Mr. Grey was talking with Jacob in the hall when I got into the office. Five to nine- made it! Mr. Grey immediately noticed me; we smiled at each other. While he returned to his conversation, I made my way into the break room to get a drink. I tossed down my file and backpack on the table, and went to the fridge to look for some juice.
Imagine my utter surprise and dismay to see Ms. Blonde Brat come inside. She was looking at her phone with wide eyes. When she saw me, she didn't say anything. I watched her glance at me, then back down at her phone screen again. She seemed….. conflicted for a second. Maybe I was wrong; what was there for her to be confused about? I did feel a bit awkward when she looked back up to me, her mouth a thin, expressionless line.
This lasted for like only five seconds. Within the blink of an eye, she shut off her phone screen and shoved it into her pocket. It didn't help the uncomfortableness when she suddenly smirked up to me, just like she had the day we met- also here in the break room. I don't think I like the break room….
"Why, hello Miss Steele. Did you have a good weekend?" "Uh, fine; thank you. You?" "Just fine. Nothing too exciting," her hand waved around in the air. "That's good," not too sure why I said that; it wasn't inherently good to have a boring weekend, was it? But then, Daddy always said no news is good news. "Did you get everything sorted out with your brothers?" "Huh?" This caused me to blink at her. What is she…? Oh! Right, yes- that call last time. I remember now. Wearing a hidden, side smirk, I turned to the orange juice container. "Yep! Everything's good now." "Then why is your phone ringing?"
I glanced over my shoulder to see my new burner phone vibrating in my bag. Ugh! I forgot to set it on silent! Jesus, Ana; pay attention! Cringing on the inside, I reluctantly went over to pull my phone out from my bag. Blonde brat had her eyes glued on me while I answered it. "Yes?" "Ok, good. I just wanted to make sure your phone worked," I frowned at the sound of Mr. Bodyguard's voice on the other end. "Why wouldn't it work? You put in the chip. And why are you calling me now? I'm at work, you know." "Like I care. And don't you dare put your phone on silent, missy. Understand?" Click. Gees, I hate that guy! I could feel blonde brat's stare burning a hole through me while I clenched onto my phone- hard.
"So, tell me, Miss Steele. Why do you have two phones?" Oh, fock. I made myself grin back at her, trying to look as innocent as possible. "Oh, one's just for family calls; in case of emergencies." What do I always say? It's not a total lie. She didn't look at all convinced, folding her arms like I owed her an explanation or something. "Where did you say your family's from again?" "I didn't; we… live in the city." "I know that much," she frowned, unimpressed. This woman!
That's when she suddenly noticed the file laying on the table. My heart froze as blonde brat's hand unexpectedly reached for it. "What's this?" She asked herself more than me. "It's mine! Don't touch!" "Oh please. It has the company label on it. And I'm sure I understand paperwork much better than little academic interns like you," she chimed before proceeding to open it. "Don't! Stop!" I tried desperately to snatch it from her grasp.
Too late. Blonde brat's disgusting smirk began to fade as she read its contents. "A fake relationship with Christian? You're in a relationship with Christian?!" She sent me the nastiest, accusatory glare. My brain went into immediate panic mode. "Give it back!" "I asked you a question! What nonsense are you dragging Christian into? Why would he enter a false relationship with you?!" Her voice was getting progressively louder. "That's…. n-none of your business. Now give me back my folder." "You sleezy little…. Answer me! What are you up to?! What do you want with Christian? Are you after his money, you starving student?" "It has nothing to do with that! Look, it wasn't my idea; he's the one who suggested it, ok?! Now give me my file back!"
"Why would Christian agree to enter a fake relationship with you, much less a real one? I want some answers now, little girl!" "I don't owe you anything! But those papers belong to Mr. Grey and me!" I kept trying to reach them; she held them out behind her now. "I told you to stay away from him!" "No, you didn't! You don't own Mr. Grey anyway! This has nothing to do with you. Now give me my….."
My sentence was cut off by a swift slap to the face. Everything seemed to go into slow motion right after this. I was so astonished that I simply stared off in the direction my head turned to. My cheek was already starting to burn; I'm sure it would be red very soon. Then, it was like everything suddenly sped up. I glared back to the now stunned blonde brat; boy, were her eyes huge. Bad move. She immediately realized her mistake; it didn't hurt that there were security cameras all around us. Ok, that's enough; the gloves are coming off. If that's how she wants to play….
"Christian!" Her mouth dropped in horror as I shouted my fake-boyfriend's name at the top of my lungs. She then saw that we had approximately thirty seconds before our boss burst through the door. This bitch went into immediate repair-mode; i.e. bargaining. "Ok, what do you want?" Oh, I had to cross my arms and smile in victory; I had her by the metaphorical balls now, and I was gonna squeeze. "Don't tell anyone about our relationship, or my second phone. And you keep your mouth shut about whatever you hear about me or my "family", got it?" I knew she knew by now; or already had some idea. Blonde brat clearly wasn't happy with this but nodded in silent agreement anyway. And just to add icing to the cake, I pointed up at the cameras. "Remember, I have evidence on my side," not to mention a whole host of dangerous thugs loyal to my family in the city. She didn't say anything, but boy, did she look mad.
By then, Mr. Grey came running inside. He ran right up to me, giving me a quick once over with his eyes. "Anastasia, are you alright?!" "I think so. I saw a spider run down the drain; didn't you, miss?" Oh, if looks could kill…. After firing one last vicious glare to me, she gazed softer over at Mr. Grey. "Y-yes, sir. It scared both of us." We watched as he went to check the spider-less drain. He turned back to me and shrugged. "It's gone now." "Thank you for coming, I was so startled," I cooed, coming over to his side. It was then that I caught sight of his shimmering blue eyes. Blue eyes… Strange, I feel like I've seen those recently. "I will stay by your side." My eyes widened at the foreign voice ringing from the recesses of my mind. I don't…. I don't remember…
Mr. Grey grinned down at me. He placed his hand on my lower back, making me flinch a little. Then he led me out of the room, snatching up my backpack and contract on the way out. The look on blonde brat's face in that moment was priceless. She just gawked as the two of us left the break room together; Mr. Grey's hand still protectively, tenderly on my back the whole way. I have to admit, it felt good…. really good. I can't quite describe it, but I felt like I'd experienced this somewhere before. I didn't know human touch could be like this… "I will keep holding you like this." I didn't human contact could feel like magical sparks against the skin.