6| STRONG-WILLED

PERSY

I fully expected the creak sound that came from the door. In fact, I had freshened up and changed into neat set of clothes—jogger pants and a simple t-shirt, because of this. At least, if Aiden came around and decided that he wanted me to call his dad back and apologize, I had to look better, so the man could actually listen to me speak.

"Who is it?" I asked, even if I knew that the only person who could access the room without knocking was Aiden. There was no answer; not that I had expected one, anyways.

The door opened in seconds and Aiden materialized in front of it, all dressed in a gray suit and equally gray pants that matched his eyes, with his briefcase in his left hand. His cologne filled the room instantly, making me dizzy with fear, so much that I even began to murmur a quick prayer.

He slammed the door shut behind him, his cold eyes meeting mine at once. I stopped the murmuring immediately, afraid he would call it something else.

"Oh hey!" I called out, wearing a nervous smile. "You should have told me you would be coming… I would have—"

"You don't really need this contract, do you?" He asked me ever so casually. I opened my mouth to disagree with him but he wasn't finished, "You want to be on the streets again, is that it?"

"That's not what I want.."

"It's obviously what you want. If not, why would you embarrass me on your very first meeting with my dad? It's like you could not even wait to show off your razz behavior, for fuck's sake…" He spat at me, leaning backwards against the door with his arms crossed over his chest. His expression was the most rigid I had seen.

"If I knew that this is how ungrateful you would turn out to be, I would have left you on the streets, I'm sure it would only be a matter of time before you stole something else like the petty thief you are, and you would definitely get caught this time. Or I should have taken you to jail already, save storeowners the stress of trying to recover their goods from you." He gave me a disgusted once over and if his words had hurt me, the look in his eyes broke down my spirit.

Still, I blinked back the tears that wanted so much to escape my eyelids, and I fiddled with the tip of my hair as a way to control my emotions. "I'm sorry that I behaved badly at the meeting…" The words were like stone on the tip of my tongue. It made me recall how much trouble I had stirred up when my parents were still alive, and how I never apologized if it wasn't my fault. I was always such a troublemaker, even if most times it was just because people got on my nerves for no reason. This time, I knew I had to be the bigger person… or at least, act like one. So I continued, "I could apologize to him if that is what you want… and the rest of the people who were present too…"

He watched me for a long while after my suggestion, until I began to shift my feet from side to side nervously.

Then he finally responded, "I would not be this nice to you if something like this happens again. I am not a kind man, but I am sure you know that already. I will not tolerate you being a nuisance to the partners in my business for no reason—"

"Sorry, no reason? He literally came at me first! Everyone saw how he tried to talk down on me!"

"Everything he said was the truth, though, wasn't it? You could have handled that in a much better way, a more mature way." His tone was cold as he dragged out the last part of his sentence.

"He was literally insulting Kassie! Would she have taken that? Such level of disrespect?" I threw at him, unable to hold back anymore.

He laughed, though it was sinister, with no emotion at all attached to it. "Kassie would very much take it. She is the most compliant woman you would ever meet. She knows when to speak in that elegant way of hers, and she also knows when to shut the fuck up. She never confronts anyone, and when I dish out instructions to her, I do not have second thoughts about it because I know she would never do otherwise. Kassie is the easiest woman to handle, but just one meeting with you and I'm developing a damn headache. What would it take for you to be like Kassie?"

I shook my head. "Nothing. I would never be like her. I am a Walters, and we are fierce people in my family. My father would definitely toss and turn in his sleep if he found out I lost my strong will… it's all I have."

"You are better off without it, for the duration of this contract. I do not care if anyone abuses you directly or whatever, you will take it without whining about it or talking back. I will not tolerate that sharp mouth when it comes to my business, do you understand?"

I was about to counter what he had said, further tell him why I would never be his puppet, or anyone else's for that matter, but then the look on his face caused me to swallow the words at once.

I settled for saying instead, "I'm not promising anything, but I'll try to be good to your business partners from now on."

"You will not try. You will make sure that you are good to them, because anymore misbehavior from you will have great consequences. I will make sure that the punishment which I'll prepare for you would suit the gravity of your sin." He promised, leaning off the door and dusting his gray suit pants casually whilst threatening me.

I swallowed, then nodded after a while, too tired to fight him now. My lips had already began to quiver, a warning that the tears were on the verge of escaping my eyelids… but I could not allow him to see me weak like that, so I muttered, "I understand all you have said. I will try to be compliant… I mean, I will… I will be more compliant from now onwards. Sorry if I caused any trouble for you earlier today."

Okay, I felt so stupid with the moisture blocking my vision so much. Why the hell was I about to cry now? I never cried, not even when dad's brothers made jest of me for hours, not even when the neighbors whispered in high notes about how unwanted I was. So why was I being so stupid now?

"Are you going to stand there all day?" I snapped at him when he just stood there and watched me without moving an inch.

"I need to get a video of you apologizing to my father and the other board members. You seem emotionally unprepared for that, so if you would…" He gestured towards the bathroom, and a tear rolled down my cheek at that moment. I felt like the ground should open up and swallow me whole at that point.

He looked at me with a foreign expression on his face, and then all of a sudden, he was looking at my lips for some reason best known to him. I flipped him the bird, then turned and dashed into the bathroom to quietly sob some more before washing my face.

When I got out of the bathroom, he sat on the bed with his laptop open on his lap, looking as serious as ever. Then he lifted his head up just to search my face for a few seconds before saying, "Put up your best solemn expression, and make this the best apology you have ever given to anyone."

And so I did that. Or at least, I tried to.