11. Pearl
Pearl
“That's it! You're fired!”
I stood there in shock as my manager grabbed the tray from my hands, his face twisted in anger.
He’d never acted like this with me before. I was relatively okay at my job and had been here for years. I was never late. I’d never been written up.
There was no possible reason to get fired because of something as little as—
“Over one wrong order?” I asked.
A few of my coworkers were gathering around us, trying to see what he was on about. I was almost at the end of my six-hour shift, and I’d come from a really good day at school and was in a good mood.
I'd been smiling at customers. Making small talk and doing my rounds as usual, so it came as a shock to me when he pulled me aside and told me I had messed up a customer order. Which I didn’t think I did, but even if he was right, it wasn’t that big of a deal.
In the restaurant business, it happened all the time.
“One wrong order placed by the literal millionaire who owns this restaurant,” he replied with a scowl. “Did you seriously not recognize him? Plus, he said you didn't smile at him.”
Is he serious right now?
I had no idea what to say to that, and no one else spoke up either.
It would've been easy to just go back into the shadows, hang my head, and leave, but for some reason, I felt like I couldn't do that. All I could think about was Emerson.
If she were here, she would have something to say. She wasn't the type of person to just let it go.
So I tried my best to channel my inner Emerson and made sure to keep my eyes locked on his when I replied.
“I have been with you for years. I have never been late. I've never done anything wrong. It's unfair for you to fire me like this.”
He let out a huff that sent annoyance rushing through me.
“I don't think this is funny. If anything, this is an HR violation. We do have an HR rep, you know?”
“Don't act all innocent,” one of my coworkers said, coming to my side. It was Maisy. We were often scheduled to work the same shift. “There was that one night when you sat down at a customer’s table like you were on a date.”
“I sat with her for like fifteen minutes,” I snapped. “And he was the one who took a bribe to allow that to happen. I didn’t even want to sit there in the first place.”
All eyes were now on my manager, but he wasn't backing down.
“I said what I said. You have ten minutes to get your stuff and get out of here before I call the police.”
His threat crushed me even more. No one had ever threatened to call the police on me before. But I wasn’t about to let him see he’d affected me.
I quickly turned out of there and marched toward the back room where we kept our stuff. There, I texted Emerson.
Hi. I’m leaving now. Do you want me to take a cab or something?
Before I even had a chance to put my phone down, she replied.
Emerson
Already outside.
My heart pounded in my chest. I was grateful she was so close.
I packed up my stuff in record time and left the restaurant out the front, where Emerson was indeed already waiting for me.
Today she wore a casual hoodie and sweats. She’d probably gone home after work and changed. If I wasn't as emotionally charged, I might have taken the time to fully take her in and realize how good it felt to see her after being away all day.
But I couldn't stand being at the restaurant a moment longer.
“You're off early,” she commented as she held the door open for me and took my backpack. I had a minor freak-out, wondering if she’d see the flannel inside that I’d carefully taken off after school, but she didn’t even pay it any mind.
“Yeah,” I said curtly as I sat in the passenger seat. “Let's get out of here. I'm tired.”
She paused before closing the door, glancing back to the restaurant, but said nothing else. When we were a few blocks away, I felt like I could finally breathe.
“What happened?” Emerson asked. “Bad customer or a bad day at school?”
“It doesn't matter.”
Her hand found my thigh and squeezed. It felt more like a warning than a gesture of comfort.
“Do I need to remind you that you're not allowed to hide from me?”
I swallowed thickly, tears already starting to fall down my face. Damn it. I did my best to keep it in. I tried to be strong and embody Emerson, but after the professor at school and then the abrupt firing, I couldn't keep it in any longer.
She squeezed my thigh again, but this time, she was gentle.
“I got fired.”
Emerson swerved to the right and slammed on the brakes, parking us on a random street. I looked at her in shock as she turned to look at me because I had never seen her so angry.
“What did you just say?”
“They fired me.”
“For what?” Her jaw was so tight I was sure she'd crack a tooth.
“Apparently, not smiling at a millionaire,” I said with a bitter laugh. “And getting his order wrong.”
No, wait. It seems like she can get even angrier.
“That's not funny.” It came out as more of a growl.
“I said the same thing. I also reminded him of my squeaky-clean record, but he still fired me on the spot.”
Emerson stared me down and then turned away. She was eerily calm as she started driving us home again.
