Taylor

Chapter 4 | You Can And You Will

I was now thoroughly convinced that the Universe had it out against me. Why him? And why today of all days?

"Hello, Mr. Payne," I greeted stiffly. "What can I get you?"

"I asked you a question, Ms. Taylor. And I expect an answer." He stared at me sternly, not breaking eye contact.

"What does it look like I'm doing here?" I mumbled, resisting the urge to roll my eyes. "I'm working."

He looked unimpressed with my response. "You're joking, right?"

Sensing his poorly masked contempt, I decided not to grant him a response. "If no one is ready to order, I will come back after I few minutes," I announced to the group.

"Umm, I'll have a spicy chicken burger with a side of mac n' cheese and cheesy parmesan fries", the youngest guy replied. "And to drink, I'll have..."

"You have a business degree from Cornwell. Why the hell are you serving drinks in a café?" Mr. Payne rudely interrupted.

I couldn't help but scoff at the audacity of this man. "I can't believe you have the nerve to ask me that."

He furrowed his brows and appeared to be genuinely clueless. "What do you mean?"

"Go look in the mirror," I responded dismissively then directed my attention back to his youngest colleague. "What would you like to drink?"

The man smiled apologetically at me in an attempt to communicate his sympathy for my having to deal with such an exasperating character. "I'll have the mango passionfruit soda, please."

"What do you mean go look in the mirror?"

At this point, I wanted to pull my hair out because, for the life of me, I couldn't understand how someone so dense could secure a CEO position at one of the world's most prestigious hotels and I couldn't even get the assistant position to his assistant's assistant.

It's because I have a vagina, isn't it? I asked no one in particular.

Choosing to focus on the task at hand, I turned my attention to Mr. Payne's two other colleagues and listened to their orders. But, before I could finish jotting them down, Mr. Payne sprung up from his seat and charged towards me.

Startled, I tried to move out of his reach but I was too slow. He grabbed my arm and pulled me flushed against his chest. When I tried to wiggle free from his grip, he wrapped his free arm around my waist and held me still.

"Let me go," I demanded, feeling both flustered and flabbergasted.

"No. Not until you answer my question." His voice was soft but his gaze was hard and uncompromising.

"You fired me, remember?" I sneered. That was the only answer he was getting out of me. "Now, please let me go so I can do the job given to me by someone who actually knows my worth and values me."

"Alex, what are you doing?" one of his colleagues whispered, completely in shock by the spectacle Alex was causing.

But, being the stubborn ass that he is, Mr. Payne ignored him and kept his eyes on me. "What does that have to do with anything?" he questioned, seemingly unmoved by my sass. "I'm sure there are plenty of suitable vacancies."

"Oh no, there certainly are," I began mockingly, "but apparently, those vacancies are filled internally. As you are well aware, connections have more weight than a degree here." I muttered the last sentence to myself and turned my head away from him so he wouldn't see my disappointment in the "system".

After an awkward moment of silence, I glanced at him only to find him staring at me with his smoldering baby-blue eyes.

"What?" I snapped, squirming uncomfortably in his hold. I neither understood nor appreciated his scrutiny.