Chapter 5 – Explain Yourself

(Aya’s POV)

“Did you walk from Rose Hills to here?” Addie’s eyebrows were knitted, but I knew she was only teasing me as she widened the door.

My digital wristwatch told me it was past ten in the evening already. I mouthed, ‘Sorry’ as I entered her apartment, put the paper bags down, and walked to the living room. I slumped on the couch and closed my eyes as my body screamed from exhaustion. I hardly noticed Leslie peering from the kitchen and then advancing toward us with beer cans in her hands.

“Nope! I think she went shopping,” Leslie chuckled, placing the cans on the center table and glancing at the paper bags I placed beside the door.

“Yeah!” I chuckled, opening one eye. “Where’s my daughter? I forgot to call dad to check on him.”

“Katie’s sleeping, and don’t worry about Uncle Dean. Leslie tugged him here to have dinner with us but went home around eight to watch a ballgame. He’s bored, but he’s okay,” Addie assured me.

I nodded, closing my eyes again, and if no one dared to talk, I was sure I would end up snoring on their couch.

“So, what happened to your interview?” Leslie cut in.

“I got the job,” I answered, almost hushedly, then opened my eyes and smiled at her. “You didn’t tell me your shoes were a serial killer.”

“Hey! Be careful with your accusation. That one’s expensive,” she laughed, sitting beside Addie and taking the beer can my cousin opened and gave her. “What exactly happened? You got the job, but you looked unhappy.”

“Not unhappy, Leslie, but extremely tired.” I groaned as I turned my head at my cousin. “Addie, whenever the agency sends you an email like that, do they usually give you the detail of the employer?” I asked curiously as she sipped beer.

She narrowed her eyes, shaking her head. “Nope. All applicants can only know about it once they confirm the invitation. Why?” She shifted from her seat, facing me now. “I checked Rose Hills on the Internet, and it’s a private residential area. I checked on your prospective employer this morning, but the details were blank. How’s the Carlington employer?” 

“Red’s -”

“You’re kidding, right?” Leslie sat straight and put her can on the center table.

I rolled my eyes, thinking she had overreacted. “I haven’t said anything yet, Leslie.”

“You said Red. Your employer is Red Carlington, right?” She sounded excited.

“Red Carlington?” Addie turned her head to Leslie and then to me.

“Yeah, the colorful family,” I muttered, arching my head, resting it on the couch’s backrest, and taking the cushion pillow to hug it. For a short second, my lips curved into a smile, and then I pressed my lips to stop myself from smiling and imagining Red.

“Oh my God,” Leslie gasped and chuckled. “You’re so… Red.”

“This Red must be a knockout,” Addie laughed.

“Beddable?” Leslie raised her eyebrows and grinned as she looked at her partner.

I moaned. “Very, but not available.” I sighed, remembering how aloof he was.

After that incident in his kid’s playroom, he suddenly became unfriendly and distant. I might not agree with Addie and Leslie that true love exists, but I believe a woman can be happy when a man can satisfy her in bed. I was glad Ryan and I were in a long-distance relationship because it would be challenging to fake that I was enjoying myself in bed with him whenever we slept together. I brushed off the thought of me in Red’s arms again before I went out like a light and talked in my sleep as I dreamt of him.

Maybe Addie and Leslie would not mind me sleeping here on the couch, and Katie and I would just go home early in the morning. I was really sleepy and tired, but I still had to give them a bit of what had happened today.

“I didn’t get the job.” I raised my hands, my fingers gesturing a double quote in the air as I said, “The private tutor job.”

“You said you got the job,” said Addie, furrowing her forehead.

“The agency got it wrong. They’re looking for a nanny… more like a nanny supervisor with the same compensation and benefits, but it’s a long story how I got the job.” I explained, unsure if I had to tell them how exactly the interview went. I turned my head to them and raised my brows. “Why are you so surprised my employer’s Red Carlington?”

