The Importance of Being Kept

Chapter 3. First Day

A loud blaring noise scared Kia awake. She sat up quickly, startled by it, and was engulfed by a massive headache. She grabbed her skull, moaning and searched for the offending noise. It was coming from the black alarm clock that sat on a table by the bed. She grabbed it and threw it across the room, narrowly missing Darren when he walked in.

He glanced the alarm clock whizzing by the side of his head and raised an eyebrow at Kia. It hit the wall and silenced. She grinned in victory and tried to go back to sleep.

"Kia, do you know what day it is?" Darren asked.

She sat back up and glared at him. "Why the hell are you in my room?"

"Your room is on the floor below us," Darren told her as he pulled the covers back.

"What are you doing?!" Kia tried to grab the covers and realized she was still in her clothes she wore yesterday.

How much had she drunk last night? She remembered it had been a while since she had alcohol and thought she could handle it, but the champagne tasted so good that she kept drinking it. Everything else was pretty much blank after that. She was such a lightweight, just like her mother.

"You have thirty minutes to get ready for work," Darren told her.

Kia gasped. "Oh gosh, that's right! Aww man...can we do it tomorrow?"

"NO," Darren gave her a serious look. "Get up, Kia and get ready, if we have to leave without you, it will be held against you."

"That's not fair!"

"You chose to drink the night before your new job, that's not my fault. You still have to come to work."

"We will meet you at your apartment at 7:30 a.m. be ready and on time."

"You always were the mean one!" Kia said throwing a pillow at him as he walked out the room.

She couldn't believe they wasn't going to give her a break! It's not like she got drunk on purpose. Sighing, she slid out of bed and made her way out of the room. She needed to get to her own apartment to take a shower and get ready. She passed by Bryan on her way out.

"Well, aren't we just glowing with sunshine this morning," he teased.

She threw her finger up at him. He laughed. She knew she looked horrible and didn't really care, these were the twins she grew up with, they'd seen her look worse.

This wasn't the first time she'd been in their penthouse thanks to her brother for making stops here while she was with him. The place was immaculate, glossy, and hard as always, pretty much like the twins. They had a professional designer to do the interior decorating in modern style. The floors were hardwood and so glossy she was afraid of slipping on them. The furniture looked more like sculptures than a place to sit and relax. Everything was computerized and high tech, from the glass doors that scanned her body before sliding open to let her in or out to the lights dimming when she left the room. It had to cost them a fortune to design their high-tech penthouse, but she had to admit, it was beautiful and fascinating.

She took their private elevator to her floor and unlocked the door to her apartment. Her own apartment was nothing like theirs, but it was still spectacular. She marched into the bathroom, took three Tylenols, took a cold shower, and washed her hair. After struggling with it for ten minutes, she finally managed to pull it back into a thick ponytail, then walked to her closet. Standing in only her bath towel, she skipped her fingers over the hangers. Hmm, now what type of style would the twins approve of her first day on the job, something conservative of course, but not too boring. She grinned when she picked out the perfect outfit, looked at herself in the mirror and turned. Donna Karen never looked so good on her.