“Don't cry about it,” she snapped. “They never deserved you anyway.”
I didn’t know how she managed to hurt me with her tone and comfort me in the same sentence, but it was one of Emerson’s superpowers.
I leaned back and focused on calming myself down.
“At least now I'm all yours,” I teased, but Emerson didn't even crack a smile.
So I started to overthink it, wondering if she was disappointed in me. I was the one who’d made a big deal about keeping my job there only to get fired.
When she signaled to turn, I realized this wasn’t the route home, so I looked to her for an explanation.
“I know a place,” she said, her eyes briefly shifting to me and nothing else, and I wished she still had her hand on my leg as I just nodded.
When we left the city, I started to get a little bit concerned. The cityscape was slowly disappearing as we traveled up a winding road, and we were mostly surrounded by darkness.
My hand found her arm, and I squeezed it.
Her head swerved to me.
“Eyes on the road!”
I couldn't see it because I squeezed my eyes shut, but somehow I knew she was smirking at me.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of driving in the dark.”
“On windy hills in the middle of nowhere, yes, I am!”
She let out a chuckle that made me start to forget why I was even upset in the first place. And then she shocked me even further when she took my hand in hers and squeezed.
“I think it’s safer if you keep both hands on the wheel.”
“Pearl.”
“Please?”
“Pearl, I'm going less than twenty-five miles per hour.”
I forced open my eyes and was hit with mostly darkness, save for our headlights. A frightened squeak was pulled out of me, and I forced my eyes shut again as I shook Emerson's hand away.
She let out another chuckle.
“I’m so glad I’m entertaining,” I said sarcastically.
“You would be a lot more entertaining if I could shove my fingers inside that pretty little pussy while I drive, but I’m guessing that would be against your both-hands-on-the-wheel rule.”
I didn’t trust myself to answer that one.
The car started to slow, but I didn't dare open my eyes as she parked.
“All right, we're here.”
I peeled open my eyes and gasped at the sight.
She had managed to bring me to a place with a view that outshone both her office’s and her penthouse’s. From our covered viewing area, surrounded by trees and bushes, we could look out over the cliffs and see the city skyline.
It was beautiful to look in on the city instead of being lost inside it. I knew it was massive, but it was easy to forget it until I was looking at it from far away.
“This is just so you can stop acting so shocked when you look out the window of my home and office.”
Her tone seemed annoyed, but her words didn't sting. They warmed.
Just as I was about to turn to her and tell her how sweet of a gesture this was, I noticed another car to our left. Lights off, and the obvious way it was shaking told me the people inside were not just sightseeing.
“Did you…”
The words died on my tongue when I met her gaze.
“Did I…?” She raised a brow.
“Nothing. I just thought…” I turned to look back at the view, my face heating.
“Is my little slut thinking of something inappropriate?”
I forced my thighs together.
Yes, I totally am.
“To answer your unspoken question, I brought you here to look at the view, not so you could think about getting railed in the back of a car like a teenager.”
I peeked out at her from behind the hair that had fallen in front of my face.
“The view is beautiful, thank you.”
She leaned her elbow on the steering wheel as she looked at me.
“But…?”
I swallowed thickly.
“Are you sure you didn’t bring me here to fuck me?”
She narrowed her eyes at me.
“Is that your way of asking me to do it, Pearl? Do you want me to show these people how we can rock a car?”
It was a tease. She wanted me to ask for it, and when I didn’t, she let out an annoyed sigh and unbuckled her seatbelt. I moved to grab her arm and stop her from leaving the car, but she was too quick.
“Get out here, Pearl.”
My heart stopped in my chest as my panties dampened. And, like the desperate whore I was, I scurried out of the car and found myself pressed against the door, Emerson’s body covering mine, her hands moving up the outside of my thighs. I inhaled sharply.
“Was a whole day of delayed gratification enough for you, my little slut?” I shivered as she ran her tongue up my neck. “Get in the back.”
As soon as she moved away, I opened the door and slipped in, but I had no time to react before Emerson followed and pressed her lips against mine. She gave me a bruising kiss before moving down my neck.
“Oh fuck,” I moaned.
Her hands grasped my button-up, and in one strong movement, she tore it apart, buttons flying everywhere.
“My uniform!”
“You won't be needing that anymore,” she said, her hands coming to grope my breasts.