3. BRUTAL

My eyes flew open at the sound of a loud cough and it was met with the slight darkness of the room. Every windows and doors were shut at my command and the only light illuminating the room was a red light coming from the far end of the room.

I turned to see someone on my bed coughing and adjusting herself before diving into another round of heaving snoring. She was sounding like an over-packed truck and that got me mad big time. My hand connected to the mini apple shaped table beside my bed and it produced a bang loud enough to shake the building.

The lady flew up fearfully as she scanned her environment to make sure a war had not broken out.

“What are you?” I growled deeply and she sat there looking at me with the blanket around her heaving chest

“Did I just ask a statue a question? Am I not talking to a human? Cat got your tongue!?” questions flew out of my mouth endlessly while she shook at my voice

She managed to find her voice but couldn’t respond audibly. “You… I… got here… last night… we.. slept… don’t you remember?”

A short silence followed before I thundered again. “So? If you are the bed warmer, what are you still doing here? Did you not have enough fun last night? Do you want me to go another round?” and yanked her hair, pulling her neck to the back

Her voice suddenly came back and she was able to make a coherent statement.

“No sir! I had enough fun!” she responded and slapped my hand off

That pissed me to the bone. How dare she? How dare she touch me without my permission? I didn’t know when my hands wrapped around her neck and pressed down on it in annoyance.

She struggled for her life as she tried to remove my hand from her neck but I wasn’t done with her. She had no manners and I had to teach her some. Getting cheeky with me was one of the things I hated most, especially not now that I was coming back from the land of the dead.

I finally released my hold when a loud bang landed on my door. She didn’t even bother to cover herself before she flew out of my bed naked and rushed to Bojana’s side, crying and breathing heavily.

“You didn’t have to make her see the door of heaven when you could chase her out politely after she warmed your bed” she stated, walking closer to pick up the blanket for her so she could cover her body

“Did I not tell you that I never want to see them beside me when I wake up?” I yelled at her and the lady jumped in fear.

Bojana was used to me so nothing I did fazed her. She just calmly told the lady to follow her.

“Don’t forget your meeting by ten. You look like you had some fun and she served you well. Only if you were not an asshole with a nasty temper” she clacked her tongue and went out of the room with the lady

Bojana was right. My temper is very nasty. I don’t hold back when I am livid and I hate getting dared. I love my rules being kept and I give no room for second chances, I am not that generous.

She is my aide and the only person who understands me. She knows what I wanted each time and doesn’t pry into what I didn’t tell her because she knew either I was not ready to tell her or wouldn’t tell her at all.

She’s also a longtime friend. She was the first person that warmed up to me when I got to Italy and thankfully, our goals aligned. We are still not where we aimed but we are slowly moving up the ladder and the goal is right in front of us.

The dream I had played over and over in my head as I showered and dressed for the meeting at the company. My mood was already at zero from the early morning and when I thought about the report I also received the previous night, I knew the day wouldn’t be a smiling one and yes, I was always prepared.

I marched outside the house to Bojana already dressed in her knee length black skirt that had a tiny silt along the thigh, her purple shirt was neatly tucked in and her transparent white glasses was sitting on her nose.

“One would think you are my secretary. What’s with this outfit?” I scoffed

“I play different roles in your life every day and I think the secretary one is the next today. You didn’t forget about the visit to the Orange hub later in the day right?” she responded and pointed to the car for me to get in

“I see…”

“Taken care of..  No charges will be pressed but please could you be a little gentler with them? You made a great mess” she snapped at me

“They wanted money, I wanted their body. It’s a win-win. Money is not easy to make, they have to prove their worth” I spat out unapologetically

“Why bother saying anything? It’s just like talking to a stone” she sighed and gave up as the car pulled up in front of the company

“Everyone is in right? I hate to gather people twice for the same cause” I asked as we ascended the little stairs that leads to the company’s building

“You should trust me on that. I also do not like wasting any second of my time” she sneered as her heels kissed the tiled floor as we walked in deeper into the building

My plan for the meeting was a terrible one and just as usual, no going back. After all, I don’t go back on my words.

“I am Rocco Lorenzo” I muttered as the elevator’s door closed on my cold face.