AELLA
I barge into the kitchen of the restaurant I'm working at and fling the half-filled tray on the counter. 'I wonder why the customers today were being extra bitchy and insensitive.'
"Is everything okay?" Greg the restaurant's chef asks.
"She said the egg was too salty." I respond angrily referring to one of our customers.
"It's a paprika-fried egg, it's supposed to be salty." He says while filling up another tray.
I grab the tray and move towards the door, "Yeah, tell that to her."
"Chicken and fries coming right up." I say with forced cheerfulness to my newest customer.
After serving, I look at the clock and notice its time for my thirty minute break and I don't hesitate in heading out the back with a burger.
I sit down on the back porch and groan into my hands at the unreleased tension in my lower back. Last night had been too much, we had watched movies and drunk a cheap bottle of tequila until we literally passed out. And then I had to wake up early this morning for my classes.
My busy schedule had helped me douse the feeling of disappointment I had felt when through out half of day I didn't set my eyes on Roman. What with how he was demanding for my schedule and claiming he knew all about it.
I finish eating my burger and take a large gulp of water preparing myself to complete the remainder of my shift when I'm interrupted by Grace.
"Boss wants to see you." Grace says with a smile that shocks the living hell out of me.
Grace never smiles, at least not at me.
I pack up my water and follow behind her, allowing her to lead the way, "is there any problem?"
"No there isn't." Grace responds while humming under her breath.
When we get to the office, I hear voices inside, one male and one female, with the female voice obviously belonging to my boss.
I'm not confused for too long as I eventually come face to face with the owner of the voice.
I do a double take and I almost fall down if not for my grip on the doorframe of the office.
"Hey baby, I was just telling your boss how we met." Roman says while smiling at me.
My boss looks at me with clasped hands visibly swooning, "why didn't you tell me, Roman was your boyfriend?"
I never took my boss to be a romantic at heart, while she wasn't exactly strict, we had never been close enough to have any kind of conversation that would lead to me telling her about my personal life.
"Well because he's not my boyfriend." I respond.
"Oh, you don't have to lie to me, Rome here has told me everything I need to know." She says with a dazed look.
"What am I doing here?" I ask cutting to the chase.
"No need to be rude honey." Roman says in an admonishing tone making be flush beetroot red.
Mel my boss clears her throat regaining a bit of her composure before turning in my direction, "your boyfriend here ——" she stops, correcting herself at my glare "—— Roman says you guus have an event to attend to together, and he needs me to give you the remainder of the day off."
"No, we don't have any event to attend to, at least not together." I say, giving Roman a disbelieving look.
"Yes we do honey, remember my dad is hosting a charity ball." Roman says with a smirk.
"So what?, apart from the fact that I didn't know about the ball, don't you have some other girl you could force to attend with you?" I ask
"What girl are you talking about?" Roman asks with a scowl.
"The one you were dryhumping in that video." I say with venom.
"Jealousy looks good on you honey." Roman says with a smirk.
"What the hell are you talking about?" I sputter.
"Oh to be young and in love again." My boss says with a dreamy sigh while sharing a smile with Roman and then to me She says, "as for you, you deserve a break, and even if you're not going to the ball with this tall handsome Knight, take yourself out."
'Wow', I couldn't even believe my ears, it was an unspoken rule to never call off sick from work or stay home irrespective of the reason but now she was giving me the remainder of the day off just like that, well not just like that, but with the help of this jackal.
Mel goes back to work without sparing me another glance. I know better than to push my luck, knowing I was going to use this opportunity to rest and sleep the day off. I move out of her office, not bothering to see if Roman is following me or not.
I stop at the staffs licker and hurriedly change up while picking up my bag, I leave the restaurant through the back door, not expecting to find Roman and his signature wrangler jeep steaming idly while probably waiting for me.
I ignore him, moving in the direction that will take me back to my dorm, what I don't expect is for Roman to roll his car at a snail pace in tandem with my walking step.
The cars behind the jeep horn loudly, and a few start cursing, but when I look at Roman, he doesn't seem the least affected. Taking a page from his book I choose to ignore him.
When I'm sure it all becomes too much for him, he turns off the car coming to my side and before I could make a run for it, he lifts me up and deposits me in the passengers seat before locking the door from his key fob. He moves leisurely to the driver's seat, and when he is all settled in, he zooms off, heading out of college and into town.
I have all but a second to wonder about his superhuman strength before we are stopping infront of a very fancy building which appears empty.
"I didn't fuck her." Roman says breaking the silence.
