7

Alessia.

Did I? That was the question I had been trying to find an answer to for hours. All I had going for me was to wait and see if Mr Jerk would change his mind.

"Is that a... No?" Isabel asked, her eyes scanning my face for any hint of the answer.

"It's a maybe."

"Maybe? That does not make me feel better in the slightest."

"Me neither. But there's nothing else I can do."

Isabel slumped on the sofa with a soft thud. "This sucks." Tell me about.

My hands unknowingly found their way to my stomach and I patted it softly. I steeled my mind, there was no way I was going to make this baby suffer. My child was going to have the life I never could growing up and I would make sure of it.

"So what are you going to do now? Oh and, did the other person get fired too?" Isabel suddenly said, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Oh, er, I'm sure they were. We were asked to leave the same time." I lied through my teeth. That man had me conjuring up imaginary people which made my blood boil.

"Alessia?" Isabel crossed over to my side and gripped my hands in a gentle touch.

"Everything will be fine somehow, you'll see." I really wish I could tell her that as time passed that seemed more and more like a lie.

"Thank you," I said regardless.

With nothing left to talk about, I went to my room and tried to "sleep". It was really just me laying and waiting for my mind to shut off which wasn't happening anytime soon. I rolled over to the left side of the bed and groaned before reaching for my phone.

"It's just 10:00!" I dropped my phone and rubbed my tired hands over my face. Why couldn't I sleep? I was certainly tired enough.

"It's all that Jerk's-" My phone's ringing stopped me mid complain and I glanced over at the screen. Who could be calling me at the hour? It couldn't be Xabier. An unknown private number flashed across the screen and with little hesistance, I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"You are to report to work tomorrow Alessia, bright and early too. I don't know if I made this clear to you before I left but I have no intention of firing you," Axel's smooth voice rolled through the phone and I gripped my sheets in surprise.

"You? How did you get my number?"

"Tsk, you ask such pointless questions. Why don't you try using the puny thing you have in your head hmm?" I would have chucked my phone across the room if I had the means to buy another because ending the call didn't seem like enough of a reaction.

"Oh, and another thing. I won't tolerate you not showing me any respect from here on out. I'm you're superior and you'll address me as such. No more of that "you" business, is that clear?"

Who did he think he was? I was off from work so he couldn't just command me whenever he felt like. Yet, I hated how I couldn't refuse him. I was riding on this job to survive.

"Yes, I understand."

"No, try again. Yes what?" What an insufferable man.

"Yes Sir," I gritted out. The word tasted like ash in my mouth and I swallowed hard when I heard the rumbling of his chest through the phone. He sounded like he was trying to hold back a laugh.

"Very good. See you tomorrow Alessia, and have not so sweet dreams. It's only what you deserve." The line went dead immediately and I had to content myself with glaring at the black screen.

I didn't know it was possible to dislike a human being so much in such a short time but Axel existed. And he was testing my limits every time we had an encounter.

I settled into bed again with new thoughts churning through my mind. I still had a job which was a good thing, but I would be naive to think that he wasn't getting something out of it by still keeping me around. I would have to tread carefully until I found something else to do because there was no way I could remain there with him breathing down my neck every day. And more importantly, I couldn't hide my pregnancy forever and if he found out, that's when I knew I would truly be done for. He would fight tooth and nail to get the child, and he would get it because he had so much more to offer.

I would continue working there for no more than three months because I would start showing by then. I couldn't risk him even suspecting anything because if he got a whiff of it even after I had gone he would spare nothing to find me that time around.

Sleep came to me in short successions but I managed just fine till day break. Tiredness still weighed on my bones but I had gotten the most amount of sleep I could while my mind was heavy.

I really needed to start taking care of myself because that wasn't good for the baby.

"Isabel, good news. I got a call from the office that I should report to work today. I'm not fired!"

"Hmm, sorry what was that?" She rubbed her eyes and let out a long yawn and I chuckled. She always reminded me of a kitten any time she woke up.

"I'm not fired."

"You're not fired," she mumbled back then shrugged her shoulders. She turned away from me and took a few steps before she stopped.

"You're not fired? You're not fired!"

"I'm- oof!" She rushed to me and squeezed me in her arms, all the while rubbing her bird's nest hair on my face.

"I can't believe this! This is great. What time is it? You need to leave early so let's get you ready." She pulled me back into my room and ushered me into the bathroom. Just before I closed the door, I saw her open and started rummaging through my closet.

I smiled, a feeling of normalcy washed over me and I felt comforted. My mind however was steeled in what awaited me in that office.

I just hoped I could survive it.