I hate to love you, Mr CEO - 2

Angelica

My world seems to be crashing that I am in front of this asshole dealing terms. I hate to see his face. I loathe his guts of challenging me. He is a devil under the pretext of an archangel. A teasing smile on his perfectly carved features "so are you ready to sign the deal Angel?"

I grunt my teeth and scream looking at him in disdain "don't call me that". I point to him with my fierce persona. He doesn't seem to be phased a least bit as he shakes his head running a hand on his thoroughly gelled hair. Getting up from his comfortable leather seat he circles the table and stands a few inches away from me. I could smell his completely masculine musk and lemon cologne which was awakening the amative thoughts, I thought never existed in my personality. Putting a check on every nerve within me I counter him with my red blazing eyes "What do you want?"

He gives me his signature smirk which eventually converts into a deride. "You already know what for are you here Angel." My anger keeps increasing with every passing second at his way of addressing me.

I stand in front of him with scornful eyes. "I am not going to work for you, Augustus Martin. So stop dreaming that I will fall at your feet for mercy. I am ready to work as a stripper at a night club if that is the last chance I get to repay you off the debt of my father but I will never work for you." I declare with my head held high.

He moves forward and looks at me with dreamy eyes. Tucking a strand behind my ear he gazes at me with a look I couldn't fathom and whispers "Fiesty. If only you knew my Angel..." I step aback avoiding his touch with my bitter eyes aiming his. Poking his chest with my forefinger I face him bluntly and mark "you will be the last person on the globe that I would approach if the earth ever falls empty of humans."

His mocking smile was back on his lips. "Let us see if you could succeed in escaping me Angel." He looks down to me standing erect with his hands inside his pant pockets. The nerve of this Adonis. Wait Angelica, control your emotions. You are again falling for the devil. My sanity tries to teach me. "Try all you want, I will make sure nobody employs you except me." He speaks to me emanating his dominating yet electrifying demeanor.

Why do l always fall for his charms? I shriek inwardly with my hands in fists and stomp away from his irksome but tantalizing presence not before gazing at him for one last time.

Looking back was a blunder I made. I did not miss the dejection in his optics which

instantly arose a pang to my chest. Ignoring my grieving heart I face him straight and firm. "I accept your challenge Mr. Augustus Martin. If ever I accept your job, I will sign the deal. I will work for you for the next two consecutive years without a hitch but in the peroration you will be the person landing on your knees begging me for repose." I dare him equally.

Augustus Martin, you just did the biggest mistake of your life on threatening me not to find a job. Welcome to hell on earth, courtesy by Angelica Evans.

Flashback

Angelica

I got up from the bed with the intruding rays of sunlight peeping through the old window curtains. The beige color on the passé walls of the bedroom was scraping out leaving the screens lifeless. I open the closet adjacent to the window which never fails to give me a screeching sound while unlocked reminding me of the absolute poverty we are living in.

I rub my orbs to rid the sleep out my optics and pull out my frayed uniform from the closet. Last night I noticed it lost a few of its buttons because of over use. Getting a new one is beyond my mom's financial capacity. I will have to pull on with the present one for a few more months until I get my merit cum means scholarship.

Looking at the vintage clock hung on one of the fading walls, I realize I was going to be late to school if I don't do my chores faster. I don't wish to invoke the black eye of my principal. My hands work in a hurry as I take a needle and thread to start stitching my tattered uniform.

After amending my outfit, I neatly place it on my bed and get ready for a quick shower. Coming out of the washroom I dress myself and tie my chestnut hair into a neat pony.

I reach the kitchen where I always find my mom preparing breakfast for me with a cheerful smile on her face. Her smile never faltered even in our darkest period. She has always been my cheer leader in my most ill-lit days.

I share a special relationship with my mom. We are more like friends gossiping about everything under the sun starting from the current affairs to my friend's crush over a boy in our class. Though I am almost nine years old with just a month ahead to celebrate my birthday my mom still reads bedtime stories for me.

