Soundtrack for this chapter:

Scared to Be Lonely - Dua Lipa and Martin Garrix

Now we're picking fights and slamming doors

Magnifying all our flaws

And I wonder why, wonder what for

Why we keep coming back for more

Chapter 8:

He had never been this curious about an employee before.

He certainly had no intention for her to be the subject of interest that seemed to pull him away from his work. In fact, why couldn't it have been anyone else besides her.

He had been wide awake long before the sun peeked through his blinds, and even longer before his alarm went off. Meaning he was tired. And distracted all day. Allowing thoughts to drift to her instead of his work.

He hadn't meant for her to spot him the night before at dinner. He had been trying to be as invisible as possible when he went down to get his dinner and found Becky and his butler already taking their seats to eat in the hall. He felt it would have been weird for him to interject himself into their meal, so he told himself he was going to just slip away before anyone noticed him.

But something had compelled him to just watch them converse at their table. Something about the way his butler seemed very at ease with her, more relaxed then he usually saw his butler. And the way she had felt uncomfortable around the other employees staring her down gave Tobey a small feeling inside. A small feeling of sorrow.

Those looks would only get worse after what he was going to make her do.

But when Becky had made eye contact with him, his immediate reaction was shock and panic, like he had just gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. How could he possibly explain away why he was watching her? What reason could be possibly say?

Then he realized that he didn't particularly need a reason. He stood his ground and made it seem like he didn't mind her catching him. He had remained there for a few minutes, arms behind his back, standing straight up with perfect posture. Eventually she got bored of turning around to look at him, and he felt it was normal enough to walk back to his room, no longer hungry for dinner.

He wasn't trying to make it a habit. Watching her. It was an accident that kept occuring.

He ran into her on the way to breakfast as she was making her way back once again with his butler. She had given him a sneer as she passed him. Seems like her anger for him hadn't passed.

Well, he couldn't blame her. She was here after all. With someone she hated for an unimaginable amount of time. He knew a similar feeling from their days in school together…

Tobey shook his head, snapping himself out of his thoughts. Over the years he'd learned to push those memories aside and he wasn't going to stop now.

After lunch, there was a ton of paperwork that required Tobey's attention but he was too distracted to fully immerse himself into his work. It was like a little parasite in the back of his mind; Becky becky becky. What was she doing? How was she adjusting? The questions clouded his brain, unrelenting in its mission to allow him to be productive.

"Screw it."

Slamming the papers in his hand down onto his desk, Tobey made his way out of the room with conviction. Despite knowing how stupid and irresponsible it was, he needed to see her. His footsteps echoed through the hall.

"Sir?" His butler asked as he emerged from his office and matched pace with Tobey as they headed down the hallway, "I wasn't aware you had a meeting at this time."

"I don't. I'm heading over to the factory for observation," Tobey answered succinctly as they passed by a few of the cleaners making their rounds. A few of them waved as Tobey and his butler walked by, but only his butler reciprocated the action.

"Observation? I did not know we had scheduled observations today."

"I just made the decision."

His butler gave him a side eye, a mix of confusion and suspicion, "For what reason?"

Tobey kept his facial expressions controlled, but internally his pulse was speeding up. He in no way wanted to explain the reasoning for his wanting to go to the factory, but he needed to say something. Something logical to explain this to get his butler off of his back.

"It's been a while since I have done an observation. I also would like to make sure Botsford's work is suitable enough for us to properly market her off," Tobey explained, trying to come up with a half truth.

His butler didn't reply for a second, almost as if he was debating whether he believed Tobey or not. Tobey had to remind himself to continue taking in deep breaths in order to keep composed.

"Yes, sir," His butler finally responded, and the two walked in silence the rest of the way out of the mansion.

The afternoon sun was beating down hard onto the yard, as some of their employees were taking their breaks in the long stretch of grass between the mansion and the factory. Tobey did not make eye contact with any of them, but he could feel their gaze on him.

He rarely made public appearances in front of the factory staff. Typically when he did observations, he would head over before the sun rose and make his way to his office before anyone was awake so no one would come in contact with him. And he would stay all day until the shifts were over and then he would head back. Observations were usually a full day affair.

