Chapter 5

• I wake up quite rested the next morning, I love weekends, you just sleep, you don't have to do anything, it's the best thing there is.
• Hunger and an urgent need to pee quickly get me out of bed.
• I enter the bathroom quickly and I am surprised to see how horrible I look, my goodness, I better take a shower to see if at least that can improve me a little.
• I dress in comfortable clothes and leave my hair loose.
• I go to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, I'm not a great cook, I don't have that gift, so the only thing I have for breakfast is some cereal with milk.
• I look at my cereal bowl and feel like it's missing something else, it's too simple, so using my nonexistent cooking skills, I decide to add some fruits, much better.
• I sit down to have breakfast on the small balcony, I love getting the morning sun, it's so good and nutritious, the sky is majestic, of a perfect blue, the clouds move without pause, there's nothing better than the fresh air.
• When I finish breakfast, I go back inside and put on some music to chase away the silence of my apartment, I turn on my TV to find the music channel but since it's programmed on the national channel, I see that they are giving the news, and not just any news.
• They talk about Arthur Dallas, who was seen in a nightclub with a beautiful woman, it is speculated that she is his girlfriend, which makes my good mood immediately destroyed.
• Angry and annoyed, I watch as the reporters discuss their suspicions and observations, irritated, I turn off the television.
• Stupid model...
• I pick up my phone and call Bill.
• He answers a few seconds later but doesn't speak.
• "Hello Bill," I say but get no response. "Are you still sleeping?" I ask, laughing.
• "Hello Bella," he responds groggily, the line falls silent for a moment until Bill starts talking again. "No, no, I just haven't had my coffee yet," he complains. "How about we go for coffee, my treat?"
• "Sure, let's do it, that way I can go to the market to buy more things for the pantry, I only have cereal, pasta, and tuna."
• "Perfect, we can meet at Walmart, sound good?"
• "That's perfect," I agree and hang up.
• The best way to banish bad thoughts is by going shopping.
• Bill and I meet an hour later at Walmart as we had agreed, but seeing the things in the place, I decide that it's best to go to a mall, there we can find different brands, plus I can go buy clothes, you can never have too many clothes.
• I park my car in the parking lot and walk with Bill to Starbucks to have the coffee he promised.
• For a Saturday at noon, the mall is packed, there are too many people.
• We have to wait half an hour for the coffee but Bill and I entertain ourselves talking and laughing.
• After having our coffee, I see there's an H&M store and I love the clothes there, so I quickly go in and take Bill with me.
• "What do you think of this?" I show Bill a sequin dress.
• "Mmm, I don't think it's nice," he says and keeps looking around. "Look, this one is nicer," he says showing me a pretty white dress. "Go try it on."
• Without waiting for a response, he takes me to the fitting room and I enter looking at the dress I have in my hands.
• I put it on quickly, I look at myself excitedly in the mirror, the dress is beautiful, it hugs my curves and makes my waist stand out.
• I come out of the fitting room to find Bill and show him how the dress looks on me.
• "What do you think?" I ask.
• "It looks pretty good, you should get it," he encourages me.
• I shrug and accept，then go back to the fitting room to change again and we go to pay.
• Bill and I are exhausted but happy, we decide it's time for lunch, sitting at the table I see that Bill can't stop sending messages and it seems strange to me.
• "What are you doing?" I ask curiously.
• "I met someone, it was very recent, exactly while you were looking for your clothes," he says shyly.
• "Bill, that's great, what's her name? What do her do? How old are her?" I babble with enthusiasm.
• " Calm down, calm down Bella " Bill laughs and raises his hands defensively " Her name is Amanda, she's like a dream come true, she's 23 years old and has her own store here in the mall " he says and I listen attentively.
• I like her, I feel like something good could happen between them and I'm happy for Bill.
• The weekend goes by quickly and in the blink of an eye it's Monday morning.
• Tired, I turn off the alarm clock and get up just to drag myself to the bathroom while I ask myself a thousand times, what reason do I have to go to work?