“Hello? The Pacific?” Leslie blinked her eyes at me, but I shook my head, not understanding her.

I knew she worked as one of the Software Development Engineers in The Pacific, but I could not see the connection. The Pacific is the number one online e-commerce company in the country but has penetrated the market globally, making it number two in the e-commerce business. If Leslie was trying to link him to her company, Carlington was probably one of their clients.

Mike explained everything, but whenever I caught Red glancing at me, I got distracted and lost in whatever the young lawyer was telling me. The Carlington owned a conglomerate related to shopping mall development, real estate, e-commerce business, and banking in the country, but not the details. Before I signed the contract, my head was whirling already, and by the time he and Ariana explained the kids’ schedule, the do’s and the don’ts, my mind was already floating.

“What about it?” I yawned and covered my mouth, wondering if she understood my question, which was almost incomprehensible.

“Duh, Darling, Red’s the founder of The Pacific and the current CEO. Technically, you’re working with my boss, whom I’ve never seen since I began working in the company. He always sends his representative, Liam Carlington, to all meetings and important events,” she explained. “Are they normal?”

I snorted. “What do you mean normal? Are they alien or something?”

Leslie chuckled. “Not like that. Whenever Mr. Carlington comes to the company, he’s surrounded by bodyguards.”

My eyes were pinned on the ceiling as I thought, then I shook my head. “The only guard I’d seen today was the security guard at the gate.” I twitched my lips and then narrowed my eyes. “Other than the long list of do’s and don’ts they told me, they’re pretty normal to me. Red even drove me home.” I pursed my lips, hating that the last words slipped my mouth.

Addie opened her mouth, but the ring from a cell phone stopped her from talking. We all turned our heads in the direction of the paper bags near the door. I yawned again as I looked at my cousin.

“You bought a new phone?” I asked, squeezing my eyes and opening them again.

“You bought a new phone?” Addie mimicked, rolling her eyes. “Wake up, Aya! Those are your things. You brought them with you,” she reminded me.

Frowning, I chewed on my bottom lip as I blinked, trying to remember how I got them. The next round of ringing woke me up, recalling his secretary giving me those bags and telling me to keep my lines open because Red would always call and ask about his children.  

“Oh, God!” I gasped.

Panicking, I ran near the door, quickly looked among the shopping bags, and grabbed the designer bag from Ariana, where I had tossed the cell phone.  My hands were trembling as I accepted the call. Only it wasn’t a simple call, but a video call, causing my body to jolt when I saw Red’s gorgeous face on the screen.

“You lied to me!” He muttered angrily, sounding like he caught me cheating.

“Huh?” I raised my eyebrows, wondering about his accusation. “I don’t understand you. What do you mean I lied to you?”

“I had your background investigated, Aya. You said you’re homosexual, yet I had a report here saying that you are in a relationship with Gino Cortez. What other lies did you tell me? Explain yourself; otherwise, don’t come back tomorrow.”

A line was etched between my brows, distracted not by what he said but by the familiar plants in his background. My hand grabbed the doorknob, opened the door, and peered my head at the ajar door.

The sexy and luscious man I was hoping to dream of tonight was standing by the doorway of the apartment next to Addie’s. My heart stopped beating as my mouth went an O shape.

“Red, what are you doing there?” I asked in a hushed tone with urgency in my voice, worried any paparazzi had followed him. The last thing I wanted to happen was for my life to be dragged on social media.

He glowered at me as he turned in my direction. “You answer me; what are you doing there?”

I must have gone crazy, opening the door wide when the light on our porch lit. Red must have knocked on the door or pressed the doorbell, waking my father up. Without thinking, I dashed toward Red and grabbed his arm, tugging him toward Addie’s apartment.

When he raised his hands, perhaps attempting to grab my shoulder, I used every strength I had left, pinned him to the panel of the closed door, and molded my lips to his soft full lips to silence him.