So to be walking across the field mid-day with all eyes on him, was strange to say the least. Not that he didn't like being the center of attention, but he had grown accustomed the past few years to working from the shadows and keeping eyes off of him. Regardless, he kept his head high as he continued marching towards the factory.

A gust of cold air sped out of the doors as he and his butler pulled them open. The loud sounds of production echoed inside the giant factory. People were walking, hurrying in every direction. Tobey was used to the hustle and bustle of the factory work, but it occurred to him that Becky might not have had the same reaction. In fact, knowing her, she probably didn't.

"Are we heading to the office sir?" His butler questioned, as he motioned to the side staircase that led to high above where his office oversaw everything.

At first, Tobey considered it. He could probably find Becky from that vantage point without having to ask anyone about her whereabouts. But then again, the less he acted suspicious, the better.

"No need. I'm going to talk to the forman about where Botsford has been stationed today," Tobey calmly retorted.

No matter how hard his butler tried to hide his subtle eyebrow raise, Tobey still noticed it. Tobey had to act like it didn't matter.

His foreman was reading a clipboard and taking notes on the sheets in front of him, hardly noticing as Tobey approached. Tobey had had a few interactions with him, one of which being when he was hired. But other than that, they had a very business-like relationship.

"Good morning, foreman," Tobey greeted in a very lackluster tone of voice.

"What can I do for you this afternoon, Mr. McAllister?"

Tobey did appreciate that his foreman got right to the point. They rarely exchanged pleasantries or small talk. The way Tobey preferred conversing with those in his employment.

"I'm here to inquire about the new recruit. Becky Botsford? Her first day was today, and I'd like a report on how she has been adjusting to the job."

"Ah, yes, I met her this morning. I've checked in a few times, made sure she was okay. She seemed quiet to me, but filled right into the work."

It wasn't particularly a surprise to Tobey that she had been quiet, despite her natural demeanor being loud and opinionated. And maybe it wasn't as much of a shock that she had fallen right into place with the work. She was a very determined person.

He still needed to see for himself.

"Where is she stationed?"

Without even lifting his eyes from the paper he was reading, the foreman answered, "She's at station 14, with the other boxing newbies."

Tobey raised an eyebrow. He hadn't realized she had been placed in packaging. Kind of seemed like a waste for someone like her. She was way more intelligent than a packaging girl.

"Thank you, foreman. Enjoy the rest of your day," Tobey told him before beginning to walk towards the packaging stations.

There were 15 stations in the factory. The 14th station was all the way in the back of the factory, where the new folks without a real place to belong go to package up all of the merchandise. It was an easier job for the new people, as well as for people that had no coding, engineering, or mathematical abilities.

Tobey knew that Becky had been the only person in their classes that could actively compete with his intellect. And he could do every job in that factory if he had to, so he had no doubt in his mind Becky could as well. He made a mental note to see if he could get her relocated to a different station more worthy of her intelligence.

The long walk to the very back of the factory gave Tobey lots of time to think as he passed all of the other stations. He almost never walked amongst the people as they were working and something about it gave him a peace of mind. The coders to his right, hard at improving the code and thinking up new methods to best make the AI work. The mechanical engineers to his left, popping out core chips left and right like Skittles. LIke it was nothing. Robotics always gave him a sense of calm.

As he got closer to station 14, he began to realize this might be a mistake. It was one thing to run into her by accident in the hallway on the way to and from meals. It was another whole thing to seek her out during work hours, when that was typically a thing he didn't normally do.

He was basically 20 feet away from the 14th station when he realized he better actually keep his distance. But he couldn't let it seem like he was lurking.

He decided to make it seem like he was observing the 13th station, as he walked around the tables as the employees were putting finishing touches onto the AI boxes. As he walked, he glanced at their station from his vantage point. The minute he saw her, his breath hitched for a second. An action that confused him, but he shoved it to the side as he watched her work.

She looked more sullen than usual, but she was working fast. Some of the other women around her were talking to her, but she didn't seem super interested in talking back to them. She seemed to be focussed on the work in front of her. That similar uncomfortable feeling began welling up in the pit of his stomach.

