She didn't even have time to admire the inside as he pulled her directly to his office.
"Have a sit," he told her moving around the table to sit on his chair.
"Are you going to interview me?" She asked taking out her credentials.
"Yeah," Liam said sounding serious.
"State your full name," Liam asked, his legs folded, hands on his thigh. Right now he looked like a calm and self-assured boss.
"Valarie Richards," Val answered looking confident. She had prepared herself for an interview. She'd even gone a step further and searched in the internet the most expected questions and how to answer them. So despite this being her first interview, she was confident.
"Why did you chose to be a teacher?" Liam threw a second question.
"Because it's my dream career. I've always enjoyed teaching and guiding others."
Liam hearing Val's feedback secretly smirked, "why do you like me?" He asked again, no trace of playfulness evident on his face.
"Because..." just when she wanted to answer, Val realized that there was something wrong with his question. Then understanding him, she shouted, "Liam!" What kind of interview was this?
Liam on the other hand burst into laughter. This woman really liked being professional.
Ignoring her sharp glares, he pulled the drawer of his desk and took out a documents. It had only two leaflets.
"Sign this," he said to pushing it in front of her.
Val glanced at the document to see that it was a contract. Work contract? She picked it up and seriously read it. It clearly stated that Liam as the first party and she, the second party.
It contained the terms of agreement and period of validity being three months.
"Three months?" She asked looking up at him.
"Yeah, I'm not certain about how long we'll stay here so it'll be better if we focus on the short term but don't worry, if we leave after three months, I'll either look for another job for you or take you with me," he paused before adding, "the later is the most likely."
Val bit her lips to stop herself from smiling. At least he cares about her future.
Then clause 6 of the agreement caught her eyes, "sex between the employer and the employee is forbidden, is this necessary?" She asked smiling. She didn't have any plans of sleeping with her boss.
"Very necessary considering how good looking I am," Liam answered her smiling, his eyebrows curled upwards. Truthfully, he wasn't the one who drafted the contract, it was the general one he used with his employees.
"Wherever," Val shrugged. Picking a pen from the pen holder on the table, she signed against her name in the document. "Done," she said pushing it towards Liam.
Liam picked it and looked at her signature before signing as well. "I'll make a copy so that we can have one each," he said looking up from the document.
"Okay, but it states that my work starts tomorrow, what am I going to be doing today?" She asked him.
"How about shopping?" Liam suggested.
"What kind of shopping?" She asked.
"Stationery shopping but before that, this is my promise," he taking out a check from his drawer then pushing it towards her.
"Thank you," Val said picking it up. Finally, her father was going to be saved.
Afterwards, they went downstairs, got into one of Liam's car together with Kelly and headed to the bookstore.
When they stepped out of the car, Val spotted Jayden making his way out of the store.
She walked towards him with a smile and said to him, "we meet again."
Jayden also not expecting to meet Val gently pulled her into a friendly hug, "I've been expecting your call," he said to her pulling away.
"Yeah, something came up," Val said a smile still on her face. Jayden gave her a warm feeling, he treated her well just like a friend.
Jayden smiled back saying, "It's okay, I understand just look for me when you change your mind."
Liam, who had been ignored by Val cleared his throat making the two turn their attention to him.
Val immediately introduced them, "Jayden, this is my new boss Liam and my student Kelly and this is Jayden, my friend."
"It's nice to meet you sir," Jayden said stretching his hand for a handshake.
Liam ignored him and said to Val, "let's get going, it's getting late," making Val and Kelly roll their eyes. It was only midmorning so how was it getting late?
Jayden retracted his hand indifferently and said to Val, "let's have dinner tonight?"
Hearing his question, Liam's face turned black. The guy was very audacious.
Val was surprised, "like a date?" She asked Jayden.
"Yeah," Jayden answered looking at her expectantly.
After sometime, Val answered, "yes, sure."
Liam, who had been ignored grabbed Kelly's and Val's hands and dragged them inside.
Jayden shouted behind them, "okay, see you tonight," but before Val could answer him, she was already inside.
She forcefully snatched her hand back glaring at Liam, "what was that for?" She angrily asked.
"Nothing, I just think you were unnecessarily wasting our time," he replied he's voice so cold and angry, surprising Val.
Val sighed and decided not to argue with him. She just picked a basket and walked down the aisle looking for the materials they had gone there for.
After sometime, Liam asked, "you can't be seriously considering going on a date with that guy, are you?"
"I'm not considering, I already agreed to go,"Val simply answered, not looking at him. She was still at him for being impolite to Jayden.
Liam grabbed Val's hand and ordered, "you can't, you'll not go on that date."
Val, surprised by Liam's actions tried to take her hand back but he tightly held onto it. "Liam, you're not the boss of my private life, I can go out with whoever I want," she said angrily. What was wrong with him anyway? Her private life had nothing to do with him.
Her reply angered Liam the more, "I said you won't go so you won't." Even he knew that he was being unreasonable but there was no way he was going to let her date another man!
"Liam, let me go," Val shouted attracting the attention of other customers.
But the more she struggled, the angrier Liam became. This woman was trying so hard to get away from him and yet a few minutes ago, she hugged another man.
"Shut up or I'll shut you up!" He said his voice getting colder and more demanding. Even the onlookers got afraid of getting closer.
Val on the other hand tried harder to get away from him, shouting at him to let her go. She didn't even understand what wrong she'd done. What did going out with another man have to do with her boss?
However, her struggles did nothing to quench Liam's anger instead it fueled it. Looking at the disobedient woman in front of him, he found himself loosing control. Grabbing her neck, he dipped his head and claimed her wet and angry lips in his. Angrily sucking and biting them with undisguised lust and passion until they were swollen. Feeling satisfied, he slightly pulled away and calmly said to her, "can't you just listen to me and not go out with him?"
Val panted as she stared at the man in front of her blankly, her eyes wide, face flushed and lips swollen and sore. One moment, he was forcing her to listen to his unreasonable request and the next, he was kissing her in front of so many people. She tried pulling her hands out of his grasp again and this time, Liam didn't stop her. Then picking her basket, she silently and hurriedly walked away from him.
After paying for the stationeries, Val said, "I'm going to the supermarket to buy some stuff," before walking towards it. The supermarket was across the street, visible from where they were standing.
"I'll go with you," Liam said. "I also have something to buy," he added when he saw that Val wanted to protest. After the kiss, Val hadn't said a single word to him. She literally treated him as invisible and this made him restless. He didn't even understand why he kissed her or why he was even angry at her in the first place but he hated the fact that she wasn't talking to him.
He quickly caught up with her and steadily walked by her side not saying anything. He didn't know what to say. Should be apologize or not? He wished there was someone to tell him what to do at that moment.
When they got into the supermarket, he silently followed her as she walked from one aisle to another picking out what she needed. He on the other hand didn't even know what to buy. He didn't usually do any shopping as he had housekeepers to do it and so he just picked a loaf of bread when he saw that she was ready to pay.
"Val," Liam called hesitatingly.
"Liam, don't," Val warned raising her finger. She didn't want to hear anything from him. She didn't even want to think about what happened.
"Can I at least help you carry those stuff?" He asked trying to take some of her bags. Val still ignored him stepping out of the supermarket. She wanted to distance herself from him as much as she could.
However, stepping foot outside, they were met with an unexpected sight.
People were disorganizingly rushing up and down screaming. Others were throwing stones and wherever they had on their hands on the stores along the street. The whole place was a mess.