OPHELIA'S POV
As soon as I've finished my shift at the bar, I immediately started my midnight walk home. Short of nearly slapping myself out of the daze, my mind repeatedly shifted from this morning's encounter with my boss to 'No, no, no, no, no, NO!'
I can't believe I did that. I shook my head to push the thoughts away as I felt shame wash over me every time the memory resurfaced.
'and here I thought it was because I smell nice.' Zeus Aurelion, the CEO of Aurelion House Publishing, my boss, clearly said that... to me.
Yes, he did. And what did I do? I turned my head back to eye him. Eye him. Oh, my freakin' gods. I BLATANTLY EYED MY BOSS FROM HIS FACE DOWN TO HIS SHOE! As if that wasn't enough, I even repeated that he did smell nice.
No, no, no, no, no, NO! I buried my face in my palms. I was ruffling my face in the midnight streets that, to anyone looking, I might've looked like I was being possessed. This went on for the whole five blocks until I landed on the front steps of my building where Julian informed me that I have mail.
A few clicks on my doorknob later, I was in my dining area, shaking a folded notice with a hand until it opened. 'Eviction Notice'
I read through the notice and found that if no payment is done tomorrow morning, my access to the apartment will be revoked. That means once I get out for work tomorrow, I can't come back in until I've paid my dues.
In addition to that, all my belongings will be auctioned off as payment if the dues aren't settled in a week. If the incurred amount is not enough to cover the dues, then a case will be filed.
I looked around my apartment. This definitely won't be enough to cover three months of rent.
It was a restless night and I tossed and turned so much in my bed that I think the moisturizer on my face has rubbed off on my pillowcase. Should I be packing what I can so that I can take it with me to the office? Yes, I should do that. It's 3AM. I should get a quick nap before getting up again to pack my things.
It would be silly to roll in luggage to the office but what choice do I have? What's worse is it's three blocks away. I imagined myself wheeling in my luggage while wearing a backpack. I absolutely hate it but I have no choice.
It's not like I can pull three months' worth of rent money from thin air. I've been blocked off from online lending apps already.
With the fear that I overslept, I jumped off the bed the moment I woke up. I rummaged through my blanket and my pillow, feeling for my phone in the darkness. 6:14AM. Good.
I opened up my blinds and let the mild early morning sunlight flood my apartment. It's a beautiful apartment. I looked around and sighed with a tinge of sadness. Unfortunately, it would be the last time that I set my sights on this place.
I gave one final heavy sigh and started running around my apartment, gathering what I could. I stuffed fluffy items like pillows and blankets in a vacuum bag and let the luggage vacuum machine do its trick.
By the equipment that I have, you can only imagine how many times I have been evicted like this, although this will be the first time that there's a looming threat of a lawsuit. I shook my head at the thought and continued packing.
By 7AM I've already stuffed my luggage so much that it's become too heavy. Good thing, it has wheels. I heaved a stuffed backpack towards my back as I strapped it. Wow, that's heavy! I took another look at my shelf where I left all the notebooks I had sketched on. Goodbye, beauties. I thought mournfully and wheeled my luggage towards the door.
"Time to work." I said aloud.
"Have fun!" The wall-mounted robot answered and turned off all the lights.
I sighed, stepped into the hallway and pulled the door to lock it. The mechanism sounded its slides and clicks. It's official, I am homeless once again.
In the lobby, Angie pouted at me when she saw me all packed. "Are you really leaving?" she asked.
"I don't think I have a choice at all." I pursed a smile and turned to the entrance.
"Charles." I said as the doorman nodded.
With that, I am out. As I stepped out of the building, the morning crisp air met my face. It was a good choice to go out this early in the middle of the week. At least I won't run into other employees from the office.
I finally got to the office building and it was too early that the cafe hadn't opened yet. Only the security staff scanning my belongings saw me.
"Traveling? the security guard asked as he checked my ID and waved a scanning stick around my bag.
"Yes," I answered. The wand beeped when on the right side of my backpack. "Oh, my tumbler." I said as I slipped off the strap of my bag.
The security personnel poked a stick into my open bag and felt for the tumbler. "All good to go." He said, then left me with my belongings. It was a struggle to get through the turnstiles that the security personnel came back to help me.
His eyes darted far towards the entrance of the lobby, gave a curt bow, then turned to get back to his film covered glass office.
I turned to see who came in this early through the entrance and saw the CEO. Of course, who else could it be? I quickly wheeled my luggage into the service elevator and pressed the Basement 1 button as soon as I was in the elevator.
The doors slid close and the machine started to move. A few seconds later, the doors opened to Basement 1. "Oh, thank the gods." I murmured with relief that the boss did not walk fast. I wheeled my luggage into my office and hid it under my desk.'
The morning in the office went as usual, except for a new memo posted from the higher-ups, requiring department managers to present a fortnight report every second and fourth Friday of the month. It will be a sit-down meeting presided by Secretary Henri. Zeus Aurelion will be sitting in.
