"I'm drowning I'm drowning." Sighing tiredly I look to my let then right in expectation.
Of what?
I don't know, I woke up two or three ago, Maria helped me eat–well drink, apparently Mr Grey brought her back for my sake.
After that I sent her away claiming I would survive the loneliness of this room but my boss won't even allow Noelle to annoy me and possibly make my day!
Isolation is the worst, I've lowly sang every one of my favourite songs to myself, noticed every detail of this room, reminisced every scene of all my favourite movies that made me tear up.
My body is less painful, the headaches have reduced and I think my eyes have slowly stopped swelling allowing me to fully open them.
And I guess, finished half of the jug of water on the drawer next to me which brings me to this statement.
I really need the bathroom.
A part of me wants to press the button on my lap but I don't want Maria stopping whatever she's doing to help me walk a couple of steps to the left and back.
So I grab the silk material and peel it off my legs, with slow movements I move my legs so that they hang over the edge of the bed. My toes touch the cold marble floor sending chills up my bare legs, sucking in a soft breath I let my feet fully touch the floor.
Gripping the mattress, I force myself to lift the rest of my body up. The rooms spins and my legs wobble and give up under me making me fall back on the bed with a painful groan.
Laying there for a second I try again, this time my legs wobble but hold on just barely.
Remember when I said my body has stopped aching? Well that was wrong considering I never tried to walk then.
Keeping my grip on the bed, I take a small step forward then another follows and another until I'm forced to painfully walk with no support.
My hand tightly grips the door knob and twists it opening the door.
Whoa.
If I thought my bathroom was big and luxurious then it is nothing compared to this one, a colour scheme of white and gold.
A huge bathtub is the first thing I see then a shower huge enough to fit seven people at least, a large mirror stands to the left with double basins like 'his and hers'.
I gape at it for a minute making my head ache slightly at the brightness of the room, feeling the wall to my side I feel the light adjuster so I dim the room a bit.
I walk towards the mirror and gasp at the woman staring back at me. My hair looks like it's been attacked by birds, small cut near the hairline. I run my hand through the mess to tame it a bit but wince when I touch a sensitive spot at the back, covered by a cloth material.
I look at my hand and sigh in relief when no blood is seen, my eyes have purplish and yellowish bruises around them. My bottom lip is burst, covered in flakes of dry blood.
Hand imprints around my neck, I unbutton the dress shirt I have on to see the rest of my body. Apart from the few red marks on my stomach and around my thighs there's nothing severe.
I turn around and look at my back in the mirror, a large bruise is on my lower back where one of the guys slammed against the counter and two bruises on both my shoulder blades.
I frown at the memories of the events that happened, closing my eyes I hold back the tears that want to come out.
After a few minutes of standing there just breathing I open my eyes, avoiding looking at the mirror, and head to the toilet to do what I came here to do in the first place.
As I'm walking back to the bed the door opens just before someone rushes to my side and helps me to the bed.
"Thanks Nic." I murmur softly, I see him frown at me.
"You shouldn't be out of bed Rosaleigh." He scolds, this is the first time he's called me by my full name.
"I had to use the toilet." I explain, his mouth quirks up into a smirk.
"You could've called me, I would've been more than happy to help." He jokes, I roll my eyes smiling.
He smiles back but the smile falters after a few seconds, "Rosie I'm s–"
I shake my head immediately regretting it, "please don't remind me it wasn't your fault anyway." I reassure him, he shakes his head.
"If only I had been there, even Xander told me to not take my eyes off you and I did for once second and you almost...al–" he can't even finish his sentence and for once there's no jokeful tone in his voice making me from.
"I'm fine really, I told you I could take care of myself." I wink, he states at me for a while before he shakes his head that grin I'm used to back on his face.
"You really can, one of the guys was knocked out bleeding the other bruised stomach and somehow both with possibly broken manhoods." He laughs, curiosity piques my mind.
"What happened to them?" He visibly freezes at the question as if not expecting it.
"The police handled them." His eyes dart away from me telling me that he's lying, I plan on asking him about that but something catches my attention.
Or someone.
Peaking from the hall Noelle ducks her head behind the wall gasping, involuntarily my lips tug up into a grin.
"Hello?" I sing expecting her to come out but she stays there her fingers gripping the doorframe.
Nic shakes his head, "anyone there?" My tone stays light and playful, low giggling meets my ears.
"No." She whispers giving herself away making me smile.
I attempt to make my way to standing up but the male before me gives me a warning look but I nonetheless stand and travel lightly on my feet–holding in the pain.
"That's weird, 'cause I could've sworn I saw a little girl with two pigtails spying on us. I wonder where she went." Once I reach the wall I painfully go down on my knees and wait for a second humming to myself.
I stay there for a second, listening to her try her best to hide her giggles, "Well, if she's gone then..." Suddenly I jump out of the room and catch her grinning like crazy.
She lets out a loud squeal when I grab her small body, lay her on the floor and start tickling her. She erupts into loud giggles, her little body squirming under my arms.
"P-p-please stop!" She croaks, my lips pull up into an automatic smile. I stop my torture and lean over her.
"You missy, owe me two Disney movies and a chorus." I grin tapping her nose lightly, she frowns slightly.
"But daddy sa–"
"Noelle." Both our heads snap to the left, Mr Grey stands tall, towering us. Dressed in tight fitting pants, a white dress shirt that clings to his chest and his sleeves rolled up showing his arm hairs.
