my flaming face like that was going to work.
I do not know why I always seem to get flustered whenever I spoke with Dré, I don't think I'll ever know either. I also only knew about his existence about 48 hours ago, but it's quite fun being around him like I've known him for years.
Dre laughed at my weird actions and said. "I think Scarlet suits you perfectly."
We chatted a little more about the most random things and then I began doing my remaining chores, Dré keeping me company through it all.
We both retreated to our rooms after I was done cleaning and now Dré was currently standing outside of mine.
"So, do you have any plans for this Saturday?" Dré suddenly asked out of the blue.
"Besides me during the regular chores and cooking, I'm pretty much free. Why?"
"I'd love to take you out if that's okay. And don't get me wrong, I know it's a bit too forward, but I had a nice time with you today. I would like to hang out with you again if you don't mind.
Dré looked nervous as he said that and it was quite an adorable sight.
I cocked my head to the left and smiled, looking up at him." I had so much fun with you today too, I wouldn't mind hanging out but how is it going to work? Would we have to run away from the cranky dragon?" That earned laughter from Dré which caused me to laugh too.
"I'd definitely save the princess from it and run away with her." He took my hand and kissed the back of it, getting into character.
"Very charming. Then I'd wait for my prince to come to save me." I did a little courtesy and the two of us laughed loudly at our antics.
"You're very funny Louise. Till Saturday then." He said to me with a smile and I nodded in form of a reply.
"Yeah, Saturday. Goodnight Dre." I turned away from him and bit the insides of my cheek, preventing myself from having a silly smile on my face, and entered my room. I closed the door before he could respond and slapped my cheeks twice.
"Louise Martha Jackson. Just what on earth are you doing?" I rolled my eyes and lay on my bed.