"Who?, my boss?" I ask sardonically.
"Don't act smart with me, I'm talking about the girl from the video." He says in a serious tone.
"Why are you telling me this?, I don't care." I respond, willing my heart to believe my words.
"Huh, could have fooled me." He says before stepping out of the car.
I don't wait for him to come to my door, I step out by myself, not willing to be manhandled again.
"Next time, wait for me to open the door for you." He says in a patronising tone.
"Oh, what a gentleman." I respond snarkily.
He doesn't say anything to me, just places his hand on my lower back, leading me towards the entrance of the building. Now that I'm paying more attention, I notice the upper floor of the building was mostly glass. The style and design of the building screamed 'fashion house' and although I'm dying to ask him what I'm doing here, I hold myself back.
Just like I had suspected, the building was almost empty, with the exception of a few people whom I presume are workers.
"What am I doing here?" I ask.
"The ball, remember?" Roman responds with a question of his own.
"About that, I'm not going with you, I have classes tomorrow." I say to him.
"I will get you back in time." He responds.
"How about this, I don't want to go anywhere with you." I say while dragging my feet, trying to slow us down.
"I wasn't asking." He responds while grabbing my elbow, forcing me to move along side him.
"You can't force me." I say in a trembling voice, already doubting the veracity of my claim.
"I can, and you know it." He says while stopping to speak to one of the workers.
I don't get a word of what they're saying, but soon, one of the ladies is taking off dresses from hangers and placing them on my hand. When she is done with what she is doing, she leads me to a dressing room in the back to change.
I place the dresses on the counter contemplating ignoring his orders.
"Do you need help?" Roman asks in a clear tone from just outside the door.
"No, thank you." I say hurriedly knowing fully well he was capable of doing exactly that.
The next hours go in a haze of various dresses and one word affirmations or negation from Roman. He eventually settles on one dress which was red in color, floor length with a low neckline showing a hint of cleavage and with a completely open back. Needless to say the dress was exquisitely breathtaking.
As we make our way back to the car, Roman makes calls with various people who are supposed to meet him at his apartment and I wonder what that is all about.
"What time is this event?" I ask Roman.
"By six." He responds.
"I don't want to go anywhere with you." I say coldly.
"I think it's time." He says mostly to himself.
"Time for what?" I ask, almost freaking out.
"Time to show you why you would come to the ball with me without making a fuss." He says while picking up a tablet from the backseat.
He hands it to me already turning it on, but before even looking down, I know whatever is on it or whatever he wants to show me will definitely not be good.
CHAPTER SIX "Sip that slowly, because that will be your last glass for the night." Roman says, interrupting my line of thought. I glare at him and gulp down my drink at record speed, feeling lightheaded at my little act of defiance.I smile again at yet another faceless stranger I know I will never see again. After Roman had forcefully taken me for the primping required to attend an event of this magnitude, he took me back to his car and gave me a tablet which contained valid, strong and convincing reasons why I should attend his stupid ball without making any fuss. I had seen tons of pictures of both my dad, my stepmother, and my step-siblings. In those pictures, they were doing the most mundane things, like walking to the park, hanging out with friends, and even sleeping. There were also pictures of my friend Ashley, both in the dorm and at home. The message was very clear, and he didn't have to say anything more. It was clear that if he wanted to hurt them, he would've.While
"Just one instruction, Aella, just one. Don't get drunk, just that, but you still couldn't keep to it." Roman says with a clenched jaw. I look at him. Like really looked at him. I observe his features, tightened by anger, and can't help comparing him to a fallen angel. I lean all my weight on him, not particularly concerned about how crazy I might look. "It's not her fault, I got the drink and forced it down her throat." Georgia says, slurring on the words. "Noooo, that's not true, I was a willing participant." I manage to squeeze out in my drunken state. "And trust me, princess, you will pay for it." Roman interrupts."Why do you always have to be a killjoy? Who gave you the right to tell me whether or not to drink?" I ask angrily, probably jumbling all the words due to alcohol influence. "No one." "Absolutely no one gave me any right, I took it for myself." Roman says, "And the sooner you understand that, the better it will be for you." "Why can't you just be like every other
