16
Part 16
Trent turned his head in my direction and gave me a sweet smile before focusing back on the road. The smile had me narrowing my eyes in suspicion. Where was he taking me? We had been driving forever. And what was he planning?NôvelDrama.Org owns © this.
“You’re awfully quiet,” Trent commented.
“Well yeah. I am sitting in the car with someone who I despise, why would I talk?” I gave him a pointed look.
“Do you really hate me?” Trent asked, amusement shimmering in his eyes.
“Yes. A thousand times yes,” I snapped.
“Well don’t,” he stated.
I turned to face him. “Excuse me?” What did he mean by that?
“I’m saying don’t hate me. You can dislike me, but don’t hate me,” he clarified.
“And who are you to tell me what to feel? I do hate you Trent Benson, and I’ll always will,” I sneered. Arrogant jerk!
“You know, there is a very fine line between love and hate,” he said.
“So?” I raised my eyebrows.
“So, too much love can eventually turn into hate, and too much hate and eventually turn into love. So don’t hate me, shady, because you just might end up loving me,” he explained.
I scoffed. “That’s bogus. And I won’t magically fall in love with you just because I hate you so much and there is a fine line between love and hate.”
“Alright, you might not believe me now, but maybe you’ll believe me once you actually fall,” he replied.
Igonring him, I turned to look out the window, the question which had been bugging me since I sat in his car flashed in the forefront of my brain; where was he taking me? Was he going to kidnap me, it sure looked like it.
Trent was driving through a strange place. All I could see were trees and vegetation; and I wondered where all the houses were, not to mention that I did not see a single human wandering around. This peculiar place had my fear spiking, and the only reason I wasn’t going hysterical right now was because I knew Trent was my boss, and even though I hated him, he would not let any harm come to me.
How do you even know that? The man left for two years, who knows, maybe he came back a serial killer.
“What is the meeting about?” I questioned, not looking at him.
“The executives of my agencies abroad are coming. I want you to meet them; they might want to photograph you,” Trent answered.
My eyes widened at hearing his response. He was helping me build up my career? He was actually helping me succeed? Oh wow. All this time I thought he hated me so much and would never let me grow as a model, but right now, all my notions went flying out of the window.
Maybe he was actually a good man and I had been judging him without actually getting to know him. Maybe it was I who was at fault. Maybe, it was I who always pissed him off that he had to act like a jerk to me.
Maybe you’re being stupid once again and he’s still the same arrogant prick he’s always been.
“So, you’re okay with other companies wanting me?” I asked him, staring at him to check if he really was okay with all this.
“They are not other companies, the company is mine but different branches. If they want to photograph you, basically you’ll still be working for me,” he explained.
“So it doesn’t matter if I work for them or not because either way I’ll still be working for you?”
Trent nodded, and all hope fled me like air from a balloon. I knew it was too good to be true. I mean, why would Trent let me work for other companies when he was barely letting me work in his. It had been two years and not a single photograph of mine had been published in the magazine. I worked my ass off and I barely got any recognition. I asked Jordan why my photographs were never published, but he always had an excuse up his sleeve. I was starting to think that maybe Jordan did not want to hurt my feelings by telling me that I was not good enough to be in their magazine.
“Yes. But maybe by working abroad, you might get some more exposure,” Trent stated.
I did not respond, the thought of not being good enough weighing on my mind. Trent was clear when he told me how he only wanted perfection in his magazine, which I was not. Did he still think the same way? Did I even want to know? Was I strong enough to handle another blow to my self esteem?
It took me by surprise when Trent gently placed his hand on mine. I glanced up to see him eyeing me with concern. Why was he concerned about me?
“Are you all right, bumblebee?” He asked.
I nodded. “Yes, I’m fine, thank you.” I moved my hand which was under his. Trent had no right to touch me, and I would make sure he knew that.
“You’re thinking about something,” he commented, shifting his eyes back on the road.
“I am always thinking about something,” I said flatly.
“Well, what are you thinking about?” He enquired.
“Nothing you need to be concerned about.” I told him.
“I want to know,” he demanded.
“I think you should focus on getting to your destination, instead of poking your nose where it doesn’t belong,” I snapped.
“You’re not allowed to speak to me that way.” A hint of danger entered his tone, but I could not care less.
“And you’re not allowed to meddle in my business,” I retorted.
“Amanda, I will not tolerate this,” he warned.
“Well then you shouldn’t have brought me along. It’s your fault really, so suck it up.” I told him. I was done taking his shit. He would not tell me what to do anymore. If I gave him control, then he was going to destroy me, and I would not let that happen.
Instead of driving, Trent stopped the car, right there, in the middle of the road. He got out and rounded the car before opening my door, unclipping my seatbelt and dragging me out. The action was so sudden and so shocking, I could not even fight against him. Once I was out of the car, Trent slammed the door shut and pinned me against the car, his eyes throwing fireballs at me.
“You’ve clearly forgotten who you’re dealing with. I leave you for two months and you think you have the right to speak to me in any way you want,” he seethed.
I shot him a glare. “Who the hell do you think you are? You are my boss not my father! And I’ll speak to you in whatever way I please. And you left me for two years, I wish you never came back!”
Trent pinned my shoulder to the car and leaned forward until his nose brushed mine. That little touch felt like blissful spiders crawling down my spine, and I cursed my body for its traitorous response.
“Watch your mouth, or you’re not going to like what’ll happen to you,” he warned.
