Cinderella for Hire

"I had a great time today," Caleb said once we were inside the hotel lobby. "And pie. That was some lovely pie."

"Right?!" I exclaimed, giggling. Mom gave us the leftover pie so we ate some of them in the car while singing (very off-tune) to whatever song that was on the radio. "I haven't had that much fun in a while," I said, grinning. "So, thank you."

"No, thank you."

The funny thing about timing (and time, in general) was that it had a way of screwing things up in literally, a minute. Say, if I were to give Caleb that good-night-hug a minute earlier, we would be on our way back to our own lives by the time the double doors to the lounge room opened by the end of the short corridor, revealing a group of people in fancy suits – one of them was Nick.

I didn't realize this though. I didn't see him. But when I felt a tap on my shoulder just after Caleb let go of me, I could tell that Nick definitely saw me. And in an instance, I went pale at how angry he looked at me. He wasn't even scowling or anything – but the tension was immense.

"Nicholas! Did business go well today?"

"Fine, thank you for asking," he answered Caleb. "So, you and April?"

Caleb looked taken aback at first before saying, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause any misunderstanding. Since we both didn't have anything to do today, I thought I'd show her around town. Didn't think she was a Seattle girl at first," Caleb said, winking at me and when he looked back at Nick, he obviously noticed the tension in the air as he hurriedly continued, "don't worry though, I just brought her out to the waterfront area and her parents' house. Very er…supervised places?"

I was trying to make an eye contact with Caleb all the way throughout his explanation, trying to beg him to stop but obviously that didn't work. He didn't know that Nick warned me to stay away from him in the first place. Right. I've learned my lesson.

For a moment Nick just stood there with his hand in his pocket before saying, "it's quite alright," he said, his voice sounding weird. "If you'll excuse us, it's getting late. April?"

"Right," I said, nodding vigorously.

"Good night, April," Caleb said, smiling. "And thank you again."

What happened next was a blurry mess. Nick and I walked to the elevator in silence and as the elevator started to move up, he exploded in anger. I must say I did see that coming though. Oh hey! I could be psychic!

But I wasn't backing down from this one.

"What the hell were you thinking?" he shouted. "Prancing around town with him, meeting your parents? Are you kidding me?" he spat angrily. "I told you NOT to see him but you just had to be this stubborn and—"

"Excuse me?" I yelled, pushing him away because I hated the fact that he was too close to me, to try to intimidate me. "Who do you think you are to try and tell me—"

"I am your boss."

For a moment, for some stupid, stupid reason, I was so offended by that truthful statement that I couldn't find my voice anymore. Even worse, I felt like crying. But I held it in and held my head up high as he continued to berate me.

"I do not want you to associate with Caleb!"

"Why?" I yelled back. The elevators pinged open but neither of us was stepping out. "Oh wait, of course you won't tell me that, I almost forgot who you are," I said, laughing crazily. When the doors started to close, Nick stopped it with his hand and it automatically opened again. "He's a good guy," I said exasperatedly. "Even if you are my 'boss' you have no right to say who I should or shouldn't be friends with!"

"When it comes to Caleb and his whole stupid family, yes I do. And you know why? Because we're related. Because you wouldn't even meet him if I didn't bring you here," he said. "I don't even care if you think if he's a good guy," Nick continued, sighing heavily. "For crying out loud, I'm so close to firing you right now—"

"Are you kidding me? Right after I moved out from my apartment just to move in to yours, because you wanted convenience?" I seethed.

"I'll find a new place for you or something!" He yelled. "I don't care! I'll personally do it myself!"

I pushed him again before starting to hit his chest over and over again, so much so that we stumbled out the elevator and the poor doors could finally close themselves. "I hate you!" I said, my voice cracking a bit. "Say what you want but our relationship is not merely just an employer and an employee," I said, my fists pounding away on his shoulders but he didn’t do anything. "What boss wants his employee living under the same roof as him for convenience?!" I stressed, pushing him. "What boss hires someone to be his pretend girlfriend?!" I asked angrily. "I thought we were starting to be friends—"

I stopped myself and we just stood there, breathing heavily.

"Forget it, I quit," I whispered, tired.

"April—"

I raised my hand and shook my head before heading back to my room.