Second Friday of the month. I blinked into an eye roll when I realized that's two days away. Fine then, I'll start with that first.
Just to mix it up, I thought of heading to the third floor library. It's 11:45, the cafe will be full by lunch time. I'll just have a late one today.
I chose a table near the window. It's a nice welcomed change to work in a naturally bright place.
While waiting for my laptop to boot, I rested my chin on my knuckles and watched the clouds move in the sky. The full-length window is a great choice for the library.
A few seconds later, I started creating my presentation. Just a corporate report deck but with ultra dark violet font that's nearly black. Who's gonna stop me, right?
I reached out to the left side of my table. Careful not to topple my tumbler, which I knew was there, I palmed the table for a few seconds before taking off my eyes from my screen.
Wait, where is it? I turned to the right. No tumbler there either. I felt a movement behind me and almost immediately, my nose twitched at recognition of the scent. Gods.
I whirled on my seat and there he was, leaning on the empty table behind mine. He was peering inside my tumbler when he said, "This is coffee."
"Great observation, sir." I said, mocking him. I was about to stand so that I could get my tumbler back but he waved me to remain seated and instead, he walked to take the empty chair on my left.
I chewed on my lip thinking when I could get my tumbler back. I sat with my body towards the computer but turned my head to face him. "Is there anything I can help you with, sir?" I asked.
"It's lunch time." He said, screwing the tumbler cap back on and setting it on the table.
I tilted my head, "Again, sir, great observation."
Although he rested his back on the chair, he still sat tall. He crossed his arms, turned his head to face me, and mirrored my head tilt. "Henri." He called.
Henri stepped behind his chair and set a paper bag on the table. "If there isn't anything else, I'll have my lunch break, sir."
Zeus waved a finger signaling his secretary to go. Moments later, he unpacked a whole spread of lunch on the table.
"Uhm, sir, you know this is the library and eating is not allowed here, right?" I reminded him.
"Are you saying I can't eat inside a building I own?" He said unwrapping a fork.
"Suit yourself, sir. Let me move to a different table." I said as I started to gather my things but he leaned over to fold up my laptop with one hand and hand me the unwrapped fork with another.
I blinked at him.
He nodded for me to take the fork from his hand. I didn't move.
"Ok," he started. It's either you want me to feed you or you want me to keep leaning so close to you like this." He smirked.
My face burned but I won't let him win this conversation. I grabbed the fork from his hand and pushed his forehead with an index finger because right now, he's inches from my face. "Then hand me the greens." I ordered. What in the damned hell did I just do?
He closed his eyes as he chuckled then turned to look for the salad. He handed them to me and a few minutes later, we were both eating.
"Sir, what are you doing?" I asked as I skewered corn kernels with a fork tine.
"Between the salad in my mouth and the nearly empty disposable salad bowl in my hand, I'd say capturing aliens in a foreign land." He said, setting down his now empty bowl.
"Oh, he has jokes, and here, I thought your firmware hasn't been upgraded yet." I quipped.
He chuckled. "Doctor George called to ask about your meals."
I jerked my head away from him, raising an eyebrow to demonstrate my suspicion. "Why would my doctor call you?"
He handed me a boba drink. "Says he can't contact you and that I am your only known guardian." His lips twitched in a smug one-sided smile.
I casually took the boba drink from his hand and gasped in realization as I looked over to my phone on the right side of the table. "Oh. I silenced all unknown numbers."
Anyone can see the expression of 'OOPS!' on my face. I sipped from the straw for a second then examined the cup while tasting the tea that I swirled for a quick moment in my mouth. I perked up and smiled at my boss when I realized, "Hokkaido! My favorite! Thanks!" Then I started sipping again.
He leaned in again but this time to reach for my phone. I grabbed his arm to stop him.
"Relax." he said, "I'm just gonna save the doctor's number."
"Oh, ok then." I let his hand go. He did have me unlock my phone with facial recognition, which I did before I went back to my boba like a child.
I can see him comparing numbers from his phone to mine. A minute later, he set the phone back to my right side. "I also saved my number."
"Why would I need your number on my phone?" I asked.
"For when you need a guardian," he answered.
That earned a chuckle from me. How did I get this comfortable with him?
"All done?" he asked a few minutes later as I stood up.
"Yes, sir. Let me clean up the table." I started to move away from my chair when he told me to leave it and made a gesture above his head.
Henri came in from behind the farthest shelf and started cleaning up our empty plates.
"Thank you for lunch, sir. I'll be sure to do it on my own next time." That's my way of saying I want my lunches in solitude.
"Next time," he said standing up, "we will have it in my office."
I squinted my eyes at him and scrunched my nose. "I assure you, I can eat on my own... sir."
"We'll see." And with that he left with Henri.
"Charming." I murmured sarcastically to myself. "Oh, Ophelia. Careful now."