Miss Cleopatra: In Love I Fall

6

"Oh shit." Paul tried muting his laughter by shoving his hand in front of his mouth, but was unsuccessful. Mr. Flax zeroed his icy eyes in on Paul, which shut him up pretty quickly.

"Annabeth. Can I speak to you in my office please?" HIs tone was over-compensating with manner and politeness, which led me to the conclusion that I might have to start looking for a new job this afternoon. The hand that had been grazing Drew's cheek a second ago now hung stiffly at my side. "Please, Mr. Chadwick, do take a seat. I will be back out to join you momentarily." Flax was all smiles, but I could tell he was going to tear me a new one.

"Of course." Drew just looked confused, rubbing his hands over his cheek in the spot I had just made contact with. He didn't look me in the eye, instead opting to slink back onto the couch like he was told.

I looked back at my band, but they were too busy gaping at me like a couple of fish out of water to be of any help. Taking a deep breath, I plastered on a fake smile and followed Flax to his office. You could cut the tension between Flax and I with a knife, it was so thick. The only sound was the scuffing noise our shoes made against the linoleum as I followed my boss. Each of his steps was eager, making a sharp and exact noise each time it touched down, whereas my own steps dragged along, dreading the inevitable conversation.

When we reached his office in the middle of the hallway, Flax held one of the double doors open for me so I could step inside. Despite it all, he was able to keep his gentlemanly composure through it all. Which I thought was pretty impressive.

"What the HELL was that?!" The door wasn't closed for full two seconds before he exploded.

"What was what?" Look at me, avoiding confrontation. I was just pushing the envelope here, and I could see it in Flax's eyes. But eh, I was pretty much fired anyway so who cares, right?

"Kade, I'm at the end of my rope here." Flax ran a hand through his gelled hair, leaving a huge dent that led back from his hairline. "Please just explain what just happened to me."

"Would you believe it was an accident?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at my boss. 

"Nope."

"Yeah, okay." I sighed, knowing that was a stretch.

"Seriously Annabeth, what the hell?"

"Drew Chadwick and I have history, alright?" I sighed, finally getting it out there.

"History?" Flax didn't seem to be putting it together, and I was honestly a little surprised.

"Not to be rude or anything, but don't you read the tabloids, sir?" I asked, knowing fully well that my relationship with Drew had plastered across magazine stands; sometimes for weeks at a time.

The look on his face led me to believe the answer was no.

"Alright then..."

"On with it, Kade."

"Drew and I used to... date?" It felt awkward just saying it out loud.

"You sound a little unsure of that." Flax chuckled. "Really ended that badly, did it?"

"We dated around five years and then he broke my heart and fled the country." I didn't even try to contain the bitter resentment that I felt.

"Well, that's hardly any excuse to slap someone across the face in the middle of a business deal." Flax said sternly.

"Hey, he's lucky I didn't use a closed fist." I swear, I think I saw Flax crack a smile at that one.

"And that brings us to my main concern: how do we move on from here?"