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Authoress' pov 👠
A stream of sunlight hits Nicklaus face from the window, waking him up from his peaceful slumber.
He sat up and stretch out his stiff limbs and a yawn flew out of his mouth.
He pushes away the fallen strands of hair from his face and gets up.
Looking around his room, he notices his shoes are no longer laying on the floor randomly… even his suit is not on the couch.
Then he concluded that Graham remove them and puts them in their right places.
He reaches for his phone and dialed Graham's number.. Graham picks on the first ring.
"Mr Statham…."
"Come to my room!"
"Yes, si…."
Nicklaus hangs up before Graham could complete his words. He toss his phone on his bed and walk towards a couch.
Graham walks into the room just as Nicklaus sits on the couch.
He stops in front of Nicklaus and looks around his neck carefully from where he's standing.
"Mr Statham, you…."
"It's 7pm already, did you receive any call from the office?"
Graham didn't reply, he's busy staring at Nicklaus's neck with a small frown.
Nicklaus notice this and bangs on the table in front of him, Graham flinches and blinks.
"Sorry, Mr Statham!"
"Did you receive any call from the office?" Nicklaus asked again.
"No, sir!"
Nicklaus nods. He checks his wrist watch and sees it's already 7pm.. he sighs.
"It's dinner time, go order dinner!"
Graham nods and turns towards the door, but he stops and turns back to Nicklaus.
He take cautious steps back.
"Mr Statham, d-do you feel uncomfortable?"
Nicklaus frowns at his strange question…he didn't reply Graham.
"You don't seem to have any reaction after waking up… " He trails off.
"Reaction?"
Graham nods.
"What kind of reaction?"
"You know, like… rashes… "
Nicklaus simply stares at him as if he's gone nuts.
"Why should I get any rashes?" Nicklaus asked.
"Because you slept on the bed"
Nicklaus turns to take a glance at his bed, wondering why Graham expects him to get rashes after sleeping on his own bed.
"Graham, are you ok?"
"Yes, sir…."
"Then stop spouting nonsense! Why will I get any skin irritation after sleeping on my own bed?"
"Because I…. " Graham cuts himself off.
He wanted to tell Nicklaus about Anastasia sleeping on his bed a few minutes before.. but he decided against.
What if he loses his job for it, it's better he keeps it to himself… After all, Nicklaus seem to be fine.
"Graham go order dinner!"
"Yes, sir!" Graham replies and head for the door.
But Nicklaus stops him when something strikes his mind.
"Graham, tell the laundry to continue using this new soap… I like its scent!"
"Huh?"
Nicklaus glares at him and he quickly looks down, avoiding Nicklaus's harsh glare.
"I perceive a scent on my sheets and I like it, tell him to continue using this soap!"
"Oh, ok!" With that Graham rushes out.
He shuts the door behind him and wonders why Nicklaus thinks the laundry man change his soap.
Or could it be that Miss Lopez's scent? He thought within.
"I'll just change his sheets to a clean set, if he didn't perceive that scent then it means the laundry man didn't change his soap!" He said to himself.
Taking the stairs slowly.
"Then it's Miss Lopez's perfume! Ah! Why is she always getting me in trouble with Mr Statham?"
He climbs down the last step and walk absentmindedly towards the living room..
Because of his absent mind, he bumps into someone spilling coffee on the ground.
"Sh*t!" The person hisses.
Graham looks up quickly and he gasps.
"Mr Aurelius, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you!"
Marcus laughs and shakes his head.. he hands the now empty cup off coffee to Graham.
"Graham, where on earth did your mind go?"
"Nowhere… I was just thinking of what food to order for Mr Statham's dinner!" Graham replied.
He can't tell Marcus about the Anastasia thing too, else Nicklaus will know about thing which will lead to one thing…
He'll be fired!
"No need to order food, I brought dinner over… get Nicklaus down here!"
Graham nods and turns to go inform Nicklaus but Marcus stops him and tells him to carry on with his work.
Marcus sets the food on the dinning table and yells Nicklaus's name from there.
"Nick!"
No reply.
"Nick, come down for dinner!" He called again.
Soon he hears footsteps approaching him, before Nicklaus comes in sight.
"So lousy!" Nicklaus said and pulls a chair out.
He sits down and look around the table, studying each food Marcus brought.
"I'm lousy?" Marcus asked and scoffs. "Should I be a iceberg like you?"
