Chapter 21

I bent down and rested my hands on my knees as I catch my breath. I was panting really hard. I did my morning jog as usual. I stopped near my apartment building to regain my breath for a moment. When I finally felt better, I went inside. "Morning, Nancy." I greeted her when I met her in the hallway. "Morning, dear. Have you eaten breakfast?" "Not yet. I’ll have them on my way. I don’t want to be reprimanded again for being late." Nancy shook her head. "Next time, be early. Stopped by our room and eat breakfast with us. I know sometimes you’re skipping it, dear." I tried to talked but she immediately cut me off. "No, you can’t lie to me. I know your dumb boss is strict on your time so you’d forget to eat." I sighed. "Alright, Nancy. Roger that." I smiled at her heartily. "I promise to be earlier tomorrow." "Good." She replied with a smile. When I was done getting ready, I walked out of my apartment and took a cab. I went straight to the parking lot where we left the car at Stefano’s penthouse. I waited for him inside the car. An hour has gone by but there was no sign of Stefano coming out. I didn’t want to go to his penthouse on the top floor so I just called him instead. It went straight to voicemail. Getting frustrated and hungry, I called Carson. He luckily picks up. "Miss White?" He answered. "Boss isn’t here yet." "He’s not. He won’t be there. He just flew to England two hours ago." "What the ****?!" I screamed at the phone. " Miss White, I suggest you don’t scream at the phone. You’re going to damage my eardrum." He warned. "Whatever, ***** cat. You’re fucking boss didn’t say anything about it. You didn’t tell me anything about it. You’re supposed to update me with his schedules." I said almost screaming at him in anger. "I thought he would tell you about it since you two were together last night. I was so sure he’d mention it to you." My heart coiled just the mention of last night. Yes, we were together. I thought the night had been amazing not until he became a douche on the way home. "Mr. Ranallo would be gone for 3-4 weeks. Maybe more depending on the flow of the businesses in the few countries he’d go. His first stop is England, then Paris. He’s going to check up on his grandfather’s company in Italy, too. If he’ll have time, he’s going to Japan for another transaction he plans to-" I cut him." Yes, whatever, Carson. I don’t need to know the fucking dets of that son of a bitch. It doesn’t change the fact that you assholes didn’t tell me about it and I was god damn waiting for nothing. God, I should’ve considered Nancy’s offer for breakfast." I mumbled the last part. "You are relieve of your duty for now, Miss White. Until Mr. Ranallo comes back, you may do as you wish." He said calmly. "Wait, what?" I yelled at him. "What the **** are you trying to say, nerd?! That I don’t have a job for  a month?!" "Jeez, calm down, Miss White. Did you wake up in the wrong side of the bed?" Yes, I did. Because your fucking boss was acting like a fucking **** last night. "Just tell me what to do now, four eyes. I don’t want to be accused of not fulfilling my duty here." I said pissily. "I already told you, Miss White. You are relieve of your duty...  just for now. Mr. Ranallo said that himself. Take this as an opportunity for you to rest or a whole month of vacation." --- I was chewing the straw of my chocolate milk shake while aimlessly glaring daggers outside. Right after my fuss with Carson, I went straight to the cafe where Jenna works. I was hungry and it’s affecting my mood. I was still wearing my uniform but I didn’t mind it. I don’t know if I’m happy about being jobless for now but being Stefano’s driver is a really good and well-paid job. Yes, I was getting paid for it. And Stefano really pays his employees well. Though it wasn’t literally a salary, it was sort of my allowance considering I was jobless and broke when he forced me to do ’service’ for him. He said I needed it so I won’t find another job and neglect my priorities- which is him and has to be him. I need to find a temporary job just for a month just until Stefano reappears with his awful presence. Just as I turned, in front of me was Sierra staring at me. I jumped from my seat. "Holy shit, Sierra. How can you pop out of nowhere like that?!" I exclaimed while touching my chest. She crossed her arms. "You know I’ve been here for 5 minutes wondering what you’re glaring at." She said innocently. "I’m just... I’m not really in the mood you know." My head rested on the table and my arms stretched on it. I sighed. "I know why. Your hunk of a boyfriend isn’t here." I suddenly rose which made her surprised. I narrowed my eyes at her. "What do you mean my hunk of a boyfriend?" I asked skeptically. She smirked. "Oh, cmon, Avery. I’m talking about your date last night." I frowned. "He’s not my boyfriend and definitely not my date last night. I was just driving him and I was invited and- Oh god, you know what I mean." I groaned. Sierra chuckled. "You know you skipped the part where you tell me how you became his driver." I was stunned for a bit but my senses came back right away. "How do you know about it?" I asked carefully. "After last night, I did my research on you. I know you made me feel better and you were sincere about it but you can’t blame me for being more cautious. I have my own issues about it. I’m sure you’d understand." I nodded in confirmation. She continued. "I know in my heart you were being true so I skipped the idea of investigating you and instead asked Ashton. I swear I almost choked the man to death just so he could answer me" She looked at me apologetically. "I’m sorry. I’m sorry about what happened to you. If you want I could asked Stefano-" "No, it’s alright. My parents want me to redeem. I know I did for more than three years but I think it’s still not time to stop. Honestly, Sierra, you’re the only one who really knew about my story. Stefano and Ashton only knew a bit of it. It was their stupid investigation but they don’t know the whole truth. Just some information of how I was in the past. They don’t know what I felt back then and what I felt now. I’m ashamed of it, Sierra. That’s why it’s hard to tell anyone about it." " Tell me, Avery, why did you tell me about it?" She asked with pure curiosity written on her face. " Like I told you, I won’t blame a stranger for judging me." I said with a small smile. " But I’m not a stranger anymore. I mean you’re my maid of honor now. "She smiled lifting up the gloomy atmosphere we just had. I chuckled. " Yeah. " " But I still won’t judge you, Avery. Cause I did bad things myself and I regret it. This is probably why I was forced to be married to the Clarke family. I was told that I was too much of a hassle. This is all my fault." She said with a sad face. "Hey, on the bright side, you’re going to have fun ruining Ashton’s life." I joked. "You’re right!" She said excitedly and I kind of felt guilty suddenly since Ashton has been nothing but nice to me. "But..." She added. "I actually came here- I mean searched for you... I wanted you to accompany me in choosing my wedding dress." She said cutely like a puppy. "Hmmn." I thought. I actually planned to search for a job right now. "Sierra... I’m sorry. I know you just chose me to be your maid of honor but I can’t right now. I plan to look for a job since Stefano won’t be needing me for a month. So I’m useless and jobless and moneyless if I don’t get a proper job for a month." She smirked. Her eyes was obvious with intentions." Then, you’re hired, Avery. You’re going to be my wedding planner slash my maid of honor."