Forced Her to Resign
1100 Words
For a whole week, Giscard attended Elena’s performances. After familiarizing himself with her work routine and locations, he visited the four pubs that employed her as a pole dancer. Through a mix of threats and inducements, he convinced them to fire her.
At nightfall, Elena, with her backpack, headed to Albany Pub, with Giscard following her like a shadow for the past two weeks.
She had been inexplicably fired from three pubs in a row. If Albany Pub also fired her, she would have to consider returning to Nissen Pub, despite the boss Jackson’s infatuation with her. She had to survive.
Deep in thought, she entered Albany Pub and saw the acEthanant coming towards her. She knew what was coming.
"Elena, I’m sorry. I don’t know what happened..."
"Save it!" Elena coldly interrupted, snatching the pay envelope from the acEthanant’s hand and walking out again.
Giscard stood at the door, his tall, handsome figure attracting passersby’s attention.
Handsome! He was indeed handsome, with well-defined features. His rebellious brown hair was tied at the nape, his chiseled aristocratic face, and those deep, overly calmblue eyes that often looked at her quietly, sometimes even tenderly.
But most of the time, they were icy. And what unsettled her the most was the strange sense of familiarity that grew over the two weeks he followed her, as if they had walked a long road together in some distant past.
Shaking her head, she pulled herself out of her thoughts, waved the pay envelope in his face, and mocked, "Congratulations, you got me fired again."
"I did it for your own good." His tone was paternal.
"Thanks!" She sarcastically replied.
Seeing her walk past him, he matched her pace, "I’ll take you home."
"No need!" She reached the intersection, but Daniel wasn’t there. Frowning, she looked around.
"Don’t bother. If you’re waiting for that scooter," he smirked, "He was only helping you for the five hundred a month you paid him. I gave him ten thousand to leave. Think he’d stay?"
Ten thousand, quite a lot! She pressed her lips, "I always knew men can’t be trusted."
She had chosen Daniel because he was her classmate, and his family situation was similar to hers. Having an underdeveloped boy with her also discouraged the older men from trying anything with her.
"I’ll take you home."
Elena glared at him, "You know where I live?"
"Yes, including the divorced Ph.D. parents who abandoned you."
She gasped, "Who are you? How dare you investigate my background?"
"If you want to know who I am, get in my car." He pointed to a Mercedes parked by the curb.
She shook her head, "No way. Who knows where you’d take me!"
"You’re very cautious, but," he said, gazing at her beautiful face, "you do attract trouble. You should be more careful."
She glanced at him dismissively and started walking down the street.
Giscard abandoned his car and walked alongside her. "So? Class isn’t over yet, and you’re afraid to go home, worried your grandparents will find out you dropped out of school?"
Elena’s expression changed abruptly. She stopped and glared at him. "Don’t you think you’re meddling too much?"
He smiled, glancing ahead. "I remember there’s a quiet park around the corner. We can talk there, and you’ll understand how much I know about you."
She gave him a sideways look. "Ha, you’ve been following me for two weeks. No wonder you know the area well."
"Stop calling me a foreigner. Don’t forget, you’re half foreign yourself."
She pressed her lips together, not arguing.
"My name is Giscard, the twelfth Marquis of the French Canidja family."
She glanced at him without much interest. "A Marquis? That sounds impressive, but," she shrugged coldly, "I’m not interested. As a pole dancer, I’m used to dealing with scandalous family secrets, so whether you know them or not makes no difference to me. I’m not going to the park to talk with you."
His brows furrowed. "I wonder, do you feel any familiarity with my name at all?"
Elena asked back, "Should I?"
Giscard’s handsome face briefly showed a hint of sadness, but he quickly dismissed it, telling himself that after only two weeks together, it was natural for her to feel nothing.
"Stop following me. I really dislike men, especially arrogant, self-important ones like you."
She hailed a taxi, and to her surprise, he boldly got in the front seat.
"Hey, you..." she started.
He forced a smile, hoping to talk with her, "I heard in New York, the person in the front seat pays."
She rolled her eyes, exasperated. "I’m not so poor that I need you to pay my fare."
He shook his head, looking at her with pity. "Taking a taxi is a luxury for you."
She glared at him for a long moment, then admitted, "Yes, if you weren’t following me everywhere, I’d rather take the bus home."
"Then you’d have a hamburger for dinner and a late-night snack, before putting on your school uniform and going home, right?"
She clenched her teeth. "That’s my business."
"You’re too frugal. It’s not good for your health."
Does this man know no bounds? "That’s also my business."
"No, since you have no income now, your business becomes my business."
"If you haven’t forgotten, you should know I have a job during the day."
"An office assistant making eighteen thousand a month?" Giscard sneered.
She didn’t miss the disdain in his voice. "You..."
"That job’s gone too."
She was stunned. "What?"
"I submitted your resignation for you. Your boss, an old maid jealous of your youth and beauty, was happy to accept it." Damn, that old witch had wanted to fire her for a long time, and this i***t of a man— "What right do you have to control my life?" she yelled in fury.
"I said, if you want answers, we need to talk in a quiet place."
"I won’t be alone with a man!"
"Then let’s go to a park or a public place."
Elena glared at his composed, handsome face. She couldn’t deny that this Marquis had the wealth and power to have gotten her fired from five jobs in just two weeks!
If she didn’t get things clear with him and he kept interfering, she’d have no way to cover living expenses and her grandparents' medical bills... She pressed her lips together and told the driver, "To Prospect Park."
"Uh, okay." The driver, relieved they seemed to reach an agreement, started driving.
Giscard glanced at the cold-faced Elena with satisfaction before leaning back comfortably in his seat.
- Writer