"There's nothing wrong being an iceberg!"
Marcus shakes his head.
"No, thank you… I prefer being lousy!"
Nicklaus eyes him and shakes his head.
"So annoying!"
Marcus behaves as if he didn't hear that.. he puts some potatoes on Nicklaus's plate and gestures him to eat.
Nicklaus takes a small bite and chew on it slowly.
"How does it taste?" Marcus asked looking at him anxiously.
"Awful"
Marcus narrows his eyes and glares at Nicklaus.. his hand moves to his chest and he clings onto his heart.
"You broke my heart! Do you know how much effort I put in making these?"
"Oh.. it's really awful" Nicklaus said and continues eating.
They both continue eating in silence until Nicklaus breaks it…he drops his spoon.
"How is that stuff going?"
Marcus takes a gulp of water to push down the big lump in his throat.
"No progress!"
He studies Nicklaus's expression, he notice Nicklaus clenching and unclenching his fist on the table.
Marcus sighed.
"Nick, it's been what.. 13years?"
Nicklaus stays silent and glares at a particular plate as if the plate has offended him.
"I'd advise you forget about it, it's been too long and I'm afraid we won't find anything.. no matter how hard we search!"
"No! I'm not giving up!" Nicklaus said adamantly.
"But we've been searching for so long.. all our clues always meets a rock end.. they lead to nothing"
Nicklaus gets up with his fist balled by his sides.
"She can't disappear into thin air, try all you can to find her… she's the only person that can tell me what exactly happened!"
Marcus shuts his eyes, but before he could speak again… Nicklaus spoke.
"I'm going back to sleep, enjoy yourself!"
Nicklaus turns back and head towards the stairs… his hands tucked in his pocket.
Marcus simply stares at him until he's out if sight.
"Iceberg!" He mutters.
*******
Few minutes later…
Nicklaus walks out of his bathroom in his sweatpants… his damp hair falls on his face.
He sits on a couch and decides to do some paper works. Just then his phone rings and he reaches for it.. it's Claudia calling.
"Claudia!" He said.
"Mr Statham, Mr Orson called me back and said he's ready to pay $100,000,000 for CLEAN FIRST!" Claudia reports.
Nicklaus smirks, he already know Mr Orson will call back today.
"Tell him I said we should meet face to face.. for further discussion!"
"Yes, Mr Statham!"
"Also, make a reservation for our meeting tomorrow afternoon!"
"Yes, sir. Hm…. " She trails off.
Nicklaus waits for her to speak but she doesn't, Nicklaus clears his throat.
"Anything else, Claudia?"
"Er.. I just wanna know if you've had dinner yet. I'm just about to order some food, I don't know if you…."
"I've had dinner!" Nicklaus said and hangs up.
He drops his phone on the table and walk towards his bed, he climbs onto it and shuts his eyes.
He takes a deep breath a frown, he grabs the blanket and perceive it… He throws it away from him angry.
He rushes back to the table and picks his phone, he quickly dials Graham's number… Graham picks up after a few rings.
"Mr Sta…."
"Get your shitty ass to my room.. Now!" He growls into the phone and hangs up.
Not up to five minutes, Graham appears in Nicklaus's room.
"Sir, you called me!" He said.. informing Nicklaus of his presence.
Nicklaus points at his bed and realization flashes through Graham's eyes… He already knows why he's being summoned.
"What happened? Huh?"
"Huh?" Graham asked as if he's clueless of what Nicklaus is talking about.
"Why did the scent change? I just got up from this bed minutes ago… How come the scent change so fast?"
"Oh… those sheets needs washing, so I…."
"Get 'em back!"
"Sir?"
"Go. Get. 'Em. Back!"
Graham nods and rushes out of the room, he shuts the door behind him and takes a deep breath.
He just confirm something, that scent is Miss Lopez's perfume.
*******
"Mr Statham, I'm done changing the sheets!" Graham said after changing the sheets.
Nicklaus walk towards his bed and lays on it, he sniffs deeply and smirks to himself.
"Yeah, that's the scent.. so soothing!"
Graham just stands silently as Nicklaus takes in as much scent as he can.
Nicklaus sits up and turns to Graham with a very harsh glare.
"Don't forget to inform the laundry.. he should continue using this soap!"
"Huh? This soap?" Graham asked.
If only he knows this is not a soap, Graham thinks.