“Let go of me or you won’t like what I’ll do to you.” He thought he could treat me like his slave and I’d be okay with it; well this billionaire had another thing coming. I was going to destroy him once we reach our destination. I would crush his reputation just like how he crushed my self esteem two years ago.
“What will you do? Tell me,” he demanded, his tone cocky.
I did not answer. I knew what I was going to do now, and I was going to enjoy doing it. But first, I would have to make Trent believe that I was a helpless damsel who had no power. And when we would reach the place where the meeting was being held, I would strike.
Trent chuckled at my silence. “Just as I thought. You can’t do anything. I am the one in control, I am the one in power.”
He was so wrong, I had to stop myself from laughing out loud. Trent was way too confident; and he used it as his strength. But the very same confidence that he wore as armor was also his weakness. Killing his confidence, would destroy him, and that was exactly what I planned to do.
When he let go of me and took a step back, I winced and rubbed my shoulder. The man had power, that much was certain, and not just in the physical sense. He had more power than I could ever dream to have, but I was not going to let that get me down. Today was the perfect opprotunity to get my revenge on him. Let’s see how he liked it when people laughed at him; and not just strangers, but people who worked for him.
“Get inside, we’ll be late,” he ordered, going back to the driver’s seat.
With a glower, I opened my door and slid inside. I would run away if we weren’t in the middle of nowhere, but as it was, luck was not on my side. Once both of us were seated, Trent turned the ignition and sped forwards.
For a while none of us said anything. I had no idea what Trent was thinking, but I was thinking of more ways to embarrass him in public. Once I ruined his reputation amongst his colleagues, my next step would be to ruin him in front of his family.
“We are going to be spending the night there,” Trent informed me.
I jerked out of my reverie. No way! I would not spend the night with him. Wasn’t it bad enough that I had to suffer for a few hours in his company, now he wanted me to spend an entire night. No, no, I could not do that; I did not have that much self control. I would most likely combust because everytime I looked at him, all the hurt and agony he put me through came back with full force.
“No. I have things to do at home, I cannot stay the night.” I told him.
“You can do them later, but we are spending the night here.” There was a note of finality to his words, but I chose to ignore it.
“And I said I can’t. I’ll take the bus home, I have important things to do.” I was lying, but I would never tell the truth to Trent about why I really wanted to leave.
“If you think I’m going to let you out of my sight, then think again, sleeping beauty. You are not leaving, get that through your head,” he stated.
“I don’t see why we have to spend the whole day there. It’s a stupid meeting which won’t last more than a few hours. Why do we have to waste our time sleeping in motels when we can easily go back,” I demanded to know.
“I thought we established the fact that you don’t get to ask questions,” Trent replied.
This time I closed my eyes to stop tears of anger and frustration from spilling out. Trent was really testing my patience, and I’d be damned if I let him see me like this. The way he was continuously telling me how really powerful he was, threatened to break my confidence which had taken two years for me to build.
“Trent please, don’t do this. Just leave me alone,” I uttered. The fact that I had let those words slip out of my mouth made me curse myself. Trent pissed me off so much, I couldn’t even control my words.
When Trent placed his hand on my thigh, I did not fight it off. I knew he was not going to stop until he had me begging for mercy. This man was evil, and I hated him. And in just a few minutes, he had me emotionally exhausted.
“No. I’m won’t,” he muttered. I wasn’t sure he meant for his words to reach me, but they did anyway. And the promise in those three words made my heart heavy. Something needed to be done about him. I couldn’t just sit and let him dictate my life.
Fishing out my cell phone from my purse, I texted Jose asking him if buses ran in this part of the state. But when he asked me where exactly I was, I was at a loss for an answer. I had no idea where we were, so Jose could not tell me whether buses came to this part of the state or not.
“We are out of the city, right?” I asked Trent. Judging by the grass surrounding me, I could tell that we were no where near civilization.
He nodded and I cursed him. “Yes. We are pretty far away from civilization.”
I checked the time on my phone and nearly groaned out loud. Three hours. We had been on the road for three fucking hours, no wonder my patience was starting to run thin. This was why I could not spend the nigh with Trent, I would blow a fuse.
“I’m sure I can find my way home,” I muttered to myself, but believed none of it.
“You can’t. Some animal would end up killing you before you even walk a mile,” Trent responded.
“Why don’t you keep your ears to yourself.” I glowered at him.
“I’ll do that as soon as you keep your thoughts to yourself.” Trent chuckled.
“How long until we reach?” I enquired.
“Five minutes,” he answered.
“Aren’t you tired from driving for so long?” I queried. Trent looked as fresh as a daisy. It didn’t look as if he had been driving for three hours.
“I’m used to long drives,” he stated.
“Of course you are.” I wondered when I’d get used to him. Probably never since he kept on finding new ways to aggravate me.
After a few minutes, Trent said that words that had me sighing in bliss. “We’re here.”
He parked the car and I got out. And as soon as I took my first breath of fresh air, I felt refreshed and determined, ready to destroy Trent’s reputation once and for all. And the best part was, he would never this coming. He thought I weak and helpless; well I was just about to prove to him how wrong he had been all along.
I smiled softly when Trent took my hand in his as if we did this everyday, and begun leading me towards the place where the meeting was being held; which I had no idea about because everywhere I looked I only saw grass and trees.
But I gloated internally, because now it was time to finally show Trent just how much I had changed over the years. It was time to show him that I was not inferior to him.
It was time to destroy him.