Cinderella Man

Aubrey let out a sigh of exhaustion as she left her criminal justice class. She had been hitting her books hard since they came back from the Bahamas two weeks ago that it was finally taking a toll on her.

She felt unusually tired. She didn’t know why, but she could sleep off the whole day if given the chance. She pulled out her phone, glancing at the time. It was eleven o’clock in the morning, giving her enough time to grab some lunch before she had to be at work.

She drove to the nearest Wal-mart. For some reason she had a craving for their bone-less, BBQ chicken wings. It had been a while since she last ate them so it felt natural that she had a craving for them. When she reached the bakery, she ordered two portions of the bone-less wings, mac and cheese, and potato wedges. Since she was already buying lunch, might as well get that lazy-ass boss of hers something too.

She paid for the food and headed to work.

She arrived at the record label’s building in ten minutes. As soon as she entered she felt like turning right back around and calling in sick. She had completely forgotten what was going on today. Today were the auditions for Marshall’s new video.

There was a line of half naked women snaked from his office all the way to the exit. Aubrey looked at the secretary with a cocked eyebrow. “He couldn’t have taken these diseases’s somewhere else for auditions?”

Madison, the new secretary, giggled. “I guess he wanted to infect the whole building. Watch out, I heard these diseases’s have become airborne.”

They knew the line of girls had heard them, that was what they were aiming for. As she walked to her office Aubrey could feel the daggers to her back. She made a short stop at his office, knocking before she went in.

“Wait your turn, I’m not done-“ Marshall stopped midway as he realized it was Aubrey coming in. “Ah, Aubrey, you came to audition?” Marshall shooed the bleach blonde woman, who had been dancing and showing her stuff, out of his office. He wanted to see what she had and how her ass swayed from side to side. He wouldn’t give Aubrey the part, no matter how good she was. She was, in a way, his. He didn’t want any other guy, or the world for that matter, to see everything she had to offer.

Aubrey’s stomach turned upside down. How any man could get hard from that bimbo look was beyond her. “No, just brought you lunch.” She set the brown paper bag on his desk before turning to leave.

“Oh c’mon,” Marshall whined. “Lemme see what you’re working with. Dance for me like you did at the club,” he winked, referring to their night in the Bahamas.

“You’re such a pig,” she retorted, leaving his office with a loud slam of the door.

“That’s not what you were saying that night!” Marshall childishly shouted after her. She was getting to him. He hated not being in control, not being able to have what he wanted. Why was she denying him? Was he ugly now that the tequila wore off? Was he small? Bad?

He shook his head, tossing the thoughts out. He would not let her crawl under his skin. He had plenty of other women to occupy his time with.

…

Aubrey held her stomach as she laid her head on her desk. She didn’t feel well. Maybe Madison wasn’t kidding when she said the disease’s had become airborne. ’Ugh, I feel like I’m gonna puke,’ she groaned inwardly.

Her stomach churned and she ran to the restroom. She bent over the toilet, throwing up her lunch.

When she was sure she had emptied everything, she flushed the toilet. She went over to the sink, splashing some water on her face. She looked into the mirror, finding her complexion pale and sunken in.

She was worn out to the max. Her eyelids were heavy. Her head spun in circles. She needed a break. Bad.

She sighed, trotting to Marshall’s office. She didn’t bother to knock this time as she once again interrupted a girl’s audition. She didn’t even bother to notice the aggravated look on the girl’s face.

“Changed your mind?” Marshall questioned, smirking.

She shook her head, “I’m going to take the day off if that’s alright. I don’t feel good.”

Marshall looked at the girl that was auditioning then back at Aubrey. He contemplated about kicking the blonde, half-dressed woman out. He wanted to speak with Aubrey, ask her why she was acting different. He wanted to ask her where her feelings for him stood. He decided against it. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

…

As soon as Aubrey got home, she hit the sheets. She had never felt so drained of energy before. Marshall was her last thought before she drifted off to sleep.

…
(The next day)

She twirled a lock of hair nervously around her finger as she waited for the other line to answer. She didn’t want to skip work, but she wasn’t really feeling all that well. Besides, she didn’t want to face Marshall.

“Hello?” His voice made goose bumps pop up on her tanned skin.

“Hey, Marshall,” she almost had to choke out his name. “Um… I won’t be able to come in today. I’m still not feeling well.”

There was silence for a good thirty seconds. Aubrey had to pull the phone away from her ear to make sure he hadn’t hung up on her. “Aite.”

‘Aite? Aite? What the hell is aite? What happened to get well soon?’

She sighed, “Okay, well um I’ll see you tomorrow.”

…
(Next day..again)

Madison greeted Aubrey as she walked up to the front desk. “Hey Aub- Oh… what happened to you? You don’t look so good.”

Aubrey attempted to give her a smile. That was the understatement of the year. “Just feeling a little down.”

Madison nodded in understanding, holding out a foot long stack of papers. “Mr. Mathers had asked that you work on these papers.” She gave Aubrey a sympathetic look. “I can help you if you would like.”

Aubrey shook her head. “Thanks, but I’ll manage. Any messages?”

Madison bit her bottom lip in thought. “Um… yeah, there was one. Some guy named Michael, I believe. Didn’t leave a message though. He just said he would call back.”

Aubrey groaned. “If he calls, tell him I quit and moved to China.”

Madison giggled, nodding. Aubrey, on the other hand, didn’t know if she meant that statement as a joke or not. She wanted to get far away from Marshall as possible, and China was starting to look good. Besides, she loved sweet and sour chicken.

Aubrey set the stack of papers on her desk. She slumped into her chair, simultaneously turning on the laptop before her. She glanced through the papers, deciding they could wait. She had more important things to do – like google important information.

She opened up Internet Explorer and navigated to the google website. She quickly typed in her search. Her eyes scanned the screen, looking for closest clinic.

Someone cleared their throat, causing Aubrey to slightly tilt the screen of her laptop downwards. “I hope that’s appearances you’re bookin’, Miss Davis. Y’know, you’re on company time. I’m payin’ you to be productive.”

Productive? Oh the irony. She turned around in her chair, forcing a smile. “I wouldn’t dream of wasting your money, Mr. Mathers.”

Marshall chuckled. “What are you doing tonight?”

“None of your business.” Rude or not, she didn’t care at this point. It’s not like he was being the sweetest thing in the world to her.

“Ouch,” Marshall placed a hand over his heart dramatically. Aubrey rolled her eyes, tapping her finger on top of her desk. She was getting impatient.

“See, funny thing is – it is my business. Shooting for my new video starts tonight and as my right-hand woman, you have to be there.”

“Why? You need me to hold your hand through it? Can’t handle that many women, Slim?”

“I handled you, didn’t I?” he smirked. She was more woman than all the girls in the video put together. More feisty, too. “Didn’t hear you complaining.”

“Ugh, are you here just to make my life miserable?” she groaned.

He shrugged, “Something like that. Now get that sweet, little ass up and get me a mocha cappuccino from Starbucks. I need my caffeine.”

“Go to hell,” she spat before getting up and walking off. He chuckled, watching her walk down the aisle. He licked his lips. How he loved bossing her around.

Aubrey left for the nearest Starbucks. Marshall glanced down at her laptop. He sat down at her desk, pulling the screen back up. It wasn’t snooping. It was the company’s laptop, his laptop. He had a right to look at it, right?

He glanced at the search words, his breath getting caught in his throat. ‘What the fuck?’ he thought to himself. What was all this about? Wait. Was it… was if from the night in the Bahamas. He had so many questions, but no answers. His mind raced as the two, bold words stared back at him.

Abortion Clinics