A Devil Boss

Chapter 8.1

Sera opened her eyes and stared at a ceiling. She noticed that she was lying very softly and was covered up.

"Well, awake again, Sleeping Beauty?" asked an amused male voice.

Horrified, as she was pretty familiar with that voice, she started up. "What are you doing here?" she asked, gasping, realizing she was in her apartment. How had she gotten here? Had she just dreamed that she had cut her finger?

"You collapsed in the office," Astarot said matter-of-factly. "I thought it was something bad at first, but you just cut yourself."

Dazed, Sera rubbed her head and flipped back the covers. "I can't stand the sight of blood without passing out," she remarked with a sigh. "Thank you for bringing me here. But you didn't have to. It usually takes me an hour at most to regain consciousness," Sera explained, looking at her finger, which fortunately was no longer bleeding.

Moreover, it had been doctored. "Since I didn't know that, I took you home to be on the safe side."

Once again, Sera thanked him before finally standing up. "Who doctored the finger?" she wanted to know with a shudder in her voice.

"I. So you don't fall right back down," he explained, eyeing her before handing her a glass of water. "You look pretty damn pale."

Without comment, she accepted it and drank. "That's normal," she murmured. It had always been that way when she'd seen blood. "I'm sure it'll be fine in a minute," she assured him. Sera was glad that he and no one else had put a Band-Aid over his finger.

"I certainly hope so. I was beginning to worry we'd have to cancel tonight," he said, gently running his hand through her hair, "You scared me."

Confused at his confession and touch, she waved it off. "No," Sera affirmed, smiling. "A little rest, some food, and everything will be back to normal. But I should get to work on getting ready for tonight."

"That's right, you should," Astarot agreed. "It's going to be an excellent reception, and I'm not sure they have a dress that meets the specifications," he added.

"Again?" grumbled Sera, walking toward the closet. Swinging it open, she then stood in front of it with her arms crossed before shuffling through the hanging hangers to search for a suitable dress. It was more complicated than she'd thought.

She tried on a few in the bathroom and showed them to Astarot, but he kept shaking his head.

At some point, it became too much for her, and she stopped in front of him with her arms crossed. "Don't make such a fuss," she grumbled, meaning that her clothes weren't that bad.

"I already told you, there is a dress code, and the hostess is very particular about it. I guess we'll have to get you a suitable dress," he said, rising.

"Wouldn't you rather take someone else with you? So many new, classy clothes don't really suit me," Sera replied as she looked at herself in the mirror. In her opinion, it looked pretty and preppy but not too revealing.

"This clientele explicitly asked for you," he said matter-of-factly.

Questioningly, Sera tilted her head. "Why is that?" she wanted to know.

"You made a good impression last time, and they want to meet you," he explained in a calm voice.

Suspiciously, Sera raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah?" she asked, not exactly convinced. Did she have to wire herself up again?

Astarot laughed. "That's just the way it is with them," he waved it off.

"I'm certainly not that interesting," Sera replied and ducked into the bathroom to change. She didn't want to know what kind of dress she would end up wearing.

"Interesting enough," Astarot called after her.