"Are you going to ignore me forever?" I hear Nash say besides me.
'YES' I mentally scream.
We're riding to my parents and I'm looking out the window doing my best to ignore Nash but of course he's failing to acknowledge the body language. I'm not even pretending I'm so mad at him right now. How dare he keeps me hostage and think I'll talk to him. He's got another thing coming.
"Look I'm sorry okay" he takes my hand in his.
"Don't touch me" I pull out my hand from his hold glaring at him.
"Can you be reasonable. I was just looking out for you" he sighs.
"By keeping me hostage?" I question.
"You have a wild imagination" he has the nerve to laugh.
Apparently my attempt to escape failed miserably. I underestimated Big Mike's strength. When he realized that I wasn't giving up he had carried me to some room and locked me in there for three minutes straight. Do you know how long three minutes can be when you want nothing but to leave. I banged the door like a crazy person I even tried breaking the window but Nash came in right on time looking all showered and clean and smelling good.
"I'm giving you three months notice. I'm quitting" I cross my arms over my chest.
"No you're not" he chuckles.
"You think I'm joking?" I clench my fists.
"I think you're just being petty. I said I'm sorry didn't I. What more do you want from me?" he let's out a heavy breath.
"For you to leave me alone. That would do" I state.
"Considering the fact that we work together that'll be impossible" he glances at me amusement covering his stupid face.
Arg this man is so so annoying. I want to hit him with something right now.
"Let's just keep things professional. No more inviting me to your place or whatever" I fiddle with my backpack accessory.
On one hand I'm hoping he agrees but at the same time I'm wishing he doesn't. Something ought to be wrong with me.
"We'll see" he places his free hand on his lap.
The things those hands can do. Will I ever forget.
"I'm serious Nash. No more stealing kisses and stuff. You're my boss I'm your secretary and that's that" I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.
"I thought you enjoyed spending time with me yesterday" I see his jaw clench.
I did enjoy spending time with him but that can't happen again. I can't keep playing these little games with him. He's not someone I can trust not to hurt my feelings.
"Look I know you won't have a problem finding another girl to entertain you" I turn to look at him.
He doesn't say anything. If anything I think I hurt his feelings. This man is confusing. Minutes later he pulls up in front of my parents.
"Thanks for the ride" I grab my door handle and open the door before exiting.
"Sure" he too gets out the car.
Okay what is he doing. He better be just checking something with his car. I open the gate and guess what he follows me.
"What are you doing?" I pause frowning.
"Coming with you of course" he smiles.
"For what possible reason? You said you wanted to take me home. I'm home" I say in a duh tone.
"I need to talk to your parents. Now come on" Nash takes my hand in his and pulls me.
"I can walk on my own you know" I snatch my hand out of his.
I notice someone peeking through the kitchen window and I know for a fact that it's my mom. My palms are sweating as we walk to the front door of my childhood home. Nash keeps trying to hold my hand but I slap his hand away over and over again.
"Would you quit doing that" I fix him with a deadly look.
"Can't help it. Your hand is so soft" he's grinning now.
I roll my eyes before opening the front door. I hope he's only here to talk to my parents about my health. He seems concerned about it more than I am.
"Mom. Dad. I'm home" I announce.
"In the kitchen" I hear my mom's voice say.
My mom is standing by the stove making lunch and my dad is sitting at the kitchen island a newspaper in his hands.
"Hey mom. Hey dad" I kiss their cheeks.
"Hi honey" my dad says while my mom doesn't bother responding.
Their eyes land on Nash, then on me then back to Nash again and I know they're wondering who this man is that I brought to their house after my disappearance act so I do the normal thing which is introduce everybody.
"Mom, dad, this is Nash Stone. He's my boss" I start.
"Nice to meet you Mr Miller, Mrs Miller" Nash stretches his hand towards my mom who gives him a limp handshake then shakes my dad's hand, a polite smile plastered on his face.
I love it when he smiles because I don't see him smiling much. Right now his smile doesn't have the same effect on me that it usually does. The look on my parents' face is of confusion but who can blame them. They're probably wondering why I'm home with my boss after disappearing the whole of yesterday. I'm so going to hear an earful from my mom for this.
"Nice to meet you Nash. Call me Chandler" my dad says politely.
"I'm gonna go take a quick shower. Be right back" I hurry up the stairs not giving Nash a second glance.
He invited himself I'm sure he can handle himself. I take the quickest shower known to man and head back down where I find Nash hanging in the patio with my dad the two men talking sports. I'm annoyed at the fact that Nash looks comfortable in my house.
"Lunch is ready. Care to join us Mr Stone" my mom fixes me with a death glare and when she turns to Nash her face is plain. Yeah I'm totally dead.
My mom sets up lunch in the dining room and we all take our seats and start eating but my parents keep giving each other looks making me uncomfortable.
"So you the boss that's been overworking my daughter" my father breaks the silence.
Oh no no no no. What is my dad doing. We talked about this.
"It's why I'm here. I wanted to apologize for my behavior. It's just I'm a workaholic I sometimes forget to dismiss my employees on time" Nash looks down in shame.
