First Day on a Brand New Planet

I kept drifting in and out of consciousness on our way back to Jared’s house. The alcohol I had drank had taken over my body. Jared kept his hand on my knee the entire way home. I liked his hand there, it felt nice. After we pulled in to the driveway, he came around and opened my door for me. “C’mon Boosie!” he said giggling to himself. I knew I looked a mess and I hated seeing girls as drunk as I am right now, but I could care less at this moment. He swung me over his shoulder and carried me inside. His bony shoulder was cutting into my stomach making me feel a little woozy. He carried me all the way into the living room and gently laid me on the couch.

“Jared?” I said sitting up to look around to see where he had ventured off to. “Yeah” he replied. He had gotten a throw blanket from the closet, the same one from last time, MY throw blanket. He sat down next to me, throwing the blanket over the both of us, before putting his arm around me and pulling me into him. He was soft and smelt nice. He always smelt nice. All I wanted to do was fall asleep in his arms, but I had him here, by ourselves, and I wanted to know what was going on in that confusing brain of his.

“Tell me.” I said, looking up at him. He looked down at me and let out a soft sigh. He knew what I was talking about without having to ask. “We’ll talk about it in the morning. Let’s just sleep.” he said brushing me off. I pulled away from him and sat up so that we were eye to eye.

“Jared, you are going to talk to me. You said you were before you left for your trip, now you’re ignoring me, then you said you would back at the club, now your brushing me off. I could care less anymore about what you meant but I just want to know. So tell me.” I seen a smirk forming on his face. “You done?” he asked sarcastically. I nodded my head, although I wanted to punch him.

“When I said what I did I meant that you’re just different, that’s all, I know you work for me, but I like spending time with you. Is that so terrible?” he said.

When he was talking all I could focus on was his mouth. He had the most perfect mouth and before I knew it, I was pressing my lips to his. His lips were soft, but he refrained from kissing me back. I pulled away from him and I noticed through my drunken blur that his jaw was clenched tight and his eyes had darkened. I regretted doing that, and the thought that I might’ve messed everything up between us, our personal and business relationship, made me feel sick.

“I need some air.” I said before running outside by the pool. The cool breeze hit my warm face and it felt like I could breathe again. I looked back and he hadn’t moved from where I left him. I walked to the edge of the pool, took off my heels, and put my feet into the water. It felt nice, just the right temperature. I could feel myself sobering up after the stunt I just pulled. I had been outside for probably about 30 minutes when I seen him shut the sliding glass door behind him. He had put on a small jacket. I would probably be cold if I hadn’t drank so much alcohol, but it felt just right to me.

I didn’t say anything to him, I was afraid to. He sat beside me in complete silence. He sat with his legs crossed while I moved my legs back in forth in the water. The wind blowing rustled the leaves of the palms that surrounded his house. I was about to get up when he cleared his throat and started talking.

“Taylor, what you did in the house…. that doesn’t need to happen again.” he said as he focused on the water. I remained quiet, I had no words, I regretted it, but then again I didn’t. I seen him glance at me out of the corner of my eye. I turned and looked at him and he smiled at me. “C’mon boosie, let’s get out of the night air, we’re going to get sick.” I complied and he led me into the house.

We walked upstairs to his bedroom, if things weren’t already awkward, being in his room pushed it into full force. I watched him as he went over to his dresser and pulled out some clothes. “Here put these on, it’ll be more comfortable than that dress.” he demanded as he threw them to me. It was an old t-shirt and some over-sized sweats. I stepped into his bathroom and threw on the clothes. After folding my clothes and stacking them on the bathroom counter, I walked out to see him, shirtless, folding back the comforter on the king size bed.

“Well, I’ll see you in the morning.” I said headed out of the room. I had every intention on sleeping in another room, away from him. Before I could get out of the room, he had ran up behind me and grabbed my elbow, stopping me from leaving.

“No, you’re going to sleep in here….with me. You’ve been drinking and I need to keep an eye out on you to make sure you are okay.” he said, smiling softly. I didn’t have the energy to protest him. So, I crawled into the bed and pulled the soft comforter over me. I heard him walking around the room. I looked and seen that he was turning off the lights in the hallway and bathroom. He left one on in the far corner of his room though. I watched as he slid in the bed beside me, facing in my direction. He was beautiful, there was no denying that.

“Do you always sleep with that light on?” I asked him.

“No.” he said. Short and quick.

“Then why is it on?” I asked.

“Why do you ask so many questions?” If I wasn’t so lazy and these sheets didn’t feel so good, I’d leave this room. He could be such an ass sometimes.

I turned away from him and faced the other way. After a few moments, I felt his hand touch my shoulder and he pulled me around to face him. We were closer now than we were before. I liked it, but I wasn’t going to let on that I did.

