Calum Achorn didn't ask for me again the whole day. Kailley told me that it was normal for him to do so, since he got so engrossed in his work that he seldom felt the time passing.
On my first day, I learnt a lot of things about my boss. Calum Achorn was the author of two best selling novels, and being the son of America's top publisher, had his fame handed to him in a silver platter. He had been sent to Britain's best private school, grooming him into a gentleman that I saw no sign of in the morning.
I didn't understand the immense dislike I had towards the man I was going to work, hopefully, for a long time. I'd always considered myself to be kind, and I never jumped to conclusions. Especially about people. But Calum Achorn seemed to bring out the worst in me.
Kailley took me to one of the small cafés next to the office during lunch.
Kailley told me that she'd been working in the House for five years. I could see how passionate she was about her work. And she also was extremely beautiful. Dark skin that shone slightly, frizzy hair held carefully in a bun and a tight white shirt, and she had every man in the café staring.
I walked next to her with my shoulders slumped. The hairstyle Freida had so carefully assembled was windblown and destroyed, making me look like a crazy ostrich. Do I need to say it? No one threw me a glance.
Which was a good thing, isn't it? Being someone who blended into the background?
Kailley ordered a Caesar salad while I wanted a hamburger with extra cheese, a bag of fries and a can of coke. Kailley gave me the look, the same one that my mother and sister gave me when I ordered something that I shouldn't have. They usually ordered salads, with more greens and less mayonnaise, and I had to hold back my urge to hurl whenever I saw them eating that vile stuff. And I actually did once, when they tried to make me eat it.
With the food in our hands, we make our way to a table. The café was mostly quiet and we joined in the silence and Kailley ate her food. I inhaled it.
"Look, if it isn't unfortunate PA and stuck up Miss Perfect."
"What do you want, Lent?" Kailley asks, rolling her eyes.
"Call me Ambrosia, please." I sigh.
"I couldn't just leave two beautiful ladies on their own now, could I?" Lent all but screams, spreading his arms wide.
I snort loudly. Who is he calling beautiful?
"Leave us on our own, please." Kailley pleads.
"Come on! What if someone makes a move on you two?" He whines.
I snort loudly. Yeah, that's likely.
"Just like you are right now?" She snaps back.
"Well, I can't help myself if I see two pretty ladies just sitting there, waiting to be teased."
I snort loudly. A toad's prettier than me.
"That's not ladylike, Ambrosia." Lent admonishes.
"Never claimed to be one." I throw back, garfing down my burger. He gives me a disgusted look and then turns back to Kailley.
"So, Kailley. How's your day been so far?"
"Great. Until now."
"Oh come on, she can't be that boring." He says, pointing at me.
"I wasn't talking about her, jerkface." She says angrily, throwing an olive at him. He catches it with his mouth, chewing it as he walks away. I give his back a look of disbelief.
"What's going on between the two of you?" I ask as I turn around to face her.
"Apart from us being at each other's throats all the time?"
"Yeah?"
"I don't know. We usually have prank wars."
"Something's definitely going on between you two." I mumble and take a swig of my coke.
~•~
When I reached home that evening, Freida had already ordered pizza for dinner. She'd even been considerate enough to order me one without tomatoes.
"How was your day?"
"My boss is grumpy."
"Say no more."
"How was yours?"
"The kids are great. The resources still suck. Same old." She shrugs. Freida looked over an orphanage where she took care of over forty kids without any sort of funding. She insisted that she was going to quit, but I knew she could never bring herself to do it.
"You're doing a great job." I say, patting the back of her hand.
"I wish I could do better."
"Just do your best, Freida. That's all that counts."
"You're great, Am. Just a tad weird." She beams at me.
I stare at her for a solid minute. I found it beautiful when people beamed at someone they loved. I'd seen mothers beam at their kids, and boyfriends beam at their girlfriends, I'd seen my mother beam at my sister as she came out of her first successful surgery, and I'm sure that I beamed at my toast as it popped out of the toaster.
You can't blame me!
But something about that look, filled with respect, love and happiness made it seem more than what any kiss, any hug could ever be.
If someone asked me the number of times someone had ever looked at me like that, I'd probably say thrice.
One, the look Freida's giving me right now.
Two, the owner of a small diner when I ate all of his pasta that he said would go bad if I didn't eat it all.
Three, Benjamin Earlswood on the plane, when I'd explained love to him.
"What is it? You look lost." Freida asks, checking my forehead for a fever.
"Not lost, Frey. Found." I murmur, dazed.
"What?"
"Nothing. I just need to make an urgent call, I'll see you tomorrow."
"Okay? Good night, I guess?"
I rush towards my room, banging the door behind me. I pick up my phone from where it's charging and dial the number quickly. She picks up on the seventh ring.
"Hey, Nectar. Didn't you once tell me that you can track anyone's number at any place over the world?" I babble hurriedly.
"Huh? Grim Reaper's here to take me?" She mumbles back.
"What? What time is it there?"
"It's a new day, a new life. I'm gonna live it all!"
"Nectar, I need your help! Now!" I shriek.
"Huh, what? Ambrosia? What is it?"
"Can. You. Track. Me. Someone's. Number?"
"Why are you acting like you're talking to a child?" She asks incredulously.
"Can you or can you not?"
"Of course, I can!"
"Great. Get me the number of Benjamin Earlswood. As soon as possible."
~•~
Yeah, it's 2 a.m. and I'm not asleep. Forgive the mistakes I'm sure I've made. Vote and comment!
Bye!