DARING THE BOSS

I have finished watching the interview I did earlier today, and my heart is melting down because of the thousand messages I am reading. The sympathy, love, and care displayed through the messages is overwhelming. This love is too much. With the kind of replies I am getting, I am sure by now my social media accounts are flooded with messages. I can't wait to check them in the morning. I scroll down the messages further, forcing my eyes to stay open because they are giving up. It is almost three in the morning.

Before deciding to close my laptop, I came across a comment that got me curious. It is from a lady called Nelly. She says she was my best friend and that she went crazy when I disappeared, and she asks me to call her. I take the number she listed below and save it to my phone, making a mental note to call her when I wake up.

"Thank you all of you. I want to let you know that I have read all your comments, but I can't reply to them all. Thank you so much. Let's reconnect through the social media handles I gave, but in case you didn't get them, I am listing them down below for you. I love you." I list down my new account names and close the laptop, getting under the covers. I didn't blink twice before sleep took over my tired brain.

8 A.M

The sound of my alarm woke me up. It's a new day. It was a new beginning for me. I do my morning business in the bathroom and am set to go look for Ejay. I want to know when I can go to look for a house, and I can't wait for that. Walking out, I see the girls cleaning the corridor, and I decide to help, like I always do. "Morning girls." I greeted them. Nora is here too, and so is Mayleen, the gross witch.

They greet me back, except for this Mayleen, which does not bother me so much. "So, how did it go?" Nora asks with so much enthusiasm. I love the spirit with her. Despite what she is going through in this cursed place, she manages to stay happy.

"Yes, Gia. Tell us. How was the interview?" That's Bernie, the youngest in this place. She just turned fifteen last week. She is always quiet and may still not be on terms with her new life. Looking at her, anyone would know that she is troubled, despite her efforts to mask her sadness. I feel for her. She is way too young to be subdued to this kind of torture.

"Well, guys, it went well. I slept past three reading the comments, and they were all so heartwarming." I answer them.

"We are happy for you, Gia. All the best." Nora says this while the rest nod their heads in agreement.

"Thank you. So, let's finish cleaning up." I say, and I bend to take the mob lying on the floor, when Madam Gross speaks for the first time.

"So, what next, princess? You will go out there and make money? Get a prince charming who will take you away from this club and start your happy ever after. Is that what your little brain is telling you, huh?" I hate her tone of voice, but more than that, I hate the mockery and sarcasm in her voice. Seriously, does she always have to pick a fight with me? I look at her and pity her. She is young and beautiful, but she has filled her heart with bitterness and jealousy. "Don't keep quiet." She stands in front of me, pointing a finger at my face. "Admit it. You are considering that possibility, right? Take it from me; you will die before that happens.That time will never come."

"Ignore her, Gia. Let's go clean somewhere else." Nora says, and we turn to walk away, only for her to forcefully grab me, forcing me to turn to her.

"Don't you dare walk out on me, you bitch! Just because you screwed Ejay a few times shouldn't make you feel special than me." Okay, so I was right all along. This crap is all about Ejay? I did not want to be an enemy of any of the girls, but you are asking for it, Mayleen, and I will give you exactly what you want.

"I don't care what you think of me. I haven't slept with Ejay yet. It won't be long, though. That day is coming soon, when I will completely and willingly surrender myself to him. And it will not be just sex. It will be a slow-burn love-making romance. We will be making love, and I will make sure to moan his name so loud for you to hear so that you can be a witness."

"How dare you?" Before I knew it, a slap had landed on my left cheek, and a bucket of dirty water had poured on me. I wipe away the water from my face. "Stay away from Ejay." Her screams couple my pain and shame.

The nerve! The temerity of this sick witch!

"You. Sick. BITCH." I take a swift turn and slap her back on the cheek, a well-prepared resounding slap that echoed the whole floor, her screams following next. She staggers back, placing one hand where my slap landed. She starts to turn to me again, and I slap her on the other cheek. She screams again, shaking. "I am tired of you and your dramas, Mayleen. Don't you ever dare think of slapping me again, because... aahhh!" I screamed as strong arms pushed me away from Mayleen. It was so fast that I did not see who it was.

I waited to hit the ground, but by good luck, I fall on someone else's arms. I thank the heavens. I don't want broken bones on top of my empty brains. I look up at the person when I manage to stand, with his help, of course. Ejay, with a murderous look on his face. His eyes, ooh, his eyes! Every time you see this look, every time you see a tinge of redness in his gray eyes, someone ends up dying.

Not again, please, God.

In a blink of an eye, the bodyguard who pushed me hits the ground, groaning in pain from the broken nose. It's Ejay. Another cold-hearted monkey. This one, we don't share even greetings. Everybody steps aside, leaving the helpless Rjay to face the wrath of his boss. Even the bodyguards stay aside. Nobody dares to stop the boss. Ejay pulls out his gun.

Another murder?

No! No! No!

