After I'd garfed down the entirety of the triple cheese pizza and my stomach was churning in a very unlady-like manner, I hear my phone ringing from...where?
I rummage through the blankets strewn over my bed, dig through the clothes I'd thrown off on the bed hurriedly yesterday, throw away the empty pizza box, find my headphones, my kindle which I thought I'd lost, my Elvis Presley album and a freaking statue of an elephant.
"Are you doing this because I didn't pay the blind man across the street from my office this morning?!" I scream at my ceiling.
My phone keeps ringing.
"It's on the floor." Frieda shrieks from dowstairs.
"Holy.." I stammer and jump onto the floor and there! Behold! My phone!
It was a number I didn't recognise.
"Hello."
"Miss Bellemore," The calm voice thunders from the other side of the phone. I could almost hear lighting flash from the window behind me, and a clap of thunder follows.
"I've called you twice, Miss Bellemore." He says calmly, but the way he said it made me feel like I was being lowered into a volcano, strapped to a shark.
"I'm sorry, Mr Achorn. I couldn't find my phone and I.."
"Save it. I want you in the office right now." He cuts me off.
"N-now?" I stammer, looking at my watch.
"Yes," He sighs in impatience. "Now. Get here in ten minutes or I'll pay you half of what I was going to." He orders and hangs up.
I stare at my phone in shock. A few seconds later, my blood starts boiling with untamed anger.
I'll show him.
~•~
I walk down the stairs slowly, trying to hear if Freida was nearby. There was no way she was going to let me go out dressed like this.
"Oh my God. Why are you dressed like that?" She shrieks, coming out of her room and catching sight of me.
I sigh and slap my face, hard. I look at her through my fingers and groan.
"You weren't supposed to see me."
"Where are you going dressed like that?" She asks.
"Duty calls." I say with a roll of my eye.
"What kind of duty demands you dress up like a homeless man at eight o' clock in the night?" She asks, crossing her arms and giving me a stern look.
"Are you implying I look like a man?" I accuse.
"I also said homeless." She says with a smirk. I sigh and give up, throwing my hands skyward.
"Seriously, where are you going?"
"My boss wants me in the office right now or he'd shrink my salary to your height." She grinds her teeth at the comment.
"So you're taking revenge." She says with a pointed look.
"Imagine when I walk in dressed like this." I say wistfully.
"He'd scream bloody murder and run, obviously." She says. I run to tackle her but she rushes to her room and locks herself in.
I snicker. I'd slathered her doorknobs and windows with vaseline this afternoon.
Good luck getting out of there, Freida!
I snicker again and walk out of the house when the shrieks ring out.
"I'll cut you into pieces and roast you in a bonfire.." was all I heard before I slammed my car door and drove away, laughing my head off the whole way.
~•~
[Calum Achorn]
I was pacing.
And that meant I was anxious.
And that wasn't a good sign.
"Where the hell is she?" I mutter under my breath.
It has been half an hour since my father called me and asked me for a favour and fifteen minutes since I called Ambrosia Bellemore to meet me in the office.
I knew it was cruel to call her in the middle of the night and ask her to work, but when my father asked me to plan a surprise party for my sister on her birthday, I couldn't think of anyone else to call.
So I did call her.
And she's not here yet.
"Where the hell..." I begin when the door bursts open and a hobo stumbles into my office.
"What the hell?" I ask in surprise.
"Mr Achorn, I'm here!" She huffs and bends down with her hands on her knees.
"Miss Bellemore?" I murmur in surprise. She looked like she had been dragged all the way here. Her hair was dishevelled, and it somehow resembled the hairstyle of a singer my sister was crazy after, someone called The Weeknd. She wore pajamas with her favourite cartoon, Shinchan, splattered all over them, they were neon and looked hideous. Her T-shirt said "Team Edward" in a nasty pink colour. Her shoes had little rabbit heads on them. I smiled, I'd always liked her shoes.
But she looked deranged, if I put it mildly.
And by the self satisfied smirk on her face, I was sure she was doing it on purpose. Probably to spite me.
Very well.
I compose my shocked demeanour and her face drops a little. It was obvious she wanted me to scream bloody murder and run away. But I'll show her that I can win at her own game.
"You're late, Miss Bellemore." I say with a level face. At this, her smile drops completely and she scowls at the floor.
"I'm sorry." She mumbles.
I almost feel sorry for her. Almost.
"There's a reason I called for you today, Miss Bellemore," I wait for her to look up. When she does, I continue,"It's my sister's twenty second birthday day after tomorrow."
She doesn't say anything but her eyes betray that she's curious.
"We'll go shopping for everything we need. You'll oversee the entire function. The food, the decoration. I want the place all ready by tomorrow evening."
"Where, sir?"
"At my father's house, obviously." She looks stupefied for a second, probably because she had no idea where my father lived. And her surprise was justified too, my father's house was kind of intimidating.
"No time to waste. We have some shopping to do, Miss Bellemore." I say, getting up and walking out of the office with her in tow.
"Um, sir?" She asks hesitantly when we pass her office.
"Yes, Miss Bellemore?" I ask, smirking. She doesn't notice.
"Can I, um, change my clothes?" She stutters.
"Sure, Miss Bellemore. I'll have Darcia keep some clothes in your office right away. I'll be in the car." I say, my grin getting broader.
"Thank you, sir." She sighs in relief.
I walk away without a word and beckon Darcia, the housekeeper.
"Didn't you once tell me you kept your husband's clothes in here?" I ask, trying hard not to laugh
~•~
Lol. Okay.
Freida above!