Craving The Boss

by D. C. Rowley

  It feels like right now the world is just so futile and meaningless. Like all of the things in it don’t matter anymore. All that’s important is the next drink. And my biggest issue at the moment is an empty glass.

  Like that’s just so horrible.

  I’ve lost counts of how many drinks I’ve had when Dustin comes closer.

  “Wow, I think you’ve found your new passion.” He looks at all the empty glasses on the table.

  “I should’ve never come here,” I tell him, and feel so dizzy.

  “What are you talking about? It seems to me like you’re having a lot of fun.”

  “Well, I’m not feeling so good,” I hold my head with my hand feeling like I’ve lost my equilibrium. “I think I should probably go home.”

  “I can’t leave you go like that. I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

  “What would possibly happen?”

  “Well, you’re in New York, and drunk. I’ve got a pretty long list of latent possibilities.”

  “But I can’t stay here anymore, I think the loud music is starting to get at me.” And really. I feel like the noise is starting to pulsate on my head leaving me restless.

  “Come here,” he holds my with his arm and helps me get up.

  “What are you doing?” I’m really drunk to realize what kind of motivation he’s up to.

  “I’m gonna take you to my bedroom.”

  “Oh, you’re such a fuckboy,” I mumble and laugh, while he’s having a hard time to keep me balanced.

  “You’re going to rest. It’s quieter there.”

  We move through the noisy crowd and into his bedroom. The walls keep the music blocked up, but still you can hear muffled sounds of a nearby party. But I think that as tired as I am, I could go straight to sleep and ignore it all.

  He arranges me to his bed, fixes the pillow underneath my head, and tucks me into his blanket. Oh, it smells good, like just cleaned sheets.

  “Where are you going?” I ask and hold him by the arms when he’s about to move away. I look at him, my head fixated on the pillow, and he seems confused.

  “I’ve got a party to host.” He tells me.

  “What about me? Am I not important to you?” I realize that I’m still not letting go of his arm.

  “Well, of course you are, but I figured you’d go to sleep now.”

  “Oh, I don’t think I could. This place is unfamiliar, so stay. Until I drowse off.”

  “Hmm,” he ponders for a couple of seconds and then says, “okay.”

  He hops up into the bed and lies close to me, back rested against the black leather on top of me, while I’m still getting comfort on my pillow. I feel so empty and lonely in a foreign room, I hold his hand and put my head over his arm.

  “I’m scared,” I mumble.

  “Scared of what?” he asks.

  “Of the future. Life. You.”

  “Me? You don’t have to be scared of me.”

  “Well, I’m scared you’ll go and I’ll find myself terrified of this room.”

  He takes a look around the room and seems as if he’s come to determine there is nothing that seems scary on it.

  “I won’t go anywhere,” he assures me.

  I stretch his arm along to tell him that I need him to stay closer. He leans toward me and I feel his breath on my forehead. I move my head sideways to meet his eyes. I’m looking deep into them and feel like I’m lost into mystery and allure.

  Next thing I know, his lips are tangled against mine and I give in to his kiss.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  {Cason}

  Yeah, I know. It was messed up to get the company she thought she’d work for to fire her. But I’m sort of coming to terms with the fact that I need her. I need Keira in my life, so, I don’t know, I’ll just do something to make her come to me.

  Cody told me that she’s catching the next flight to Seattle, and I want to surprise her. I don’t want her to feel left out or unprotected anymore. And I know I was a jerk with everything that I did to her, but I’ll take her back. I want her to work for me.

  You might be wondering: why would she ever want to come work for me? She was the one to resign in the first place. The answer to that is simple. She does not have another option. I made every company on the state put her on the black list, and now I am the only one who could hire her. I’m about to be her boss again.

  She just doesn’t know this yet. And I think she’ll be pretty terrified when she finds out.

  I want to meet her personally. That’s why I’ll wait for Cody to tell me when she goes home. I’m gonna go there and give her the news.

  I’m so pumped up about it.

  Encumbered into work as I am, when I get a text from my P.I. telling me that Keira is already home, I feel like a kid on a candy store. She gets me excited, anxious. No other girl has ever been able to have this effect upon me before. It’s just so strange and crazy.

  I drive to her house, listening to Stay With You, on the car. She needs to stay with me. I need her around. Given the circumstances, she just doesn’t know this yet. But when she realizes that my intentions are good, I think she’s gonna be the one begging me to stay with her.

  When I pull over and walk toward the porch, I feel a little nervous. I’m about to face with the girl, whose life I destroyed.

  But I will make it up to her. I’m gonna give her the life she deserves. Nobody else can do that. Because I know I need her. And I’ve been thinking a lot about what Cody said to me in my office. There’s no other explanation about it. I wouldn’t go through so much trouble if I didn’t care; if hated her.

  We hate people who we love. Because after all love and hate are the same thing. If you didn’t care about somebody, then you wouldn’t hate them at all. You just would give zero fucks about them.

  And it’s time when I come to grips with that.

