When Lust Turns to Love

Chapter 7

Hannah Towers' POV

“You seem to be on a roll these days, Towers.” Bret sardonically voices out as he looks at me suspiciously while counting the money I handed him. “Where are you getting your money, huh?”

“I have my own work, Bret.” I reply trying to sound confident. Little did they know what cost me all these money I am paying them and there’s no way in hell am I ever going to tell them about it.

“Right. But you still have a long way to go, Hannah.”

“I know.”

When they left, I close the door and return to my living room to where my students are gathered doing an activity I prepared for them.

Bret and his men came while I was in the middle of my tutorials so I had to distract the teens not to let them witness how I deal with the loan sharks.

Bret's right. I still have a long way to go with the debt I am paying. Thankfully, Justin is keeping his end of the bargain and true to his words, he paid me for the lunch we had together the other day. But still, it’s not enough to pay off the two million dollars and I still haven’t heard from the bank if my application for a loan is approved.

“Miss Towers,” Ava, one of my students calls my attention. “I need a little help here.”

“Sure.”

I approach her and tended to her homework. The rest of my day went by uneventful and thank goodness, I have no calls or text from Justin.

Instead when I checked my phone, I have a long message from Claire who is a close friend of mine who lives just a block away from me.

Claire: Hi Hannah! Guess what? I’ve got a job offer for you. Though it’s just temporary, but I know how you needed the money as you’ve mentioned last month. One of our editors is going off on a long vacation, two weeks actually, but we are really short of manpower so our manager agreed to let you fill in the position for the meantime. Beep me back if you accept and I’d be happy to confirm to the manager.

I shriek after reading her message. Thank God! I jump on my bed and screamed on my pillow. I love you Claire!

Claire was my colleague and is currently working in a publishing company. We became close during college when we became members of the same club that involves social debates and feature writing.

I hurriedly compose my reply to her: Oh my gosh, Claire. Thank you so much! This means so much to me. Yes, I really need an extra income right now so I would be so much willing to fill in one of your editors.

The next day, Claire fetched me in her car and we went to her workplace together. Along the way, she explains how it is possible to have me right on the spot if our manager agrees to hire me temporarily. When we arrived, she led me directly to their manager and I was surprised to see a young man who is likely to be in her late twenties. He’s wearing a grey suit and a tie that matches his brown eyes.

“Mr. Shaw, this is Hannah Towers, the one I was telling you last time. She’s got an amazing skill in editing. She's won many awards way back in college so she's the perfect woman for the job.”

I smile shyly at Claire’s introduction. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Shaw.” We shake hands as he smiles welcomingly at me.

“Nice to meet you too, Miss Towers. I’m Timothy Shaw. Glad to have you in the team.”

“I-I’m already in?” I can’t believe my ears.

Mr. Shaw chuckles and nods. “Yes, Miss Towers. I know this is such an impromptu call for you but we really are at a tight spot right now so we need an editor and we’ll just do this informally to speed up the process. And I’d like it if you can start today since we have a lot of articles for editing.”

“Oh, thank you so much, Mr. Shaw.”

He smiles and gestures me to sit down. Claire signals and left us alone.

“Take a seat, Hannah and we will discuss our terms and conditions before you start.”

They are currently in the peak of publishing two biography books and a magazine so they really need someone to substitute the editor on leave.

After I signed and agreed to their terms and conditions, Claire showed me to my temporary desk and introduced me to the other clerks and editors. They welcomed me nicely and thanks to Claire, I was able to feign off the awkwardness and begin to feel comfortable with them.

They taught me the basic things and oriented me well with my own share of work. The rest of the day, I spent encoding and proof-reading some articles.

I was in the middle of reading an article when my phone rang. It’s Justin. Damn, what does he want now?

I cancel the call and resumes reading but then he’s calling again so I end it again. After a few seconds, he sent me a text.

Justin: Why aren't you picking up? Where are you?

I am thinking of what to reply when he sent me another text.

You don’t seem to be in your apartment today.

Shit! Is he at my place?

I stand up and exit my way to an empty area outside the office. I dial Justin and he answers immediately.

“Justin, I’m at work.”

“What? I thought you’re a home-based tutor.”

“I am but I just got another job.”

“What?”

I sigh hesitant to tell him about my new job and I don’t know why.

“Why did you call?” I ask.

“Can we have dinner tonight?” Oh, my heart just skipped a beat. We had lunch one time and now he wants us to have dinner together. What’s next? Breakfast?

