Chapter 10: Acting Nice and Stuff

“Put a bit more force into those punches!” The annoying voice commented. 

Ugh! He’s annoying!

I gritted my teeth as I pictured the punching bag as my annoying boss’ face and threw the next punch with everything I had in me. 

I wish I could’ve done that to his actual face!

Now that would be super fulfilling!

“Was that better?” I asked, trying to sound sweet even though I was gasping for air.

Idiot!

“Yes.” He said dryly. 

I swear, the Sahara desert isn't as dry as his tone was.

Stupid, idiotic asshole!

I clenched my jaw, stopping the smart remark sitting at the tip of my tongue from coming out. 

Ugh! This is so not worth it! 

“I need a break.” I gasped as I sat down on the ground where I was standing. I couldn’t even sit properly so I ended up laying down on the ground. 

This must be what it feels like to be run over by a bulldozer!

“How can you be tired already?” He huffed. 

Oh I don’t know how… I mean, I’ve only been running, punching or doing sit-ups or push ups for the past two hours without a break! 

Insensitive jerk! 

“I’m sorry for disappointing you, sir.” I said, closing my eyes, reminding myself to not talk back. 

My life was precious. 

And to stay alive at the headquarters, I needed to train myself not to talk back to the idiotic person who thought himself to be the god. 

Just keep your inside-voice inside, Mia…

“You really are disappointing.” He scoffed. 

I clenched my fists, keeping my eyes shut tightly as I took deep breaths to keep myself calm. 

He is an asshat and a jerk. He’s going to get served by karma one day… 

“Now get the hell up!” He yelled. 

I gulped my anger in as I did as he asked, standing up and getting in position in front of the punching bag. 

“Okay, I seriously can’t take this anymore!” He suddenly groaned, making me turn to him with a confused frown.

Now what happened? 

“What happened?” I asked him.

“Why are you just taking everything I am throwing at you like that?” He scowled angrily. 

Umm… What?

“What do you mean?” I asked in confusion. 

I think he has finally lost his sanity. That would explain everything so well!

But if he’s lost his sanity, does that mean that either Lucas or Thea is going to take his place as the boss? Because if that is the case, I would definitely be voting for Thea! There is no way Lucas can run this thing!

That poor boy can hardly run himself!

“Why are you not talking back to me? I’ve been throwing meaningless insults at you, I’ve been making you work out more than necessary for no reason at all and I even gave you extra work! Why are you still so quiet?” Archer grunted angrily. 

I narrowed my eyes on him as I tried to understand what he was trying to say. 

“Okay. Umm… So… You want me to talk back?” I asked, unsure of his intentions. 

He has definitely lost his sanity…

“That’s what you do! Why aren’t you doing it now?!” He roared. 

I bit my lip to stop myself from laughing right in his face. 

He was annoyed because I wasn’t annoying him… 

Wow! 

Why did I work so hard to annoy him when it was so easy to accomplish my mission?

This is amazing!

“Boss, I’m just being nice. Do you not want me to act respectful with you?” I asked in a levelled voice, trying to keep my amusement out of my voice. 

“Stop it!” He groaned. 

“What should I stop?” I asked. 

“This! Acting nice and stuff!” He exclaimed. “It’s so annoying and frustrating!” He whined. 

Aww! 

I never thought that I’d see this guy whining! 

And I wouldn’t have ever guessed that he’d be this miserable because was missing my snarky remarks… 

“I’m sorry for being so annoying and frustrating, sir.” I spoke politely, enjoying his irritation. 

“Mia! Stop it this instant!” He ordered. 

“What are you talking about, sir?” I asked, feigning confusion. 

“Ugh! You’re not this nice! You’re a mean, snarky and annoying girl who always talks back!” He told me. “Just be what you are!” He huffed. 

“I am being what I am, sir.” I smiled at him. 

“No, dammit!” He cried out, sitting down on the ground. 

So, all the times I tried so hard to make him lose it and the thing that actually makes him lose it is me being nice? 

Nice! 

This is actually so entertaining for me now! 

I wonder how annoyed he would be when we actually get to the headquarters and I have to act this way all the damn time! 

Now that would be fun! 

I couldn’t help as the corners of my lips curled up in smirk as I thought about it. 

“Finally! You’re smirking! You’re thinking of something annoying!” Archer exclaimed, making me look down at him again. 

“I’m not thinking of anything annoying, sir.” I told him but the smirk wouldn’t leave my face. 

“No, you are!” He argued as he stood up. “You are! Just spit it out and go back to normal!” He gripped my arms looking me straight in the eyes as if he was a vampire, compelling me to do as he says. 

I couldn’t help myself as I laughed out loud at my thoughts and the desperation on his face.

This was fun! 

“Oh god! I never thought I’d say this but I actually love hearing you laugh at me at this point!” Archer rested his forehead on my shoulder. 

That’s such a nice compliment!

“I never knew that you would actually be miserable without me talking back. Thought you’d just take this opportunity to torture me.” I chuckled. 

He raised his head and rolled his eyes at me. 

“Only to get you to go back to normal!” He huffed. “Now get back to your workout.” He commanded. 

“There’s no way in hell I’m continuing that!” I informed him as I removed the gloves from my hands. “I can eat the whole kitchen at this point.” I groaned, rubbing my super sore shoulders. 

“How does pasta sound?” Archer asked. 

“Pasta sounds Italian. And it is Italian.” I dead-panned. “I’m going to the kitchen.” I told him as I started walking out of the gym room. 

More like torture room! 

“No, I meant like you, Thea, Lucas and I could go out for pasta.” Archer’s words made me stop and turn to face him. 