Another person can't die because of me. I don't want to hear those ear-splitting sounds of the gun. I look around. The girls are scared to death; some have their eyes and ears closed, waiting for whatever happens next. I think the guards have normalized these kinds of scenarios because nobody is blinking among them. They are waiting for the boss to do as he pleases, so that they can clean up the mess. I amass the little courage I have in me and walk to Ejay, standing in front of him. "Don't Ejay!" My voice is a bit shaky, but I force myself to remain calm. "That's enough, please. Please?" Everybody looks at me. I know it's risky and childish, but I can't stand and watch this psychopath kill another person. "Ejay." He doesn't even seem to hear me.

He points the gun at the man behind me, and I jump right in front of the gun. "Move away, Gia." He warns, gritting his teeth. "Gia." Everybody is calling me to obey the command of the boss, but I stand my ground. Nobody will be there to share the guilt of the blood in my consciousness or the pain of my throbbing head.

"No, Ejay. Don't do this, I beg you. Please. Let him go." He slowly drops the gun, his eyes shifting to me. He is fuming with anger, his chest moving up and down due to his heavy breathing. I walk slowly to him, my eyes on the gun. He might be distracting me. I hold the hand that is holding the gun and place my other hand on his chest. "Thank you." I whimper.

"Bravo. The heroine has won. Should we clap for you?" The sarcastic voice of Mayleen was loud enough in this quiet environment. Unfortunately, her mouth got her into trouble once again. The slap she receives from Ejay is a hundred times more painful than the two I had given her combined. He then grabs her by the hair and drags her with him outside like a pig being dragged into a slaughter chamber.

What now?

Should I help her? I don't want him to kill her, but I also don't want his patience to run out on me. I doubt even that bitch deserves my help. As I weigh my options, someone taps me on the shoulder, and I turn to see Ajay. I had not seen him throughout the whole incident. He motions for me to follow Ejay, and I give him a look that says "I don't want to die". After him giving me a reassuring smile and a slight nod, I followed Ejay and caught up with him just when he was entering his office, throwing Mayleen in like garbage, and she hit the cold floor really hard after hitting the table.

"Ejay."

"Don't you dare challenge me like that ever again, you hear?" He says this to me with so much anger after throwing his gun on the table. He looks like a beast who is about to pounce on me.e.

"I am sorry. I did not know what to do. And my conscience cannot handle another person dying because of me." I defend myself.

"You won't survive here with that conscience of yours. You know what? I should stop helping you out. I will let you handle yourself. Is that what you want?" I was about to screech, but I heardd Mayleen struggling to get up from the floor. She is conscious. It's time for my little games.

"Of course not, Ejay." I put my hands on both sides of his shoulders. "I want you close to me, so that I will feel protected."

"Then let me help you the way I know how. Stop interfering."

"By killing? Don't you feel any remorse for killing humans like that? Like they are animals?" I ask.

"I don't have any remorse whatsoever for anybody who disobeys or betrays me. Whoever it is." Okay, that sounds like an indirect warning.

"Me included?" That just rolled out of my mind.nd.

"Can you betray me?" He fires back just in the exact way I anticipated. He would have given me a direct reply if I meant anything to him.

"No, Ejay. The last thing I want is to be on bad terms with you. You have done so much for me." Until I achieve my goal, you psycho.

"Good. Then you have absolutely nothing to worry about." He says so, and I pull him for a kiss, which he angrily accepts, and I kiss him back with the same energy. I know someone is dying, and it did not take long for her to break our kiss.

"If I blow her brains out right now, my problems will end." I pull away from the unwilling Ejay, and we turn to find Mayleen with a gun pointed direct to me.

This b*tch is such an ungrateful psycho! seriously? Ejay nudged me beside him, wrapping an arm around me. "I will have you back the way I had you before she came in, and we will continue the beautiful thing we had from where we left off." She adds. For her to have the courage to hold a gun against the beast, she really must love him. But how can someone like Ejay be loved this much?

"I will kill you before you even put your finger on the trigger. If I close my eyes and open them and you still have that gun in your hands, you will be dead in a second." Ejay warns calmly, like it's a toy pointed at us and not a real gun. He didn't have to close his eyes. Mayleen dropped the gun on the table, taking a step forward. "So this is what it's going to be now, huh? You will hurt me over and over, again and again, because of this little bitch that you met barely a few months ago. Can she even give you the kind of sex that I give you? Didn't what we had all those years mean anything to you?" She waits for an answer, trying to wipe the tears flowing down her cheeks like a river, but Ejay doesn't say anything.

The kind of sex she gives him? So they are still screwed? "Fuck you two." She starts to walk away but stands at the door when Ejay speaks. "There were, and still are, no feelings attached, and you know it. Control your emotions. This is the last time you escape death, Mayleen. The last time." She stomps out. Poor her. What's the story behind them? "Don't mind her." Ejay says, trying to kiss me again, but I slightly push him away.

"She loves you."