“Uhm, tonight?” I bite my lip. I already planned to take Claire out to treat her for what she did for me.

“Yes, do you have other plans?”

I was about to say yes when I heard Claire calling my name.

“Hannah, I was looking for you.”

“Just a minute” I whisper to Justin before covering my phone and turn to face Claire.

Claire approaches me with her phone in her hands while looking at me nervously.

“Hannah, my mom just called and I promised to take her out tonight so I’ve got to go home earlier today. I'm sorry, I won't be able to drive you home.”

What? Oh no, there goes my excuse for a busy night. “Oh, it's okay, Claire. I'll take the bus tonight.”

“I'm really sorry, Hannah. Will you be okay then?”

“Of course, Claire. No worries. I’ve got this.” I flash her a smile to reassure her not to worry about me.

She smiles back. “Okay, just text me if there’s any problem.” She waves and starts walking away.

“Uhm, Claire!”

She turns and I mouth a thank you to her.

After she left, I return to my phone call with Justin.

“Justin, are you still there?”

“Yeah, and I heard everything. Send me the address, I’m coming to pick you up.”

What the… he heard our conversation?

“But−”

*Toot* *Toot* *Toot*

I really hate it when he hangs up on me. I sigh as I type the address and send it to him because a part of me knows that he’ll have his own way even if I refuse to let him know of my whereabouts.

The rest of the day went by uneventfully and before I know it, it’s time to go home. After exchanging goodbyes to my fellow editors, I patiently stand to wait outside the lobby. Minutes later, the familiar shine of a sleek black Audi approaches me where I am standing. It stops in front of me and Justin comes out looking so strikingly handsome in his smooth and befitting suit. I notice he came out of the driver’s seat. He must have driven here himself.

“Hannah.” He smiles at me and waves me inside his car. I nod at him and obeyed. Once we are inside his car, he pulls my head and kisses me.

What the…

It was so sudden that I kept still for a moment. I feel his tongue expertly exploring my mouth and he sucks on my lower lip. His hands are holding my head in place as he continues his hungry assault on my lips.

I push him away. “J-Justin, I … thought we’re having dinner.”

He breathes out heavily releasing my head from his grasp and puts on his seatbelt. “Yes, of course, we are. Dinner it is.”

I put on my seatbelt too and he drives off.

He stops us in front of Maxine’s, one of the famous and most successful restaurants and also with the reputation of serving the most expensive dishes.

I hesitatingly unlock my seatbelt. “Can we…uhm, dine somewhere else?”

Justin looks at me with creased brows. “Is there something wrong with this place?”

“Uhm, nothing, it’s just that, uh, I look out of place in there.” Plus, the fact that I may have a hard time swallowing food that cost me my monthly salary of my tutorials.

I jerk in surprise when Justin holds my hand. He looks at me with warm eyes. “Hey, don’t think like that. I want to feed you the best so no dramas and let’s just go, I’m starving already.” He gives my hand a squeeze before getting off the car, leaving me speechless at what he did and said.

I sigh while telling myself not to think too much about it. I have to remind myself that this is just a part of the deal. I am getting paid just by having dinner with him.

Justin smiles brightly at me when I got out of the car. He gets a hold of my hand again and we enter together. The outside was amazing already but the interior design is way more luxurious that it’s taking my breath away. I notice how they have most furniture and paintings that depict various places in New York.

There is a painting of the famous Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building, two of the many attractions that I have always wanted to visit. Photographs taken from the Times Square with bustling people and bright lights are also lined up along the walls.

“New York.” I didn’t realize it but I murmured it loud enough for Justin who is sitting across me to hear it. I let him order for us while I get to admire and roam my eyes around the place. I still can't believe I'm dining inside an expensive place I could never afford.

“What’s with New York?” he regards me with curious eyes.

I grin. “I’ve always dreamt of visiting New York. Someday soon, I will.” I reply dreamily. There are tons of things I’ve always wanted to visit in New York.

“I’m sure you will, Hannah.”

“I hope so.”

Just then our food arrives and I gasp at the exquisite dishes prepared before me. My hunger soon defeated my hesitations and I gleefully eat.

As usual, we had small talks in between our eating and I wonder more what is making him do all these things. The lunch and now a dinner.

“We’re going home to my penthouse tonight.” He suddenly declares after paying out the bill.

What?

I eye him in shock. “I-I thought we’re just having dinner tonight.”

“We can’t leave out the dessert, right?” Justin winks at me meaningfully and I sigh. This is going to be a long night.