Chapter 12 One Night Stand

• Chapter Twelve
• Kayla's POV
• Theresa threw a smirk at me, picked up the bag that was by the door, and left.
• God, I hated how smug she was. It annoyed me to no end.
• Bruce and I hadn't talked about the way forward after we fucked on Friday so I couldn't tell what was going on between us.
• He was free to fuck who he liked but did it have to be Theresa?
• I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, willing myself to stop thinking about Bruce and Kayla together because I knew that nothing good would come out of it.
• I stood up from the couch and went into the kitchen to make dinner for myself. Looking through the foodstuffs he had, I decided to make pasta.
• Earlier in the morning, the fridge was almost empty, but it was stocked right now. It was probably Theresa's doing. After all, that was what she was paid to do.
• I tried to think of something else as I stood in front of the stove and I let my mind drift to the fun times I had with my best friend, Amelia.
• I felt like calling her to vent but saying my thoughts out loud would only make it real that I was quite jealous, so I refrained from calling her.
• When I was done, I poured the contents of the pot onto a plate and took it to the dining table. I'd never used the dining table since coming here though.
• With my phone in one hand and a fork in the order, I started eating. I was quite hungry as I didn't have lunch at the office. While Bruce had shown me around, he didn't show me the cafeteria.
• My food wasn't nearly halfway gone when I heard footsteps coming inside the dining area. I didn't bother to look at him and continued scrolling through my Instagram instead.
• Bruce cleared his throat and I rolled my eyes before turning to look at him. He was putting on a white shirt and gray sweatpants. His hair was wet and it seemed like he was just coming out of the shower.
• It had me thinking back to Theresa arranging her pants and I looked away. "Yes?"
• "Do I have a share?"
• "I'm sure Theresa made food for you so I didn't bother."
• I hated the way her name rolled out of my mouth bitterly. It made me sound petty. I didn't want to sound petty.
• He nodded and sat down on the chair adjacent to mine. It was a round table with four chairs.
• "So what did you think about the company?"
• "It was nice."
• "And the staff?"
• "They are polite."
• "How we make and package food?"
• "Intriguing."
• "Do you see yourself working there for a while?"
• "Yes."
• "I just want to make sure you're comfortable in my company, Kayla."
• "I am."
• Bruce released an annoyed breath. "Why are you being like this?"
• "Like how?"
• "This." He repeated, frustrated.
• It wasn't my intention to frustrate him but it sure felt good to know that I wasn't the only frustrated one here.
• "Why are you giving me short answers?"
• "I'm sorry, Bruce Walter. I meant to say that I love working at your company. I am happy you gave me the opportunity to because I know I will never find a company as good as yours to get working experience from. You have such a great staff as well. Better?"
• Bruce scoffed at my sarcasm as I resumed eating my pasta and going through my phone. He snatched it away from me.
• "Hey!" I yelled when he put it behind him.
• "Is it because of Theresa?"
• "I don't know what you're talking about." I lied through my teeth. It was because of Theresa. I didn't know how to face him knowing they had done something in his room.
• "You're mad at me and it's because of Theresa." He concluded. "You get like this when she's around."
• "I don't know what Theresa has to do with me, Bruce. Give me back my phone."
• "No. Listen to me."
• I huffed. "What?"
• "You asked me about Theresa earlier today."
• "Oh, so you did hear me? I thought you had gone temporarily deaf."
• "I don't appreciate your tone, Kayla. Fix it." I rolled my eyes and gave up fighting for my phone. "Theresa's mother used to work for me."
• I was intrigued and wanted to hear more.
• "She was great at her job but over time, she fell sick. She had a terminal disease so she resigned, wanting to take care of her health instead."
• I may not like Theresa, but I wasn't heartless. "Is she okay?"
• "She is receiving treatment." He answered vaguely. "Theresa came to me and said she'll take the place of her mother. That was actually when I found out that her mother was ill. Naturally, I offered to pay for her treatment but Theresa refused and said she'll work for it. She's also in college and she uses her salary to settle all these bills."
• "Oh," I said dumbly, not having anything else to say.
• That still didn't explain why they were alone in his room for such a long time.
• Bruce must have figured out the lingering question in my mind because he answered. "We weren't doing anything inappropriate inside my room. We were only talking about her mother's treatment. Her mom is doing better." Something in his tone made me believe he was being honest.
• "I didn't think you were doing anything inappropriate." I looked away from him, feeling my cheeks burn in embarrassment.
• I'd been here thinking the worst when they were only talking about her mother's treatment.
• But Theresa had acted like something happened between them. Did she do it on purpose knowing it would irk me? Did she think I would get jealous?
• "Sure you didn't."
• "I didn't!"
• "I already said you didn't, baby."
• My cheeks heated up again but not because of embarrassment this time. It was the way my legs clenched at the endearment coming out of his mouth.
• His voice was lower than it usually was and it did unholy things to my body.
• "Whatever. Just give me back my phone."
• "My bad." He laughed, retrieving my phone behind him and handing it to me. Then, he stood up. "I know you thought I did something with her. Don't bother denying it."
• As he said that, he waltzed into the kitchen to make his dinner.