If I had thought Aiden was an arse, Ridgely was breaking my back. Within the first ten minutes, he'd cursed my family and asked me impossible things that terrified me and things I had no answers to.
It didn't help that my head was still wrapped around Aiden's hot and cold behaviour, even though I should have expected it, really. In his car, the atmosphere was terribly rigid and right before he dropped me near the coffee shop, he'd been more than clear that I was only interning under him and this was strictly a business deal. Well, he used lesser words, but yeah. And I had agreed with him wholeheartedly. But then I'd walked in the lobby to find him still there, even though he should have reached there at least ten minutes before me, chatting with Mary and my blood was singing at the sight of her laughing.
I had full intention to ignore her as always and walk away, but her laugh had been piercing my ears and she called me before I could escape, "Oh, Theodora, good morning!"
"Morning, Mary!" I plastered a smile on my face, trying to turn and walk away. But Mary didn't let me.
"Hey, Theodora, come here!" Jesus, fuck.
"The girls and I are planning a little get-together after work today. Just to unwind, you know? It'll be fun, and Lydia and Jade would be there too. I thought you'd like to join."
"I would, really, but I already have plans tonight. I'll pass. Some other time, maybe?" In my experience, adding the last line really made all the difference when rejecting any offer. People don't usually feel as offended. But Mary wasn't most people.
"There won't be an invitation next time," she said frigidly, before looking over at Aiden and laughing, as it was all a joke. Even though Aiden was typing something on his phone, I knew we had his attention. It was just the way his face acted when he was eavesdropping.
"I'll be glad for it," I smiled, hoping she could see how absolutely dumb her threat was. I didn't like her, and I didn't want to get along with her. I just wanted to keep my distance from her till this internship lasted and then I wouldn't ever see her again. I wished someday I'd be important enough to get someone out of a job. That would be so much power. I'd feel no remorse kicking Mary's ass right out of those revolving glass doors.
"That's no way to talk to your colleagues, Thea." Aiden's attention was on us now, undivided. Before I could come up with a smartass reply, Aiden continued, "You will go tonight."
"I have plans." My jaw was tight, just seconds short of trying to maul those pretty brown eyes off his face. Just who the fuck is he?
"Not my problem."
"Aiden, it's fine. We can catch up some other time if she has other commitments." I hadn't even noticed Lydia behind Aiden till she spoke, but I was glad for her presence. The woman was a godsend.
"What are these commitments, may I ask?" Mary had leaned over her reception desk, resting her chin in her palms.
"Is it a date with that guy you were talking about?" Lydia spoke before I could. Now there was no guy I had been talking about. Dating had been out of the cards for quite some time now.
"Yeah, I figured it's about time." I went along with whatever she had in mind, not in the mood to engage in anything else.
"Have you picked an outfit yet?" She walked over and linked arms with me, taking me away from the reception. As soon as we were out of earshot, she said, "Do you really have plans?"
I nodded, pinching the skin on my throat, "Swear it. I haven't seen my best friend since forever."
"Thea!" Mr Steele called from behind us, those long legs taking only seconds to reach us. Without a word, he motioned Lydia to walk ahead, while he slowed his pace down to match mine, "When I said that apartment was mine, I meant it. You can't bring just any random men there."
"Cool," I levelled with him, "I'll go over to his. Do you have a problem with that too?"
Aiden's eyes could pop out of his sockets. I really was pushing it without actually knowing what had his panties in a twist. I was complying with his unreasonable rules, and somehow, he still found a reason to be mad at me.
"I'd prefer if you keep your personal life out of my awareness." He said finally, tearing his eyes off me and walking ahead.
"No one asked you to listen to women talking." I rolled my eyes, "Unless everything you said outside the coffee shop was more for your benefit than mine."
Of course, I knew none of it was true really. Aiden didn't feel anything for me in a way that would make sense of his irrational behaviour. Aiden was irrational through and through anyways.
Lydia was holding the lift for us when we arrived, tension still heavy between Aiden and me as we entered the small space. I for one, was glad for the three other people in the elevator with us acting as a knife through the tough mood. Lydia pressed the button for Aiden's office while I pressed the button for the eighth floor.
"You're moving to Finance?" Lydia stared at me with horror in her eyes.
I shrugged, not having anything to say. If Aiden had spent all weekend preparing me, it really meant I was shit at the whole thing.
"Good luck," she had sympathy in her eyes as she patted my back.
