Poisonous (Wattys2019)

Chapter 5

I let myself in my grandma's house and find my brother and grandma working on his homework at the dinner table. A pot is on the stove with something boiling inside making the house smell delicious. I hang my bag on the rack by the door and kick off my shoes. I place one next to the other neatly in a row with the rest of the shoes by the door.

"There's my working girl." My grandma says with a big smile. "How was your first day. Tell us all about it." Her enthusiasm about wanting to hear about my day warms my heart.

"It was good. Everyone there is incredibly nice. It's so different from VT tech. All the people there would backstab each other for a promotion or just for the satisfaction of seeing someone get yelled at. I think I may have even made a friend."

"Oh really, do tell. I know it's always been a bit difficult for you to make friends, so this person must be special." As my grandmother talks, she goes over to the stove to stir the food in the pot. My stomach starts rumbling from not eating all day.

"I wouldn't say special. She just seems like a genuinely nice person which is hard to find these days."

"Lord knows you deserve a good friend. I hope that you guys hit it off. Dinner is ready so why don't you two go get washed up and then come eat." My bother quickly leaves his homework behind and runs to the bathroom.

"You don't have to tell him twice." I laugh, and my grandma joins me. "Thanks for dinner and watching him for me until I get home. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Come here you." She says and pulls me into a big hug. I let out a sigh and bask in the comfort of her arms. "I'll always be here for you and your brother. No matter what. You two are the greatest blessing God could give me and my daughter doesn't deserve you. I hate to say that since she's my only child but it's the truth. You've got a heart of gold. Don't let this world change you, ever. We need people like you." I pull away from her and blink back the tears stinging my eyes.

"I won't, grandma. I promise."

"Good, now go get cleaned up so we can eat. Your stomach sounds like its going to attack me." She laughs. I place a hand over my stomach and quickly get cleaned up.

The next morning grandma makes sure I have something to eat before leaving.

"You can't work on an empty stomach." She called out to me from the kitchen. I swear I never see that woman anywhere except the kitchen. If you got rid of the rest of the house, I don't think she'd even notice.

I roll up to the security booth shortly after dropping my brother off at school. Pearse steps out with a smile on his face.

"How are you this morning, Ms. Lucado?" He asks as he takes my badge from my hand.

"I'm good, Pearse. Thanks for asking and please call me Oleander. Ms. Lucado is so formal. How's your morning been?"

"Very good. I haven't had to deal with any upset employee's or crazy people so far which is always a positive."

"That does sound like a positive," I say with a small laugh. "I hope that you don't run into any crazy people or upset employees for the rest of your shift," I say as I take my badge back.

"Me too. Have a good day Oleander."

"You too, Pearse. I'll see you tomorrow." I park in my spot and make my way upstairs to my new office. When I open the door, I gasp. It looks completely different from yesterday. I glance at the name plaque on the door again to make sure I'm in the right office. There's a new desk almost the size as Caden's set up with two monitors, a big leather office chair, and two small leather chairs on the other side of the desk. The blinds have been opened and although the view isn't as spectacular as Caden's it's still beautiful. I can see the rest of the building's grounds and part of the Seattle Skyline. A TV is mounted to the wall, but I doubt I'll ever use it. There's an empty bookshelf with a chest of draws on one side of it that has a printer on top and a potted plant I hope I don't accidentally kill on the other.

I knock on the door connecting my office to Caden's after I've taken in my new office. After a minute I knock again but still don't hear a response. I slightly open the door and peek inside. "Caden," I call out but still don't get an answer. I must have beat him to the office today.

I sit in my new office chair and twiddle my thumbs. I'm not sure what I should be doing. I decide to start with turning my computer on. While I wait, I spin around in my chair.

"Having fun," Caden asks from the door connecting our offices. I nearly jump out of my skin. He scared the shit out of me. I immediately stand up and smooth the sides of my dress down. It's nothing fancy. A simple black dress with a red belt but it's a million times better than yesterday's outfit.

"I'm sorry I didn't hear you come in."

"You don't need to apologize. You were being quite amusing. I'm glad you like the chair. Are you happy with everything else?" He asks as he steps into my small office.

"Yes, it's perfect. Thank you. Can I get you coffee or anything? We were so busy yesterday with moving everything we never got a chance to go over how the daily routine is supposed to go."

"We can go over that now. I usually prefer tea to coffee. English breakfast, with a splash of milk and a packet of sugar. If you could bring me a cup every morning that would be a lovely start to the day. I'm not sure where the break room is up here. Olivia should be able to help you with that. You'll oversee my schedule so every morning you'll need to give me a rundown of the itinerary. On Monday mornings I would like to go over the schedule for the week. After Monday, day-to-day will do just fine. Other than those things nothing is set in stone. I'll bother you with random projects throughout the day and I'm sure you'll have your hands full with the phone." He's leaning against the edge of my desk completely at ease and gives me a friendly smile once he's finished going over the routine. With only two things to remember this will be a breeze. If I can't remember to bring him tea or to go over the schedule, then I deserve to be fired.

"Alright, Mr. Steele. Give me fifteen minutes and I'll be in your office with your tea and be ready to go over this week's itinerary." I say confidently. When it comes to working, I know what I'm doing. It's the only thing that I don't doubt about myself. I can organize a schedule like nobody's business and even though I don't drink the stuff I make a mean cup of coffee. I suppose that's going to change to tea now.

"Please, call me Caden and take your time. I blocked today out to be able to finish unpacking my office. You can finish adding things in here, get to know the floor, and the computer system. If you have any questions you can ask me and I most likely won't know the answer, but we can try figuring it out together." He says with a grin. I try fighting the smile that wants to spread across my face but feel the sides of my lips quirk upward. A blossom of warmth spreads in my chest. Creating something I haven't felt in many years.

"Sorry, I forgot. I'll be right back with your tea, Caden." I calmly leave my office and ignoring the feeling. It's nothing real just my desperate heart calling out for something that isn't there.

________

Author's Notes:

Happy New Year! I know it's late but better late than never. I hope that so far things are going how you wanted them to go or are at least going well. Things have been a little rough for me lately but I'm hanging in there and pushing through. Honestly, considering everything that's going on I'm actually doing well and am proud of myself for pushing through and keeping my chin up.

Updates for this novel may be slow which I apologize for but this book can sometimes take me to a dark place so I have to step away from it when it puts me in a bad head space. I will continue to work on it and post when I have new chapters. Even though updates will be slow I hope you stick with me and continue to read. This book is only just getting started :)

If you enjoyed this chapter please remember to,

Vote,

Comment,

& Share!

Thank you!