e i g h t
So tired of this stagnant place that I keep living in
Don't know how it happened, but I'm wearing thin ?
**
the next morning
I awoke the next morning to someone yelling my name in my ear repeatedly.
I opened my eyes to see a pissed-off Tyler staring down at me with a scowl on his face.
"What do you want?" I grumbled while rubbing my eyes.
"Some dude is asking for you at the door," he replied. "He keeps saying that he's here to take you to work, but I told him that he has the wrong house because your broke-ass doesn't have a job."
I opened my mouth to ask him a follow-up question, only to be cut off by another one of his insults.
"I mean we all know that you're incapable of doing anything right—"
A curt laugh spilled from my lips as I ripped the covers off my body and stood up.
"Save it for someone who cares," I spat before I pushed my way past him to head downstairs.
A million thoughts raced through my mind as I ran a shaky hand through my hair.
He couldn't be here.
Could he?
The sound of my feet thudding against the steps filled the air around me as I made my way downstairs to re-answer the door.
Upon rounding the corner that cuts into our living room, I came to an abrupt stop after I caught sight of an expensively dressed man standing by the couch.
Having sensed my presence, the stranger turned around to face me.
"Good morning!" he chirped.
My mouth fell open as he then proceeded to rake his eyes over my figure. "God, you are a lot smaller than I thought you'd be."
I placed a defensive hand on my hip, tilting my head slightly to the side.
"Uhhh, thanks?"
The wildly attractive stranger continued to ramble on about my height as he made his way over to me, and I quickly pinched my arm to make sure that this was, in fact, reality. "I mean, with the way that boss described you, I figured that you would at least be five-nine."
He paused to think for a second before he went on to say, "Okay, five-ten max with the apparent mouth that you've got on you."
My hand fell away from my hip at his blatant insult.
"Excuse me?"
The olive-skinned man chuckled as he finally extended his hand out for me to shake.
"The name's Damien," he introduced himself. "And, before you try and kick me out, you should know that I'm Kyle's bodyguard by day and his very best friend by night."
I swallowed down a laugh as I slowly took his hand into my own. "That still doesn't explain why you're standing in the middle of my living room."
"I'm here to take you to work," he explained after he dropped his hand down to his side. "Since you left boss hanging yesterday, he decided to send me over here to pick you up."
My delayed response pushed him to look around, and I watched as his eyes lingered on the Hennessy bottles that lay, discarded on the ground near the legs of our worn-out couch.
"You are packed . . . right?" His elevated tone of voice revealed his uncertainty.
I tucked a piece of hair behind my ear and let out a nervous laugh.
"Of course I'm packed," I lied. "I just need to change my clothes and bring the rest of my stuff down."
Damien let out a sigh of relief. "Good, because it's already 9:07, which means that you're technically on the clock right now."
If my facial expression didn't give my panic away, then the sound of me choking on my spit sure did.
"Right, I'll be right back."
Without waiting for him to respond, I spun around on my heel and booked it up the stairs so that I could throw everything that I've ever owned into a single suitcase.
Much to my surprise, Tyler was still standing in the spot where I left him, and instead of hurling insults at me like I thought he would, he decided to throw me for a loop and ask me a bunch of questions.
"What the hell is going on, Lilac?"
There was a brief moment of silence between his question and my answer as I tried to consolidate my thoughts.
"I work for Kyle Rodriguez now, and the job requires me to live with him," I stated bluntly. "The man downstairs is here to help me move out."
Tyler wasted no time letting out a scoff. "So, what? You're his whore now or something?"
My lips came together to form a sarcastic grin. "You know what, Tyler? I wasn't sure if taking this job was a good idea, but now I'm beginning to realize that this is the best thing that's ever happened to me."
When he showed no signs of comprehension, I asked, "Do you want to know why that is?"
He opened his mouth to reply, but I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine and interrupt him just as he had done to me.
"It allows me an opportunity to get away from you," I sneered. "You and Monica both."
The bored look on his face only fueled my anger, and it pushed me to get some of the feelings that I've been holding on to these past few years off my chest.
"You know what? You should be lucky that I'm even doing this because this job will enable me to pay off all of the debt that she put us in.
All this time, you could've been helping me out by getting a job or encouraging her to quit using, but instead, you chose to sleep around with girls and get high with your dumbass friends. "
The rest of my speech was cut short by his I-don't-care-what-you-think-of-me cackle, and it resulted in me rolling my eyes at him.
"Grow up, Tyler," I said while looking him up and down in disgust. "Because you won't be seeing me again until you do."
It was the emotionless expression on his face that persuaded me to throw him out of my room, and I wasted no time getting dressed so that I could run to the bathroom and brush my teeth.
After completing the basics of my morning routine, my actions grew increasingly frantic. I flung open my closet door and began throwing any and every article of clothing that I owned into my suitcase.
I was in the middle of throwing my toiletries into my bag when I heard the front door slam shut downstairs.
I brushed it off, thinking that it was Tyler throwing a bitch fit and leaving, but my head flew up in alarm when I heard my mother's voice drift up the stairs.
"Who the hell are you?!"
