19. A dress
A few days have gone by since Mr. Jason’s humble act of kindness towards me. I actually thought things were going to change from that day on, but who was I kidding. I knew nothing was going to change, but I was hoping it would. Enough about Mr. Jason. I am out with Alex, and he should be the one on my mind, not Mr. Jason.
“I hope you like the food,” Alex asks, smiling. He has a charming smile.
“I do, and this place is beautiful,” I say, admiring the place where we are having dinner.
We are having dinner at a rooftop restaurant. I am on a date with Alex. He picked me up half an hour ago. I am wearing a black plunge midi dress with a sweetheart neckline and a side split.
“I am happy you like it and tell me more about you” He sounds genuinely interested to know more about me.
I give him a brief history about myself, and he does the same too. I found out that he and Mr. Jason grew up together. They were best friends for more than 10 years. He didn’t tell me what caused them to stop being friends. It made me more curious to find out what caused them to stop being friends.
I was a little worried that I wouldn’t have anything to talk to Alex about since he is far older than me, but that was not the case. We had a lovely time during dinner discussing things that were of interest to both of us.
We are saying goodbye at my doorstep, and I can’t help but wonder if he will kiss me. I would have invited him in for a cup of coffee if I lived alone. I am starting to wish I lived alone. I have a lot of college debt to pay, so it’s not the best time for me to buy or rent a place of my own.
“I had a lovely time tonight,” Alex says, holding my hand and is just a breath away from me. I am too shy to look up at him, so I just stare at the ground.
“Me too,” I say, playing with the little rock in front of me.
“We should do it again soon,” He says, lifting my chin up. My eyes meet with his lovely grey eyes. They don’t draw me in like Mr. Jason’s eyes, but they are equally beautiful. Why did I even compare them to Mr. Jason’s? For someone who hates Mr. Jason, I sure think about him a lot.
“Yeah, we should,” I say, and my eyes flicker between his eyes and lips. I see his lips moving closer to mine. I close my eyes and wait for his lips to touch mine.
“Eleanor, I didn’t know you were back,” Uncle Jack says, opening the door behind me and ruins the moment.
“Yes, I am Uncle Jack,” I say, mentally rolling my eyes at him because he ruined my moment, but it was not intentional.
“Who is this? Are you going to introduce me?” Uncle Jack says
“Uncle Jack, meet Alex, Alex, meet my uncle.”
“Hello, sir,” Alex says, putting his hand out for a handshake. I am surprised by the respect he is giving Uncle Jack. The age gap between them is not much, but because Uncle Jack is like a father to me. He is still giving him the same respect he would have given my father. That’s very respectful of him.
“How are you? I hope you are treating my niece well,” Uncle Jack says, accepting his handshake but gives his hand a firm shake.
“I won’t have it any other way.”Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
“That’s good to hear, and Eleanor, I am going out for a little while. I will be back soon,” He says, walking past me outside the house.
“Alright”
“Your uncle seems nice.”
“I know, and I guess this is good night.”
“Yes, Good night Eleanor,” He says, placing a little kiss on the back of my hand before he walks to his car. I walk inside the house smiling so much I am surprised my face does not hurt from it.
I go to work on Monday, and for the first time in weeks, Nora has a pitiful look in her eyes as I greet her in the lobby. That could only mean Mr. Jason is angry with me. I take my time to get into the elevator because I want to spend as much time away from him as possible if he is mad at me.
After saying a little prayer, I take a deep breath and walk out of the elevator once it arrives on my floor. I take slow steps to my desk. The whole time I was in the elevator, and even now, I can’t stop thinking about the possible reasons he might be angry with me. I know he does not know I went out with Alex because he does not follow me on social media, where I posted pictures from our date. And the only other people in the world who would tell him don’t even know what he looks like. I am talking about Amber and Uncle Jack.
The moment my ass touches my chair, I scream in fear when I hear the phone ringing. Oh my God, I haven’t seen him or spoken to him, but he is already making my day start in fear.
“Hello,” I say, answering the phone.
“My office now” His loud voice boom’s and I can feel his anger through the phone. Oh God, please, what did I do to get punished by a boss like Mr. Jason?
I hang up the phone and walk to his office.