“At this time?” I asked in shock. 

“Yeah. I did allow you, Thea, Lucas and Oliver to sneak out after midnight.” He shrugged. 

“So, you wanna join the Archer-hating squad?” I questioned. 

“The who-hating squad?” He raised his eyebrows at me. 

Oops! 

“I mean, the boss-hating squad.” I corrected myself only to realise a second later that that didn’t sound any better. “I’m the only one who sees the group that way.” I sighed. 

“I should’ve expected that.” He chuckled. “So, what do you say? Maybe you can ask Oliver to tag along as well.” He offered. 

“I’d have to check in with the others.” I told him, smiling a little. 

He was being nice… It was strange to say the least. But who was I to question his strangeness? 

“So, why did you hack Lucas’ computer today?” He asked as we walked out of the gym room together. 

“I was bored. The program was running and I couldn’t do anything so I just thought why not entertain myself a little.” I shrugged. 

“So you hack into people’s computers just for fun?” He asked. 

“You should have seen the faces of the guys on the football team in school when I used to hack into their phones.” I chuckled evilly. 

“Let me guess, they panicked like Lucas did today?” He rolled his eyes but the smile on his face told me that he wasn’t exactly annoyed. 

“Worse. They used to start screaming like babies.” I chuckled. 

“That would have been entertaining.” He chuckled. 

“Very!” I shook my head. 

“Oh my goodness! Are you two actually having a civil conversation?” Lucas gasped when he saw us walking to him in the kitchen. 

If by civil you mean about high school jerks, buddy you know nothing about the real world… 

“Do you wanna go out for pasta, Luke?” I asked him, changing the topic. 

Lucas’ face lit up like a kid’s face does in the toy shop but then he looked at Archer and he came back down to planet earth. 

“Sounds awesome but how will we go out when the boss hasn’t given us his permission to leave?” He asked, eyeing Archer with an innocent look on his face. 

Drama queen!

“It was my idea.” Archer rolled his eyes at his cousin. 

“Oh… Okay.” Lucas scratched the back of his neck. “I’ll go ask Thea about it.” He said as he ran away. 

“Where’s Oliver?” Archer asked me. 

“How the hell would I know?” I huffed. 

“Because he’s part of your squad.” Archer rolled his eyes at the last word. 

“Oh! The whole anti-Archer club thing.” I nodded my head. 

“What?” He frowned. 

“Okay, it’s not exactly so shocking, Arch. You know that I don’t exactly love you.” I rolled my eyes. 

“What did you just call me?” Archer narrowed his eyes on me. 

“Umm… Why? Are you offended by nicknames or something?” I asked, unsurely. 

“No… But don’t call me that at the headquarters.” He shook his head. “And don’t be disrespectful to me there either. The people there will take it seriously.” He warned. 

“Thea and Lucas already gave me the lecture, Archer. I know.” I sighed. 

“Don’t call me by name either.” He told me. 

“Okay, sir.” I corrected myself. “I’m going to go and take a shower. I’m too sweaty to go anywhere.” I sighed, massaging my neck. 

To be perfectly honest, I was craving a body massage right about now. My whole body felt like a truck just hit me and I flew back into a concrete wall. 

“I might just pass out in my room so don’t come looking for me if I don’t come back down in fifteen minutes.” I told Archer. 

“Why? Are you okay?” He frowned as he moved closer to me. 

Is he serious?!

“I’m so not okay!” I rolled my eyes. “The asshat who’s my boss made me kill myself today. He’s a real jerk!” I told him honestly. 

“Mia, I’m sorry. I was just trying to get you to talk back.” He told me. 

“Did you just apologise?” Thea’s voice asked from behind Archer. “Okay, now I’m actually considering that you’re a freaking witch, Mia.” She said as she walked closer to us with Lucas following her. 

“I’m no witch. Just a bitch.” I smiled at her. “I was my school’s queen bitch.” I told her proudly. 

“That’s just a fancy title for the female bully of the school.” Lucas grumbled. 

“How do you know that, Mr. Homeschooled?” I raised an eyebrow at him. 

“I know enough.” He huffed. 

“Moving on, what did I hear about the pasta?” Thea asked excitedly. 

“Pasta. My treat.” Archer said. 

“Me. Passing out on my bed in fifteen minutes after a warm shower.” I said.

“I’m not going if you’re not going.” Lucas pouted. 

“Then I guess we’re both not going.” I shrugged. 

“But you were okay a while ago.” Archer frowned. 

“And now I finally realised just how tired I am.” I groaned, massaging my arms. “Don’t blame me. Blame the jerk who made me work out so hard.” I stuck my tongue out at him. 

“Please come with us!” Lucas requested. 

“It’ll be fun, Mia.” Thea added. 

“I’ll go if Oliver would.” I said. 

“Why?” Lucas frowned. 

“Because I wanna see you tucking him in bed again!” I chuckled. “That was awesome!” I added between laughter. 

“That was actually pretty funny.” Thea giggled. 

“Okay, fine! I’ll convince Oliver to join us.” Lucas grumbled.

“And I’ll be down in twenty minutes after a shower.” I winked at Lucas as he walked away to go find Oliver. 

“Anyone else we should invite, Ms. Queen?” Thea asked mockingly. 

“Umm… Are you going to invite everyone just because I said that it’ll be my treat?” Archer frowned. 

“Hey! If you had any problems with that, you should have just called it a date and taken Mia alone.” Thea told him. 

Eww… 

“I’m going to go now.” I said awkwardly before running up the stairs to my room. 

Archer and I can never date! 

Never!