"Can't be any worse than others," I pointedly looked at Aiden. Even if he wasn't watching us, his attention was on us. Lydia, mostly. But he was hearing us. I exited the elevator, waving at Lydia before locating Ridgely's lower office.
I was fucking wrong.
Ridgely was so fucking awful; I was inspired by his no-fucks-to-give attitude. He had absolutely no qualms in shoving me into a cubicle with four other interns, working on a rather large collection of spreadsheets.
"You'll earn your way to the Mallory case," he'd said before leaving me alone to deal with enough data to last me three weeks. The only good thing about having it all digitally was that I could trace the origins of each number in the cells, which made the work go faster. I also recognized some trends from my research work recurring here, which I noted all down. The excitement of making a linkage and finding out I was right was otherworldly, and soon enough I had enough comments gathered to feel remotely proud of myself.
The other interns were slowly logging off their systems and heading out for lunch, so I decided to do the same. Informing Ridgely that I was heading for lunch, I made my way to the twenty-third floor to find Jade. She needed more time to finish her work before she could head out for lunch, so we decided to reschedule. Disappointed, I headed to the cafeteria on the third floor to see what they were serving, and it looked like a clammy sandwich with a side of fries. I wasn't in the mood for that either.
I checked my bank account, a habit of sorts before I could decide what to eat. Much to my surprise and ire, Aiden had transferred another $5,000 to my account this morning, with a note that said 'Eat better.'
Jerk. As if money was the problem.
Rich enough to afford good food, and in the mood for healthy, I arrived at the Subway outlet in Steele Park, picking a chicken teriyaki sub and a juice. Wearing heels had been a bad idea, but oh well. Making sure I had no sauce on my face, I arrived back to my desk 10 minutes before lunchtime ended. Finding no reason to waste time, I got to work again, feeling energized from the meal.
The marvels of substituting coke with juice were only beginning to show their effect when there was a clearing of a throat behind me, making me jump slightly. I turned in my chair to find Aiden looking down at me, hands in his pockets.
"What have you learnt so far?"
"Apart from the fact that working digitally makes the job ten times more bearable? It's similar to what we- I was doing this weekend." I made the correction keeping in mind the interns who were working around us, obviously pretending to work but having their full attention towards us. One wasn't even trying to hide his gaping mouth staring right at Aiden. It was hilarious, but I understood the sentiment well. If I had been any other intern, I would have cried when the CEO acknowledged me. But I wasn't a normal intern. Nothing about my situation was normal.
"Not good enough. Why aren't you on the files I gave you?"
"Mr Ridgely said I had to earn my way to the case." I shrugged.
"You shouldn't get used to free things. Ridgely is good at that." What was that supposed to mean? If he was still in a pissy attitude because of this morning, he needed to get over it.
"I'd like to think I have a strong memory," I quipped. As if I had asked for all this. I would have been just as happy working for him without the added luxuries. He was the one who made up the whole necessity for a whole house, wardrobe and the fucking special treatment. This was all on him, and none on me. Except for me signing the document, it was all his idea.
"Good," he pursed his lips, "Then you would remember how I took over Karlene Holdings a few days ago?"
I nodded.
"The paperwork just got through. I own 100% of the company now that I want to split between us. But you don't have the... means. So, I need you to sign some papers for me."
"What are these papers?" I stared at the file he held out to me, still in shock. He was just handing over 50% of a huge fucking company to me. There had to be a catch.
"Making you the part-owner with no liabilities, among other things." He shrugged, "Sign this and send it over to my office in the next hour." With that, Aiden walked away, leaving me shell shocked and strangely... cheapened.
I read through the papers and felt horrible after the terms were listed out clearly. I had no liability, no role to play, not that I was ready for it anyway, and yet somehow, I was suddenly going to be the part-owner of a huge company, catapulting me to millionaire status. A few weeks ago, I had less than $500 in my account. All of this was surreal and yet, something about the whole deal felt sordid, like it wasn't designed to empower me, but rather just a sore reminder that Aiden was pushing dollars on me, and I, so far, had no way to repay him.
Kylie's words came to haunt me, and honestly, I would have been okay if this was a mutual exchange thing. Even if Aiden's payment for all of this was sex, at least there was something I was bringing to the table. All of this just felt so fucking wrong. The discomfort wore me out for a while before I decided to go see Aiden after work ended. Whatever happened, I would never accept this deal.
