"Hey, Ophelia!" a female voice called out.Phina's liiting Pittsburgh accent caught my attention, and I spotted her balancing precariously on a ladder at the front entrance."How early did you guys get here?" I asked playfully as I approached her, and she just shook her head as she dipped her roller back into the paint can clutched in her hand."We wanted to get a head start. Cranky Collins is expecting this finished by today, remember?"I couldn't help but grin at the return of that creative nickname. "Smart move," I replied.She grinned in agreement, pointing to the supplies at her feet when I asked her where I could get my own roller."Oh, that's William over there, by the way. He is your replacement," she added.I turned and narrowed my eyes in the direction she pointed to, but all I could make out was a mop of curly blond hair atop another ladder. Phina noticed this and cupped both of her hands around her mouth before yelling. "William, this is Ophelia!"My cheeks flushed at how o
"Ophelia, stay still!"I squirmed again despite Sarah's scolding as she tugged at my hair, trying her best to tie it up into a decently presentable ponytail."Okay, that will have to do," she mumbled as I turned to look in the mirror.Since the business trip's description specified casual attire, I decided to wear a wooly white sweater and a pair of blue jeans. Shane had somehow got a hold of my number and texted me that Nicholas decided to give me the early portion of the day off, because he would just be in meetings until we left for Washington.Once again, he successfully avoided talking to me directly. Why didn't he just fire me if he couldn't bear to talk to me?The doors of the elevator slid open just as Sarah gave me a friendly hug for good luck. We said our goodbyes and I walked out, dragging my small suitcase along with me. I hesitantly pushed the door to Nicholas's office open, and after quickly scanning the room, I realized that Shane and three other men I didn't recognize
A blood-curdling scream rang out through the air. I pulled desperately against my harness, but it didn't even budge. And then the car hit.A bright flash blinded me momentarily as I was thrown roughly forward. I felt a searing pain shoot up my arm as we hit the ground, and everything around me seemed to fall as well, landing carelessly in the debris of the two shattered cars.I spotted a white hat lying beside me, and I tried to reach for it, but I couldn't seem to move. A scream left my lips as my eyes slowly focused on the three people laying in the smoke surrounding me."Ophelia?"I parted my lips to scream again, but no matter how hard I tried, no sound came out at all."Ophelia, wake up."I jerked upright, panting loudly and feeling incredibly disoriented."Are you okay?" a voice called out. "Hey, it was just a dream."I realized that I was sweating and my heart was pounding rapidly in my chest. Closing my eyes, I tried to swallow the abnormal amount of saliva in my mouth. When I
The hotel room was just as lavish and chic as I expected, but I decided not to bask in it for now. Instead, I flopped tiredly on the soft surface of the king sized bed, gazing at the picture-perfect raindrops bouncing off the window beside me. As my eyes began to flutter closed, an ambush of memories come flooding back to me.I could picture the way her long blonde hair used to trail down her back. I would gaze into her big, crystal blue eyes and pat the white hat lying neatly on her head. I would watch the way her eyes crinkled with laughter whenever something funny happened, or the way her cheeks turned pink when she was embarrassed. I could see his dark mustache and short curly hair, the way it stuck up so funnily after I ruffled it. I could cry wholeheartedly into his chest all night, but he wouldn't ever tell me to go away. I could see the little dark-haired boy that he dragged to school every morning, the same boy who was sent to bed without dinner most nights for misbehaving,
I woke up with a start and that awful feeling that developed in the pit of ones stomach when you were not sure that you had woken up slowly subsided as my eyes gradually adjusted to the sunlit hotel room around me.The events of last night came back to me gradually as I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower, and although they were all as clear as day in my mind, I knew I would still have to hear it all from Nicholas first before I would actually believe they happened. I quickly slipped a dress over my head, grabbing my white flats and a pair of sunglasses to match as I combed through my hair. Once I was finished with putting on some makeup, I suddenly realized I didn't actually know where we were meeting up today. Nicholas did but he didn't tell me because he assumed we would be sharing a hotel room.What could have happened if we had?I shivered at the direction my thoughts were heading to. After scanning the entire room thoroughly, I managed to locate my phone and as I picked it
I glanced up at him and despite the fact that every inch of me was aching just thinking about it, I did the right thing. I pulled my arm away from his hold and narrowed my eyes at him before I spoke. "You live an awful lifestyle and the sooner you realize that, the better."I set my jaw to distract myself from the constricting of my throat as I turned and walked away from his frozen figure. But I didn't head back to the table. I didn't even want to stay in the same restaurant as him. I stormed right out of the front door and across the wooden patio. I didn't care if I had lost my job. I just didn't want to see his face again.Tears were brimming in my eyes, causing my vision to blur drastically as I refused to blink and let them fall. Barely a second passed before Nicholas walked outside as well, striding up to me with purpose as I picked up the pace of my walking."Ophelia. Ophelia, please listen to me..."He received a harsh slap on the back of his hand when he tried to grab my wrist
I pulled the zipper of my skirt up speedily, feeling the nervous excitement already bubbling up inside of me at the prospect of finally getting out of this hotel room and actually interacting with other human beings.According to an overly formal email from Nicholas, the corporate event we were attending tonight was not ridiculously black-tie, but I only dressed to impress around that man, so my lot cut, bold red crop top and figure hugging black skirt seemed like the perfect choice. It would come off like sort of a subtle 'this is what you missed out on' statement.A knock on the door told me that I had taken as long as I could, getting ready, so I grabbed my purse and phone speedily before going out of the door. The person I saw standing at the bottom of the staircase nearly sent me toppling backward again. I seemed to forget how strikingly handsome Nicholas was too often for my own good, and I also knew that my stunned reaction didn't go unnoticed by Shane, or any of the others for
I checked my phone, sighing in annoyance when I saw that it was hardly 8 PM yet and I was already getting rather desperate to leave. It was not that the event in itself wasn't entertaining or anything, because it most definitely was. There was an array of amazing fireworks going off at every strike of the hour and the various singers and bands arriving to perform on the enormous stage set up at the front of the field, but because I had already had to converse with three guys in a rather rude manner because they were either drunk and confused, or clearly had intentions that didn't involve a light-hearted conversation.Just as I was thinking about all that, I felt a warm hand land on my shoulder and I wheeled around to see a tall man peering down at me. Even in the dim lighting of the evening, I could see his spiky dark hair and glazed over eyes that screamed that he was drunk.Yes, definitely drunk, I thought."Hello, beautiful," he slurred, but just as I opened my mouth to reply, a ro