“I’m keeping the light on in case you get sick in the night and you have to go to the bathroom for any reason.” he said as he propped his head up on his arm. His hair hung over his eye and he looked so good. “Thank you Jared.” I said. He looked at me and his features softened. He inched closer to me and put his arm around me. It felt so nice to be this close to him. I shouldn’t have gotten myself in this position in the first place, I mean he’s my boss, but it just wasn’t me, it was him also.

“Taylor, can we sleep like this tonight?” he asked. I was shocked at his words. I pulled back from him and looked into his blue eyes.

“You’re asking this from a girl that kissed you earlier?” He broke out into a fit of laughter. I loved hearing him laugh, especially if I was the one making him.

“Yeah, I guess so.” he said as he calmed himself down.

“Jared, of course we can sleep like this. Just don’t try to make out with me or anything.” I said, half way wishing he would. He giggled to himself. “Goodnight, thank you for taking care of me.” I said. He didn’t say anything, he just pulled me closer to him. I closed my eyes and fell asleep.

The next morning, I woke up to screaming. “WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?” Marisa was standing in the doorway looking as confused as I was, Jared was still in bed next to me half asleep with his arm still in tact around me.

“What are you screaming about?” he asked her.

“Jared what in the fu….. what are you doing in bed with her?” she had made her way over to Jared, towering of us.

“GET OUT OF MY FUCKING ROOM! YOU DON’T COME INTO MY HOUSE, MUCH LESS, MY BEDROOM SCREAMING AT ME!” he was definitely mad. I pulled the comforter over my face and he stormed out of bed, grabbing her by her wrist dragging her out of the room, slamming the door shut behind them.

I could hear him clearly screaming at her even though it seemed they had walked downstairs. I looked at the clock, it was 7:45 a.m., too early for me. Surprisingly, my head wasn’t throbbing like I thought it would’ve been. I climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom. I wanted to take a shower, but I refrained from doing so, and threw on my dress from last night. I folded Jared’s shirt and pants and laid them on the bed.

I sat on the edge of the bed and waited on him to come back. I knew my “friendship” with Marisa was probably over, even though I had no idea why she was so mad. My thoughts were interrupted when I seen the door swing open, with Jared pushing Marisa into the room. I could tell by the look on her face she was being forced in here.

“Say it!” Jared demanded. She turned around to give him one of the most hateful looks I had ever seen a person give to another person.

“I’m sorry Taylor for coming in here the way I did.” she said. I knew she didn’t mean it. She was only apologizing to keep him satisfied.

“It’s okay. I had too much to drink last night and he looked over me, that’s all.” I said. She giggled to herself.

“Jared? looking after someone. Okay, if that’s your story.” she said. Before I knew it he had spun her around and escorted her down the stairs and I heard the door slam loudly.

When he came back in the room he was visibly frustrated. “You didn’t have to explain anything to her.” he said. I didn’t know what to say, so I remained silent. “She doesn’t work here anymore.” he said. I was shocked he just fired her. I didn’t want it to be because of me, but I knew if I inquired about it, he’d just grow more frustrated and I didn’t want him mad at me.

“What was she doing here so early? No one works today.” I asked after a few moments. I regretted mentioning her again, but he didn’t say anything about it.

“She came by to tell me Emma had a family emergency, and she would be the one going with me tomorrow to Miami.” he explained.

“Oh. Okay…. Well, I’m sorry about everything that happened this morning. Thank you though for everything. I guess I’ll call a cab to come get me to take me home. I need a shower anyways.” I said as I paced around the room.

“Yeah, you do need to go home.” he said. I shot my head up to look at him to see he had an evil smirk on his face. I turned on my heels and headed out of the bedroom angry.

“Taylor, Taylor….” he ran after me, grabbing me by my shoulder to stop me in my tracks. When I turned to face him, he continued, “…you do need to go home. To pack.” he said.

“Pack? Why?” I asked.

“Will you please go with me to Miami? Emma is across the country and I just fired Marisa. Please?” he said. How could I say no to him now?

“I guess I have no choice.” I said. A huge smile formed across his face and he told me he’d take me home so I could get ready and pack then he’d come and pick me up in the morning.

On our way to my apartment I asked him, “How many days are we going to be there?”

“We’re going to be there a week.” he said keeping his focus on the busy highway in front of us. “Don’t try to make out with me or anything.” he laughed to himself at his own words. He was still laughing at himself when we pulled into the parking garage to my apartment complex.

“See you in the morning.” he said with an evil grin plastered on his face. I just stared at him and I said the only thing that came to mind, “Why are you like this?” The look on his face was priceless. I shut the truck door and headed towards my apartment. This next week was definitely going to be interesting.