Dusk

11| relish

Ava

"Ava?" I heard Brenda say my name by the door hesitantly. I looked up, smiling and motioning her to come in. She shifted nervously on her feet. Brenda seemed to be only a few years older than me, though I'd never really asked. 

"Do you need something?" I asked. It was the middle of the day and she usually didn't come to my office at this time of the hour. 

"I- I'm not feeling too well. I wanted to ask if I could leave." She looked down, not meeting my eyes.

"Of course. You can go, take care of yourself." I waited for her to look up, but she didn't.

She nodded her head, turned around to leave. "Thank you."

"Brenda?" I called out. She paused in her tracks, slowly turning her face to look at me. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." A failed attempt to smile. She didn't succeed in fooling me. "I just feel dizzy. I'll be alright tomorrow."

I didn't quite believe her, but I decided to let it go. I trusted Brenda and if she was lying to me, she had a good reason for it. She'd never given me a chance to doubt her motives, and I wouldn't accuse or suspect her of something without a single proof. 

I looked at my schedule for the next hour, and groaned softly, dropping my head down on the table. Another conference with the sales department. Fucking great. More egotistical men. Just what I needed.

I ignored the buzzing of my phone, grabbing my head in my hands. When it didn't stop ringing for the next two minutes, I cussed my luck. Jett. It had to be him. No one was capable to annoy me that much. "I swear to God Jett I will murder you-"

"You have been in Vegas for two weeks now, young lady." I heard a woman's voice. Definitely not my brother. "Not once did you think of calling your dear old parents and ask how they are doing? No? This was the day I'd been fearing, James. She's too busy in her work to even remember us."

"Don't be dramatic, Carol." I heard my father mutter beside her. He must have grabbed the phone from her, because I heard his voice clearer. "Hi, munchkin. How are you? How is Vegas? Does Jett trouble you too much?"

"No, I trouble him." I snickered. "He's run off to Cali now. Vegas is good, different, but good."

"And work?"

I took some time to answer that. I didn't lie to my parents, but I also didn't want them to worry. "Work's nothing I can't handle."

"Ava," He said in his scolding voice. "Are they troubling you?"

"I told you I'll be alright, Dad. I knew what I was signing up for when I agreed to come here."

"Do you party?" I heard Mom ask.

"Not that much." 

"Well, you can't just not party is Vegas. Go have fun." I heard her grunt, followed by, "Give me the damn phone, James." Then I heard her voice clearer. "Your father misses you so much he won't even let go of the phone."

"I was talking to her!" I heard him mutter.

"Sure sure. How are you?" She asked me. "You know what to do to people who mess with you. You're the boss, kid. Show them, set example."

"That'll be misusing my power, Ma." I replied. "I can't just fire someone I don't like."

"Find a reason then." She said. "There's a difference between people who criticise you, and people who hate you. Criticism is alright. Hate is not. The first lesson being the boss should be getting rid of people who do not support you because of hatred. They are the ones who rebel at the end. You find a legitimate reason to get rid of them, and set example."