  I guess that what I’ve been fearing all along is the feeling of being so attached to someone to the point where you feel tied up against them. And it’s as if you cannot do anything when they’re not around. The world is just meaningless when they’re not around.

  And I need my world to be lively and meaningful. I need to recover the things I did wrong. I realize that when I’m knocking to her door.

  “Keira,” I mumble. Her eyes are swollen, her hair looks fuzzy and it’s like she’s been crying for a long time. And it’s crazy that even in this condition she looks just so beautiful.

  “What are you doing here?” There is contempt on her eyes.

  “I’m here to check out on you,” I tell her.

  “Why would you wanna do that?”

  “Because…why not?”

  “I’m sorry, but I don’t have anything to say to you, and I’m not sure whether I really want to see you.”

  I block the door with my foot when she’s about to slam it on my face.

  “I don’t think you might want to do that.” I tell her.

  “Tell me a reason why I shouldn’t.”

  “Because I’m your only hope.”

  “Yeah, you wish.” Even in this desperate state of mind that she is, she’s just the most stubborn girl I have ever come across to.

  “You’re not in a position to say that.” I say inexpressibly.

  “You ruined my life. And you’ve got the nerve to come here again?”

  “I can get it back on track if you let me.”

  “Cason,” she stops for a moment as looks tired. She thinks this is a game, and she’s not in the mood to play. But it’s not a game. I want her back to me. “What do you want from me? You shattered my life to pieces. Isn’t that enough?”

  “Let me make it up to you.”

  “How would you do that?”

  “Come work for me again.” I raise an eyebrow and wait for her response.

  “Are you crazy? Not even in your dreams would I ever step foot to that place…ever again.”

  “Now don’t make promises you won’t be able to keep up with.�
�

  “You’re so funny, aren’t you? You ruin my life, and expect me to let you do it again. That is just crazy and I don’t know where you get these crazy ideas from.”

  “So what do you say?” I stay totally unaffected by what she just said, and totally ignore it.

  “I say no, Cason. What would you think I would say?”

  “I thought that for once you’d be reasonable and take the offer, Keira.” I look firmly into her eyes and it seems like she’s trying to avoid me. My eyes go audaciously at her boobs and I forget everything for a moment. My cock twitches in desire and I try to stay focused. She’s a perfect reason for why I go through all this trouble.

  I need her around me. I need my dick right up her pussy. I need to cum all over her. And I need to do this over and over again. This would happen only if she comes to work for me.

  “After all,” I proceed, “it doesn’t seem to me like you have much of a choice.

  “But being near you is not a choice at all, Cason, it’s horrible.”

  “Oh, come on, Keira. If I didn’t know any better, I’d take this to heart. But I know you don’t really mean it.” Listening to these words, she’s just going crazy. I feel like she wants to strangle me right now.

  “I think I’m gonna pass on every single offer you’d put on the table. I don’t want anything from you, Cason. I don’t want to have anything to do with you anymore. Why can’t you accept that?”

  “Because…I need you.” There! I said it! I fucking said the word. And if she’s not willing to collaborate even now, I’m gonna pick her up and fuck her as hard as it gets until she realizes that she needs me too.

  “What did you just say?” she obviously didn’t expect that.

  “I’m not used to being this…vulnerable, Keira. But I wanted to let you know. Ever since you came into my house that night, I knew there was something different about you. My heart was pounding differently than it did for any other person. And you should know that.”

  “So you’re saying that you care about me?” she asks, shocked, voice more than a whisper.

  “Mm-hmm.”

  “Wow, then you’ve got a very weird way of showing it.”

  “Keira, I just implied that you’re important to me and that’s all you’ve got to say? That this is bizarre?”

  “Well, I’m sorry for being suspicious, but it’s you who treated me so poorly for a very long time. And it just goes to show that this is just weird. How do you mistreat people that you care about?”

  “But that’s my point, Keira.” I realize I’m yelling. “I couldn’t accept that I was affected by someone else. Because this doesn’t happen to me very often. Actually, it doesn’t happen to me, like ever. I am rich and well-adjusted, and that’s why I can’t be incumbent on anyone.”

  “Cason, you’re giving me a lot to process. You can’t expect me to go from hating you to sympathizing you in spur of moment.”

  “I don’t want you to sympathize me. I want you to want me like I do you.” I grab her hand from her chest and place it to mine. “I’ve never felt like this before. And it’s hard for me telling you all this. So please, do me a favor, and consider my offer.” I just realize that I’m being totally vulnerable, my voice is mild and sincere.

  “Cason,” it seems like she’s getting affected finally. “I didn’t know all that.” She sighs hardly. “I’m going to need some time. I’ll get back at you with an answer.”

  “Okay.” I whisper. “Don’t make me wait for too long.” I smile to her and let her hand go.

  When I’m headed home, I can’t believe what just happened. Coming here, every kind of casualty ran through my mind. I thought I’d get her down for it, in spur of moment. I thought that I’d keep annoying the crap out of her until she accepted. I thought I’d fuck her until she was in, if she pissed me off.