I notice the first few buttons undone and the slight view of his tattoo, but I also notice the way his arms are hotly crossed and he's glaring my way.
My smile falters slightly, and a snort comes from Nicholas, who I hadn't noticed was watching us from under the door frame.
Noelle gets up and disappears down the stairs, I get up groaning and fix my shirt. "Please don't blame Noelle, I approached her..."
His glare moves from me to Nicholas who raises his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I tried."
My boss shakes his head and comes to my side, his arm going around my waist and placing my arm over his neck, he helps me back into the room. I shudder slightly when the warmth of his hand on my stomach seeps past the shirt.
"You know I can walk right?" I question when he sets me down on the bed, I gently move back into the bed.
He sits down next to the bed with a stoic look, "You're supposed to be resting."
I frown, "well it's kind of hard sitting in here all day, doing nothing and using Maria as my servant. I'm perfectly capable of doing things myself."
Nic snickers, I actually thought he left. "It took her three minute to get from the bathroom to halfway to the bed." He states.
I glare at him, he isn't helping at all. He smiles and leaves the room.
I know it's only been a day of me being in bed but I feel so useless and bored, right now we should be flying back to Manhattan.
He should probably be ordering me to fetch files, check agendas, take down minutes etc. And I'd be complaining the I'd go home, Julia would grill me about this trip and I'll probably dread going to work the next day.
"Maria is here to help you and you are supposed to limit the strain of your brain and eyes, thus you can't read nor watch tv or be in bright areas, like the hallway. On top of that, you need peace and quiet. Something Noelle is against." He grits, glaring at me.
I glare back and hold my ground, after a few seconds of this my head starts slowly pounding. I sigh and look away.
"Fine, I'm tired so can you please just leave some headache pills on the side for when I wake up?" I feel weird, asking my boss to do something for me when it's supposed to be the other way around.
Says the person who demanded a contract after two days of employment.
He nods ad stands up to leave, I sink into the blankets and close my eyes trying not to think too hard about my situation.
*~*~*~*
I inhale deeply, taking in the fresh ocean air. I take a step near the coast allowing the water to crash over my feet, a smile tugs at my lips.
It's been six days since I've stepped outside, and Nicholas thought it would be a good idea to take me and Noelle out to the beach and I won't say that it was a bad idea.
I am feeling way better than I was in the beginning, and being out here has rid my cabin fever.
Noelle's giggles echo throughout the private beach–I shouldn't have been shocked when Nic informed me of this.
I look behind me just in time to see Nicholas chasing her into the sea, I smile and continue my walk against the coast.
After a few minutes I decide to go back to our set up and lay down on the chair and allow my body to tan while listening to the ocean and laughter of the two. I don't know when but I fell asleep.
A while later I wake up to muffled giggling and a 'shh', just as I open my eyes I catch Nicholas hovering above me with a bucket in hand.
My eyes widen in realization then close just as he tilts the bucket and cold water falls over me, I gasp for air and wipe the residue water away.
My eyes fall into the guilty party, he gives me a boyish grin just before his arms slip below my legs and my back and he picks me up.
I give him a warning glare, "Nicholas." I warn, I look down at Noelle who's laughing her guts out.
"Throw her in the water." She lets out, my mouth falls open and Nic laughs.
He starts running, deciding against fighting him I bury my head in the crook of his neck and tighten my hold on him, preparing for the water to engulf me.
His movements slow down and I know he's going through the water and just as I think he's going to throw me in he doesn't.
I wait a second then remove my head from his neck and look curiously below me, I'm hovering above the water, I look up and see Nicholas smirking before he removes his arms and I'm thrown underwater.
I reach the surface and gasp for air, Nic's deep laughter meets my ears. I swat the water, sending it all over him, he stops laughing and seriously looks at me.
To top it all off, Noelle–clad in floaties, does the same. He smirks, "It's on."
For the next hour and a half, we played in the water, built multiple sandcastles and buried Nic under ground.
When we arrived at the house, lunch was already prepared. We ate and I went over work with my boss for the rest of the day.
*~*~*~*
"You have everything?" I nod my head and watch as Ronald takes my suitcase and disappears behind me.
We stayed here for an extra week and a half than intended until I eventually convinced Mr Grey that I was feeling better and that I actually missed working, not a complete lie though.
Noelle and Nic flew back on Monday because Noelle had school and Nic could run things there while Mr Grey stayed with me–although half the stay he wasn't around.
We had to push most of the meetings back and attend the important ones on Zoom.
I grab my phone and purse then follow behind Ronald. My boss is already seated in the SUV, busy on his laptop as always.
Honestly, a sight to behold.
I get in on the other side and buckle up, taking out the diary, I skim over today's schedule.
"An hour after we land we have a conference meeting, and straight after that another meeting with O.Kane, then a lunch meeting with yo–" suddenly a hand comes in my line of vision and closes the book.
I look up at my boss who has a stern look on his face, "I have to attend all of these meetings and I'll be seeing you next Monday." He orders.
I honestly thought we talked about this, I study his face and realise how serious he is. The glare and small squint that dares me to defy him, I give him the same look back.
What's the point of going back now then?
"Because it will make things easier for your return." He answers.
I sigh, "what am I going to be for the next five days then?" I almost raise my voice, that is one of my pet peeves.
I remember I once wholly cleaned the apartment, when there was a blackout the whole day. After that day, I didn't think there was any dirty spot that could be found.
"Consider this a paid vacation." His calm voice comes, I glare at him and stare out the tinted window until we reach the airport.