After we had successfully gotten rid of most of the flowers, keeping just a few, Ashley refused to let me go to my classes without telling her all the details of the ball. I told her everything that happened but kept some details to myself, mostly my conversations with Roman. I didn't know whether she would appreciate his arrogant and highhanded nature. "So what? Are you guys like dating now?" Ashley asks me. "No, we are not." I say strongly. Ashley packs her stuff into her drawer before turning back to me, "But he's called you his girlfriend on countless occasions." "And yet, he still hasn't asked me out. Heck, we've barely even gone on a date, excluding the ball." I say to Ashley. "Would it be so bad to date him?" Ashley asks me. I'm quiet for a few minutes, pondering my answer. No. It wouldn't be so bad to date him. Beneath the bad boy exterior lies a very caring young man, which I won't stick around long enough to acclimatize myself with. I flop back on the bed, not concern
Roman rushes towards us, and with his hands on the professor's collar, he violently pulls him off me and starts pummelling his face. He throws well-landed punch after well-landed punch and ignores my pleas for him to stop."How dare you?" "How dare you touch what's mine?" Roman asks the professor in between choking and squeezing the life out of him. "I'm sorry, I didn't know she was with you!" The professor says while clawing at Roman's hands around his neck. One look at him and I knew for sure that if Roman didn't stop now, he was hoping to have a murder on his hands.The professor's face was a mixture of blood, snot and tears. His screams resounded in the hall, and soon students rushed in, watching from the sidelines. "Roman please I'm begging you, I'm begging you to stop." I say desperately while carefully tugging at his shirt. Rather than respond, he shrugs me off and continues punching the professor, only with reduced intensity. After what seemed like years but could only be
"Don't answer that." Roman says to me as he gets off the bed and heads towards his mother. "There is a lock on my door for a reason mom." "What do you mean by that? There's a strange girl in your room, and no one is saying anything." His mom says in a stern tone. "Come on, mom. Let's talk outside." Roman says before pulling his mom out of the room and locking the door behind him. Left to my own devices, I have a lot if time on my hands and I decide to use it to explore Roman's room cum lair. I limp off the bed and search the drawers, finding absolutely nothing in there. Now that I pay good attention, I notice that most of the room is just plain bare without any trace of personal possessions. Further exploring proves this theory to be right, apart from basic items like clothing and shoes as well as a first aid kit, the room seemed very bare. However what it lacked in personal items, it made up for with its sheer grandiose. A floor to ceiling window took up one entire side of the
'On your knees princess.' The order keeps replaying in my head as I scramble to kneel up in the bed. "Hands up." He orders. When I obey, he slowly pulls his shirt off me leaving me bare to his hungry eyes. "Fuck." He says while running his hands through his hair in almost frustration. I fight the urge to shield my less-than-adequate breast with my arms. I move to cover up while blushing furiously but Roman stops me with a hand on my wrist. "Don't ever cover yourself from me, because you're fuckung perfect." Roman says forcefully as if he truly believes that if he says it forcefully enough, maybe I will believe it. Roman leans down to my face level and places kisses just on the side of my lips, teasing me till I'm hungry and willing to beg just to experience the feeling of having his lips on mine. After a moan of frustration, he finally gives me what I want, only it's too much for me to handle. With a firm hand on my jaw, he forces his tongue through the meagre barrier that is my
I wake up with a pounding headache and a fresh bruise in the shape of a fist on my left cheek. I look around the dimly lit basement and feel a sense of deja vu wash all over me. I haven't been here since I was sixteen, too many traumatising events keeping me away from this room. I would rather risk the wrath of my stepmother than step into this moment, but look at me right now, lying on the same floor with no way to leave. I get up from the floor and almost fall back down from the bout of dizziness that hits me. I lean on the wall until I'm strong enough to move towards the door. "Please open the door!" I scream while banging on the door, almost bursting into tears when, after a few minutes, nobody responds. I feel around my back pocket for my phone, and when I find it, I almost die from relief. When I take it out, however, my mood turns sour at the total lack of network, almost as if my dad had installed a cellphone jammer in this room. I turn on my phone light and look around th
"I seduced the professor." I say the moment I'm back in the dining room. My dad looks at me in shock while both Kate and her daughter Mia are looking at me with poorly hidden smirks. "Are you sure of what you're saying, honey? There's no need for you to cover up for that vile evil professor." Kate says in a very caring tone, successfully hiding her evil plans and intentions. "I watched the security tapes, and I saw that man put his hands on you over and over again even after you told him to stop. There is no way you seduced him." Kate says in a tone that leaves me stunned. She buries her face in her hands, sobbing softly, like just the thought of what I went through was traumatising her. I finally understand her plan when I take a look at my father's face. She was literally setting me up for a fall. She was trying to act like she had too much faith in me to believe that I would do something as cheap as seducing a professor. She was doing it to stoke the flames of hatred my father