05 : Where there is incentive.
1132 Words
"Hello, Miss Westwood. Nice to meet you." He said once the last bite was gone.
Alyna swallowed the biscuit in a hurry. She turned around and extended her hand at the man.
She internally beat herself for slacking. 456 days of slacking already reduced her to a waste and now she couldn't even hear someone approaching!
"Hello, I'm Alyna. Nice to meet you." She hastily introduced herself, giving away the fact that she wasn't listening to him.
Their hands met and a warm current passed between their joined hands. Alyna followed the path from his tattooed arm to his face. A handsome man, she thought.
Who knew that even plain brown eyes could be this beautiful? They were almost opaque, giving the illusion of water colors. His thick black hair was parted to the side in a neat curve. Although he looked stern, his voice came out gentle and polite.
"I know. Please sit. Josh should be here any minute."
They sat opposite each other. A maid brought another plate of biscuits and a fresh cup of coffee for both of them. Alyna stopped the maid before she could leave.
"Can I have extra sugar in my coffee, please?" She asked.
The maid brought her extra sugar. Alyna got busy with stirring it into her coffee. She gave the maid a thumbs up after tasting it. The maid left in a hurry.
"Josh isn't bad at studies. Math and geography are his weakness." The man said and sipped the bitter coffee.
"Mr Melvin, I want to be clear to you. I came to Ember Claw pack a few days ago and have been working as a teacher for four days now, including today. I will try my best to teach Josh though. You can trust me on that."
Alyna came out clean with her history. Mr Melvin didn't seem to care much about her questionable history as a teacher. He also didn't ask any annoying questions about her private life.
Alyna raked her eyes all over him behind the cover of her coffee cup. He was hot and rich. A perfect female magnet combination.
Unfortunately, it never worked on Alyna. She always found the stronger men attractive. In both physical and mental aspects.
If she went for good looks alone, her life wouldn't be ruined by an ugly bloke like Cedric.
Th coffee was long gone. Alyna placed the cup back on the table. Her fingers reached for the biscuits but she stopped herself last minute.
Mr Melvin raised his eyebrows, "Help yourself. They are freshly made."
Alyna politely took one and chewed slowly. "Aren't you going to ask anything?"
"No." He answered bluntly.
"You're here already? I thought we are meeting the new tutor at 7?"
Surprise at bay, Alyna found two new faces making their way towards them. A man with similar features to the one sitting in front of her and a much younger boy, whom she assumed was Josh.
"Hello, Miss Westwood. I am Evan Melvin, Josh's father. Sorry to keep you waiting for long. I got the timing wrong." Evan pulled Josh to sit next to Mr Melvin.
Alyna's confusion was too loud to contain under indifference. She pointed at the person she thought was Mr Melvin, "Who is he?"
Evan and Josh turned to the nonchalant man at the same time. The man curved his lips ever so slightly. Alyna was taken aback at how gentle he looked when smiling.
"Eiran Melvin." The man introduced himself. "Josh's uncle. I didn't ask anything because I'm not the one interviewing you. Evan will do that."
Alyna's heart dropped into the deepest pits of hell.
Why am I here?
Why did I get tempted by the money?
Greed is a sin.
Instant retribution for me.
Multiple such thoughts dropped into her mind one by one. The Alpha she wanted to avoid for the rest of her stay here was now sitting right in front of her, even offering biscuits.
Calm down.
Breathe.
He's just an Alpha.
You're a nobody.
He doesn't know.
He can't do anything even if he does know.
Alyna took a deep breath and smiled back politely. "Hello Alpha. I wasn't aware -"
"I understand. You can go ahead with the interview. I'll take my leave."
The man stood up and left like a storm. Alyna was left staring at his broad back with a blank mind. Again, she had the feeling of being found out.
She was calm, wasn't she? Not behaving like a stuck up snob from the silver mane pack or anything.
Why did he leave like that?
"Don't mind him. Work commitments can drive a man crazy."
Evan was the calmer sibling with less mood swings. Alyna was able to hold a proper conversation with him without feeling like her insides were being opened and checked.
Josh was a nice boy as well. A polite and respectful 12 year old. Alyna guessed he took after his mother with a head of blonde curls and dark green eyes.
"As you must know, his math and geography are weak. Rest of his subjects are quite good. These are his reports from last exam."
Alyna was stoked at the results. The A's were blinding with only 2 B's in front of math and geography. They call this weakness?
And they want her to tutor this little genius?
Her years of experience as a student was being mocked. Despite being one of the high achievers in her school and university.
"He's already so good. Why do you need a tutor?" She got over it and asked.
"He has a hard time focusing on studying. With a tutor around, he'll be able to study better." Evan patted his son's back with a humble smile.
"Oh."
Alyna didn't remember much of their conversation after that. All of it seemed meaningless. Somewhere between Josh's grades and her own teaching abilities, she even though of turning back on the offer.
But Evan knew when to strike. The moment she showed hesitation, he brought up the salary, even offering to add more if it wasn't enough.
Alyna walked out with an envelope containing an advance payment. She stuffed it into her bag and stomped her leg on the marble floor.
Is it worth it?
Is the money worth being under Alpha Eiran's radar for three hours?
The thickness of that envelope felt warm between her fingers. The 456 days of wandering caused her to forget what it felt like to have enough money to spend without thinking.
And there was Destiny and Grandma too....
"Miss Westwood, the driver is here to take you back home." The butler came up behind her.
Alyna flinched. Once again, she was too deep in her thoughts to notice her surroundings. Rusty, you're getting rusty, Alyna.
- Writer
