Her Suited Savior

Chapter 16

Calla Stewart's POV

My mouth had said one thing, but my mind was saying something completely different.

'Okay' was the least accurate term to represent my understanding of the situation. The Mr. King in my head was rude and angry, but the Mr. King I had been seeing for the past little bit wasn't completely matching up to that image.
Was I demonizing him? Was I making up how aggressive he acted not long ago?

People didn't change overnight. I was not so naive as to believe that my boss suddenly felt bad about everything he's ever done and was going to become a better person. People only treat you well when they want something. It was a sad truth, but it was still a truth.

I couldn't help but think about the potential reasons for my boss' change in behaviour. I was still waiting for him to go drop the nice act, but it hadn't happened yet. As I grew up, I had quickly learned how far people would go to get the things they wanted, and I had plenty of experience to know the power my father held. Many 'friends' and 'acquaintances' had used me to better themselves in the past. 

Although, I wasn't sure how much further Mr. King could better himself at this point in life. It seemed like he was already living at his best. Even I, a professional over thinker, couldn't imagine him going after money or power. He had plenty already and was well within his means to earn more for himself.

Perhaps he just wanted to feel better about himself. By treating me nicely it was like doing a good deed, and he got to feel like he was a saint.

My fingers drummed across the top of my desk thoughtlessly as I leaned against it. My inner pessimist had decided to rear it's head today, clouding my view with cynicism. 

I had been prepared to be confronted with Mr. King's anger when I woke him up. Despite the countless nice things he had done for me recently, I was still expecting the worst everytime I interacted with him. It definitely didn't help much that he was pretty much the only person I interacted with on a regular basis lately. I was constantly tense, on the edge of panic everytime I spoke to him. 

I knew it wasn't healthy. Even after he would drop me off at home, I don't imagine the tension in my body released until I was asleep. It was exhausting to be so alert all the time. I couldn't imagine how nice it would be to be able to relax around my boss, let alone anyone I met; my father had stripped me of that luxury, however. 

I sucked in a deep breath, forgetting to breathe as I thought. Mr. King emerged from his office several moments later, his suit jacket casually draped over his arm and his hair still the mess I had witnessed before I woke him up. His eyes still held the half asleep look, but my courage to observe him quickly ran out and my gaze retreated back to its favourite place: the ground. 

He stopped in front of me, "Ready to go?" he asked.

I simply nodded in response and pushed myself from the desk,  silently following him as we began the short trip to his car. I hoped he would forget about my little slip up earlier, I wasn't sure what I would do if he brought it up.

Perhaps one day I would be able to come to work on my own. Or live in my own house. Then I wouldn't have to worry so much about every little interaction with my boss. I had taken this job to keep myself from becoming homeless, which would have worked; however, my life had become far more complicated than it was before. Things would have been absolutely perfect if my boss was normal. But he wasn't, and the second he involved himself in my business things became ridiculously complicated. 

My life had never gone perfectly, so it shouldn't have been much of a surprise that it had ended up this way. Somehow I was still struggling to adjust though. Life would be so much easier if I could be someone carefree who just lived in the moment and let things happen. Unfortunately, I was someone who overthought everything and couldn't move on or accept things without completely overcomplicating them.