Eight

Anelia had managed to talk another girl into swapping their tasks for the day. She was aware that she could possibly lose her job for neglecting her actual task, which was cleaning the penthouse, but the memory of what had taken place between that man and her was still fresh in her mind.

She couldn't risk meeting him again. At least not today because she knew that she couldn't keep on swapping her schedule like she had done today. The manager would most definitely find out and she would really kiss her job goodbye.

At least Riley had all but squealed in utter excitement at the idea of working in the penthouse. If she knew the arrogance of that man who owned the place, she wouldn't be so willing to do any cleaning of some sort for him.

Anelia had already changed into her clothes and was heading to the reception in order to sign out for the day. She got to the reception area and smiled brightly. 

"Hey, Tracy!"

Tracy was the receptionist. She was pretty nice for someone who dealt with various people on a daily basis. She was very classy too. Her hair was tied into an impeccable bun. Her white shirt looked like it was something straight out of the store. She had on a pair of glasses that made the whole look even more enticing.

She was currently typing away on the computer she had before her. She raised her head, looking at the intruder.

"Anelia! I take it you're done for the day," she exclaimed. 

"Yeah but it's only a matter of hours before I'm back here," Anelia spoke with a sigh. She wasn't really keen on coming to work tomorrow due to what had happened earlier on. But, of course she had to.

Tracy smiled softly. "That doesn't really sound like you. Something happen?" She stopped her typing and looked expectantly at Anelia.

Anelia laughed shakily. She didn't exactly want to get talking about the drama that had unfolded during her day. The embarrassing lot of it. Besides, she definitely didn't want to offload her silly problems on Tracy, who pretty much kept busy with the coming and going of every single guest at La Vida.

"Nothing!" She shouted a little too quickly, earning the look from Tracy. You know, the one that clearly shouted I don't believe you! 

She gathered herself together. She scolded herself for obviously hinting that something had happened.

"It's just the usual, you know," she started a little more casually. "All the cleaning does get monotonous."

"You sure?"

"Yes!" She cried. "I'm just tired that's all."

Tracy's gaze softened. She understood what Anelia meant. Working at La Vida could be overwhelming. The place was huge and that was putting it mildly. Almost every suite was very spacious and she was aware that Mr Furler was a man of high-standards.

"Happens to the best of us. Just don't let it get to your head."

"I try not to," Anelia said with a chuckle. She pulled out her phone as Tracy set to electronically signing her out. She had a missed call from Natalie's teacher, Mr Sterling. 

What could it be? Her brows furrowed in apprehension. Had something happened to Natalie? 

"Done! You've officially been signed out. Oh and before I forget, here's your schedule." She handed her a clean white sheet of paper that had her schedule which she already knew all about.

"But they sent us on the group," she insisted.

"I know but I only do as I'm told and as far as I'm concerned, that was printing out the schedules for everyone."

Anelia looked at the large pile of papers that was just near the computer. Typing and printing out individual schedules was surreal. It probably took her ages to work out each person's schedule up to the last dot and here she was complaining about her job. 

"That must have taken you ages." It was just that. A statement, to which Tracy just pushed back her glasses into the bridge of her nose and shrugged.

"Thanks, Tracy. I'll get going now," she said with a wave to which Tracy reciprocated.

Anelia turned and walked in the direction of the exit. She opened her handbag and packed the schedule neatly in. Exiting through the glass doors that edged on enormous, she reckoned that it was quite foolish of her to not have brought her jacket.

The clouds were gathering in the vast sky and the wind was howling, carrying with it a river of dust and leaves. She winced at the chill that ran down her body. Without hovering near the entrance of La Vida, she rushed to the edge of the busy road and hailed for a taxi.

In close to a minute, one came screeching close to the pavement. She jumped into the warmth of the car and was about to close the door, when it was pulled back. 

A shivering Emma got in and shut the door closed. 

"Where to?" Asked the elderly driver. He glanced at the two, awaiting an answer.

"Thornton," Anelia spoke out when Emma clearly wasn't going to.

"Avoiding me two days in a row. Are you planning on breaking up with me, A?" 

