I Will Take Care Of It

Chapter 34

I Will Take Care Of It.

Lyla Atelo.

I turned my face away from him. "It's neither of them. No one is bothering me."

A ghost of a smile covered his face. My phone vibrated again for the sixth time, and that was when he opened his eyes.

"Wouldn't you answer your phone?" He asked.

"Don't worry about it." I clasped my hands together and placed it over my knees. "It's nothing serious."

"I doubt that. Seeing that it keeps ringing after every five minutes."

"I will turn it off if it disturbs you." I said calmly, and began to take the phone out of my purse.

The phone flashed again as it vibrated, showing me that it was still Michael that was calling me.

"Give that to me."

I wasn't fast enough, but Sage had already reached out to snatch the phone from my hands. He didn't bat an eye when he swiped on the screen to answer the phone, and my heart caught in my throat. What the hell was he doing?

"Sage! Give that back!" I whisper-yelled, hoping that Michael had not heard me calling his name. I wouldn't have the strength to answer a lot of questions at home.

I quickly snatched the phone from his hand, trying so hard to ignore the heat from his body as I leaned over him, my breasts pressing softly against his legs.

"Lyla, where the hell are you?" Michael yelled into the phone. "Have you checked your time? It's almost nine in the night! Who the hell are you with? Haven't I warned you about Kendra? Is she the one you're with? Huh? Are you cheating on me? Don't you remember you have a husband to cook for and take care of at home? Don't you remember that I have needs? Is it because you're working? Is that what is filling up your head and making you think that you've made it in life?"

"I'll be home soon." I gave him a one word reply before cutting the call.

"Damn! That's a bag of insecurities you're married to." Sage said after the room was silent again.

I was embarrassed to say the least.

"Back to what we were discussing..."

"Why can't you just divorce him? He is no good though." Sage shrugged his shoulders, still angling his face to look at me. "You're better off on your own."

I chuckled under my breath. "Where will I live? How will my life be after then? Do you think I'm able to afford that?"

"You will be... Soon." I knew he was referring to my new job as a teacher.

I just smiled tersely. "Michael is a good man. He just has his... issues. We all do." I immediately changed the topic. "Besides, I shouldn't also be discussing my family with a stranger, right? We were talking about something else. About funding the school and the projects that the school comes up with."

He smiled. An easy smile that lit up his entire face, highlighting the boyish look on his face, and for a second, I could believe that he was actually a nineteen year old boy.

"I'm sure we were talking about something else, but go ahead. I want you to be out of my house as soon as possible."

My mouth tasted bitter instantly as he casually dismissed me once more, but I wasn't going to be deterred.

"So... There was a faculty meeting the day before yesterday and teachers, we, settled on a trip for the students in your class. As a way to bond with each other and create memories for the future..." I cleared my throat and continued. "Um... Camping? I don't know if you've heard of it."

The smile was still on his face. "Since the meeting was two days ago, how will I know about it?"

"Didn't you just say you fund the school? Meaning you should have gotten firsthand information about it." I tried twisting my way around the issue.

"I fund the school, yes. But if I haven't heard about such a thing yet, it only means that Michelle will be sending the staff she hates the most to try and squeeze money out of me." He coughed slightly, covering his mouth with a folded fist. "She knows I will see through the nonsense. But also... She wants to see which staff will be stupid enough to actually come and ask me about that outrightly."

I gulped in fear. He caught me.

"It's not... She didn't... She..." The words failed me, but Sage looked at me in understanding.

"I guess I've gotten my answer, right? She is the one bothering you." He smiled tersely, his eyes darkening slightly. "She is trying to use her power plays to show me that she is still in control of the school... that she can make people scared enough to defy me. What did she use against you to give you that boldness? I know that someone like you will never willingly walk up to me and talk about something like this."

I was pleased that he didn't think of me as a gold-digger, but I was still worried.

"What are you going to do with her? It—"

"What did she use against you, Lyla?" I could hear the irritation in his voice.

"You..." My breathing slowed as I whispered the words.

"Me?" He was surprised. "How could she use me against you?"

"She thinks that you like me... because you jumped into the pool to save me. And you've not fired me already."

Sage was silent for a while.

"She wants me to support the camp project, doesn't she?" He tapped his fingers thoughtfully on the chair. "That's no big deal. I will do that. You can rest your mind about it for now. Tell her my response when you get back to school tomorrow. I will handle the rest." He added the last part darkly.

Alarm bells rang in my mind as he said that.

"Take care? How? What are you going to do? Fire her?" I was scared. I didn't want to be the reason why people lost their source of livelihood.

"No. You don't fire people like Michelle Constantine." He said slowly, his voice was still deep and dark. "Don't worry about that. You can leave now."

I knew that it was time for me to go because I stood up. There was no point dawdling here again even though I loved the calmness and serenity of this place.

I paused on my way out and turned to him one last time. "Are you coming?"

He raised a brow in confusion. "Coming where?"

"The camp... Will you be there?"

He looked at me for what seemed to be like an entire day before he gave me a cold response. "No, I won't. Goodnight, Lyla."