|7| A Good Catch.

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I felt so relieved when I finally located his office. This time, I made sure I knocked louder than before and I entered. He took his eyes away from his laptop and frowned at me.

"Can't you knock gently?"

I rolled my eyes and walked towards his desk. Gosh, it was so hard to please this man.

"I knocked gently the first time and you didn't hear." I defended myself.

I sighed inwardly. He should stop getting easily irritated like a pregnant woman, it's so annoying.

I dropped the coffee beside the stack of files on his table. "Here is your coffee."

He nodded, but he didn't look up from his laptop. "What took you so long?"

I immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, something happened."

Suddenly, he looked at me and squinted his eyes at me, staring deeply into mine. "Something like what?"

I didn't want to tell him the reason I was late was because I forgot the way to his office. I knew he would scold me and might even say some mean words, so I decided to keep it from him.

I shrugged, dismissing his question. "Nothing of much importance."

I thought he would drop the topic, but it only piqued his interest.

"Then, tell me."

I sighed, I was confused.

Why was he so interested in knowing what happened? It wasn't like it has been long since I left his office. Although I was gone for just forty minutes yet he was acting like I had kept him waiting for hours.

"It's actually nothing," I persisted.

"So, why can't you tell me?" He demanded. His voice weighed with a heavy load of impatience.

Then he leaned on his office chair and snickered. It was more like he was mocking me with that laugh.

"I just realized, you didn't go outside to get me a coffee, you were looking for a good catch. Someone who can take you home for the night and then pay you a meager amount. Isn't it?"

I furrowed my brows and tried to process his words. At first, I didn't understand what he said until it sank in. I frowned when I realized what he meant.

He thinks of me as a hoe who sleeps around with men?

I narrowed my eyes and I balled my hands into a fist.

What a sexist!

How could he say such a thing to me? I volunteered to get him a coffee because I was worried about him, it wasn't for whatever stupid thoughts that was running through his dense mind.

I gritted my teeth. Must he always be cruel? What gives him the audacity to judge me like that? Although he didn't know me yet he had said a lot of awful things about me since the first time we had met at the bakery.

"A good catch?" I repeated his words, it sounded very irritating in my ear.

My heart broke a little. Was that all he saw in me? He thought I was a loose woman who sleeps around with men for meager money. I narrowed my eyes on him.

How dare he disrespect me?!

I moved closer to his desk and lowered my head so I could look directly at his smug and annoying face. He would have died if looks could kill.

"I came here because you told me to bring your briefcase to your office and I was just trying to help you because you looked stressed, but instead of appreciating my effort, you insulted me?" I challenged him.

A strange expression flashed through his face for a brief second and the ugly smugness he had earlier dropped. He opened his mouth to say something but I shunned him by raising a finger to his face.

I let out a shaky breath and blinked the tears that pooled underneath my lashes away. "What gives you the audacity to judge me like that? Is it because you have money and I don't? FYI, There are many people who have even more money than you and are still not as proud as you!" I yelled at his face.

He tightened his lips and rested on the chair. A muscle in his neck twitched as he played with the pen in his hand, rolling it steadily.

I didn't want to hear anything from him. He could sack me, for all I care, If he thought he could judge me because he was my boss.

"You just keep surprising me."

I frowned at him. I hated how he made it sound like I was an experiment he wanted to fully discover.

I brushed my hair backward and turned away from him. Then, I remembered the responsibilities I had as a single mother and realized I shouldn't have let my emotions take over me. I bit my thumb, thinking hard. I really needed the salary and this was still my first week of working for him.

"I'm not going to fire you for saying your mind." He said as if he read my mind.

I gave him a look and just nodded.

"And I'm not going to thank you for saying that." I said and left his office with quick strides.

F*ck him and f*ck his stereotype.

***

I got home around 7:00 pm, and my mom was in the living room knitting wool. She sat at her usual spot for sewing, she only does that when she wants solitude. I greeted her and went straight to my room. I was still hurt by Mr Lawson's words but I didn't want it to get to me. I shouldn't believe whatever he thinks of me. I don't understand why he thought so bad of me from the first time I met him in the bakery.

I arched my brow and sat on my bed. Have I offended him in the past? Or was he like that around other people?

I dropped my bag on the floor and laid down, staring at the roof. Things would have been so different if my dad was still with us. Maybe I would have completed my studies and had a very good job too.

I closed my eyes. I didn't want to think of my father, he had left without looking back. He didn't even tell us a decent goodbye, he only left a letter on his bed and never came back. I didn't read the letter, but my Mom cried so hard while reading the letter. I knew that whatever was written in that letter wasn't pleasant.

We used to be a happy family. My father had a good and stable job in an oil and gas company, and my mother owned a grocery's store. We weren't financially broke. Everything changed when my father left a note telling us that he had left to start a new family on the night before my eleventh birthday.

I heard Zoe and someone else's voices. It seemed she was playing with someone in the backyard, probably a new friend she made in her new school.

I stood up, removed my clothes and went to the bathroom. I packed my hair into a tight bun and turned on the shower. I closed my eyes as water cascaded down my body. I was really so tired that I could stay there for hours.

I remembered what happened between him and Violet as I was dabbing my hair. His action towards her just proved that I wasn't the only person he regarded so low.

I switched off the shower. I took a shampoo from the bathroom stand and started scrubbing my hair. I pursed my lips. I thought they were actually dating so why did he tell her to go and sleep with a gigolo?

I rinsed my hair and tied a towel around my head. I shook my head and walked out of the bathroom. I should stop thinking about them. Whatever relationship he had with Violet wasn't my business anyway.

"Mom!" Zoe squeaked the moment I got out of my bedroom.

She held my hand, dragging me to the living room. "Mom, come. I want to introduce you to my new friend. Her name is also Zoe!" She giggled and smiled at me. "Can you just imagine? I think I've finally found a best friend!"

I smiled. I was glad she was already making new friends.

"Really? You two sound pretty close."

She beamed, "Yes, we are very close!"

I was glad she made a new friend and was certain she was the best choice of friend for my daughter. She made Zoe happy and that was the most important thing.