Hello Mr. Arrogant

Chapter 11

[Not edited]

Chapter 11: {Mrs. Able?}

"Thank you for the ride, Mr. Hadley," I smiled polity when we reached 'my neighborhood.' It was the same place I asked him to drop me off the last time. This time, however, I made sure to always have a pair of flats in my purse.

He looked out at me from the rolled-down window. I had to bend down to see him, but I knew I had to start walking soon. The sun was almost gone and the dark clouds of the night came rolling over my head.

"Goodnight, Miss Bennett."

"Good-bye, Mr. Hadley." He smirked, rolled up the window, and sped down the residential rode like it was a highway.

Arrogant much?

I heaved a huge sigh and started trudging down the empty sidewalk. The wind blew against my face causing my vision to be temporarily blinded by my hair. The hardships with having long hair; Having your own hair shield. It's great when you want to be left alone and cry your heart out, but when you're minding your own business it's annoying.

The long walk allowed me to have a moment to myself. I needed to think about my next steps in life anyway. Like what I was going to do when it came to my job? I knew I wasn't going to stay there forever, but I didn't have the money to go to college just yet. Another thing to think about. What did I want my future career to be? I did take a liking to chemistry in high school and then accounting in my junior year. And then there was my constant need to doodle on every homework paper I had. Most of my teachers said I was good for my age when they cared enough to critique my drawings. 

And what about my apartment? Was I fated to live in a stinky, rundown apartment complex forever? It sure did feel like it right now. It had its charms and uniqueness, but soon I wanted a real house. One that you see on those fixer-upper shows. I wanted to build my own home from scratch, and then turn around to find a finished beautiful piece of artwork in a clean, organized yard. 

"Mrs. Able?" I called from the lobby. All my thinking had caused me to lose track of the time, and when I finally found my way to the apartments it was way past eight. "Mrs. Able? Please, I left my keys in my office. Could you let me in?"

It wasn't until we were halfway through the drive that I realized I left my keys on my desk. I couldn't just ask him to drop me off back at the office, so I opted to just ask Mrs. Able to let me in. However, I forgot how untrustworthy this woman was.

"Who's asking?" Her cranky voice asked from the speaker. 

I pressed the white button to respond. "It's me. Lydia Bennett."

"You don't sound like that sweet girl next door. Who are you really?" I sighed in frustration. How was I supposed to get through to this lady?

"Mrs. Abel, please? I really don't want to sleep on the lobby's couch," I whined looking at the old floral couch sitting in the corner collecting dust. It had small cracks and weird stains all over it. I did not want to ponder where they came from.

"Ma'am, I have to ask you to leave. I'll tell Lydia you stopped by. Will that be alright?" And then she was gone.

"Hello? Mrs. Able?" I groaned out loud, rubbing my face with my hands. I looked over at the disgusting piece of furniture and shivered. 

Nope. No way, I'm not touching that thing.

Sliding down the wall, I pressed my back against the cold cement wall and sighed. I'd have to explain this to the landlord, Jack, when he came in the next morning to collect mail. 

I didn't hate the guy. Honestly, he wasn't a bad person, but he was known to stare at my butt once in a while and linger his gaze a bit too long. Other than the few instances I've had with him, he wasn't unbearable to deal with.

Slowly my eyes closed and I pulled my knees close to my chest. My back was going to be sore tomorrow, but I'd rather take an aching pain than bed bugs and lice. 

***

"Good morning, Lydia- Oh, what happened to you?" Belle asked as I passed her in the hallway the next morning. I held Mr. Hadley's coffee in one hand and my heels in the other as I walked at a very slow, painful pace. 

"I left my keys in my office," I complained as I stopped at her reception desk, placing both objects from my hands onto the surface and leaning against the cool marble. The stretching of my back caused me to moan in delight and sigh when the throbbing dimmed.

"You look rough," She murmured removing a strand of hair from my oily face. "And tired." She sat back down and gave me a stack of papers from Mr. Hadley.

I thanked her and left to gift my boss his drink before taking a quick power-nap in my office. When I got to his door, however, I saw that it was open. I raised an eyebrow as I walked in. He wasn't there, which I was glad about because I was late, but a part of me realized he really wasn't there.

I walked to his desk and looked at his calendar. I skimmed the days till I landed on today's date and gasped. Nothing. Absolutely nothing was scheduled for today other than the words 'St. Peters.'

 That was strange, and so out of character for Ashton Hadley to not have anything scheduled. From the time I've spent with the guy, he seemed to like having lots of work to do. I would almost call him a workaholic.

I walked out once I found a place to set his coffee and then made my way to my own office. On my desk was a note written in red pen from the desk of Ashton Hadley.

Miss Bennett,

I'm a bit early this morning so don't worry about the coffee, but I have some urgent business to take care of. 

I gave Miss James some papers for you to fill out and sign for me, and then there are plenty of emails for you to sort through. I know you won't get bored.

But if the work I give is not efficient enough, you may clean my office while I'm away. 

Don't forget to vacuum.

Signed,

Ashton Hadley 

Co-Founder Of Hadley Enterprises

That cocky bastard.

I crumpled up the note and threw it in the waste bin. I knew the work that had to be done, and I was certainly not cleaning his office. 

I went through paper after paper and then email after email. Each one seemed to draw me deeper into a hypnotized state where I could only feel and hear my own breath and nothing else. My eyelids drooped every few seconds and my head felt very heavy from behind.

A quick nap wouldn't hurt anything, right?

So I placed my head on my desk and went to sleep almost instantly. The cold air in the room created almost an ice pack feel to my lower back were the soreness still remained. 

I had a great dream to go along with my great sleep. It was about a group of giraffes with monocles and mustaches having tea with each other. Each one had their own distinct English accent and sounded very posh while they gossiped about Mr. Lion and his obsession with eating them.