Chapter 5: Carol

CHAPTER 5

CAROL

“Damn, what a horrible, annoying noise,” I stretch out my hand and switch off my hateful alarm clock. “I swear I’m going to buy a better one,” I mutter.

Who on earth likes waking up at six in the morning? Not me. I hate getting up early. I drag my heavy body to the edge of the bed and stand up. Today would be my first day at my new job as the secretary for the owner of the company; even though it was Thursday, it was fine—any day is a good day to start a new job.

The first thing I do is head to the kitchen to make my coffee. I turn on the coffee maker, add the beans, and let it brew while I go to the bathroom: I brush my teeth, adjust the shower temperature, put my hair in a high bun, take off my clothes, and step in.

The sound of the machine tells me the coffee is ready, so I step out. I wrap my body in a towel and go for my daily dose of caffeine; I know I’ll need it today more than ever.

I check my closet looking for something to wear; I settle on a black and white polyester dress—elegant, knee-length, and sleeveless. Two tones that always give a sophisticated and confident touch; they never fail. I leave my hair down and do my brown eyes in a smoky style with black eyeliner and mascara. On my lips, I put a lighter, nude shade. I grab my black heels from the closet and search the whole place for my purse; I find it on the kitchen island next to my cell phone.

I stop in front of it, puzzled to see it there. “Didn’t I take you to the bedroom with me last night?” A bit confused, but without time to overthink it, I grab the brown folder containing my personal information.

I grab my keys, ready to go. I walk down the stairs and open the door; the first thing I see across the street makes me stagger slightly. My breath catches. I cling to the doorframe to keep my balance and avoid falling flat on my face.

“Will I ever get used to seeing him? No, of course not.”

Will Ashford, so perfectly impeccable in his three-piece gray suit, is leaning against the hood of his black car, looking incredibly authoritative and relentless, dark and dangerous. But above all, so unreachable.

I check the time on my wristwatch: seven-fifteen. It’s still early. What was he doing here?

His gray eyes examine me. He doesn’t smile, doesn’t do anything; not a single hint to give me the confidence to move. He pushes off the car and crosses the street.

“Good morning, Carol!”

He approaches me. I reach out my hand to shake his, but he ignores the gesture and kisses my cheek. My heart stops for a brief second. His scent—God, he smells so good; it’s a fantastic fragrance of mint and fresh water with a hint of sweetness. It melts me.

“H-hello. What are you doing here?” I probably sounded like a fool, but this made no sense.

“I came to take you to your new job,” his voice is so deep when he speaks that it hypnotizes you.

“Oh! Mmm… I was planning to take the subway; you shouldn’t have bothered.”

“You are no bother at all.” The way he looks at me and how he pronounced those words makes me think of other things… I shake my head and step out, locking the door and putting the keys in my purse.

“Right, let’s go. I don’t want my boss to think I’m unpunctual,” I tell him as we walk to his car.

He opens the passenger door and I get in. Seconds later, we were already merging onto the highway, which was starting to fill with cars rushing to their destinations.

“Certainly. We don’t want to make a bad first impression.” I look at his marvelous profile, amazed.

“So you have a sense of humor.”

I see a hint of a smile, but it lasts very little; it disappears instantly.

“Do you think I don’t?”

“I… I didn’t mean that.” Damn! My intention wasn’t to offend him.

“Relax, Carol. It’s fine.”

I sigh and settle into the seat as I watch London pass by around us.

“By the way, you look very pretty.”

“What?” I blush completely, and this time I can’t hide it.

“Thank you.” He seems not to notice and changes the subject.

“Did you know about Susan and Henry?”

“No more than you did… To tell the truth, we haven’t seen much of each other lately. So yesterday we caught up on a few things.”

“I see,” he says thoughtfully. “Has she mentioned when she’s moving?”

Wait! WHAT? I turn toward him.

“Will, if you’re trying to get information out of me, I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you. I’m not that kind of person; if you want to know something, go and ask her, not me.” I was starting to get annoyed. “If you only agreed to give me a job with that intention, you’ve got the wrong person, I won’t…”

I am interrupted.

“Enough, Carol! You’re talking pure nonsense!” His voice is strong, commanding. He turns his head when we stop at a red light. “I didn’t hire you to give me information about my daughter. It was just a question, since she mentioned that you’d be moving into the apartment with us this week… I knew Susan had chosen her friendship with you well. But, dammit, you need to calm down.”

Incredible, now I felt like a complete idiot! I just wanted to bury my head under the seat. I shut my big mouth and didn’t speak again for the rest of the ride to the company.