Chapter 4 - Repellents

The gown and heels were gone when I finally awoke to my blaring alarm by 6am.

Next to me was Shirley, and on the other bed were Mirabel and Arella.

I remembered Shirley's warning for me not to leave it there. No doubt Mirabel and Arella must have taken it. But then, it wasn't impossible for the culprit to be Shirley.

I was too angry and pissed to even start preparing for work. I didn't suffer the humiliation from putting it on for nothing, all for them to just have their way with it. I figured that even if Mich didn't want me anymore, the money I would make from the sale of that gown will be enough to sustain me till I got another job.

And now this.

I eyed their trunks and the wardrobes, wondering where I should begin my search. It could even be beneath the mattress they laid, for all I knew.

In anger, I kicked both beds hard and forcefully. “You guys should wake up!!!"

They all stirred sluggishly, rubbing their eyes.

I kicked both beds harder the second time. “I know you are not deaf!"

“Have you suddenly gone nuts?!" Mirabel barked as she raised her head, glaring at me with bloodshot eyes.

"I should be asking you, for having the guts to steal my stuff!”

"What stuff?! Are you crazy?!”

And so we bickered at each other for the next ten minutes. They even made a show of emptying their bags, wardrobe, raising the mattress and all of that.

I didn't find the gown or heels.

Shirley stared at me with sympathy.

By 6:45, I was hurrying out like a really crazy person. I couldn't even bother with a shower for fear of being late. I just made sure to use enough spray and washed my face.

Guess what time I finally made it to the office?

Ten minutes past seven.

I should have known that the office was a twenty-minute ride from my residence. I lived within the slum suburbs of Los Angeles, while the office was located at Beverly Hills.

What scared me the moment I stepped into the office was the pathetic stare Ruky gave me.

“He's waiting for you in the office." She handed me a tablet, displaying a schedule on the screen. “I wouldn't be late next time, if I were you. Good luck. I'm leaving." She picked her bag. “I was only waiting to hand this to you."

I collected the tablet nervously as my eyes quickly scanned the schedule. I stared at it but my mind was too fogged to register anything. “Where can I get his coffee, please?"

“See him first. He prefers coffee from the cafe on the ground floor.”

I gasped in disbelief. The building was twenty floors high, and the La Monte brand occupied the last four floors. So I had to take the elevator all the way down to the last floor just to get a common cup of coffee I could get a floor or two below?

“Mich dislikes sluggishness. So try to be as smart as you can."

Did she just call him Mich?

I watched her leave, feeling doomed.

Come on, brace up, gal. At least you were not fired. I took in a deep breath before knocking at the door.

If only I didn't go out with Shirley last night, I wouldn't feel so nervous.

Or better still, what if I pretend it never happened?

I knocked again since there was no response.

"Just come in.”

I heard a tired voice say.

I was half expecting him to be in a suit or probably in a similar attire as mine; a customized La Monte brand polo and jeans. But I didn't think or imagine he would be in a fly shirt and baggy shorts, paired with cool black socks for a white sneakers.

Damn. His legs were so perfect and quite hairy. He was standing by the bookshelf, sorting through some files and met my gaze with a hard one.

He raked his eyes over me and returned his attention to his files.

He said nothing.

Was the aim to make me feel stupid?

I exhaled deeply to calm my nerves. "I'm sorry, I'm late. I got stuck in traffic. I must have underestimated the distance."

“Why are you standing there?" He asked without even looking my way.

I was so confused. “I don't…I don't understand." Was he going to fire me because of last night?

He turned around slowly, fixing a meaner glare on me. “What don't you understand? Weren't you drilled on your duties?"

I felt more flustered and stupid with each passing second.

“I…she…yeah…" I paused to catch my breath. This was just Mich the bully. I don't have to let him intimidate me. “I was supposed to report to you first."

“Before getting my cup of coffee?"

Oh. Was this what this was all about?

I left the office, feeling embarrassed. I blinked back tears in the elevator as I hit the button for the ground floor.

I didn't expect him to be nice. I only thought I just had to be smart and not get in his way. I didn't think he would be so intent on picking on me and treating me like a servant.

Two months even seemed too much for this emotional trauma. A month should do. But I would need more money after paying the rent for a new place. Besides the rent, I would have a lot of expenses to make for a new apartment. So two months then. I'd quit after two months.

I made a quick order at the cafe and hurried back up. His legs were crossed on the table this time when I returned.

I hated the way he stared at me.

His eyes literally bored holes into my being. I'll call it a piercing stare. And whenever our eyes met, my heart raced wildly.

He took a sip of the coffee, then rolled his eyes with a grunt. “The syrup is excess. I prefer more milk. Get another one.”

Exhaling, I took that cup and found my way out. I emptied the contents into my stomach in the elevator since I was hungry. I had nothing to eat before coming because I was in a rush. Not like I had any cash to spare for food.

I had really put a lot of hope in selling that gown and heels. Those bitches better produce it. My budget felt tighter than ever, pending when I got my pay. My first pay.

I returned a second time with the coffee, but he said the sugar was excess.

When I came up with it the third time, he gestured at a stack of files at a corner of his large table.

“Go through these documents quickly. Sort out the ones titled Felipe and Co.”

Quickly?

From my estimate, there must be over two thousand documents stacked in different piles, staring back at me. And he needed me to ‘quickly’ sort them out?

"Bonnie, I have an important client in about thirty minutes and I would need that document."

“Bonita.” I murmured, despite myself.

"Excuse me?”

"It's Bonita.” I held his gaze this time with an equally hard one. "Not Bonnie.”

He shrugged. "Not like a slut would care what her clients calls her whenever they're rocking hard on the bed.”

The statement was enough to set my blood on fire. "Watch what you say, Mich! How dare you?!”

He couldn't hide his shock at my reaction. "Did you just yell at me?”