Pet

After her 'Talk' with Nikolai, Ivy became Nikolai's willing captive. Everyone left her alone most of the time. The kind house keeper Rhonda is the only person who speaks with Ivy.

"Here, eat this dear" Rhonda gave her some food, which Ivy ate in the kitchen alone.

When she was eating, Shawn, one of the men who kidnapped her gave her phone back to her.

"This stupid thing wouldn't stop ringing" he muttered.

As if to prove his point, her mobile started ringing again. Ivy became pale when she looked at the caller id.

The name 'Boss' flashed on the screen. She immediately answered the phone. Before she could speak, her boss started yelling at her.

"Ivy Johnson, how irresponsible of you? It's been three days and you didn't show up to work. Did you forget that we have an international design competition tomorrow and you are representing our company?" he yelled her so loudly, that even Shawn and Rhonda heard it.

Ivy looked at Shawn helplessly. Shawn just shrugged his shoulders and left. Ivy doesn't know what to tell her boss. She is sure Nikolai will not allow her to leave the Knight mansion untill his work is done with her. But she cannot tell that to her boss.

"Mr. Josh, I was not feeling well" she lied. Ivy is soft natured. She cannot yell to make her point. That's why her superiors and even her coworkers bully her at work.

But Josh was not ready to hear her explanation.

"If you don't come to work now, you are fired" he yelled again before disconnecting the call.

Ivy is stunned. She works for a very reputed apparel company. Clothes from her company are used by celebrities and rich people. She earned the job with her hard work. She is just a normal low level designer in the company. But her boss uses her designs and always claims that those are his. And he is the one who is participating in the competition using her designs.

Looking at how conflicted Ivy looked, Rhonda felt bad for the girl.

"Why don't you ask Nik? He might allow you to work?" Rhonda suggested.

Ivy's eyes became as big as saucers when she heard Rhonda's suggestion. She is hiding in the kitchen and doesn't want to face the devil untill it's absolutely nessasary. But Rhonda is suggesting her to seek him intentionally.

"What? Ask him? No, no" she refused immediately.

Rhonda can see how scared the girl is. And why wouldn't she be. Nikolai terrified her to her core. For some reason Rhonda liked Ivy very much. She is sweet and gentle.

"Ivy, Nik is not completely unreasonable. I am sure he will agree if you ask him. In the end, it's your decision. Your boss might really fire you if you don't show up to work today" Rhonda pointed out.

Ivy is conflicted. She knows that her boss would fire her if she doesn't show up. Tomorrow's competition is important to him. And he already mentioned it a hundred times.

'Well, just let me bite the bullet for once and ask him. After all, I love this job. After he is done with me, I have to get back to my life again. Why to lose my job if I can try to save it ' she thought to herself.

"Ok" she agreed and went to find Nikolai in his office.

On the other hand,

Nikolai already knows about the call. He is the one who told Shawn to give her the phone. What Ivy doesn't know is that, the company she works for is his.

"Josh called her. He was yelling at her about tomorrow's competition" Shawn relayed what he heard.

This made Nikolai thoughtful.

"She is just a junior level designer. Why is Josh so desperate? He was calling her non stop for the past three days" he wondered outloud.

Just then, Ivy knocked on the door.

Nikolai nodded at Shawn to leave.

Shawn left the same time when Ivy entered.

Nikolai leaned back in his chair while looking at her with a blank face.

"M...m.." Ivy cleared her throat which suddenly felt like it's blocked.

She gulped audibly before opening her mouth again.

"Mr. Knight, that.. I...my boss...." she is so terrified that she couldn't form a proper sentence.

Nikolai doesn't have patience to wait untill she muster her courage to ask him what she came for. He slapped his desk impatiently. She jumped with fright.

"My boss wanted me to come to work immediately. Can I please go?" she spoke everything in one breath.

Nikolai looked at her intently for a moment.

He didn't say anything. Instead, he stood up to his full height and pushed his chair back. On instinct Ivy took a step back with fear. He approached her slowly like a predator is approaching it's prey. For every single step he took towards her, she took one back untill her back touched the wall and he is invading her personal space.

"Well pet, I will drop you there personally" he spoke with a smile, which terrified her even more.

This close, his dark gaze felt like he is trying to look into her soul, which terrified her even more. She pushed her body more into the wall to create as much space between them as possible. Soon, he moved away, leaving her to follow him.

She doesn't want to go with him. But she didn't dare to tell that to him outloud. She followed after him, feeling helpless.

Little did she know that he has other motive behind his offer. Nikolai never does anything without a reason.