"I want to perceive only this scent on my bed!"
Graham stands speechlessly.. he doesn't know how to tell Nicklaus that the scent belongs to a woman and not a soap.
"Get out!"
"Yes, sir!"
Graham quickly rushed out as if his pants is on fire.. he breaths in relief when he steps out.
"Telling the truth means I'm fired.. what should I do? How can I make sure that scent stays on his bed everyday?" He thinks.
He sits on the last step of the stairs, with his chin rest on his hands.
"I must find a way before I get myself fired!"
Just then his eyes catches Anastasia's CV in a corner where he has hidden it.. he breaks into a smile as an idea pops in his mind.
He gets up and send Nicklaus a text, telling him he's done for today and he's going home.
He rushes towards the CV and picks it up.. then he heads out.
¢^¢^¢^¢^¢
Anastasia's pov 👠
I massage my stiff neck gently, sitting in front of a laptop and sending CV to different companies is not a fun job.
I reach for my glass of orange juice which Tilda brought in earlier… just as I am taking a sip, my phone starts ringing.
Reaching for my phone, I see Jack's name flashing on the screen.. I smile.
"Hey, Jack!" I said immediately I answer the call.
"Tasia, I heard you went for an interview today.. how was it?" Jack asked.
I rolled my eyes… Oh, I forgot to tell you guys, Jack is also my best friend.. he's Tilda's cousin.
Here's a little secret, I also have a crush on him…a very big crush. I mean who wouldn't, he's the most hottest guy I've ever seen!
"Don't even go there, I was kicked out!"
He burst into laughter, I growl inwardly.. I guess that betrayer of a best friend already told him about it.
"That's what you get for being a lying freak!" He said.
I knew it, Tilda already told him and now he's calling just to mock me.
He continues laughing.
I can already picture him holding his stomach and rolling on the ground from how hard he's laughing.
"Are you done laughing?" I growl.
He sobers up slightly.
"I'd really love to see the look on your face as you're walking out of the company!"
I sighed and try to calm myself down.. or I swear, I'd slap him through my phone.
"Did you call just to laugh at me?!"
"No, no! I have good news!"
My ears perks up at that statement.. you know, bad things have been happening to me today.. I can really use some good news right now.
"… Tasia, are you still there?"
"Yeah, tell me about the good news!" I said.
I just hope it's the kind of good news I wanna hear.. if you know what I mean.
"I found you a new job!"
"What?! Really?!" I asked..like I can't believe it.
"Yeah.. but it's a waitressing job!" He said.
I have done all kinds of jobs but not waitressing and besides their salaries aren't that much..
But what can I do.. I need money desperately.
"Can you do it?"
I think I should grab this opportunity first.. maybe a better job will come while I'm doing this job.
"Tasia, stop spacing out on me!"
I laugh.
"Sorry, sorry!"
"So can you do it?" He asked.
"Yeah! I'll do it!"
He chuckles lightly.
"Ok, I'll come pick you up tomorrow morning and take you to the restaurant!"
"Hmm, thank you, Jack!"
"It's fine, darling.. you're my baby girl after all"
I blush.. with his sugar tongue, tell me why I wouldn't have a crush on him.
"Alright, Tasia, I'll hang up now and let you get some rest!"
"Hmm, good night Jack!"
"Good night!" I hang up and keep my phone back on the table.
I jump off my chair in excitement.. I can't believe I've gotten another job.
My phone starts ringing again and my smile falters immediately.. don't tell me it's Jack calling again to tell me that the job doesn't need me anymore.
The phone continues ringing… My shaky hands move towards it and picks it up.. but I breath in relief when I see it's an unknown number.
Without much thoughts, I answer the call.
"Hello, Miss Lopez!" A male voice said.
"Yeah.. who am I speaking with?" I asked.
"This is Graham"
Graham? I frown, I don't recall anyone going by that name.. or could this be a prank call?
"I guess you are confused.."
"Yeah" I replied.
He laughs.
"Broken bumper.. remember now?"
I rolled my eyes and facepalm myself… I angrily sit on my bed.
"Why are you still calling me?"
"I just call to…"
"Wait.. if you're calling because something happened to your boss, then I'm sorry you're just wasting your time!"
I expect him to start ranting but he laughs instead.
"I didn't call you for that, Miss Lopez!" He said in a calm voice.
