Chapter 10 WHY TO MOVE?

The next morning was very depressing because I didn’t have college and also no shift I had to report for. So, I kept myself tucked in bed refusing to let go of my laziness. Even though I understood that it was making me feel worse thinking about what others would think about me because I was living with Charles, I did not want my image to go for a toss in people’s minds.

Knowing that they could think of me as a gold digger without being aware of the actual bond that I shared with Charles was not making me feel good about myself. I have never wanted to be given that title, but it was then I learned that everything in life came with a positive and a negative. The way we perceived something made all the difference because in reality things might differ quite from what we think about it in our minds.

My search to find an affordable house at a better location and closer to college had been on since the day I settled in here with Charles. But every time I shortlisted one, he found some or the other issue with it.

We hadn't checked out any apartment in real life. But on the tenth week, I was certain about actually traveling to see the apartment, the ad for which had come in one of the weekly magazines Charles had subscribed to.

Had I told him about it, he would have done the same thing that he had been doing. We wouldn't have been able to go to the apartment because either it was either too far or too small, or the locality was not proper, the reasons were never-ending.

There were also a couple of apartments that were away from the essential stores. I didn't get how he would always come up with a convincing point. But then at that time it had become extremely important to move out of his place as soon as I could to save my reputation from getting tarnished; the thought of which didn’t let me sleep well at night.

Keeping all that at the forefront of my head, I left my bed to get ready. So that I could go and look at the shortlisted apartment. When I stepped out of my bedroom, I saw Charles walking in the corridor outside his room. He looked as if he was going to blast any minute.

Not wanting to disturb him no matter how much I wanted to listen to the conversation that he was having on the phone, I chose to give him his space and walk down to the dining room to see what was there for breakfast.

As it was already 11:00 am on the clock, I doubted if breakfast would still be there. But because Charles was at home and hadn’t left for work, I could have given it a shot. Otherwise, something or the other the wonderful chef would have prepared for me.

Everybody who worked at home liked my behavior towards them. It was as if I was staying in a hotel with managers assigned for everything exactly the way hotels operate. The service manager had told me some fun stories of Charles after he made me promise that I would never talk about them with anyone else, including Charles himself.

The girls whom he got at home before had been very rude to his staff. They used to talk to them as if they were good for nothing else but to report to them and do everything for them. In fact, one funny chick expected someone to bring her shoes from Charles’s room every time she stepped down barefoot.

Right when I was about to step down the staircase, I heard Charles’s voice. He shouted, “Olive, get ready. We have to leave.”

I turned back immediately and went back to my room. I needed to pick up my mobile phone and my handbag because I had just taken a shower to be ready to check the apartment.

While walking back down from my room, I wondered if we were going to go to the museum or some place else. But then I also thought that Charles wouldn’t take me to any other place with him. I wasn’t his girlfriend to accompany him anywhere and definitely wasn’t his wife to go for his official matters along with him. But I did like it the way he ordered me to get ready because we had to leave.

In the car I was thinking about where we were going. Besides, I didn’t feel hungry anymore after we got into the car even though there were titbits stored in every car of his, I remember. Clueless about where we were going, I asked, “What should I be prepared for?”

“Be prepared to tell Kelvin to get lost,” he answered.

Worried about having to do that, I didn’t even know if he was serious at that time. But I definitely didn’t want anyone to lose their job. So, I talked to Charles in a very peaceful manner. When I finally managed to convince him not to say anything to Kelvin as I would find another job in some time, he questioned, “Do you have to work?”

“I am sorry, I didn’t quite get you,” I replied.

“You are living with me now, and you have all that you need. Then, why do you need to work?” He asked as he himself explained to him why I shouldn’t be worried about working.

“What do you mean by that?” I cross-questioned and added, “I need a job to be able to settle myself down.”

“Do you really have to move out?”

“Don’t you want me to move out?”

“But do you really have to?”

A few more such questions followed as we kept cross-questioning each other one after the other. He finally asked, “But why do you have to?”

The whole deal was to stay with him temporarily as he was helping me until I could find a suitable place to rent, and this was getting very irritating. On the last question of his, I yelled, “Because I am not your girlfriend.”