Silas Hale, the youngest billionaire and CEO of Hale Inc., has transformed his bleak childhood memories into a global empire of innovative, welcoming hotels. Known for his ruthless perfectionism, Silas's life changes when he hires Vivienne Onaïs as...
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I called in sick today.
It was an impulsive move.
Who would've guessed me, the workaholic, second to Silas, to call in sick out of all things?
I stretched out my limbs in my bed, twisting and turning in my soft cotton sheets as the thoughts of my boss streamed back in my mind with full force. I buried my face in my pillow, my loud scream of panic getting muted.
I had never felt like such a coward before but today took the cake.
So much has happened in the span of a week.
My chest tightened. Scared was not enough to describe what I was feeling inside. It was a whole melting pot of shit.
I slept all the way till twelve to avoid confronting everything.
Tingles ran through my body at the reminder of his lips against mine.
Desire clearly seemed to be at the forefront of everything. I pressed my legs together, curling myself into a ball.
I feel like a teenager. This was embarrassing.
Raising my hand to scratch my scalp, I realised my bonnet slipped off when I was asleep. I sighed and aggressively rubbed my eyes further in annoyance. Even better.
My phone pinged mercilessly beside me and I groaned out loud at the constant sound.
Reaching for the cursed thing, I scrolled through my notifications. Most of them were from my colleagues asking where I was or begging me to clock in. I snorted, replying to all of them that I will probably be back tomorrow and well. I hoped.
The rest of the messages were from my family. Juliette told me they were sleeping over today. Without asking. I rolled my eyes and accepted it. Might as well use this day off for them. I needed to forget everything about work today. Desperately.
Scrolling to the end, my finger paused at one. You were not sick yesterday.
I let my phone drop on my bed in good riddance. And I would prefer it if he stayed quiet. Like I said, I needed to forget.
Connecting music to my speakers and I got out of bed, shuffling into my fluffy slippers. I took sight of my clean apartment, counters wiped and dishes tucked away. I huffed, boredom slipping through already made cracks.
Even the music couldn't mask the echo from my ears. While familiar, I hated it. How could I forget?
I avoided being home the most for a reason. I needed noise, busyness and interaction.
The moment I heard my phone ring, I lunged for it. I immediately swiped right to the facetime, Julian's face appearing on my screen. From the background, he seemed to be in his office. A line instantly appeared between his thicker brows. "Is everything okay, Vivi?"