"Then why did you call me?" I asked.
"I have a job for you!"
My eyes lit up immediately.
"A job for me?"
"Yeah"
"But I thought you hate me!"
I hear him sigh.
"But sadly, I need you to secure my job and you need this job to keep your brother alive!"
I narrow my eyes… Why is he bringing up my brother? Does he think I was joking about my brother's health?
"Come outside and let's talk!" He said.
"Outside?"
"Yeah.. I'm outside your apartment!"
I wanted to ask him how he knows where I live.. but I remember that I forgot my CV in his boss's house.
"Gimme a few minutes!" I said and hang up.
I look at the wall clock, it's 8:30pm.
I grab a jacket and quickly wears it and head out.. luckily, Tilda is in her room sleeping.
******
Really, I saw him leaning on a car in front of our apartment, I take quick, long strides towards him.
"Hey, you!" I called him.
He turns to me with a smile, I scoff.. so he does knows how to smile after all.
"Get in the car, we need to talk!"
I shake my head.
"No, we can talk right here.. tell what you need!"
He nods and clears his throat, he opens his car's back door and brings out a file.. he hands it to me.
"That's your CV, check it if everything is inside!"
I did a quick check and nod.
"It's complete.. now, what do you want?"
He stares at me briefly, then clears his throat again.
"My boss is kinda addicted to your scent on his bed…"
"My scent on his bed?" I asked with a frown.
I don't seem to understand him.
"Yeah, your perfume!"
He clarifies and I nod in understanding.
"He thought the laundry changed his washing soap, so he said I should tell the laundry man to continue using that soap… That he wants only your scent on his bed!"
"That is not a big deal, just tell him it's not a soap but a perfume!" I said.
He shakes his head.
"No, I'll lose my job if I tell him!"
"Why?" I laugh lightly. "I don't understand, I lose an opportunity of getting a job in my dream company today… now you're saying you'll lose your job for speaking the truth?"
He sighed deeply.
"You won't understand. I can't tell my boss that scent belongs to a woman, he'll…. " He cuts himself off.
I frown, I don't understand life at all. I was fired even before I get a job because of a lie.. here he is trying to save his job with a lie.
Life is just too complicated!
"… He can't know I let a woman sleep on his bed!"
"Hmm.. well, you can just buy the perfume and spray it on your boss's sheets!"
He thinks about it and breaks into a smile.
"Why didn't I think of that?"
His eyes move to my CV and he stops smiling, he shakes his head.
"I just I was just thinking of how to help you save your brother that I didn't have time to think clearly… you just gave me the perfect idea!"
Wait.. he was thinking of how to help me save Denzel…he opens the driver's seat door and makes to get in the car.
"Hold on!"
He stops and turns back to him, I see him smirk but ignores it.
"How much do you intend to pay me?" I asked.
"I was think $3000 per month!"
My eyes grows wide at the amount.. $3000?! That's a whole lot of money, I can't get this money from any job.
I grab his right arm and smile at him sweetly.
"W-what if I say I can do the job.. can you still let me?" I asked.
"But you just suggested that I should buy the perfume!"
I chuckle and waves it off.
"I was just bluffing. You see, my perfume is very special, it's customized.. made exclusively for me.. you can't find it anywhere" I said.
He draws his eyebrows together.
"Really?"
"Yeah…"
He thinks about it for a few minutes before nodding in agreement.
"Ok.. send me your bank details and I'll transfer $1000 into your account to make you believe I'm serious!"
I nod.
"You'll be sleeping on my boss's bed 30minutes before he gets home everyday!"
"Yes, sir!" I said obediently.
"Make sure you leave the mansion before 5:30.. don't let my boss see you or we'll both lose our jobs!"
"Yes, sir!"
"And lastly, make sure you arrange the bed before you leave!"
"Yes, sir!"
He frowns at me because I have been smiling non-stop… I bet no one would continue frowning after getting such a cool job.
"Ok, that's all.. I'll come pick you tomorrow!" He said and gets in the car.
"Good night, boss!" I said.
"Don't forget to send your bank details!"
"Yes, sir… Bye, bye!" I wave him as he drives off.
I jump happily.
"Yes!"
I can't believe I just got two jobs today after having a bad day…
I'll do waitressing in the morning and going to that mansion in the evening to get a 30minutes well deserved rest.
Today is not a bad day after all.
To be continued.
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