Anelia almost chortled at Emma's choice of words. Anybody listening would totally take it the wrong way. Anelia laid her head back into the seat.

"Of course, not. You know that." 

"I see how you look at those other girls, babe. If you want to break up then have the balls to do it already!" she shouted dramatically. Anelia jerked forward in mortification. Her eyes were bulged out in disbelief. 

Emma had on the world's biggest smirk and when Anelia looked at the driver through the mirror, she groaned. He was looking at them funny. 

"Sir, it's not what you think!" She shouted, to which Emma barked a laugh. And ladies and gentlemen, as they say the rest was history.

"It's not funny!" Exclaimed Anelia to an overly amused Emma when they entered her home. She hung her coat and proceeded to the living room.

Emma cackled lightly but, as soon as she glimpsed the look on Anelia's face, she burst in laughter. She was full-on laughing, bent over and holding onto her stomach like she had just heard the world's funniest joke.

Emma rolled her eyes at the expense of her friend. She really couldn't find anything about the latter situation funny. Emma had that man not only thinking that they were a thing but that Anelia was also cheating on Emma. Not to mention Emma's colourful choice of words.

Anelia's explanation had barely convinced the man that her friend was just being dramatic. Instead, he had just grumbled something under his breath and shaken his head.

Emma was still laughing and hitting on her thigh repeatedly. Anelia made a beeline to the bathroom and shut the door. She leaned against and closed her eyes. She didn't want to admit it but Emma was a good crazy. The kind that was currently responsible for the smile that was on her face.

Anelia shook her head a little. These were the little things that made her life so much better. These moments that she cherished despite her otherwise unamused reaction. She really hold these moments close to her heart because as much as she might pretend otherwise, she was almost always happy during these stolen moments.

She sat on the edge of the tub and pulled out her phone. She still hadn't called Mr Sterling regarding his earlier missed call. She placed the phone by her ear, as soon as she'd dialed his number.

"Miss Telford," he answered shortly. 

It sounded weird to her, to hear him address her so formally. It always had, dating back to the other times that they'd communicated and quite frankly Anelia had insisted that he call her by her first name but the man seemed to be quite uncomfortable calling her so. She had tried to make it easy but hey, the man could knock himself out. 

She almost wished she had a face to the name. As far as she was concerned, he was Natie's dedicated class teacher who called occasionally to inform her of bits and pieces of Natalie's progress and had a thing for calling her Miss Telford. Did she mention that he had a British accent and a deep voice, to top it off?

"Mr Sterling, I saw your missed call from earlier. I couldn't call you back sooner because of work," she explained sketchily, sticking to the key points. "Is there anything wrong?"

"No, Miss Telford. Everything is good. I can assure you," he said. "I was just calling to remind you of the deadline."

He spoke with an air of ease that implied that she would know of what he was talking about. She blinked, taken aback. She had no exactly what he was talking about.

"The deadline?" She asked, whilst frowning in confusion.

"The deadline, Miss Telford," he repeated informatively. "We sent out the fliers at the beginning of this month and..." he stopped abruptly. 

"Natalie didn't mention it, did she?"

She hesitated answering. Natalie had indeed not informed her of the said deadline and that wasn't surprising. There were times in the past that she had kept quiet about certain things at school. Things that required monetary input. 

However, what Anelia didn't want for Natalie was the need to alienate herself from other school children. Anelia had personally gone through that in the remainder of her high school and it wasn't something she wanted for Natalie. What was the point of working so hard if she couldn't so much as pay for her school requests.

She laughed a little to clear the serious air. 

"Ehm, no, she didn't."

"I thought so," he stated. "Miss Telford, your sister is a talented young person. As a matter of fact she's probably the best student in my class but, she needs to engage more in extra curricular activities."

"I understand Sir, and I'll try to talk to Natalie about it."

"Indeed," he spoke out in that almost too formal British-accented way. Did all teachers speak like that? 

"Now," he continued. "About that deadline, it's a school trip to South Africa. We think it'll do our students a lot of good to be exposed to the geographical sites in the country. Something about balancing practicality and theory," he said

"Oh, of course," she agreed. "And when is this trip?"

