Dareen

2# I Bet My Life

Song: I Bet My Life- Imagine Dragons.
Elliot
"You're late." I spoke up once she stepped in.
"I got stuck in the traffic jam." She said quietly placing her bag on her chair before taking off her blazer.
"That's better though." I pointed to her clothes.
"Oh really? Thank you!" She faked a smile making me roll my eyes.
"Take these and type them on the computer then print them and you'll find here all the names of the materials needed and the quantites. You have to call these companies and listen to their offers, take notes and write a report. This must be on my desk tomorrow at the max."
"Okay." She nodded taking them from me.
"I'm glad you're getting used to the work." I smiled.
"Thank you." She nodded sitting on her desk before taking out her eye glasses.
"Sir Elliot, you have a meeting, now." Maria said through the speaker.
"Alright." I nodded getting up. "I'll be back." I told Dareen, but she didn't even bother looking at me, so I just walked out towards the meeting room.
"Where's Dareen?" Sir Adam asked once I entered the room.
"She's working on a report." I said quietly taking a seat in front of him.
"I like this girl. She's energetic and doesn't waste any time."
"We'll see. She didn't even start anything yet." I shrugged.
"Yeah, but I can see something in her." He insisted.
"Maybe." I shrugged looking at my watch.
"Let's discuss these reports first." He pointed to the file in front of me.
"Sure."
"Are you okay?" He furrowed his brows.
"Yeah," I nodded not looking up.
"Elliot, you can talk to me. I'm your uncle."
"You're my boss here, sir."
"Okay, sir, but you still can talk to me if there's any problem." He sighed.
"It's just Ethan and the stress of work, I think."
"You're not getting along with Dareen?"
"She's a young girl, but she'll get used to all the rules soon."
"Don't go all strict on her." He warned. "She'll be treated just like anyone here." I shrugged getting up. "Coffee?" I asked and he nodded.
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"Your phone has been ringing for an hour!" Dareen whined once I stepped back in.
"Sorry for distracting you, ma'am." I rolled my eyes picking it up.
"Yes, Linda?" I cleared my throat.
"Where are you?" She asked as I looked out of the window.
"I'm at work. I think I'll get back home late. There are some things that I should finish today. Dine with Ethan and don't wait for me."
"O-okay." She stuttered.
"He's back home, isn't he?"
"He's on his way, I think. I'll wait for you till you get back." She tried to change the subject.
"Tell him that we will talk about all this shit he's doing when I get back." I closed my eyes taking a deep breath before hanging up.
"What are you doing, Dareen?" I sighed turning around to face her.
"I got all the offers and I am about to finish my report."
"So quick, I see."
"Told you, I'm different." She smiled.
"Whatever." I rolled my eyes sitting on my desk. "You can finish it tomorrow. It's getting late."
"It's fine."
"Don't your parents get worried about you?"
"They don't. Will you please stop bugging me?"
"Sorry, ma'am."
"And stop this "ma'am" shit! It's getting on my nerves." She yelled putting her head in her hands.
"Ma'am is better than many other words that I may call you."
"Sir Elliot, please stop." She said quietly.
"Okay." I frowned.
She's a psycho.
What's wrong with her?!
She's a freakin' psycho!
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"I'm leaving." I said bluntly walking towards the door.
"Me too." She sighed picking up her bag.
"Here." I opened the door motioning for her to go first.
"You learned from the first time." She shook her head smiling.
"I'm always gentle." I smirked following her out.
"Are you leaving, kids?" Sir Adam called from behind us making us turn around.
"Yeah," we answered together.
"Good, let's go." He motioned for us to get in the elevator before him.
"Do you have a car, Dareen?" He asked hitting the "R" button.
"Yeah." She nodded.
"I suggest that you keep it here, and let me drive you home. It'll be in front of your house in the morning."
"There's no need for that, really."
"It's too late. I get worried about my daughter, and there's no difference between you and her."
"Thank you. It's an honor." She blushed walking out when the door opened.
"You're going home, Elliot?" He turned to me.
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Come with me. Let's eat dinner together." He suggested.
"I can't tonight. There's a small problem with Ethan that I need to fix." I said quietly.
"Hope that it's nothing so bad." He frowned.
"No, I just need to talk with him." I smiled faintly stopping in front of his car.
"Okay, see you tomorrow." He smiled giving me a pat on the back before joining Dareen in his car.
"Goodbye." I waved my hand till he drove away.
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"I'm back." I called out closing the front door.
"Welcome back, bunny." Linda smiled pecking my cheek.
"Linda, I'm twenty nine not five year old for God's sake." I chuckled.
"You'll always be my bunny even when you turn sixty!" She giggled.
"Okay, where's Ethan?" I asked.
"He's in his room. Leave him, and tell me how was your day."
"It was okay." I said quietly walking to his door. "Ethan," I knocked on his door.
"He must be sleeping. Just come and eat dinner."
