Status: Sequel is posted :) !

Cinderella for Hire

twenty.

Nick seemed to be in some sort of an internal conflict when I went away because halfway to my room, I swear I could hear him groan and footsteps behind me right after. When I got in my room and was ready to close the door, a foot blocked it. And at that moment I literally banged my head (lightly though) against the door in frustration. "What do you want from me?" I groaned.

"This wouldn't solve anything."

"Oh, now you just realized that," I said, rolling my eyes. "Move your foot out of the way or I'll amputate it. I don't care!"

I was even more offended, frankly, because I knew what was running through his mind when he said that this wouldn't solve anything. If I quit or he fired me, it would pose him more problems than clear them out. In the end, it was always about him – and ultimately, I didn't get to have a say in it, because he was actually paying me to clear out his problems.

Complicated. I just wanted to get away from it and sleep.

"Let me in, April," he said. "And I'll let you in."

He looked so scared when he said that, and I just had to be curious. So I let go of the door and took a step back. When he closed it behind him, he took his jacket off and leaned against the door. Honestly, I had never seen him looking like that before – reminded me of Bambi, somehow. Sigh. Bambi, that poor, poor soul—

"You've met that wrench that I once called my girlfriend before, right?"

"Olivia," I said, crossing my arms.

Actually I remembered wanting to tell him something about Olivia, I wasn't sure what anymore. And now it was irking me. What was it?

"Believe it or not she wasn't like that when I first met her," he said, his hand rubbing his face as if he really didn't want to tell me this. Good. I wanted him to feel uncomfortable. "She was this kindest, sweetest thing and I…I fell in love with her," he said, his jaw clenching.

"And where does Caleb come into the picture? Why do you want me to stay away from him?"

"Not yet," he sighed out. "Damn it, have some patience and listen to me first," he said, shooting me an annoyed look. "The thing is, she was unemployed and I decided to help her send out her resumes to good companies that I knew. But one of those companies gave that resume to my uncle's company. My uncle, Steven…'Steve' Fulton. That was when things got out of hand," he muttered.

"Steve Fulton…Caleb's dad?"

"Yeah. Ever since Olivia worked with his company here, Steven mentored her. It was tough enough for the both of us, relationship-wise, because I was based in New York and she was in Seattle. The thing is, after months passed, she became different – more power-hungry, I guess. And because of that hunger, her entire personality just…changed. I couldn't make sense of it until I actually saw the so-called 'motivational' speeches that my uncle gave her. They were so aggressive. It was as if my uncle literally sees failure as something so wretched, so foul that you're better off dead than being a failure. But you know, I ignored it at first. I thought that Olivia couldn't ever change that much. And if I stick around longer, I could…maybe, change her to the girl I once knew."

"A year after that," he continued, a bit reluctantly. "I was on my way to Seattle for her birthday. She didn't know this, of course. It was a surprise visit. See, Caleb has an older brother, Ian."

This wasn't going where I think it was going, right?

He didn't remove his hand from his face.

"I was so stupid," he chuckled. "I was there, at her doorsteps, looking like a complete idiot with that stupid bouquet of flowers I got her beforehand and when I knocked on the door, all excited, a shirtless Ian greeted me. I was so shocked I couldn't even move. Oh, it gets worse—" he said, after looking at my expression, a sarcastic smile on his face. "Olivia appeared behind me, practically naked and said, 'do you honestly think our long distance relationship would last'?"

"Nicholas—" I began, feeling mortified but he shook his head.

"No, Caleb hasn't done anything to me. Not yet, at the very least. But ever since I was a kid that family of his has been ruining our lives. If it weren't for his mother who convinced my dad that my mom was good for nothing just because she couldn't bear a child, they wouldn't fought endlessly day and night and eventually got divorced," he said. "Steven was always envious of my dad too but that's another long story that I honestly have no energy to tell you right now," he continued. "Then Ian…" Nick trailed off. "I know, it's not fair of me and it's childish of me to tell you to stay away from Caleb while he obviously has done nothing to us."

"But I just can't help but think that the whole family is just rotten," he said, looking at me and smiled. "It's unfair to you though, I get it. I'm sorry, I am. And it's like, my life is just full of senseless drama – most of them I ignore, really. I just don't want to pull you into it too," he said.

For a long while, I just stood there with my arms crossed and stared at his face. Damn it, now I was the one with the internal conflict. Finally, I let my arms fall and sighed heavily. I couldn't keep being angry at him, especially when he was looked that defeated. And I hated that I couldn't stay angry at him. I wanted to.

I stepped closer to him and wrapped my arms around his neck. He didn't hug me back but he didn't push me away either.

"I'm sorry," he muttered again, burying his face against the side of my neck.

"Say that again slowly."

"I'm sorry," he said, slower that time.

"Now without contractions and in slow-mo."

"I am sorry," he said, very slowly. I could feel his lips forming a smile against my skin as he finally finished apologizing.
♠ ♠ ♠
Phew! This was a hard chapter to write. Thanks for reading and hope you've enjoyed it :3

So the cat's out of the bag! What do you guys think? Comments are most appreciated :D