“Good morning, sir,” I say once I am inside and standing in front of him
“Morning Eleanor, how was your weekend,” He says, sounding calmer than I was expecting.
“It was good, thank you for asking.”
“I am not surprised it was good since you do a wonderful job at disobeying me.”
“How did I disobey you, sir,” I ask, confused
“How does anyone disobey someone?”
“I am a little confused, sir.”
“Of course, you would be confused because after I warned you not to test my patience. You had the guts to use my money and buy a dress to wear to go out on a date with that fool,” He yells angrily.
“Sir, I don’t know what you are talking about,” I say, shaking in fear the angrier he gets. I have an idea of what he is talking about, but I plan to pretend like I don’t know. I can’t believe he found out.
“You don’t know what I am talking about, Eleanor?” He shouts, “Will you stop lying to me” He yells, banging his hand on his desk, and I almost pee my pants.
“I am very sorry, sir. It will never happen again.”
The dress I wore for my date with Alex. I got it from the store Mr. Jason sent me to get clothes for work. I didn’t think he kept a record of everything I bought. I can’t believe I was foolish and didn’t think he would find out, but why is he so angry. I know he does not like Alex, but his anger seems a bit too much just because I bought a dress with his money. I feel like he should not be so angry with me just because of that or because I am friends with someone he does not like. And most importantly, how did he know Alex was the one I went out on a date with.
“Of course, it will never happen again, and who was it?”
“Who was what?”
“Who did you fucking go out on a date with,” He says, standing up enraged.
“Ev-an-an-nn” I stammer. I am so scared he might do something to me right now. He does not know it’s Alex, and he is this pissed off. I am starting to wonder if the reason he is pissed off might be something else and not just because I used his money to buy the dress.
“Who”
“Evan” There is no way I am telling him it’s Alex, and I don’t know why Evan’s name always pops up in my head first. I hope I don’t put him in trouble again with Mr. Jason.
“Try again, and this time don’t you dare lie to me,” He says, and even if I can’t see his eyes, I can feel them burning into my skull. I won’t dare and look at him in this situation right now.
“Evan,” I lie again. He does not say anything, but I hear footsteps moving towards me.
“Eleanor,” He says, lifting my chin up to meet his eyes. His eyes are filled with anger. “I am giving you one last chance. Who did you buy the dress for”
“Alex,” I say, barely audible, but he hears it. I figured he already knew who, and he just wanted me to say it.
“You went on a date with Alex.”
“I know you don’t like him, but I don’t think that should stop me from going out with him,” I say, trying to reason with him so he can cool down even though I don’t understand why he is so angry about it.
“Did you hear the words that came out of your mouth? You know I don’t like him, and you fucking went out with him,” He yells.
“I am sorry, sir” He is really scaring me, and even though he has no single right to be angry right now. I love my life, and I don’t want to die, so I will do anything to make sure I leave this room alive.
“Eleanor, I think you have a Ph. D. in making me angry,” He says, and I realize the words I just said. I said sorry; he hates it when I say sorry. He is going to kill me. Please save me, guys.
“Forgive me, sir, I will never do it again” I change my words to try and calm him down.
“As I said earlier, you will never do it again, and to make sure you won’t. I forbid you from ever speaking to him or seeing him”
“Forbid me,” I ask, surprised. I can understand why he is angry I bought a dress for a date with his money but to forbid me from seeing Alex is just outrageous.
“Yes, and if you disobey me again, I will have grandfather fire you.”
“Mr. Jason,” I say, shocked.
“Leave my office,” He says,
“Mr. Jason, I don’t……….”
“Eleanor, I am very pissed off at you, so choose your next words wisely,” He says, cutting me off, threatening me.
My mouth hangs open as I think about what to say next. I storm out of his office as I feel tears threatening to fall from my eyes. I quickly walk to the bathroom and lock myself in a stall. I can’t believe what my life has become. I am trying to make a living for myself to pay off my college debt, but because of Mr. Jason, it seems like the road to that is difficult.
Mr. Jason is so cruel, and I don’t know what I did to deserve such a horrible boss. The way he made a big deal over the dress is just too much for me to bear right now. If I want to keep my job, I can’t believe I have to give up a nice relationship I just started because of him. It’s like every day I wake up, and things just keep getting worse for me.