But today the ambience felt different. The house felt dark and gloomy. My mom was no longer working in the kitchen. Yesterday night she fell more sick than usual. Mom had been taking treatment for her cough since more than two years from a hospital nearby. She felt a relief after taking the initial medication but subsequently her sickness returned. Her eyes felt no longer lively like before though her bright smile never wavered.

She continued to work as the waitress in one of the night clubs nearby. She did three jobs a day and sometimes worked overtime to sponsor my education. Her health kept on deteriorating over the passage of time but she did not quit going to work just to fund my education and to fill in the dishes on our dining table.

My dad was never a part of our family. My mom left him when I was an infant learning about his mafia connections and till date he never made an attempt to contact us. My mom hardly spoke anything about him and I did not initiate the conversation as I understood him as a grey area of her past.

Recently around two months back my mom had to quit two of her jobs because of her growing illness. Her employers no longer required her. Her applications were turned down when she applied for new jobs.

Our pending bills were supposed to be rising but luckily my mom's past employer was generous enough to support us. He transferred a huge sum of money to my mom's account which has been taking care of the medical cum household expenses.

An alarm raised in my mind when I did not see my mom in the kitchen. I rush to her room in panic. Opening the door I find her in the washroom vomiting. A smile was back on her rims as soon as she notices me. "I am sorry princess I could not make breakfast for you as I overslept today." She quickly masks her dim face with a sparkling twinkle adorning her pale dry lips. I wasn't an immature toddler unable to grasp the situation. My mom was hiding her sickness to jaunt me up which she had been doing since the beginning.

She opens the closet and takes out some dollars from her purse. "Buy something to eat at the nearby café and go to school." She tells me with lively smile on her worn out face but I did not miss the blood stain on the corner of her lip when she was handing me the cash. Was she vomiting blood?

I did not know what to do. My life felt empty and gloomy all of a sudden. I was going to step out of the room as I did not want her to see my tears. My mother always taught me to be tough. She always up skilled me to never lose the positivity in life but today I was letting my weakness win over me. I did not want her to see me fall. I did not want her to see me break down in front of her but the fate had something else to offer us.

I hear her cough ones again and I turn back to comfort her just to meet her welling eyes. She was going breathless with each passing moment because of the endless cough. I reach her and move my hand slowly on her back to ease her of her suffering. After some time her coughing subsides and she pats the place besides her putting a hand on her chest to arrest the growing pain in her heart.

Looking into my eyes she understands everything like a mother indeed that she is. She wipes away my tears and shakes her head disapproving my thinning persona. Pulling out an envelope hidden under her pillow she reveals the picture of a young man. After a few seconds she starts to speak about the man she never spoke about.

Princess this is the picture of your dad. I swaggered of my abilities and thought I would never require him but I think the day had already arrived." She sighs in defeat but continues. "He was not a bad man to his family. He loved and cared for us. He adored you so much. He gave us an affluent living and always kept us safe and happy. But I could not accept him after I learnt about the veracity." She stopped for a while taking a staggered breath to recoup off the pensive state.

He hid the truth from me. Indulging himself in many illegal businesses, he killed a lot innocent people to win bread and butter for us. He was a mafia leader. Guilt consumed me. I felt I was leading a life of pleasure constructed on the tomb of many innocent lives. I couldn't accept him any more in my life. Though he pleaded me to stay, I left him taking a promise that he would never re-enter our lives. Till date he had been keeping his promise but I know he had always been behind watching us like a shadow in caring and protecting us.

Digesting everything my mom just reveled about our family I went to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. Emptying the glass she started speaking ones again. "Princess I don't think I am going to live for long...." I couldn't let my mom speak any further as her words were tearing me to bits. Putting my finger on her lips she forces my hand down to her lap and continues to speak. "I already talked to your dad about everything. Within a short time he will be reaching us."

What did my mom speak to dad?