In a flash, I tossed another handful of stuff into my bag before I snatched it up from the floor and bounded down the stairs.
My mother stood, glaring at Damien from her spot near the door.
"He's with me, and we were just leaving," I told her.
Monica turned to look at me with blazing eyes, and my fingers slowly curled up into a fist as I knew from experience that this meant that she was about to try and stop me.
"The hell you are!" she shrieked. "You can't afford to live on your own! You wouldn't even make it a full day without me!"
I shifted my hold on my suitcase so that it was resting in my left hand instead of my right.
"I got a job working for Kyle Rodriguez, and it requires me to live with him," I announced shortly. "So yes, I can afford to live on my own, and thanks to me, you don't have to worry about the house anymore because I've got it covered."
"Not that you were worried about our financial situation, anyway," I added under my breath.
My mother let out a dark chuckle that made my entire body stiffen.
"So, what?" she snarled. "You're his new bitch now or somethin'?"
Damien choked on his spit while my eyes narrowed into slits.
"God, you and Tyler deserve each other," I scoffed, peering over my shoulder to get Damien's attention.
"C'mon," I said to him. "Let's get out of here before I lose my sense of nobility."
Damien wasted no time jumping into action, and it amused me to see him dart over to the door from his spot near the couch.
Before I left the house for good, I turned to shoot my mother one last glare. "You don't have to worry about seeing me ever again."
She opened her mouth to say something in return, but I didn't give her a chance to as I lugged my suitcase out onto the porch and slammed the door closed behind me.
Damien fell into step beside me, and together we walked over to his car. Since my eyes were trained on the suitcase in my hand, I didn't notice the sleek black Mercedes sitting in the middle of my driveway until I was standing in front of it.
"Is this yours?" I asked after Damien unlocked the doors.
He tossed his head back, laughing loudly.
"Hell no," he choked out. "If I could afford this, I would've quit a long time ago."
I snickered at his retort before thanking him profusely as he took my luggage and put it in the trunk. We drove off the minute he slipped on his seatbelt, and I watched the house that I grew up in—the house that held so many memories, both good and bad—fade away in the distance.
The radio played softly in the background as we drove out of my neighborhood, heading east towards the expressway.
"I don't mean to pry," Damien spoke up after a while, "but has she always been that way?"
I turned to face him.
"You mean a high ass, rude ass, drunken mess?" I questioned.
He nodded.
"Not always," I sighed. "When my dad died a few years ago, she just . . . lost it."
He nodded solemnly. "And your brother?"
I ran a hand through my hair before I slowly leaned my head against the window.
"He's always been crappy," I said. "But, given that he's going through his teen years right now, he's even crappier."
Damien flashed me a smile. "Sounds like my little sister."
I found myself grinning back at him. "How old is she?"
He tapped his fingers against the steering wheel rhythmically. "Fifteen."
My eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How old are you?"
His face contorted into a grimace. "Twenty-five, but if anybody asks, I'm twenty-three."
I leaned my head back against the headrest as a chuckle slipped past my lips. "Got it."
We slowly fell into a comfortable silence, and I chose to pass the time by staring out of the window.
Damien peeked over in my direction after I let out a small sigh, but he didn't make an effort to ask me what was wrong, which I appreciated.
We continued our silent streak for the remainder of the drive, and I internally groaned when we came to a stop in Kyle's driveway after breezing past the security gate.
Damien must've picked up on my vibe because he twisted his body around to face me as soon as he put the car in park.
"Give him a week or two," he encouraged me. "If he still hasn't warmed up to you by then, I'll beat his ass for you."
A smirk threatened to slip onto my face as I pushed open my door.
The sun bathed me in its warmth the second I emerged from the car and the intensity of it made me regret leaving the house with jeans on.
Damien was kind enough to carry my things for me as we made our way up the driveway to enter the house through the front door. I stepped up on the porch and raised my finger to ring the doorbell, but the door flew open before I could even press the button.
My eyes came to rest on a smiling Jessica as she stepped off to the side so that we could walk in past her.
"Miss. Reynolds," she remarked, greeting me politely. "It's good to see you."
I clasped my hands together, flashing her a small smile.
"Please, call me Lilac," I insisted. "And it's good to see you as well."
Jessica agreed to my request before her eyes cut over to Damien.
"Damien," she nodded, acknowledging him curtly. "It's been a while."
The way that Damien glared back at her let me know that he had no interest in being around her at all.
"Indeed it has," he retorted dryly.
An awkward silence settled over the room in light of his response, and just when I thought I was going to die of embarrassment, Jessica suddenly broke the tension by speaking up.
"Mr. Rodriguez instructed me to escort you to your room, but I forgot that he also asked me to reschedule one of his meetings, so I'm afraid that you'll have to find it your—"
"I'll show her!" Damien exclaimed while rushing over to the stairs.
I followed suit so that we could leave Jessica to her work.
My curiosity got the best of me as Damien and I trudged up the stairs.
"What's up with you and her?" I asked.
Damien's mood had turned considerably sour in the time that we spent with Jessica, and this seemed to be relatively off-character for him.
