My Ex Waited In Line For My Autograph

CHAPTER 7 - SUCH A SMALL F*CKING WORLD II.

CLEO CLEMENTINE.

My first day at work is officially my worst day in anything that has to do with work.

The supposed brief meeting lasted six unhealthy hours, and I just sat there, opposite Runaway Bull, yawning and pretending to understand everything they were talking about only when he was looking.

Work is officially over, so I'm about to go back home and not worry about my evil boss who literally glares at me like a debt collector who had finally tracked me down.

I glance at my wristwatch; it’s currently 5:20 pm. I have exactly forty minutes to be home before my curfew.

I relax a bit; I can’t believe I have to go back to that place the day after tomorrow and see him again.

Worse, I actually have to be everywhere he is because I am his personal secretary, for the long, tiring hours I would be spending at work.

There's no work tomorrow; something about a day off to honour an employee who passed away in an accident on her way to work.

I'm sad about the news; she's still very young, but I'm very f*****g happy about the holiday. I won't have to see ‘that stuff’ tomorrow. (That stuff, as in my boss. Runaway Bull).

The bus reaches my bus stop, and I get off, walking a short distance before getting bottled water from the store.

Same one I met my evil boss for the first time.

If only I hadn’t gotten cola from this damn store that night, would my life have turned out differently?

I doubt it... Some encounters are just cursed.

I begin my walk home, and as soon as I reach inside, I twist the lid of the bottle and inhale a mouthful of the water.

I hear footsteps approaching. I pause; that must be the owner of the house I live with. Since we haven’t officially seen each other yet, we can as well just formally introduce ourselves to each other now.

I haven’t swallowed the water when the supposed housemate appears out of the shadow, and I see who it is.

Bloody f*****g Mary.

I gasp in total shock, and the huge mouthful of water inside my mouth sprays straight out. It hits him right in the face, soaking his eyes, nose, and chin completely.

He gasps and slams his eyes shut while I instantly slap both hands over my mouth, but it’s way too late.

My eyes widen in sheer horror as the water drips off his chin. He opens his eyes and finally realises who is standing in front of him.

“Hamburger?!!!” he exclaims, as if wishing against every odd that he’s seeing wrong.

“Do you…” I swallow the lump in my throat the size of a fist before I continue. “Live here?”

“Are you stupid? It’s my house,” he retorts, gawking at me with every hint of impatience he has to offer. “Did you perhaps… Creepily trace my steps all the way here?”

Now he's the one creating a narrative that favours him.

I stand there in shock, not knowing what to do, what to say, how to explain, where to start, or how to break the terrible news to him: “I’m the new housemate, sir. I signed a 5-year contract. Cleo Clementine.”

Of course I’m Cleo Clementine. Did he even read the contract at all?

The look on his face tells me he doesn’t want me in his line of sight, or maybe I'm just misreading it.

Well, that makes two of us. I hate that I would be dealing with my boss every f*****g second of my life. At work, and at home. And that boss is this stuff.

I want to quit so bad, if only I had a freaking choice.

“Get out of my house," he growls.

“I apologise. But I won't be able to assist you with that."

"I'll cancel the contract... so get lost. Please."

And go where?

"I really can't assist you with that."

He turns around and silently walks towards the direction of his room, as if finding it hard to come to terms with the fact that I’m going to be in his every line of sight from this moment on, and since he wrote the contract himself, he probably already knows there’s no leaving for me until five years later.

I didn’t say that… the contract did. He put it there.

Plus, there’s no leaving for me anyway since I’m broke. We’ll have to deal with this somehow until I receive my paycheck.

Without a word, I also walk into my room, quietly shut the door and collapse against it before I exhale the breath I didn’t know I was holding.

How do I even face him tomorrow?

I wish there were work tomorrow.

I drop the bottle of water on my table before reaching for the bed. It is my worst day at work and at home.

I’d better pour this frustration into my writing. I get on my ass and take out my laptop.

***

The pages between us. Act 2.

By the time Ruby could wrap her head around what was happening, she was already overpowered by the man who seemed to be Rowan’s friend.

Alarmed, she elbowed him and crawled out from under him, running to the door. She knew then that she had to leave.

Immediately.

Before Rowan returned from wherever he went, Ruby had already taken a loan and rented a new place. It was a small apartment, but any place was better than where she was.

When Rowan returned, he went on a mad dog spree. He hated the fact that Ruby had dared to make a decision of her own, hated the fact that she dared to leave where he put her to rent a place of her own.

“I’m the head of the family! Your husband! You shall treat me with respect!” he screamed at her, landing Ruby a nicely seasoned, unexpected punch across her face; she fell to the ground, terrified.

This was the first time Ruby was seeing this side of Rowan. Where did the quiet, shy and understanding man she f*****g fell head over heels with go?

***

I wake up realising that apparently, I had slept off while writing, with my cheek pressed to my laptop’s keyboard; it drew cube lines on my skin.

A wide yawn breaks from my lips; I stretch before my eyes wander around and land on the alarm clock, then slowly, memories of yesterday begin to replay in my head.

First, I jumped at the thought of having a day off from work. Now, I dread the idea of having to stay alone with my boss for 24 suffocating hours.