On a negative note, if you're going to send me a hateful review, have the guts to come off anon. Oh and, you spelt 'you're' wrong. That is all.
On a positive note, thank you for the reviews! I was going to mention someone here, but I'm stupid, and I forgot your U/N. Basically thank you. This chapter is longer than the others as the past few have been short, oh.
"Where's Simon?" I asked, curious as to why he wasn't here as he was usually always on time, observing how Michael's and Sian's eyes quickly flashed to each-others before Michael spat out a response.
"He's no longer one of our deputies, Lorraine. End of matter." Blunt, straight to the point. Something wasn't right. I could see that Michael was glad to be rid of him, but I could also see a slight hint of insecurity there. As emotionless as I could be, I could always detect when someone was feeling insecure, as I'd been insecure ever since I was a teen. Before I could even ask why, or what happen, Michael spoke again, cutting me off.
"Lorraine, I said that's the end of the matter. Now, can we get on with this please?" His voice silencing the room, trying to stop me from asking questions, from butting in, but we both knew that wouldn't happen.
"Sian, Nikki, could you please leave the room for a moment? It seems we have something to discuss." I stated, keeping my emotions on track, allowing my business 'no shit' mode to go into overdrive. Receiving a questioning look off Nikki as she left, I gave her a quick wink, assuring her that everything was ok, and that I'd be ok… She was only outside the door, after all.
As soon as the door had shut, I got up off the couch and walked over to Michael's desk, keeping my head up high. I was not in the wrong, he was. Placing my hands on the back of the chair, I looked over to him, his gaze fixed on the laptop in front of him, like he had no interest in what it was I had to say.
"You can't just sack someone without my input, Michael. It's MY school, I pay the bills in case you'd forgotten-"
"For God's sake Lorraine I don't think anybody would have the guts to forget! It's all you go on about these days!" he snapped back, cutting me off halfway through my sentence. His hands quickly grabbed the arm rests on either side of his seat, as if he was trying to restrain himself. I took a few steps back, re-thinking what I was going to say. I'd never known him to be so… Volatile before. I knew I had to be careful about what I said, I didn't want another repeat of what happened last time.
"Has Sian replaced Simon?" I asked, knowing that speaking about Sian would calm him down again.
"Yes."
"Why did Simon go? Did you sack him, or did he walk?" I asked again, trying to push an answer out of him, something that I knew I shouldn't have done. Smacking his hands on the table, he stood up, his chair flying backwards and hitting the window ledge. A sudden feeling of worry quickly spread through me, suddenly comparing Michael to the man who was after Fergal, the man who grabbed my arm as he tried to force Fergal's location out of me. I back up again, one, two, three steps. Allowing myself to get closer to the door, closer to the safety of Nikki's arms.
Michael still hadn't moved, his hands were still firmly placed on the edge of the desk, I had no idea what to do. I thought about leaving quietly, grabbing Nikki and taking her away, leaving Sian to deal with this, but somehow I knew I couldn't. What if Sian got hurt? Before I even got a chance to consider another option, I heard Michael speak, nothing higher than a whisper.
"You just don't know when to shut that mouth of yours, do you Lorraine?"
His voice gave me chills, I backed up again, nearly tripping on the edge of the couch. He started to walk over to me, still looking down at his hands, hopefully keeping them under control. I stood still, frozen to the spot, before I felt a pair of hands push me backwards onto the plush softness of the leather sofa. Before I'd even managed to get up, he'd managed to lock the office door, hopefully alerting Nikki and Sian in the process, before pushing me back down again. I cursed myself for wearing what could quite possibly be one of the highest pairs of heels I own.
"You could never keep quiet could you? In school… I remember. You were always in my office, blaming someone else for something you'd done. Always getting someone else in trouble… And now you're trying to get me in trouble… You and that stupid girlfriend of yours…" he sneered, his body towering over mine, scaring me slightly, quickly trying to come up with a response.
"Don't talk about Nikki like that." I snapped back, surprising myself at the tone of my voice, strong and powerful, everything that I wasn't right now. His body kept getting closer, his hand leaning above my shoulder as he leaned over me, his face directly in front of mine.
"You wouldn't want to cross me now… Would you, Lorraine?" he asked, his voice giving me chills once again. I couldn't think of a way to respond, I just stayed quiet, hoping, praying that someone would try to get in the office and realise what was going on.
And it looked like, for once, luck was on my side.
I heard Sian's voice first, then Nikki's, her voice growing more frantic as she realised that I was trapped in here with Michael. She was the only one who knew what he'd tried to do last time, after all.
"Michael?! Michael, open the door now, please!" Sian's shouting came from the other side of the door, before her face appeared in Sonya's window. I had no idea where Nikki had gone, I just hoped she was near. I needed her.
Michael's eyes suddenly snapped shut, his brow furrowing, his hand balling up into a fist above my shoulder, his other hand grabbing my face roughly. Refusing to let myself show any sign of worry, I didn't move, I didn't say anything, I just listened to the voices outside. It sounded like Sonya had joined Nikki and Sian now, her voice unable to stay strong.
I closed my eyes, trying to block everything out, before I felt a sharp slap to my cheek, and a kick to the door. My hand automatically rose to my face, trying to defend myself from something that had already happened, my eyes snapping open, realising that he was about to hit me again, anger in his eyes. I prepared myself, bracing myself for the impact of his hand on my cheek, when I heard the window door open, and Sian's voice entering the room. Begging him to stop, pleading with him to open the door.
"Michael, you can't get arrested, not again, just open the door!" she begged, not realising what she'd said. Watching as both mine and Michael's heads turned in her direction, his face slowly draining of any colour.
Before he collapsed on the floor beside me in tears.