• The shower helps me wake up a bit, the day is quite hot so I decide to wear a dress, put on a bit of makeup and straighten my hair leaving loose waves at the ends and I'm ready.
• I quickly prepare a coffee for the road and leave my apartment, after 20 minutes in traffic I finally arrive at the parking lot, leave my car there and walk to the elevator.
• When I finally reach my floor, the doors open and I see Ashley already at her desk so I greet her cheerfully.
• " Bella, you look radiant " she greets me and goes back to her work, which is full of stacks of documents.
• " Do you need help? " I ask her seeing that she's quite overwhelmed.
• " No, don't worry, thank you very much."
• I give her a smile and walk to my office, Bill hasn't arrived yet so I put my things on my desk.
• " Good morning， Bella " Bill greets me when he enters the office and takes his place, I return the greeting and start my work.
• An hour later Ashley enters the office, Bill and I look up to see her.
• " Bill, I need the cost data for product 832, do you have it ready? " She asks smiling.
• " Yes, of course, give me a moment, should I send it by email?"
• " If you have it printed out it would be better, I'm waiting for a meeting, I just need that data " Ashley says and I see how Bill quickly runs to the printer to connect his PC " And you Bella " Ashley calls me " Mr. Dallas wants to see you " she says and leaves after Bill hands her the documents.
• Confused, I stand up.
• " I'll bring lunch while you're back, do you like Chinese rice? " Bill asks me.
• " Yes, that's fine " I reply and feel my body start to tremble, I feel quite nervous.
• I leave the office and head to the boss's office.
• What does he want to talk to me about? I have no idea, and that's what makes me most nervous.
• With confused thoughts, I knock on the door and take a deep breath.
• " Come in " I hear his deep voice and enter the office.
• " Did you want to see me? " I ask.
• " Close the door and sit down " Arthur responds, staring at me with his bright eyes.
• I turn and close the door as he ordered, when I turn back to him, I see his gaze wandering over my body, sending a shiver down my spine.
• I walk in silence to the chair in front of his desk and sit down.
• " Miss Swan, you probably didn't understand what I told you the other day, and it annoys me to have to repeat myself, if I tell you to stay here, then you must do so, no matter how long it takes, just do it, and to make it clear, not only is my father your boss, I am too, so I expect you to give your boss the respect he deserves " he speaks to me and looks at me coldly, I try to hide my anger, this man really gets on my nerves " I also saw you on Friday at the club, maybe you remember " he says changing the subject.
• I look at him tense and nervous, what does he want to say now?
• I just nod in silence, afraid that some bad words might come out of my mouth.
• " You were at the club and you weren't alone, your colleague was with you " he says angrily, I see his hands clenching into fists, I nod again feeling every word getting stuck in my throat " I don't want that to happen again, you and him are just coworkers, and coworkers are forbidden from any kind of relationship, I don't want to see you so close to him again, understood? " He says exhausted and his eyes look at me deeply angry, shining devilishly, almost black.
• " What? " I ask indignantly, I really feel quite indignant at his accusation " Bill and I are just friends " I reply annoyed but he interrupts me again.
• " Even making friends is forbidden, I hate to say it Miss Swan, but if you get so close to him again, I have no choice but to fire one of you, and honestly, you are more useful to me than that assistant, so it might be him who loses his job " he says calmly and smirks at me.
• I open my mouth in surprise at his words, he's a damn
• " Is this for real? Just because he's not needed, you're thinking of firing him, I am just as guilty " I exclaim angrily and walk towards the exit.
• " At no point did I say you could leave yet " I hear his commanding voice, he quickly gets up and walks towards me, standing right behind me, brushing my body with his proximity " Besides " he starts again, taking a strand of my hair between his fingers, leaning towards me until I can feel his breath on my neck and in my ear, a shiver runs through my body and takes my breath away " Besides, dear Bella, I don't want to see you EVER again dancing so closely with another man, especially when you're wearing a dress like that, otherwise, may God have mercy on the idiot who lays a hand on you " he hisses angrily in my ear.