''I swear to God, Grayson, I will rip your pesky little genitals out with the roots'' I muttered into the phone, the sound of my brother's laughter boiling my blood so much I could fry some fucking chicken in it.
''Oh, calm down, Scar!'' He cooed, his laughter dying down slightly.
''I'm serious, Grayson. No more pretty little kids for you and Beth, got it?'' I growled, storming my way through the crowds of people. ''And when I'm done shredding your tiny dick, I'm going to set Hunter's diner on fire and frame you for it'' I added, pushing a man out of my way as I did so.
''Okay, easy there, eh?'' He laughed again, making me grit my teeth.
''I'm not going to work for Hunter fucking Hawthorne, Grayson! Do you want me to kill myself? I would literally rather jump off a cliff and let sharks rip my limbs apart!'' I screamed into the phone, making an elderly couple jump with fright.
''It won't be that bad, c'mon! I told him to go easy on you. So calm down, alright?'' He chuckled.
''When has he ever been easy on me, you dumb willy-nilly!'' I groaned as I rounded another corner. My feet were aching and, thanks to my idiot brother, I didn't even have cash for a cab.
''Well, that's true...but he promised this time'' My brother sighed, holding back another laugh.
''I'm glad this is amusing you, it'll probably prolong your life by a few weeks if you're lucky'' I muttered as I stopped to grab a cigarette out of my purse. The rain belted against my head and I cursed the fact that I didn't get myself an umbrella before this moment. ''That's if I don't get to you'' I added with a snort.
''You really want me to suffer, eh?'' He asked, amused by my anger.
''Yes, pretty much'' I shrugged, before holding my palm over the cigarette that I held with my lips. My hand acted as the perfect shield for it as I lit it with my lighter.
''Are you smoking again?'' He was serious all of a sudden.
I rolled my eyes, ''Yes''.
''I thought you quit last year'' He sighed, disappointed.
''I did, last year. And this year, I un-quit'' I shrugged.
''Why?'' He groaned.
''It's not a big deal, Grayson'' I chuckled, trying to lighten the mood. My brother was always pretty anal about everything I did. From hiding my toys when I talked smack to my parents, to taking away all my savings so I wouldn't have a Lindsay Lohan experience. Now that my parents weren't around anymore, he got even more obsessed with controlling everything I do.
''It's because of mom and dad, right?'' He asked, his tone turning cold all of a sudden.
My chest did that weird flip as his words registered in my brain, but I pushed the feeling aside like I always did. I walked in silence, thinking of a good enough answer as my insides screamed at me to talk to him like a normal human being. ''No, it's because I'm hopeless, Grayson! C'mon, don't act like you don't know me! I couldn't just quit forever, you know me!'' I waved him off, adding an obnoxious laugh just to be sure he would believe me.
''Don't do anything stupid, Scar'' He sighed finally, clearly not buying my act.
''Well, that's kind of impossible, seeing as I can see Hunter's fucking diner down the street'' I muttered, eyeing the obnoxiously big sign on it. Who even owns diners anymore? And who even goes to diners anymore? Doesn't the stuck-up, obnoxious, billionaire Hunter Hawthorne have other businesses?
''Don't.do.anything.stupid'' Grayson dragged out.
''I.won't.do.anything.smart'' I mocked him with a smirk.
***
Praying to any God available, I waited patiently at the counter while the waitress walked off to the back. Correction- skated to the back. Yes, she's wearing rollerskates.
If I have to wear a pair of fucking rollerskates, I'm going to flip this fucking-
''And, we meet again!'' Hunter's voice cut my thoughts off, an obnoxious smirk on his face.
''Unfortunately'' I muttered, making the waitress stifle a laugh.
''What was that, Becky?'' He asked the waitress with a click of his tongue, giving her a pointed look. She cowered away immediately and skated off to take orders again.
''Jesus...'' I scoffed as I watched her scamper away. ''Did Hitler come back to life or am I finally in hell?'' I asked, a sweet smile on my lips as I turned my attention back to Hunter.
''That's no way to talk to your boss, Scary'' He raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. Well, there goes my joke. A perfectly fine joke wasted.
''Where's the boss, though?'' I smirked, getting on his nerves.
''Right in front of you, Scary'' He smirked back, playing my very own game.
''So you're the owner of this time machine?'' I shot back, my smirk growing wider. ''I could've sworn I entered a different era when I stepped foot in here''
''You see...'' He came closer, his lips pressed into a thin line, wearing a confident look in his eyes. ''That sounds like extra hours to me'' He threatened smugly.
''It's a free country'' I argued, not sure what extra hours actually meant. But the fact that the word extra was combined in a sentence with the word hours and we were standing in a diner, told me not to argue with the big, ugly man.
''Not in my diner, it's not'' He frowned, pretending to be sorry.
''You really are Hitler...'' I muttered under my breath as he pulled me along with him, right into his office.
