Lilian.
I looked at my clock and noticed it had been thirty minutes since the closing hours passed. It was getting late, and I wanted to go home already. I knocked on the door softly, opened it and poked my head through the door, not entering the office fully. "Work closed thirty minutes ago; I'll be on my way now sir." He gave a short nod; his eyes were still focused on his computer. I slowly pulled my head out of the office and shut the door. I took my bag and left the building.
Outside, the air felt cooler. I stood by roadside, hugging my bag close. A few cars passed but non stopped. I was starting to lose my patience.
Then I heard footsteps behind me. I turned to see Mr Pierce, but he walked past me without saying a word. He went straight to the parking lot. I sighed and looked away.
Moments later, a car rolled up in front of me. The window slid down. "Get in," he said simply. I hesitated. "I'll be fine, I'm just waiting for a taxi." His brow lifted slightly. "At this hour? Just get in, I don't bite." I climbed in against my better judgement. The car seat was cold against my skin. As soon as I shut the door, an awkward silence filled the car, and I think he noticed it too. I took out my phone to watch some Instagram reels, to keep myself busy. "You seem to like Instagram, right?" from the corner of my eye, I saw him glance at my screen. I quickly covered it up. "It's rude to intrude in other people's privacy sir," I turned my head to the window to avoid eye contact. "Are you calling me nosy Miss Reed?" he sounded sarcastic. "No sir, that's not what I meant," I quickly cut in. His face was unreadable; it was hard to tell if he was in a good mood or not. "A stalker who wants privacy… and I thought I've seen it all." He raised his brow and curved his lips a little. "I'm not a stalker," I said as I sat up on the seat and turned to him. "But my Instagram picture you liked says otherwise." The smirk on his face showed he was enjoying taunting me. "That was a mistake, I wasn't concentrating." I sank back into my seat, folding my arms across my chest. He chuckled; I could see him look at me through the corner of my eye and smile. That awkward silence filled the car again. I started watching some reels again. I came across a video of a couple who recently broke up because of the lady was cheating on her boyfriend. "that's not a surprise," he said, his eyes were still fix on the road. "Sorry?" I looked at him with a bit of confusion; I wasn't sure whether he was reacting to the video or maybe what he saw on the road. "The video… it's never really shocking news if something like that happens."
"Why is that sir?" I asked, I was really keen on knowing where he was going with his statement. "Well, it's obvious that all girls are actually just in it for the money." I pretended not to feel offended by his statement, but the fact that he used 'all girls', made me pissed.
"It can't be all girls." I said hoping he would rephrase his statement.
"Nope, it's definitely all girls. I mean no offense, but you all are just gold diggers, mining off every man who throws money at you. I'm pretty sure if you had your chances with me, you'll take it because of my money." He glanced at me, I frowned. "I'm not a gold digger."
"I'm not saying that you are, I'm just saying you would if you got the opportunity." his tone was filled with pride. I scoffed; I stared outside the window with my arms folded wondering why I got in his car in the first place. "Please stop the car." Tears gathered up in my eyes. "What?" he glanced at me, confused but still driving. "I said stop the car." I turned to face him; my voice was firm. "I'm not going to sit here and get insulted." A mix of frustration and guilt flickered in his eyes. He slowed down but didn't pull over. "You're overreacting." He said trying to calm me down, but it even made it worse. "Overreacting? You don't get to insult me and then decide how I should feel about it. you just called me a gold digger Xavier, and you expect me to be calm. You don't even know me." Tears had begun to roll down my cheeks, I don't think he heard the part where I called him by his first name. He finally pulled the car to the side of the road. The car engine hummed in the tense silence. He gripped the steering wheel, not saying a word. I grabbed my bag, my hand on the door handle, but I hesitated for a bit. I don't know why, but a part of me was hoping that he would stop me and apologise, but he didn't. "Just because you have money doesn't really make you a catch Mr Pierce, some people look at personalities rather than finances, and you should get to know someone first before judging them." I said as I stepped out into the cold night. My apartment was only a few blocks away, so I started walking home. I didn't hear the car drive off immediately, so I figured he was still there watching me as I walked home. I crossed my arms tightly as I walked home because of the cold, holding my bag underneath them. Tears rolled down my eyes. I wasn't sure whether I was crying because of what he said to me or that he didn't stop or come after me. I hated that I cared about him not coming after me. he didn't drive off until I got to my apartment building. I took off my shoes and jumped into my bed wondering how peaceful drive had turned into that. I picked up my phone to call Maya. "Hey boo, how was your first day," she said playfully. "Terrible," I said as I sniffled. I narrated everything that happened to her. "He's really a jerk; how dare he call you a gold digger when he doesn't know you. Just because you work for him, doesn't give him the right to insult you." From her voice, I could tell she was raging. I didn't want to tell her about how he teased me before the argument; I thought it would make me look weak. "Don't worry about it Lily, how about we go out tomorrow huh... since it's the weekend, it will be my treat." Maya always knew how to cheer me up, I guess that's why she's my best friend. "Look Maya, thanks but I think I'm going to have to pass on this one. I don't want you to go out of your way to cheer me up when you have other things to think about, I'll be fine." I was hoping she would agree but Maya has never been the kind of person who stays home all day throughout the weekend. "Come on Lily… you really need to have some fun, this week has been a rough one for you, from loosing your job to running over a lady with a taxi and being insulted by your new boss. Come on boo, let me do this for you. Please…" her high pitched toned when she dragged the 'please' told me she really wanted to this for me. "Fine" I said chuckling, "Yes," she cut in immediately. "But nowhere expensive." I said sharply. "Deal… I'll come pick you up by ten, so be ready by then okay, bye." She said dragging the bye. The line cut off and once again, the room was filled with silence. I went to my minifridge and took out a small soda and went on to watch a movie on my laptop since I wasn't sleepy. I was up on till 2 am watching my favourite movie series 'the call', until I finally drifted of to sleep while the movie was still on.