"Babes, get up. Its time for your office. Its 8:45. Come on. You will be late," Wade poked.
I groaned and then realized what he said as his words registered in my brain. I shot up, my head aching, "What? 8:45?"
"Yeah, you were drunk yesterday. You drunk dialled your boss. For gods sake, sometimes run a comb through that bird's nest of yours," Wade said casually, walking out.
"What?" My eyes almost popped out of my sockets. Nah, he was probably joking, he joked and pulled my leg a lot. My hair was the last thing I needed to fix now.
"Yup. Called him nasty names and shouted at him. You better hurry if you want to keep your job," He said, "Toast and eggs sounds good to you?"
"Why didn't you wake me up earlier, you toad?!!" I rushed to the washroom, my head throbbing in pain.
"I did. But you kicked me," He said, rubbing his stomach as if relieving a pain, "You also said you would set my hair on fire. I don't doubt that for a second. You burned my pants once."
"That was an accident, moron!" I brushed my teeth, took a quick shower and came out dressed in seven minutes. Not in those fancy clothes anymore. I would save those for some other occasion now. I had enough drama with that. Today I would be facing a new drama- the firing drama.
I pulled my hair into an unbrushed ponytail. I still had bags under my eyes. I looked drugged. My eyes were red. Despite showering, it was evident I had a hangover. My head wasn't hurting much after the bath but it was a bit heavy and my stomach was grumbling because I was hungry.
I took an advil and was about to go when Wade stopped me.
"Wait, aren't you gonna have breakfast first?" He asked, giving an adorable pout, "I made toast and eggs."
"No. I amm already late. I have to go," I said, grabbing my jacket.
"Well, remember to grab something on your way. You should never start your day on an empty stomach, let alone popping pills!" He shouted, "You know what will happen to you otherwise!"
"I will. Bye Wade," I gave him a peck on the cheek and ran out.
~¤~
It was 9:40 am. I didn't get time to grab something. I was already feeling famished and running later than usual.
But yup, I was getting fired. Better pack my stuff. Too much overconfidence was not good. I had overestimated my value in Jared's eyes. I wouldn't be surprised if he kicked me out today. I knew he loved punctuality and I had seen people getting warnings and in extreme cases, demoted if they weren't on time regularly, didn't inform beforehand or took leaves without permission. He was that strict.
People stared at me as I scrambled in and ran towards the elevator. I pressed the button, tapping my foot impatiently.
Damn! It was still on the tenth floor. I glanced at the watch, turning my head, looking for some enlightment.
To hell with the elevator.
Stairs it was.
~¤~
"Come in," His voice was curt as I tapped my card restlessly against the sensor.
I hurried in, dreading the worst. His chair was turned towards the glass wall. As I came in, he turned to face me. He raised an eyebrow as he saw me.
Okay, fine. I admit I wasn't in a good shape.
Hair locks were coming out from my now loose ponytail, my face might have looked haggard and bloodshot. And I was panting for breath having climbed the stairs till the fifteenth floor.
It was not easy to stand still if you half ran-half walk till fifteen floors of a building. I was dying inside.
I was panting so loudly my chest was hurting. It felt like it would break into pieces now. My head was burning. I rested my hand on the side cabinet gasping for breath, steadying my pounding heartbeat and closing my eyes before bending down on my knees, my face in my hands.
"Sit down and have some water, Allison," Jared said quietly, not in a condescending tone.
If I didn't know him well, I would even go as far as to say he sounded concerned for me.
"Heh?" I asked, not sure if I heard him right.
"You and your hehs and huhs. Do as I say, Allison. I don't have loads of time," He rolled his eyes, looking somber and cold as usual.
I got up and sat down, gulping down the entire water kept in the glass for him. He waited patiently as I regained my breath, staring intently at me the entire time. It felt awkward. The only sound was my loud pantings and the clock ticking as I closed my eyes, trying to keep my adrenaline under control. It was almost after a proper five minutes when I felt my body state going back to normal. I opened my eyes to see him staring at me with curiosity.