Granted, I've only known him for forty-five minutes, and thirty of which we spent sitting in silence, but from what I've picked up on him so far, he doesn't seem like a rude or detached person at all.
In fact, he's the total opposite of that.
Damien ended up waiting until we reached the top of the stairs to answer my question.
"She's a bit . . . obsessive." He sounded a bit unsure of himself, which is why I asked him to elaborate further.
"What do you mean?"
He let out a sigh before he directed me down the hallway to my left.
"I took her out once, back when Kyle first hired her, and we ended up having a good time, but the outing was harmless," he confessed. "Fast forward to now, I have a girlfriend, and Jessica's still hoping that things will work out between us."
My mouth took the shape of an 'o' as I quickly understood what he meant by that:
The girl was delusional.
Damien shook his head as if he were cleansing his thoughts. It took him another minute to regain his composure, but once he did, he gestured for me to open the door to my right.
The moment my mind registered the sight that lay before me, I let out a small scream.
"What the hell?!"
It was next to impossible for me to contain my astonishment as the room was ten times bigger than anything I'd been expecting.
Damien gently shoved me out of the way so that he could set my stuff down.
"There isn't a maid's quarter or anything like that, so boss figured that you could just take one of the guest rooms," he said with a shrug.
I gaped at him. "If this is the size of a guest room, how big is the master?"
A smirk slipped onto his face, and my expression fell flat at his response.
"You'll find out soon enough."
I opened my mouth to tell him off, only to be cut off by Jessica's sudden reappearance in the doorway.
"Mr. Rodriguez is requesting to see you in his office," she announced.
I glanced over my shoulder to gauge Damien's reaction, and I was pleasantly surprised to find him passed out on my bed.
"Oh, don't mind me," he grunted, waving me off. "I'll be right here when you get back. Kyle's working from home today, and I need someone to gossip with."
My lips twitched as a smirk threatened to spread across my face. "Well, in that case, I'll tell him to make it quick."
I exited the room without another word, and my eyes briefly darted over to Jessica as she and I made our way towards the staircase.
"You're not really going to say that to him?" she asked me nervously. "Are you?"
I shot her a pointed look. "You've got a lot to learn about me, Jessica."
The expression on her face told me that she was more than frightened by my comment, and this made me laugh.
She's a kiss-ass for sure.
My thoughts floated back to the room that was waiting for me upstairs as we walked down the hall to Kyle's office.
Jessica reached the door before I did, so she was the one to knock on it to alert him of our arrival.
"Come in." Kyle's muffled voice sounded through the door, and I could tell from his semi-harsh tone that he was already irritated.
Jessica pushed down on the handle before she cracked the door open ever so slightly.
"She's here," she declared while opening the door wide enough for him to see me.
Kyle barely glanced up from his work as he gestured for me to enter.
I slowly stepped into his office and parked myself in front of his desk.
"Have a seat," he said.
Jessica stood, hovering near the door, and I could tell that she was on edge because of the slight grin that I had on my face.
Kyle glanced up at me for the first time since I walked in, and my stomach fluttered at the sight of his blank stare.
He raised a brow at me. "Have you unpacked already?"
I shook my head.
His gaze flickered back to the papers that he had strewn across his desk, and it took everything within me not to snap at him.
It is seriously impolite to avoid eye contact with the person you are speaking to. He should know that.
"Good, because I instructed Jessica to get rid of your old clothes so that you can make room for the new ones that you're about to buy," he confessed.
My focus came crashing back down to reality at his words.
"What?!"
Kyle merely batted his lashes at me before he lowered his head to study the documents in front of him. "I have supplied Jessica with my card and I've ordered her to take you shopping."
I swiftly clambered up from my chair.
"My clothes are perfectly fine," I argued while tugging at the bottom of my shirt.
Kyle lifted his head so that he could get a good look at my upper half, and my eyes narrowed after his gaze remained fixated on my chest for half a second too long.
"Your tank top is severely faded, and those jeans should've stayed in the decade that they belong in." Everything about his tone screamed, unapologetic. "You work for me now and all of my employees are expected to present themselves in an appropriate manner."
"But I'm not—"
"When you come back, you'll have a fitting with my seamstress Maria so that your uniform will be ready to go for tomorrow," he interrupted me without a care in the world. "This is not up for debate."
My feet remained rooted to the ground as I stared at him.
"You've got to be kidding me," I said while leaning against his desk.
Kyle let the pen that he was holding fall from his fingers, and the sound of it clattering against the desktop made me flinch.
"Do I look like I'm kidding?"
I peeked over at Jessica for help, but she simply held her hands up as if to say, 'it's out of my control.'
An agitated sigh passed through my parted lips as I threw my hands up in defeat.
"Fine," I conceded before muttering, "I guess I'll just max out your card then," under my breath.
Before he had a chance to process what I said, I turned around on my heel and began to make my way towards the door so that I could head back up to my room.
Kyle waited until my foot was halfway over the threshold before he threw another demand my way.
"Oh, and take Damien with you to the mall," he ordered.
I glanced over my shoulder to look at him, and my eyes must have conveyed the question that I had been thinking because he eventually added onto his statement by saying:
"He loves shopping almost as much as he loves Katy Perry."