"End of this month. I will send you all the details. If it's however, too short-notice for you, let me know. I'll work something out."

Anelia knew exactly what he meant by work something out and honestly, for some reason, it made her break a sweat. She didn't need this man whose face she didn't even know, jump in and pay for Natalie's expenses. She wasn't a charity case that needed saving.

"No, no!" She replied quickly. "It's okay, I will work something out. Thank you for telling me."

With that she cut the call and sighed heavily. What was with people and wanting to be her saviour? She was okay with being helped but there were limits. She wasn't some piece of fragile glass that could break easily and that needed constant help, while at it. 

She rose to her feet and walked along the corridor, back to the living room. Emma was sitting on the couch, typing away on her phone. She giggled like an excited high schooler. 

"What's got you so excited?" She asked, picking up her disarray of clothes. Her jacket was thrown on the opposite couch whilst her shoes were thrown carelessly on the floor.

"Just this guy I met at the bar today," she said. "He's so hot and such a gentleman, A."

Anelia refuted the urge to roll her eyes. Emma's antics never got old. She constantly sifted through relationships like she was programmed to. Emma was probably the most carefree, fun, beautiful and wonderful woman she knew, but Anelia couldn't help but worry about her spontaneity.

Maybe she had the whole variety is the spice of life thing going for her but, all in all Anelia hoped that someone would sweep her off her feet. Claim that unsettled heart of hers and just make her tone it down. She really prayed for the day.

"I wouldn't know," she said in a sing-song voice.

Emma shuffled on the couch, making Anelia turn in her direction. Emma sat upright, looking directly her way and cast her a coy look. Just when she thought that Emma was going to say something, she picked her phone up and typed away.

Well, okay then.

"My goodness!" She suddenly exclaimed. "Can you believe how hot these guys are? They're so handsome, I swear this level of hotness shouldn't be legal."

Anelia did roll her eyes at that. 

"Okay..," she answered half-heartedly, turning to go to her bedroom.

"What do you mean okay?" Emma asked in incredulity. Next thing she grabbed her hand and had her scuttling right onto the couch. "Look, I'm not even exaggerating. Look at them."

Anelia took the phone out of Emma's outstretched hand. She focused on the screen and the beating of her heart come to standstill. Was it just a small world or someone was seriously playing a sick joke on her.

Her eyes remained glued to the picture on the screen. Those familiar orbs, that muscular build and that tan, almost bronze skin. It was him. The man who had kissed her silly. Her very first kiss. She thrust the phone back into Emma's hand and stood up, hoping to escape her scrutiny. 

"That's it? Don't tell me you are immune to all that masculinity. Too bad he's the big bad boss."

Anelia pretended to be uninterested. She was shuffling about the room, fixing about anything that looked out of place in her line of vision. Anything to keep her busy.

"What do you mean the big bad boss?" She asked, keep her inquisition toned down as if to sound like she would rather be doing something else with her time than asking about him. 

"You really don't know?" Emma asked, seemingly shocked. "That's Mr Black, A. You know, the one from the penthouse. He's actually....," the rest went unheard to Anelia.

The ringing in her head caused her to lose touch of reality. She felt like she was in a bubble. She couldn't grasp the idea of not only kissing but also slapping the Mr Black. The same man that she had not long ago, believed to be a mystery, non-existent.

No, there had to be a mistake. It couldn't be. No one ever saw him before. Why would she be the first one to? I mean Emma could be wrong, right?

"Are you sure?" She asked, her voice shaky. "I thought they said that nobody ever met him, I thought...."

"Yeah, nobody's ever seen him at the penthouse but everyone knows what he looks like, Em. I mean...," Emma stopped upon seeing the forlorn look on Anelia's face. 

"Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?"

"No, i-it can't be."

Emma stood up and approached a clearly shaken-up Emma. She seemed to be thinking hard about something. Whatever it was, it had to be quite major if it clearly agitated her so much.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"Em, I think I might have lost my job. I-I..."