When he saw my breathing had composed into the usual state again, he leaned back on his chair with his fingers on his lips and elbows on the armrest.
"So..." He started.
"I am fired. I know. I will pack my stuff," I said dejectedly, still exhaling heavily.
He smirked, "Well, after what you did yesterday, you deserve to be fired. But I wasn't gonna say that. I was actually going to say you look like crap," His smirk grew wider.
Uh oh, I could sense danger sign. That smile was creepy and scary. Something was about to come.
"Sorry, hangover," I mumbled, waving my hand in air, "You won't fire me?"
"Why do you drink so much if you can't handle?" He ignored my question, tilting his head and smiling but his eyes looked serious. Now, his smiled looked sexy.
Oh, a hell lot of sexy.
"I got carried away," I said truthfully.
"By what?" He pressed.
By you, genius.
I kept quiet, fidgeting with my fingers and staring at anywhere but him. I didn't know what to say.
"Let me guess. By your asshole, jerk, meanie, shitface, donkey poop, monkey faced pig's butt, nincompoop boss," He finished with that smile still plastered on his face, as if he was having the time of his life.
I blushed deep red. Did I really say those? Oh dear. He must have some really bad things in my store if he wasn't firing me.
"Yes, you did," He answered my thoughts.
How come he remembered each word? His face held pure amusement and he was trying to stifle a smile.
Weird. Shouldn't he be angry? Shouldn't he fire me or murder me? What was with the smiling?
"I am sorry. I don't know what came over me. I was really drunk," I apologised, "I am so sorry."
"You said what you really felt, I can't blame you really," He sighed loudly.
Someone please kill me. I beg of you. God will do good to you if you listen to me.
"Who is Wade? Your boyfriend? I can't remember what you said about him last night," He suddenly asked, leaning forward and grabbing the paperweight.
"Um, no. He is my roommate and my best friend," I said, confused about the change in direction.
Why was he asking about Wade? He can't be jealous or... not. This was not the time to think of that. Concentrate on holding onto your job.
"Roommate...bestfriend..." He mumbled to himself, as he rotated the paperweight in his hand, deep in thoughts. His face had a blank look again and I couldn't say if he was jealous. Nothing gave him out. He was testing those words as he stared at the paperweight and I was thinking what he would do now.
"He shouldn't have let you drink so much. That's not a nice friendship then, is it?" He said slowly.
"He told me not to drink and drove us home safely. He figured I was old enough to handle myself. Teenage years are long gone. I was not acting like an adult. Its not his fault," I defended.
He looked at me, expressionless. He was pondering on what I said. He stared at me for a good ten seconds as I fidgeted under his gaze. The air seemed to vanish as he looked like a predator wanting to hunt it's prey.
I looked around before focusing on him again as he darted his tongue out and wet his lips, slowly and agonizingly as he looked at me. I gulped slowly, blinking rapidly now.
I wished I could read minds.
"Ms. Marshall, take these files. Check them and find the errors and correct them. I need them by today," He suddenly straightened and pointed to a mountain of files lying on a side table. There were some more files on a flat platform next to it because it didn't fit on the table.
My eyes widened as I saw the pile. He was joking, right?
"Consider this as your punishment. Its a simple punishment," His evil smirk returned.
"But... but, this will take whole day. No... more than that. I can't finish it one day," I shook my head violently, "It will take a normal person two-three days. I have to check and tally all the numbers and then mark against them."
"Too bad then. You should have thought about it before you called your boss such lovely names. No lunch break for you today. Even if it takes the whole night, you will stay here and complete it," He ordered, signing a document, "This building is very safe and it has workers dorms too in case if you stay behind tonight, so you don't need to worry about anything."
My jaws were literally hanging. He kept the pen down, again leaned forward and with his middle finger under my chin closed my mouth. His finger was rough and hard against my skin. His eyes held pure malice and wickedness.
"Go on. You may leave," He said, shooing me off.
I got up, took the files and left the room, trying to balance the files. I could swear he was laughing behind my back.
"You can call someone for help if you can't carry all of them by yourself!" He shouted behind my retreating figure.
Certified asshole.