Ridgely looked pissed on seeing me slacking, forcing me to work overtime and completing the report that was due three days later. Mike, one of the interns even offered to help, but I sent him off with a smile. When I would be CEO one day, there would be no such thing as working hours. I had to be there every second of it. A little overtime won't kill me.
I shot a text to Kylie, who was bummed I was going to be working late but suggested we meet up for coffee after dinner anyway. Good plan. I needed a nice conversation in a parked car. My head wasn't in its place and only a few people had the ability to set it straight. The only thing keeping me going was the plans of seeing her, and when I finally shut my laptop off at 9 p.m., I was positive I was the only living soul in the building. I took the elevators down, the haunting silence of the building making me skittish.
Steele Park at night was gorgeous, even more so than the day. The streetlights lit my path as I walked from my office to the main exits, and the occasional bird would flutter and chipper as it made its' way home. Without the usual humdrum of people, the Park was stunning, and I wanted to kiss the hands of the architect who had planned this whole thing. Kylie was waiting for me right outside the gates in her old Honda, a glimmer on her face I knew far too well. Without a second thought, I rushed to her car, plopping myself in the passenger seat and practically commanding her to tell me about this new boy.
As she drove, she told me everything about the man she met on Saturday at her friend Trisha's house party and they really seemed to hit off. She's been texting him the whole time, even getting reprimanded at work this morning. But it was worth it because he already wanted to see her again, and things were looking up for her for the first time in a few months.
We stopped at In & Out so I could get a few carbs in me, and I stuffed my face with all the grease till she drove us to Costco. She needed to grab a couple of things, and then we could get our coffees. Walking around Costco was therapy in itself, and I explained to Kylie about my work and the things I was learning. Kylie had strong aversions to business and corporate lingo, but she listened on as I jabbered about the things I was doing and I went into as much detail as I could without breaching any contract.
I trusted Kylie with the world, but...
"So, how's the sugar daddy side of it?" Kylie asked finally when we had finished putting all the bags in the back seat. "Is he, you know... at least good at it?"
I groaned, "Please Kylie. I told you our arrangement does not work like that."
"How does it work, then?" Kylie asked, shutting the door and then getting in the driver's seat. "He buys you a house, clothes, offers a fucking car â which you are goddamn stupid to refuse, transfers money randomly to your account because of â what? He's just kind? Powerful men are never just kind."
"No such thing as free lunch," I nodded gravely, "I know. I just can't figure it out yet."
"Is he like, not interested in women?"
"I don't think that's the case. Jason was talking once about one of his girlfriends once. It was a joke or something, but Aiden got pissed enough to send Jason packing."
"He has anger issues, don't you think?"
I rolled my eyes. Anger issues didn't begin to cover it. She didn't know half the man.
"Does he get mad at you?" She asked, pulling up at Starbucks. At this hour, not many places were open to serve coffee.
"Oh, all the time. I just never can do the right thing." I sighed. "He really expects me to be at the same level as him and gets frustrated when I can't catch up. Someone needs to whack his head and remind him that I had only one year at B-School and I don't have the nine years of experience he does. Fuck, his father trained him for taking over since he was probably in the womb. How is a poor child dreaming of an above minimum wage life going to level with that?"
"Have you told him this?"
"Not in so many words. But he told me to suck it up and learn if I ever wanted to become anything big. And... you know my dream!" Tears prickled my eyes as anger rose in me, "I've always believed I was made for bigger things. He just makes me feel so... small. Like I am only an object for him to waste his money on. Like this internship is just an excuse of sorts. I feel like an animal at the zoo."
"Look, I don't want to say this but a lot of wealthy people apparently have this thing where they do shitty things and then to make themselves feel better try to throw money at stupid fuckers like us. It kinda helps them sleep at night knowing they can throw money and make problems go away." Kylie was now at the ordering point, and I quickly pulled out my card to make the payment.
"I'm taking the rewards though," she eyed my new card, making me laugh.
We talked about lighter topics after that, some gossip from GAP and some cattiness about my replacement before Kylie dropped me home. I asked her if she wanted to come upstairs, but she refused, even when I tried to lure her in with the promise of a huge bathtub.
"Next time maybe?" She said, before backing out of her parking space and driving away. As I watched the car disappear along the street, I wondered if the distance between us was only physical or this was the beginning of the end of us.
I'm bored, so double update time?