Chapter 12: its called a glow up

ROY's POV

I watched as Zoey left in a hurry and I would kill to know where she was going. Seeing her suffer was my joy but I was not satisfied with the amount of suffering she went through today.

Making her get me coffee twice was torturous to her and she probably wanted me dead when she found the cost of the coffee.

The fact that she spent her whole day working on an impossible code to crack made me want to smile. She was right, I was not being fair. The work I gave her was impossible to complete in a day but if she was skilled enough she could succeed. I was testing her skills as well as watching her suffer.

I was quite disappointed that she admitted failure so easily. I knew she could do it, just not as fast that's why I threatened her not to leave till she was done that way she could have a mission to leave after finishing her work. I knew she needed so much time to finish decoding but she just gave up halfway through.

And all for love? I heard her conversation with whoever she was calling sweetheart and baby. I get that she was in a relationship but was love worth risking her job for? Maybe I was unfamiliar with love but money came first in this world and nothing was worth risking money for. But that was my world, I didn't know about other people's world.

Though I didn't take her as the gay type. She didn't appear to be the type that liked women. So hearing her call another woman all those mushy names was astonishing.

Wait, that's why she was shy that day we met. Because she loves women and she's not used to men. She could be innocent after all and here I was thinking she was dangerous.

Maybe it was not her years ago. She's not who I sensed a lavender fragrance from. Many people could smell the same and I mistook her for that someone. I could not even remember when I smelled that lavender scent because the scent was faint just like the person who had the scent but its faintness got stuck in my brain. It was time I dissed the thought that it was her years ago.

Realising that didn't make me lose interest in keeping her close or torturing her. Before, I wanted to get to know her by keeping her close and giving her torturous jobs while I tried to figure out if she was dangerous or not.

That lavender scent and her weird act during our first meeting got me thinking too much about danger which was always lurking around because my world was a dangerous one.

It was not her years ago because if she was, she too would have been familiar with me.

Since I had completely been convinced she was not a threat, I wanted to keep her around for my amusement. She was not boring to have around plus her computer skills were quite interesting.

I wasn't sure if I wanted her to quit anymore but that didn't mean I wasn't going to make her do my bids. She was interesting when angry and now I wanted to make her angrier and see what her limit was and how much torture she could take.

She was very confident and I had to admit I admired that personality. She was not afraid to defend herself and speak her mind. That was different from women her age who were fake and people pleasers.

I finally looked at the piece of paper with numbers on it. I assumed that was her phone number. I sneered recalling how confidently she wrote it and then she started giving me instructions. Who in their right mind talks however they want to their boss?

Nevertheless, I still copied the number because I had a torturous job for her before she arrived for work the next day.

ZOEY's POV

Alex sat madly in the passenger seat. She looked so cute I wanted to laugh but I couldn't. I felt bad for her, she was the only student left at school.

"I'm sorry baby, but my boss is a fool exploiting my rights by making me suffer for his enjoyment. You know I'm never late, can you let this go? Just this once?"I pouted wiggling my eyebrows at her.

I could see her lips tremble, a smile trying to break out but she was forcing herself to frown. Finally, she looked at me smiling and I smiled back."There she is, my happy sweet little gummy bear."I jumbled her hair amidst her protest.

"We were given an assignment to draw a family tree." she suddenly said as I stopped due to traffic. This time of the hour had very heavy traffic and I blamed it on Roy for being so insensitive about my working hours.

I faced Alex," And how are you doing it? Do you need help?"I asked her playing dumb. I knew where she was leading with the topic.

She looked at me hesitating to speak." Yeah, but I wouldn't have a father. It has always been me and you but a family tree should have a father too. I was wondering if I should just include an imaginary father since I don't have one." she said.

I swallowed looking at her with a sad smile."You don't have to include an imaginary father. I am your father and mother gummy bear. Just draw something real, something you are familiar with. You can put me in his place."I said but I wasn't sure if I was saying or doing this right.

Parenting was an exciting job but it also came with tough choices and decisions which you were not sure were right or wrong. I didn't think I was doing her good by hiding who her father was but then I couldn't just tell her father he had a child he was not aware of.

Or let's say I said something but he refused to take responsibility, that would break Alex and I couldn't let her be hurt at this age. She was so young, I didn't want her to be broken this young. Prevention is always better than cure.

Roy didn't know we met years ago and as a result of our meeting, I bore his child. I couldn't just tell him he had a child that he had not planned for. This was my responsibility, I didn't feel like including him. He should live his life like he had planned.

"But everyone will be having their father. That would make me weird. How can someone have their mother as both their mother and father?"Alex sadly asked.

I smiled trying to cheer her mood."Well, you are special. Can you imagine you are so special you have your mother acting as both your mother and father? Don't worry about other kids, they are not as unique as you."I kissed her cheeks.

She smiled leaning to hug me."I'm I really that unique? Sometimes you say I'm unique but people say I'm weird. They think because I have green eyes, I'm weird but you say I'm unique." she said and I frowned.

I looked at her."Are people bullying you?"I felt the need to ask.

Alex smiled reassuringly."Do I look like someone who could get bullied?" she was so convincing I believed. She was a tough kid.

I smiled nodding." You are the most beautiful girl in the world with the prettiest eyes. Don't let anybody tell you otherwise and if they say otherwise, they are just jealous. Always remember that."I told her.

Alex was the most beautiful girl and I was confident to say I was lucky I had her. She was so far the best thing that had ever happened in my life.

"Zoey?"I heard my name being called and I frowned because I could recognise that voice. How could I not? It had been haunting me for years.

I looked outside my slid-down window and I choked when that face welcomed me."Nick..."I said his name in the most boring tone.

Never did I think I would see Nick in traffic five years later since I last saw him. He looked the same, only that he grew a beard that he had neatly shaved.

"Do you know him? He looks weird."Alex said looking through the window to look at Nick too.

"We were on campus together. We were...."I trailed off wondering how I could describe Nick." We were friends."I said hoping the car in front of me would just drive.

"I am now doubting your taste in friends after seeing this guy. Aunt Liv is okay but this guy?" Alex said and I wanted to chuckle. If she knew I dated him she would criticise me more.

"Zoey...where have you been all these years?" he asked and I looked at him. He looked so innocent I wondered if he was the same person who said all those mean words to me.

I smiled at him." I went somewhere I could better myself. As you can see I look better, don't I?"

"Yeah, you sure look different I almost didn't recognise you," he said and I wanted to laugh out loud. Different huh? Different from the ugly boring girl he knew? I was so disgusted by him.

"It's called a glow Nick," I told him and before he could say anything I drove away as soon as the car in front of me drove away. That felt so good I drove the whole ride home smiling happily, you know, saying I glowed up out loud, especially to Nick.

When I reached home, instead of sleeping, I continued to decode the codes Roy had assigned me. I might have admitted failure to him but not to myself. I was curious to know if I could do it. Roy seemed pretty convinced I could do it, I don't know why when he wanted me to fail.

comment 0 comment

Vote

SEND GIFT

Load failed, please RETRY