''Sit'' He ordered, pointing to a chair on the other side of his desk. Smirking, I plopped down in his chair instead.
''What a view, eh?'' I asked, making him turn around to look at me.
His face fell immediately but he was quick to recover from the initial shock. ''Get out of my chair, right now'' He grew impatient.
''Whatcha gonna do, big Boss? Spank me? I doubt you'd know how...'' I put a finger to my lips, pretending to think hard.
''I'll put you on toilet duty for a week. How about that?'' He shot back.
I gasped, appalled, ''That...is just rude!''.
''Get up, Scarlett'' He narrowed his eyes at me.
I looked up at him from his expensive chair, smirking as if I wasn't terrified of cleaning toilets for an entire week. ''It's way too comfortable in this chair, Hunty'' I cooed. Immediately, his eyes flickered with reminiscence and my smirk deepened.
So he remembers...
''Don't call me that'' He clenched his jaw, the memories fading from his brown eyes. That told me everything I needed to know. I was getting on his nerves already. Which was perfect. Hopefully, he was already on his way to firing me from this nightmare of a job.
''Or what?'' I fluttered my eyelashes up at him.
''Listen, Scarlett'' He sighed, dragging a hand down his stubbled chin. ''I don't know what Grayson told you, but this isn't some stupid game of yours. This is a job. A real job, Scarlett. A job people come to interviews for, because they need the money. Do you understand? I know you've had it easy before but this won't be the case. You're going to have to put in some work''
My mood shifted momentarily, his words making my blood boil. ''You don't know anything about me, to be making those assumptions'' I gritted my teeth at him.
''I know enough'' He scoffed.
''Like what?! The last time you saw me I was 15, buddy!'' I scoffed right back.
''Oh, you think just because you moved away...people in this town forgot about you? C'mon, Scary, I thought you were smarter than that!'' He chuckled. ''People in this town think you're a fucking celebrity, for some reason. Everyone knows everything about you. They discussed every downfall and every success. Every time you fucked up, you and your family were the hottest topics at all the elite get-togethers'' He smirked, getting ready to say something that would make me even angrier.
''Oh, please!'' I rolled my eyes, not buying it.
''You dropped out of the best college in the country because- what? You were bored, was that it?'' He began with a confident stance, making me clench my jaw with rage. ''Your parents gave you everything and you took it all for granted, Your brother has always been covering up your stupid mess-ups and you still talk smack about him, You haven't had a single job your entire life because you prefer to be a useless leech, You party on weekdays and weekends because you simply do not give a crap about anything...should I go on?'' He raised an eyebrow, expecting me to be offended.
And I was.
But I wasn't going to show him that.
I smiled sweetly, ''You know so much about me, Sugarplum! Sounds like fan behavior to me''.
He rolled his eyes at me just as I got up out of his chair.
''Just do the fucking job, Scarlett. Prove your brother that you're not just a fucking inconvenience, alright? Do this one thing your brother wants you to do, just this once'' He shrugged, knowing damn well how much his words stung.
I stopped in my tracks, right by the door.
''He wants to make sure you're ready for adult life. Your parents aren't here to do that for you anymore, so he has to. You should just shove your nasty attitude up your ass and appreciate what he's trying to do for you.'' He added with a serious tone.
My blood boiled at the mention of my parents.
''They would want you to-''
I spun around, ''Don't you fucking dare finish that sentence''.
''I'm just saying, they would hate to see-''
''Shut your fucking mouth, Hawthorne'' I growled, coming closer to him again. ''You don't get to say shit about them. Do you know why? Because you didn't know them! All you knew was that they were your buddy's parents. You don't know what they would want! You went on- what? Three trips with us back in the day and now you think you could write their will?!''
He shut his mouth, giving me a challenging look.
''So shut your trap, Hawthorne. And give me your skank-ass uniform'' I added, still angry.
A smile appeared on his face right before he opened a drawer and pulled out a package. It was a brand-new uniform. I took it reluctantly, eyeing the size straight away. You have got to be kidding me...
''I need an S, dickhead'' I rolled my eyes at him.
''What's the matter with that one?'' He smirked, knowing damn well what the matter was.
''I'm not a 15-year-old anymore, you Turd. I actually have an ass and boobs now!'' I threw the XS-sized uniform back at him.
''Well, seems like you're out of look then! That's the last size we have'' He pursed his lips before looking up at me. ''So you'll have to squeeze in until we get you a new one'' He winked.
I stood there, blood boiling yet again.
He stood up, with the uniform in hand. I watched as he walked right up to me, making my back hit the door quietly. ''Here, go put it on'' He handed me the uniform before looking down into my eyes again. ''The lockers are right next to my office, you won't miss it'' He smirked.
''I hate your guts'' I whispered, glaring up at him.
''The feeling's mutual, Scary '' He winked.