  But none of those scenarios came true. I was vulnerable and I hate it. I don’t know what happened to me. I don’t know if I’ll be able to recover from that.

  But I hope it was worth it. I hope she will take my offer into consideration and come into my life again. Because she just makes me happier. She makes my life meaningful. And I’m just getting to the point where I accept that.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  {Keira}

  I cannot believe what happened. I imaged he’d say anything when he showed up by the door. But never in a thousand year would I have thought that he was going to say that I was important to him and that he was into me.

  This is clearly a scenario that I would never image. But still, if I put things into perspective, this just doesn’t make any sense. If he needs me, then why did he made me feel that helpless? Why did he had every company on the city reject my applications? Why did he let me go?

  Wow! Why did he let me go?

  He’s just realizing that he wants me back, but how is that possible? He had me, and he let me go away.

  But anyway, besides that, there are things of bigger importance that are making me restless. I can remember very vaguely what happened in New York. And if Cason finds out about it, I don’t think that he’ll still want me back.

  After all, how would you want to have anything to do with the girl who screwed your best mate?

  I was drunk and wasn’t thinking when it happened. And still it’s not much that I remember, but one thing I know for sure—I screwed Dustin.

  I was sad and desperate and drunk and needed comfort. And he happened to be there and give it to me.

  But what am I supposed to do now? Why did I have to go to New York? Nothing good came out of it anyway.

  I call Maelis, who I hope will help me with my issues. I need some outsider’s sight in all this. I need her to tell me what I should do.

  “Sweetie,” she has covered her mouth with both hands but I can notice the excitement in her eyes. She’s actually liking this new side of me. “I knew you had it in you.”

  “Maelis,” I say with a criticizing voice. “You’re not helping! I’m telling you that Dustin and I had sex. That’s not good.” I emphasize, since she’s convinced for the opposite.

  “You had fun, girl. I don’t see why you’re making such a big deal out of it.”

  She thinks like that because I still haven’t told her anything about Cason; about how he wants to hire me again.

  “He’s Cason’s best mate.”

  “The more reason to hit it with him.” She howls, trying to be a good comforter. “That guy deserves this and more after what he did to you.”

  “He came to meet me today.” I whisper, ignoring what she’s saying.

  “What?” she clearly didn’t expect that. “What did he tell you?”

  “That he wants me to go work for him again.”

  “Keira, please tell me you’re not really considering that.” She’s giving me the once over. She seems disappointed from my choices.

  “He also told me that he’s been into me the whole time, and that he’s finally getting to accept that.”

  “Wow, is that for real?” I can’t think of a time where I’ve been able to get my friend as surprised as today.

  “I don’t know what to believe. But he sounded genuine. I’ve never seen him like that. So vulnerable. So sincere.”

  “I don’t know what to say then.”

  “Come on, you’re my friend. You always have a thing to say.”

  “That’s because your life has always been as simple as a ray of sunshine. But now it seems like you’re rendering on some heavy stuff right there.”

  “That’s not very helpful. I already know that. You’re supposed to tell me something to comfort me.”

  “You clearly have some serious thinking to do. I can’t tell you what to do at this point Keira. You should follow your heart on this. What does your heart tell you to do?”

  “I’m just so confused. But I always liked Cason. I hated him for what he did to me and because I couldn’t be with him. But now I have a chance. And deep down I think it’s what I’ve always want
ed.”

  “There you go.” Her arms scamper from her lap to the air and she looks impulsive.

  “But if I take the offer, I don’t think that Cason will react kindly when he learns that I screwed his best mate. He’s gonna get furious about it.”

  “Then he doesn’t have to know.” She suggests.

  “But how am I supposed to keep this from him? Dustin is like always around. At some point Cason is going to find out.”

  “Then, from what I see, you’re left with two options here. If you decide to accept his offer, you can tell him that you did his best mate right off the bat. Or you could negotiate with Dustin so that Cason can never know.”

  She’s got such a manipulative mind. I love it.

  But in real life, it doesn’t work like that. There are consequences and unpredicted things that show up and make us uncertain.

  “Anyway,” she tells me. “I’m gonna go now. You have a lot of things to reckon on.”

  “See, ya!” I smile.

  She flashes a while smile toward me as she’s showing herself out.

  Wow, she’s right. I have a lot of things to think about. Like for example, what should I do with Cason’s offer? And more importantly, should I tell him anything about Dustin?

  Ughh, I feel like I’m swirling dipper into the whirl that is my life.

  The sound of Cool For The Summer fills the room when my phone is ringing. I look at the number, but I don’t recognize it.

  “Hello, am I talking to Ms. Akerson?”

  “Speaking.” I tell, not sure who I am talking to.

  “My name is Jensen and I’m calling you from Royal Designs. I’ve noticed you have an assignment to submit before you get your license.”

  “Um, there must be a mistake. I handed my assignment over to my professor. It was declined.”

  “Well, we’ve made some changes on our staff, and we have to reschedule all the works that have been moderated by the people who were fired.”

  “You fired my professor?”