Tobey spent about 30 minutes walking around, observing how she was doing. She hadn't noticed he was there thankfully. Finally, his butler came looking for him for the sake of getting back to his paperwork.

"You really should consider getting back to the mansion, sir," His butler had informed Tobey when he finally had caught up and found him in the back of the factory.

Tobey knew he was right. There was still a bunch of work he needed to complete. Plus, watching Becky had given him new inspiration for their marketing strategy.

"You're right. We also need to set up an interview for Becky for the end of this week. Put out some feelers to the reporters in the city," Tobey began rattling off as he and his butler began walking away from the stations.

Tobey gave one last look behind him at Becky. She was still deeply invested in the work in front of her, but it was captivating. How engrossed she got into whatever is in front of her.

"Are we going to be asking Becky about how she feels about this?" His butler hesitantly asked.

Tobey gave him a deadpan expression, "She works here now. She does as we tell her. She doesn't really get a choice here."

The expression that appeared on his butler's face made Tobey do a double take. It was pure disappointment. His butler was used to his attitude and work practices. Nothing usually surprised his butler. But something about disappointing him was making Tobey feel on edge.

"If you say so, sir. But I don't like the concept of not giving her a choice in this."

Tobey couldn't help but narrow his eyes at hearing his butler continue to question him, "Well good thing you're not in charge."

His butler just nodded in response. Tobey could tell he was just holding back what he really wanted to say.

As they marched back into the mansion in silence, Tobey couldn't push aside what his butler had said. Perhaps it wasn't that fair to not give her a choice….

No, the plan was going to happen. Why should he care about her feelings? She had made it clear long ago she didn't care about his.

At the very least he could give her warning to what was going to happen. Maybe it wasn't fair to just fully drop it on her later in the week…

Without any hesitation, he made the decision he would visit her that night to discuss his plan.

"What makes you think I would just go along with this?"

Tobey had to resist rolling his eyes. His butler had been right knowing she wasn't going to like the plan.

"You're right. I shouldn't have expected compliance from rebellious Becky Botsford. What was I thinking?" Tobey mocked as he paced in front of her.

Her arms were crossed and she was glaring hard at him, "Not funny. I'm being serious here."

"So am I. I thought Miss Teacher's pet always followed authority."

Tobey raised an eyebrow as if challenging her. And she took the bait, hook line and sinker.

"I do follow the rules! I'm here aren't I?"

"Well then if you're here, and I'm, say, your boss. Wouldn't that mean you'd have to follow your boss?"

Becky stood in silence, eyes still narrowed as she moved her tongue across the inside of her mouth in a frustrated motion. Tobey had to hold back a smirk.

"Well then I guess I have no choice, your highness," Becky hissed as she bowed to him, her voice dripping with angry sarcasm.

The tone of her voice cut deep into Tobey surprisingly. Considering he had already been wrestling with the concept of giving her the choice, hearing the hatred coming from her only made it worse. The uncomfortable feeling he had been trying to push down, to which he discovered was his guilt, was threatening to boil over inside of him. He had to douse the fire before it got any worse.

"Look. It'll be something different. It'll be a change of pace. A different routine, and trust me, you'll come to appreciate changes of scenery," Tobey told her honestly, but gently.

Becky's face began to soften very slightly, but not enough to allow Tobey to relax.

"A real change of scenery would be being back with my family, but I don't get that choice either, do I?"

Tobey blinked a few times and finally took his gaze to the floor, unable to keep his composure. He breathed in and out a few times and did a small nod. He knew what kind of pain she was in. He understood her suffering. Feeling thrown into a job, unable to be with your family, feeling alone and hurt.

But there was nothing he could do for her.

Tobey began to walk to the door to exit. There was little more on the matter he could say, nothing would make her less angry with him.

"The interview is on Friday. My butler will run you through some practice questions," he informed her, talking over his shoulder, unable to meet her gaze once more.

"Good. I'd rather talk to him anyways," Becky snapped at him.

It was something she used to say to him when they were younger, something that used to have a very sarcastic tone, but now seemed like a genuine insult. She was really beginning to throw Tobey off balance.

It was something no one had done for many years. And he couldn't decide if it was a good or bad thing.