Chapter 74: The punishment
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Since the night with Angelo, I haven't seen him. He neither calls nor shows up at the office. It has been a week since then, yet nothing. And the most annoying part is the fact that Mr. Nathan is making me suffer for it. If it wasn't that night, what else could be making him pile up unnecessary, tedious workloads for me?
'I want this handwritten," he said, dumping a file and a book that seemed like a large journal on my desk.
'What do you mean? You can easily transfer the printed format to any place you want it. Why are you doing this? It's not like I'm back in high school."
He walked away without a word. I grunted, hitting my head on the desk.
I sneezed after calming down and picked up my pen to begin writing.
It took me almost three hours to finish writing every word in the file. My hand was trembling. It had been many months since I last wrote this much. I took the journal to him. He collected it from me and handed me some cash.
'Get me some black coffee from the shop where we first met," he said. 'And on no account should you take the elevator or a bus. I want my coffee walked to me," he added.
I chuckled. 'What's all this about, Mr. Nathan? Why are you doing this?" I queried. It was becoming frustrating.
'You just have thirty minutes," he declared, putting on his headphones. I stood there for over a minute before bracing up to go.
***
'Sunshine?!" someone shouted from behind me.
I turned and saw Everleigh running breathlessly toward me. She reached my side, panting like she had been running a marathon.
'Why were you running like that, Eve? What are you doing here?" I queried, yawning.
'I should be asking you that. Is this where you work?" she retorted.
'No, I'm going to get something for my boss," I replied.
'I thought you said the company is far from here. Why come all the way to this place?" she asked, adjusting the hem of her long gown.
'It's a long story. Why are you here?" I asked as we both began heading to the coffee shop.
'I came here for a photoshoot. Just three miles down the street," she pointed behind us.
'How did it go? Are you guys done?" I queried, yawning again.
'Are you hungry, Sunshine? Why are you yawning like you've been starving for years? Besides, why are you looking worn out? You even have dark circles. You look sleepy right now. What were you doing overnight?"
'What else can an assistant to a jerk be doing at night?"
'Is your boss overworking you? Why is he doing that? Has he lost it?"
I chuckled. 'He has indeed gone bananas. I don't understand what's wrong with him these days. He wasn't like this before, trust me," I tried to stay positive.
'Is he using his marital issues to torture you at work? Who does that?"
'If only he were married."
'Wait! What? Your boss is not married? How old is he?" Everleigh queried.
'How am I supposed to know that? He should be around 25 to 30. I'm not sure."
'Oh, my God!" she exclaimed, blocking my way. 'Your boss is that young?"
'Why are you surprised? Rich parents can make anything happen—nominating someone as awkward and childish as my boss as a CEO. When I think about it, it makes me laugh," I said, chuckling. 'Shall we go now? I've got only thirty minutes to return," I added, and we began walking again.
'Why are you complaining? You two are a match made in heaven—birds of a feather flocking together in the same office," she teased. 'Tell me, do you have a crush on him?" she nudged my shoulder.
I cuffed her on the shoulder. 'Stop being silly, Eve. How can I crush on that man that calls himself my boss? He is way out of my type," I declared, grunting. 'How can you even utter such a thing?"
'Come on, it's not that bad."
I was back in the office some minutes later.
'You are late, Scarlett." That was Mr. Nathan's welcome line.
'Not after making me walk that far," I said, putting his order on his desk. Just then, the secretary, whom I later learned was named Joy, entered.
'You called me, Sir," she said.
'Yes. I got you this," he said, handing the coffee I had just brought for him to her. 'Take it as a reward for your diligence."
'Thank you so much, Sir," Joy appreciated him.
'You are welcome. You can go now," Mr. Nathan permitted, and I watched her go with sweat dripping down my temple. I felt like crying.
'How can you do that, Sir?" I confronted. 'How can you give out the coffee I suffered to get for you? Why are you being so mean and irrational? Why didn't you send her to go get it herself?"
'Here, I found some typos. Rewrite everything again," he instructed.
'What the hell?" I swatted his iPad off the desk. The poor thing was damaged beyond repair. Mr. Nathan didn't utter a word.
'I have had enough of you, Mr. Nathan. If you have something against me, then just say it instead of making me suffer like this," I yelled.
'What is the meaning of this, Scarlett?" he asked calmly, walking over to me. 'Do you know how much this is worth?" He pointed at the smashed iPad on the floor.
'I don't care about the consequences of my actions, Mr. Nathan. Just tell me why you are punishing me this way. What did I ever do to you?"
'You honestly don't know what you did to me? Tell me you are pretending not to know what you have done to me," he said, crossing the distance between us. His eyes were fixed on mine.
'How would I know if you don't say anything?" I moved back until my back was restricted against the wall.
He fully crossed the distance between us, caging me between his arms.
My heart began racing at his nearness. I could feel his hot breath on my face, leaving weird sensations.
'W… what are you doing, Sir?" I stuttered.
'I'm going to show you what you have been doing to me," he declared, his eyes flickering between my eyes and my lips.
'Can you just move…" I couldn't finish my sentence before his lips launched on mine, stealing my breath. My eyes popped out of their sockets.