"You do this to all your employees?" my dad lifts a brow.
"Only the ones I work closely with. Claire here is my secretary. I promise to do better" Nash assures my dad.
"So you made you made her work all night?" dad asks.
"My thoughts exactly" mom mumbles as she adds hot sauce to her food.
"Not really. She wasn't feeling well yesterday so I decided to make her rest. She hasn't been eating well and was experiencing dizzy spells" Nash explains.
"And whose fault is that?" mom stares at him accusingly.
"Mom" I mentally face palm muself.
"What? It's his fault and you know it" mom shrugs before putting a piece of food in her mouth.
"Your mom is right. It's why I've decided that I'll see to it that she eats properly and comes home on time. I'll personally bring her myself" Nash says.
"Sounds good to me"
"I'm not agreeing to this" I object.
"See this is another issue. She's refusing to give me the car keys. She can't be driving around when she's experiencing dizzy spells. It's dangerous" can't believe Nash just threw me under the bus.
"Young lady you better give me the car keys right now" mom stretches her hand out to me.
"Mom..."
"Now young lady" mom says firmly.
Groaning I get off my chair to get the keys and hand them to her.
"Apart from being hard headed your daughter is a hard worker. We work well together" Nash glances at me smiling.
"That's my Claire. She puts her all into her work" dad says proudly.
"I'm thinking of giving her a raise for the trouble I put her through. I mean she's so committed to her work and never complains" Nash compliments.
I feel my cheeks heating up. This is the first time he's said something nice about me. I'm glad he notices the effort I've been putting.
"Is that so?" mom finally cracks a smile for the first time since Nash and I arrived.
"That's such wonderful news. Claire has always been a hard worker. I'm glad someone's finally noticing. She always manages to make us proud" dad brags.
"Oh yes she does" mom beams.
By now the tension has loosened and to my utter relief they change the subject. We converse over lunch and at one point Nash compliments my mother's cooking skills and my mom blushes. As my mom and I clear the table after lunch and carry the dishes to the kitchen daddy and Nash make their way to the living room. I hear Nash ask my dad about himself. Daddy brags about his wife and kids who are his pride and joy. You heard it right, I'm not the only product of the union between my mom and dad but I'm not getting into that right now. I'd rather not talk about my sibling...Not when I'm in such a good mood.
"You know I never thought I'd live to see my always obedient daughter date two men at the same time. I wouldn't have been surprised if it was Hannah but not you" my mom gives me a plain look as she rinses the dishes I just washed.
"What are you talking about mom?" I look at her in confusion.
"You should have came to me if you were confused about men not date two men at the same time"
"What?" is she serious right now.
"It's like I don't even know you anymore and I know that man in the living room with your dad is to blame. For goodness sake he's your dad's age Claire" she pauses glaring at me.
She's definitely about to kill me now.
"Mom I'm not dating Nash" though we did kiss, I finish in my head.
"I feel sorry for that sweet boy. He's going to be so heartbroken when he finds out you've been messing with your boss behind his back"
And by that boy he means Kace. How am I even going to get out of this mess I'm in. My mom leaves me in the kitchen with a bottle of chilled wine for my dad and Nash.
I hear Nash ask my dad what he does for a living while I stand in the kitchen asking myself what steps to take to get myself out of this predicament I'm in. Dad tells him about his old job and the passion in his voice just breaks my heart. I join the men in the living room and sit besides Nash and right across my mom and dad.
"It's a sad thing that they had to let you go sweetheart. You were so good at your job" my mom squeezes my dad's arm.
"My dad never went a year without the employee of the month award" I add glancing at Nash.
"And they still let him go. Your employers must have been high on something" Nash laughs with no trace of humor.
"But I'm sure you'll get something soon my love. I know you will" my mom assures my dad.
"You know I have a friend whose been looking for a hardworking accountant on his team and from the looks of it your father is a dedicated man. My friend will appreciate having a man like you in his team" Nash says.
"Really" I see the hope on my dad's face.
"Yes. Let me call him and see if he can help you out" Nash takes out his phone and makes his way to the open French door leading to the garden.
While he talks on the phone me and my parents are silent. I can see it in their eyes that they are thinking about weather this is appropriate or not and my feelings aren't any different. My boss invites himself to my house and my mom thinks I'm having an affair with him which I'm not now he's offering my dad a job. Like how did things get to this so quick.
"Okay I just talked to my friend. He says there's an opening and you're expected to go for an interview tomorrow at 9am if you're interested" Nash says to my father when he returns.
"Wait. Just like that?" my mom inquires.
"Just like that" Nash smiles.
"Well I'm very much interested. Thank you very much Nash" dad finally says.
My dad is not one to accept help from just anybody but I'm glad he didn't turn down Nash's offer. They thank Nash for his help and though my mom is suspicious everyone is all smiles. The door bell rings and I leave to answer it a smile still on my face. I'm so grateful to Nash for bringing the light back into my father's life but I can't help but question his motives.
I open the front door and my smile drops and I almost pass out when I see whose on the other side.