CHAPTER 2
1573 Words
Kristen threw her purse to a chair and groaned.
She was so exhausted she wanted to scream. Her whole body hurt and the soles of her feet were sore.
She cursed under her breath and tore her shirt and skirt off while skipping to the bathroom. She had fled the office the second she dropped the last call on her boss but still had to walk some distance to find a cab. She didn’t mind. She rather trek than breathe the air of that damned office one more minute.
Kristen had been hanging on a thread for most of the day. Her patience had started to wane after she missed lunch. She was so hungry she had to pay another staff member extra bucks to get her a burger, and he chose the blandest ever. When she walked into Mr. Jerks office and saw the Chinese box, she had almost quit. Almost.
But she hadn’t. She had sucked in her lip, pushed out a smile and a bit into her burger. She was so proud of herself.
In the bathroom, she washed her skin and hair to clean off any sweat residue. The steam filled the small space, mirroring the steam in her head. She liked to shower with hot water, and liked to feel the germs burning off her skin.
Kristen glanced at her reflection in the foggy mirror to see her face was still contorted with exhaustion. The only thing that could lift her mood was a long massage and some soul food, none of which she could afford.
Kristen stepped out, minutes later, feeling brand new. She stretched and dried her hair, then she grabbed a robe and headed to the small kitchen. She had only moved here a week ago, so she still had some shopping to do. She searched her small fridge until she found some leftover potatoes.
Bingo! She grabbed a pan and a spoon.
Kristen needed food, but she also needed to cajole her mind away from her Asshole boss back to the quest that led her to this town in the first place. But it was hard. She would make herself think about her estranged father, and suddenly she would wonder if he was as tall as the handsome Jerk she worked for.
This was what made it annoying: the fact that The Jerk was physically perfect. If only his heart matched his perfect face and his perfect brows and his beautiful eyes and perfect cheekbones that…
No!
Kristen shook her head. He was a jerk and that was all that mattered. He had worked her like a horse and without any consideration to the fact that she was new. He made her miss lunch, he was the reason her feet hurt, and he was the reason she now hated the sss logo. She had seen too much of it today.
‘Maybe I should quit,’ she wondered.
She shook her head before the thought settled. Kristen had chosen him for a reason. Mr. Lodge was close to most billionaires in the city. If she could keep this job, she might be able to find her father through his contacts. Well, at least that was the plan. Now, she wondered when she would find the time to search for them if she was going to be working like a mule.
Kristen poured the potatoes onto a plate and wolfed them down like a hippie. She was done in minutes and she felt hungry again while cleaning up the dishes. When that plate was clean, she headed to her bedroom and drew out her birth mother’s diary. It was a brown book with delicate patterns on the front cover. She traced her finger on the patterns before flipping through its pages. She hadn’t read all of it, it was a lot. Her birth mother had been meticulous with her entries and never skipped a detail. It was so easy to feel her emotions on each page.
Mae was her birth mother’s name. Her diary could pass as a romance novel between her and her boss, Kristen’s father. Many years ago, Mae had arrived at a ranch house and knocked with hope in her heart.
“I see you need a housekeeper. I can clean a board till you see your face in it!” Was her opening line. She had had dreams of opening her own restaurant and she did not mind cleaning a large house daily, as long as the pay was good.
She described her boss as stern; someone to whom smiling seemed foreign. He tried to dismiss her, but she managed to convince him to give her a two-day unpaid trial.
She gave complete details of the ranch in her diary, even describing the rooms and fields. But even her wealth of details was not enough to help Kristen find her father. She also mentioned a G and C company which Kristen had tried to look up at the office but found nothing.
Kristen turned the pages until she arrived at her bookmark, then she settled to read on.
Philip drove slowly to his condo in the heart of the city.
His condo was one of the many things he was proud of. He took the elevator up to his condo and walked past the front room down to his kitchen. He opened his freezer, took out a bottle of water, and took out some take-out to heat in the microwave.
His thoughts drifted to the files he had returned with. It was going to be a long night. But if he couldn’t get all of it done, he could always dial…
Kristen.
He felt his muscles tighten at her name and he frowned. She was a beauty. That he couldn’t deny. She had plump lips and high cheekbones. Her dark hair was a beautiful contrast against her skin. Her lashes were the prettiest he had seen. Even her fake smile was pretty and that was all part of the problem. The pretty ones were always trouble. They were either lazy or entitled. Well, at least he couldn’t say Kristen was lazy. He decided he would find out later if she was entitled.
Philip pushed his thoughts away and drummed his fingers. He considered putting on some music but changed his mind. He remained by the kitchen counter, waiting for his food to heat up.
This was his life: stressful days, quiet nights, wild weekends. It was a good balance. He didn’t need any woman coming in to mess it up with lies and complicated emotions. Life is peaceful when you are only worried about yourself. It was one of the reasons he had not gotten a house. A house attracted ladies seeking commitment. A man with a house was like a fishing line with a dead trout.
The microwave dinged, and he took out his plate. He ate slowly but could barely taste it. His mind was on the pile of papers, the ones marked urgent. But his mind was also on Kristen.
“You are kinder than I thought…”
‘Oh, she was good,’ he thought.
She was fiery, as fiery as that red top she wore and as fiery as her gloss had been on her lips…
Philip banged the plate on the sink and the loud noise shook him back to his senses.
‘What the hell was that?!’
He turned on the dishwasher and sprinkled a bit of the gushing liquid on his face. He had to get his act together.
When he was done, he walked off to his wine collection and grabbed a red one. He poured until the tumbler was full, then he downed it in a swoop. He refilled and settled into a couch to ease his bones and calm his spirit. This was his favorite moment of each day, the moment he settled in the softest couch in his condo and let off steam.
On a different day, he would muse on all his upcoming contracts. But today, his mind couldn’t leave Kristen and he knew why. She had guts. It infuriated and excited him. He could see the set of her jaw as she fielded his questions, that insulting smile etched on her face. Philip liked people who fought back even though subtly. They made the world interesting.
He sipped his wine again. Work was interesting, but it seemed he had more to look forward to now.
He was at that corner for a full hour before heading to his bathroom for a shower. It was a quick one, and he was out in minutes. As he patted himself down, he decided to go over the files at least once before heading to bed. He walked with the files to his study: a simple room with a large table, a cabinet, and a comfortable, swiveling chair, and settled in.
Almost immediately, his mind flew back to Kristen, and he flipped a file open to shut it off.
It took several tries, but he was soon able to get his mind to focus only on the ink on paper. When he was done, he called it a day and headed to bed. He settled into his soft pillow and shut his eyes with a sigh.
RI IIII NNNN GGGG!!!!
He jerked up, blinking.
“Wha-?”
He turned to the stopwatch beside him. The long hand was on 12.
What had happened?!
- Writer
