Pain And Pleasure 18+✓

Nine

A week has gone so quickly. I nearly knock on my sibling's doors, thinking they'd forgotten school, all the while, it's already Saturday. Yawning soundly, I wrap my hair with a silky scarf, bother not to change out of my pajamas.

It's a cleaning day. Not so yay!

Being unemployed means I have so much free time, no pun intended. The little engagement I'm having, or had, with Mister Castle doesn't require me to work on weekends, and only God knows if I still have anything left to call a job, even remotely at this point, after what I said to him last night.

But what's done is done; life must go on.

Bruno Mars sings about the Uptown Funk, and I join him at the top of my lungs. My head moves in sync, and slowly I forget my troubles and enjoy the moment. I love working with loud music, and even so because I can piss Jake and his hatred for noise—my little sweet revenge for his rudeness.

Washing dishes, tidying up every corner of the apartment, and making breakfast occupy my morning until eleven when I finally finish the laundry which is the hardest part of this day. I find Isla in the living room when I'm done; she's strangely quiet, without the TV keeping her company.

Weird. Isla worships Nickelodeon.

"Something wrong, young lady?" I ask her, wiping the bead of sweat off my forehead while pressing a phone against my ear, making a call to Josh.

Isla shakes her head, seeming dejected and a bit frightened.

I narrow my eyes at her, for I feel like she's hiding something. "You were with Charlotte, right? I heard her. Has she left already?" I hear the phone ringing but my attention is still on Isla as I ask her this. She nods again. "And why are you—"

"Hey, Linc. What's up?" Josh greets me on the phone, interrupting my speech.

"Cool. Are you having a sappy date with your girlfriend or would you rather drop by and celebrate my being jobless with a bottle of sparkling Cristal?" I grin, imagining his dusky oriental eyes rolling upward at the mention of Bianca.

I dislike his girlfriend. He can't complain, though, because she's bitchy.

"None of the two. I've got a place to stop by this afternoon, so maybe later—hey you jerk, watch where you're going!" he shouts.

I frown, wincing away from the phone. I'm not a stranger to his foul mouth or anything; I'm just curious about what's up on his end. He sounds to be on the road and a lot can happen out there.

"Goddamnit!" he laments.

"You good?" I sit on the couch, eyes back on my baby sister who's hugging herself at the corner of the same couch, her legs tucked to her side in a very disturbing posture.

She is definitely hiding something.

"Some maniac just crossed his bike like a shitty junkie and I nearly ran him over! Talking about a bad day!" Josh tells me agitatedly. "So, Linc... I'll drop by later? That way you can tell me what exactly happened with that nasty piece of shit you once called boss. How dare he lay his filthy hands on you, huh?"

"You mean my boobs? Yeah, such an entitled asshole." I sigh at the memory of Daniel, my previous boss who went perverted hard on me claiming I led him on.

That's how I got myself into the sphere of Mr. Castle's influence. If Daniel wasn't some hormonal pig, I'd still be working in the restaurant and none of these impromptu affairs would be happening in my life because the New York businessman wouldn't have taken pity on the girl with a stable job.