"He always leaves the door open. Why is it closed now?" I furrowed my brows, but she stayed silent. "There's someone inside with him, right?"
When she didn't reply, I started knocking again with more force, you can say that I was banging on the door. "Open the freakin' door, Ethan! You don't want me to break it!" I yelled.
After a moment, the door flew open, and a very irritated Ethan came to full view.
"What's wrong with you?" He yelled, but I just pushed him aside and strided to the bathroom to find the door closed.
"Open the door." I ordered, but he didn't move an inch.
"What you're doing is so cheap. So cheap!" I yelled knocking on the bathroom door. "Whoever you are, get out or I'll break the door!"
After a few moments, a young lady stepped out in just his shirt.
"Get dressed, you're not staying here." I sighed.
"This is non of your business!" Ethan protested.
"You have five minutes. I'll call a cab for you." I continued glaring at him.
"Sorry, but who are you? I'm Ethan's guest, and he's the only one who decides if I'm welcome here." She crossed her arms on her chest.
"Oh, let me introduce myself. I'm Ethan's big brother and this is my house. No one steps here without my permission, and if it happened because some people covered for you-" I raised my voice turning to Linda whose eyes were closed with shame. "Then you must leave, or you'll be kicked out."
"Ethan, say something!" She protested.
"Five minutes." I repeated walking past her and towards the door. "Linda, come with me." I ordered walking towards the living room.
Closing the glass door, she turned to me, but didn't look in my eyes.
"I think of you as a mother to me and Ethan, and I think that you care for us more than any mother cares for her children, but today, you made a very big mistake, Linda." I started. She opened her mouth to talk, but I raised my hand to silence her. "You know that covering up for him is just against him! He's destroying himself and you're supporting him!"
"What did you want me to do? After all, I'm nothing but a maid here-"
"That's not true! You raised us and you have rights! You could've stopped him, but you chose the easy way." I raised my voice.
"You're right. I'm sorry." She frowned looking away.
"Linda, I'm sorry for raising my voice." I frowned when I saw a tear sliding down her cheek.
"I love you so much, Elliot. I'm sorry; I wasn't thinking." She sobbed as I pulled her to my chest.
"I'm sorry, I just lost it." I sighed, and she nodded pulling away to wipe her tears.
"It's okay. I understand."
"Let me see what did they do." I sighed opening the door.
"You're an ass, Ethan!" She snapped as she pulled her hair in a bun.
"I can't do anything!" He protested.
"Are you ready?" I called from across the room.
"Yes, it's not like I wanna stay in the mansion of assholes any longer!" She rolled her eyes stepping out and slamming the door shut.
"Fuck you!" He screamed throwing a book at me.
"It looks like you're still a child! What shall I do with you?" I roared.
"Leave me alone! Why are you always interfering in my life so much? You can't just keep bossing me around! It's not like you're my father for God's sake!"
"Listen up! First, that father of yours never cared for you, but I did and you're living in my house and under my roof not his, so you'll follow the rules that I set wether you like it or not! Which part of no girls in this house don't you understand- huh?!"
"You never cared! You just use me to let your anger out, but I'm tired of being your punching bag!" He screamed.
"I care! Your mind is just so fucked up to understand that! I just want you to man up a bit and pass this year. What should I do for you to understand?"
"I don't want to understand!"
"Okay, I'll change may whole way of talking." I sighed taking a deep breath before talking calmly. "You will study hard and get high GPA or else, I swear to God to let you drop out and start working and that would be an order. If you don't like it that way, I'm not locking you here and you're totally free to leave, but don't forget to leave your visa and credit cards on the table! That's my last decision. It's all up to you." And with that I stormed out of the room leaving Linda standing there, as always, tearing up for seeing us fighting.
"Linda, come with me and leave him alone to think about it." I opened the door, and silently, she walked out.
"Go to your room." I told her.
"I'll prepare your dinner, first." She sighed walking to the kitchen with me following her.
"Do we have beer?" I opened the cabinet.
"You're not going to drink, now, are you?" She shook her head.
"I'm stressed and I need something to calm me down." I sighed picking up the bottle once I spotted it.
"Talk to me if something is bothering you other than your problem with Ethan." She turned to me.
"There's a girl-"
"You like her?" Her eyes widened.
"I hate her. Sir Adam is just so impressed that he doesn't even bother to ask me if she's working good or not! I became nothing ever since she started working with me."
"You're jealous of her?"
"It's not jealousy, but I'm just mad." I rolled my eyes.
"How old is she?"
"I think she's the same age as Ethan."
"She's so young. It's a good thing for her to reach that position when she's just twenty or something."
"I think you're making it worse. I'm going to bed." I shook my head walking out.
"But, your dinner is ready!" She protested.
"I don't want to eat." I sighed closing the door.
Pulling out my laptop, I started to search with how to deal with a pompous bitch.
I'll show her who's the boss.