“Ursula Mills, I’d like you to meet Cadeon, Sean, Tate, Kevin, and Lucas. Guys, I’d like you to meet my soon-to-be-fired cleaner-slash-cook, Ursula.”
She shook their hands before giving him a scowl. “You can’t fire me.”
“Why not?” he asked.
“You like me too much. You’d be lost without me, and you know it.” She turned away moving to the kitchen. The men said something, and Stephen’s unmistakable scolding voice sounding. She rubbed her arms suddenly feeling the chill.
She made a drink keeping her head bowed, trying to keep the tears locked inside her. Stephen’s arms came round on either side of the counter locking her in place. “Why are you crying?” he asked. Touching her cheeks she felt the wetness of her tears.
“I don’t know.” He took hold of her arm, turning her to face him. His knuckles grazed her cheek, wiping away her tears.
“I don’t like seeing these,” he said.
“Why didn’t you want to introduce me to your friends?” she asked. It was stupid. She was his employee. Their relationship meant nothing out of the bounds of him being her boss.
He cupped her cheek, tilting her head back to stare into her eyes. She felt the pull of his gaze, the tightness in her body alerting her to his closeness. He wasn’t close enough. The obsession she was beginning to feel about him was scaring her. There was no way Stephen could ever be hers.
“They’re part of a whole other world. When we’re here, you’re no one else’s.” The words confused her.
“Whose am I?” she asked.
“Mine.”
Someone let out a cough making them break apart. She quickly made the drink, taking it into the other room. The men stared at her as she placed the drinks down in front of them. “There is sugar if you want it.”
“What if we want coffee?” one of them asked.
“You didn’t ask, and you get what you’re given.” She left them alone, doing her chores. For dinner she made them all a sandwich. When Stephen asked her where hers was, she mentioned getting back to her boyfriend. He glared at her, but she left without looking back. It was early, and she decided to take a walk in the park. Her thoughts were all jumbled up. Someone bumped into her causing her to fall on her ass.
“I-I-I’m sorry,” the girl said, helping her to her feet.
“Don’t worry.” Ursula stood brushing herself down then looked at the girl in front of her. She gasped. The woman looked like death. Her hands were shaking, and her hair looked ready to fall out. “Are you all right?”
“Fine.” The woman walked away. Ursula didn’t know whether to follow her or not. When the woman disappeared into the darkness, Ursula carried on moving towards her home. Paul wasn’t an incentive to get home quickly. She took as long as she could before her fingers were too cold to stand being outside in the cold.
She entered their apartment. The stench of alcohol and cheap pizza assailed her. She was beginning to find everything associated with Paul repulsive.
“Have you been fucking your lover?” Paul sneered. Ursula turned to see the card Stephen had given her in his hands.
“What are you talking about?” she asked. Dropping her bag on the chair, she removed her coat then faced him again.
“You’re out of the house. You don’t want me to fuck you anymore. What’s going on? I’m not good enough for your ugly face?” he growled.
She rolled her eyes, feeling more angry than scared. “Leave me alone. You’ve been drinking again instead of getting off your own fat ass and looking for another job?” Placing her hand on her hips, she glared at him. In light of everything going on around her, she saw the man before her in a new light. How could she have put up with him for so long? He was a self-centred, lazy-ass bastard. Her parents’ warnings ran through her mind. At the time when they’d voiced them she thought they were being difficult. Now she saw what they did. “I want you out of my apartment. We’re through.” She threw his crap at him feeling angry at herself for living with such an ungrateful loser. “Get your shit, and get out.”
“This is my place,” he yelled.
“Yeah. I’m the one who has been paying the rent. I paid for this fucking furniture. The landlord put the place in my name seeing as I was paying for everything. You were already close to losing it anyway.”
She snatched the card out of his hand. “This is mine.”
Paul pushed her. The anger she’d only seen once before was unleashed. She dodged his hands moving away. The slap to the face caught her off guard. In no time at all, he pinned her against the sofa, his foul breath on her face. She screamed, and he covered her mouth.