Chapter 7: My Token

Was it stressful?” he asked again.

“No sir it was okay”, she replied dryly.

“Go to your room, freshen up and meet me in my study let me explain a few things to you”

He said and emptied the beer in his mouth, Grace turned and left the room, and she met the man who led her to Lucas.

“Please where are my luggage and other stuff?” She asked.

“this way ma'am”

The man led her to the second floor and opened the second door on the right, she stepped in and said a thank you to the man, immediately the man left, she closed the door and locked it.

She started arranging her things, the room was big and nice, the bathroom was big, so was the toilet, and the wardrobe was as big as both the toilet and bathroom joined together. It took her 3 hours to arrange her room, take her bath and change into something, she wore a big knicker and a simple top.

When she came downstairs, Lucas and Emily were already having dinner; her stomach turned at the sight of the food; she was hungry.

“oh you are finally done, umm he would take you to my study-

He pointed at the same man that has been at her service since she arrived.

“you go there, you will see piled up documents, now this is what I want you to do, each has a green and red stamp, separate the green stamped ones from the red stamped, then summarise what we discussed at the meeting in a book, now go”

He turned and ate a large chunk of meat, Emily, who had been staring at her as Lucas spoke, smiled and asked.

“Have you eaten anything?”

Grace felt a tinge of hope.

“No, I haven't-

“Well, you did not come here to eat; you are here to work”, Lucas snapped.

Without thinking twice, Grace turned and followed the man to the study.

“what the fuck”

Grace murmured as she entered the study, the documents were piled up on the table and also on the floor, she sat down first to give this whole thing a rethink, she had been waiting for her father's call since she arrived but nothing came, slowly she checked the time and it was already 7:30 pm, she timed herself and got to work.

By 9:30, Grace was already done with sorting the documents and started the summary. She sat on the floor and placed the book on the sofa in the study.

The doorknob turned, and Lucas opened the door; he was surprised to see the documents sorted and neatly arranged; she stood up immediately after he entered.

“I will soon be done with the summary sir,” She said.

“very good”

He said and sat down on the study chair, switched on his computer while Grace continued with the writing.

Soon, she was done; she stood up and kept the book on the table.

“done,” She said.

“Good, now have you considered being my spouse?” He asked.

“I'm-

“Remember, you have no right to think about it; you are my token of appreciation”, He interrupted her.

“I guess I will get back to you in the morning, but am very tired right now”

She said, he looked up and stared at her.

“Help me prepare a hot bath in my room, the door on the left down this hallway”

Grace shut her eyes tight and excused herself; she went straight to his room, and as she entered the room, she sighed while thinking of how, indeed, it was his room; everything there was expensive.

She entered the bathroom and switched on the heater while she used a little water to wash the bathtub; after that, she switched on the tap and allowed the warm water to fill up the bathtub while she switched off the water heater.

As she came out of the bathroom, she met him in the room, he was unbuttoning his shirt, she watched him with this unexplainable hatred, she clenched her teeth wishing she could just attack him, he turned and caught her staring at him, he smirked and removed the shirt.

“you Grace all these would be yours once you accept my proposal-

He said touching his chest and smiling widely, disgusted Grace turned and excused herself from the room with Lucas's mischievous eyes following her.

Grace returned to her room and slumped on her bed, she picked up her phone, no missed calls no voicemails, not from Jason or her father, she sighed she was too hungry to even reason all those things, she sat up thinking of what to do next because she knew that if she closed eyes she won't be able to sleep.

Someone knocked on her door, and she stood up to answer it; it was Emily; she was carrying a tray with a plate covered with a napkin and a glass of wine.

“Are you busy?”

She asked while smiling, Grace wondered how someone who stayed under the same roof with a man like Lucas was always smiling.

“No no, please come in”

She stepped in and Grace closed the door.

“I brought this for you, you must be famished”

She said as she placed the tray on her table, Grace was amazed.

“thank you, Emily, that's so thoughtful of you”

She said and poured the wine into her mouth.

“I don't know how you agreed to this, but I wish you luck, you don't look like someone ready to give up Grace chuckled.

“I am not giving up; I've always wanted a job, and now I have one” " she said and forced a smile.

“my brother-

“your brother?” Grace chuckled, surprised.

“yeah, my brother”, Emily nodded, smiling.

“no way the same mother gave birth to the both of you”

“oh well, yeah, I know my brother can be mean and arrogant, but at the end of the day he is my brother,” Emily said.

“so you eat, get a rest and get ready for tomorrow; goodnight” " she added and left the room.

Grace smiled, thinking of how Emily had been coping with Lucas all her life; she ate up, brushed her teeth and went to bed.

As early as 7:30 am, Grace woke up to a knock on the door, she rubbed her eyes and stood up.

“what the fuck”

She muttered as she dragged herself out of bed to open the door…