"I'm fucking tired."Gabriel looks up at my entrance, somehow not seeming surprised to see me. "Aria," he muses, dropping his pen on the document before him. "What did I say about your foul mouth?""Fuck that and fuck this.""Fuck what exactly?""This!" I snap, waving my arms wound to emphasize my point. "All of this. I can't work where I'm not welcome. I'd like to terminate my contract, please."My dilemma seems like entertainment to him. He stands up from his chair, making me take a step back involuntarily. He expels a chuckle, but doesn't stop as he rounds his table, coming to a stop in front of it, and leaning back against it. "It's your first day.""And my last."He arches a sharp eyebrow that has me momentarily pausing to admire his perfectly shaped brow. My eyes run across his face, his almond-shaped eyes, his slightly pointed nose, his pretty ass lips, his angular face, and his sharp jawline, and I marvel at how someone can be so perfect. God really has a favorite. I'm about t
I try to stop Gabriel, but he's so much stronger than me and my pulling doesn't seem to faze him. Instead, he's pulling me along with him."Gabriel!" I try to plead with him."Mr. Hernsburg." He corrects unfailingly, not even pausing in his steps to look at me.When he enters the elevator, I follow suit. I thought I was stubborn until I met this man who seems to always have his way. "Why are you doing this?"He gives me a side glance. "You don't even know what I'm doing."I pause as he turns to look straight ahead. He's right. I don't know what he's about to do, but I know it won't help my reputation. I open my mouth to keep protesting but shut it back when I realize that my attempts will be futile.Instead, I take a minute to appreciate his side profile. His nose looks pointier and his jawline looks sharper, but maybe, that's just because he's quite angry.I don't realize we've reached the fifteenth floor until I hear the ping of the elevator stopping. There's chatter on the other si
Gabriel can be a dick.What he did on my first day was enough to ruin my reputation, but that didn't stop him from calling me into his office every fucking day and I've already been working here for more than two months.He usually doesn't have any legit reason to call me up, but he always does and everyone knows that he does yet there's nothing I can do about it.I can only obey him since he's my boss and I don't want to lose my job, despite not liking the circumstances which I got them."Are you even listening to me?" "Hmm?" I ask Belle distractedly."Yeah, she's not listening to you," Marcus concludes.Marcus is the man that told me to go on with my presentation on the first day. Luckily, he didn't have anything against me, so it was easy for us to become friends.Apart from Belle and Marcus, there are two other people in our little group. One of them is Stacy, Belle's friend from another department. She's kind of a female tech bro down to the cute huge glasses on her face that ar
I take a deep breath before knocking on the door. Belle had seen me coming up here and she'd winked at me. I flipped her off.I knock on the door again when I don't hear any response. Still nothing. Frowning, I try the handle, but it doesn't budge. It's locked. Did he go home when he told me to see him after work?Stepping back with a sigh, I am more than ready to leave and go home to Lucas when I hear the click of the door. Following the sound, the door opens and Gabriel steps back for me to enter.I take a good look at him. He looks exhausted like he has had a long day at work. I watch him as he walks to his couch and falls animatedly on it. I take a hesitant step inside."Lock the door behind you."My mind automatically drifts to Shawn, but I quickly shake the thoughts out of my head. Gabriel isn't like that. He won't force me to do what I don't want to do. Deciding to trust him, I lock the door before approaching him. "Gabriel?"His lips twitch in a tired smile. "It's Mr. Hernsbu
"Look what I found."I turn around at the sound of Lucas' voice and see him holding up two, dollar notes. I feign surprise. "Wow, the tooth fairy must love you."Lucas rolls his eyes — a habit he's beginning to pick up from me — stuffing it into his jean pocket. "I know it's you, mommy. I'm not as gullible anymore."I raise my eyebrow at the word he used. It seems like he's learning a new word each day. Unlike other kids, Lucas has taken a liking to read. A few days ago, he came to me, asking for books and comics and I'd just gotten my first paycheck so I didn't mind at all. The paycheck was quite… generous. I grin at him. "Whatever do you mean?""There's no tooth fairy.""Yet you kept your tooth under your pillow."He grins back at me. "I could do with a dollar or two." I shake my head with a small smile as I turn back around at the sound of the toaster."What? You plan on spending it on Ally?""What are you making?" He swiftly changes the subject and I can't help but laugh, taking
"And then, you hear the voice of voice over artist saying—""Times up. That's a wrap for today. We'll continue this meeting tomorrow." Nessa announces, cutting me off. I can't help the scowl that appears on my face. "I'm not done with my pitch."Nessa smiles sweetly at me, standing up and packing up her files. "It's not my fault the meeting was set to go on for only an hour."My other colleagues are torn in between leaving as well or staying to let me complete my pitch because it's lunch break. I'm tempted to tell Nessa to go fuck herself, but I know it won't be very professional of me. So I bite back my words, disconnect my laptop from the projector and walk out of the conference room with the lot.I don't go to my cubicle though. I follow Nessa to her office. She's one of the only people with an office on our floor, but she's definitely the only one who exploits the power that comes with it."What do you want now?" She asks when she glimpses at me behind her. Immediately after she
"Don't you think two weeks is extreme?""We are trying to instill discipline in our students and they have to take consequences for their actions.""But two weeks…""Maybe, you can use those two weeks to teach him better."I blink at her. Is she questioning my parenting? The audacity. "Are we done here?" I ask the principal, who I'm beginning to dislike."Yes, we—"I don't wait for the rest of her words before I pick up my bag from the table and stand up from the chair, not saying anything else as I exit the office to see Gabriel squatting in front of my son, in a conversation with him.Both of them turn to me as they hear the door bang shut and Gabriel is quick to stand up. "What's going on?"I don't answer him. Instead, I turn to Lucas. "We have a lot to talk about."I expect Lucas to feel bad, but instead, he shrugs like he already knows. "Is this the boss you were texting last week? He says his name is Gabriel."I take a deep breath. "You don't have the right to ask questions, you
"Do you have everything you need?""Yup," Lucas replies to me, hanging his backpack as I pack our lunch. I'd taken up Gabriel's offer on taking Lucas to work since I don't have any other choice. It's the first day of going back to work after my suspension. I am sure Nessa won't be too thrilled about my comeback. Even if the suspension was unpaid, I admitted that I needed the break and it was nice to spend time with my son without having to worry about work.During the past week, Gabriel dropped by almost every day, claiming he wanted to check up on Lucas. It was a sweet gesture and it made Lucas smitten with him because he always came with a new book for him, but it was also confusing for me because why was my boss willing to spend time with my son?When I finally asked Lucas to explain what happened to me, he admitted that the boy that got hurt was initially bullying him and saying hurtful things about Lucas' father not being around. Lucas had pushed him, wanting him to go away, but