Vice

29: Penthouse

Natara awakens snuggled between soft pillows and bundled in a warm fluffy bed-sheet. For a moment she imagines she's in her own bed but Macey isn't lunging on her to wake her up, the pillow isn't as flat, and the sheets aren't as scratchy.

Her eyes flutter open and the inside of Mr. Vice's penthouse surrounds her.

Panic courses through her chest, pressing a lump deep down her throat. I fell asleep?! 

It isn't like the night before when she slipped out of Mr. Vice's penthouse and made it back home. She stayed all night long in his home, and now it's morning and her parents...oh, gosh, her parents...

She glances around for Mr. Vice but he's nowhere in sight. 

"Morning, miss." An elderly man greets her, tilting his nose above a book he reads as he lounges in a plush armchair. "Axius asked me to chauffeur you to work this morning. Take your time. We can leave whenever you are ready."

Natara looks down at herself - wrapped up in Mr. Vice's silky sheets - and flushes. 

What the heck? Why is this man here? Who is he and what's he going to think I did with Mr. Vice? Is this totally normal behavior for Mr. Vice, having girls spend the night with him at random?

Natara raises her eyebrows. It's also not embarrassing at all that this man has been just kind of hanging around waiting for her to wake up. She's sure she couldn't have slept if she knew someone was there the whole time, even if this man seems much more interested in the content of his book than he is in her.

"Um, alright. Just give me a little bit." Natara mumbles as she forces a smile. She takes out her phone, glances at the time, and recoils when she sees a huge line of missed texts and calls from her mom, dad, and Macey. She quickly dials her mother.

"Where the hell have you been? Why didn't you come home last night? Are you okay?" Her mother screams into the microphone. Natara holds the phone away from her face about half a foot and can still hear her mother clearly. The elderly man glances up from his book, clearly having heard at least some of her yelling.

How could she forget to tell her parents she was going to be out all night? How could she be so reckless? And there really was no way to explain what actually happened to them. How silly would she sound? "Oh, sorry mom and dad, my boss just looked so handsome and sad that I decided to spend the night with him!"

Natara is totally done for.

"I'm sorry, mom. I was working late and then I just fell asleep. I'm so sorry. I just now woke up and saw the phone." She trips over her words, wondering if her mother believes her. She certainly sounds groggy and scatterbrained enough to sound convincing, she thinks. Plus, it partly IS the truth. She did work late and fall asleep afterward...it was just in the arms of her boss, is all.

Not being open with her family feels foreign to Natara. She's always been open to them, especially to Macey. But what would she say to them now? And what would they say to her if they knew the truth?

"We're going to talk about this tonight. Have a good day at work today, honey." Her mom's tone is icy and Natara barely squeaks out another "I'm sorry" before she hangs up the phone.

What kind of person is she becoming? The type that hides things from her family and lies to them? The type that spends the night with her unpredictable boss who is also several years older than she is?

It stings particularly bad whenever she thinks of Macey. She tells her younger sister EVERYTHING and Macey tells her everything. How betrayed would she feel knowing Natara is suddenly keeping secrets - especially big secrets like this?

A sigh rattles from Natara's lips as she puts away the phone and looks up at the elderly man who is waiting to chauffeur her to work.

"Um, where'd Mr. Vice go?" Natara awkwardly asks. Both of his eyebrows raise.

"Mr. Vice Senior asked him to come in early to take care of a few things. Do you require anything to get ready? I can likely procure whatever you might need," the man suggests. Natara shakes her head, shocked by how accommodating he is. She assumes he must be a family assistant, especially since he informally calls Mr. Vice "Axius."

"No thank you," Natara replies. "Um, I didn't sleep with him by the way. Well, I did, but not in that kind of way. I'm not that kind of... I don't know if he usually..."

The man chuckles. "No, Axius certainly isn't that kind of person, either. I'm so used to this penthouse being completely empty that I was shocked he called me out to look over you this morning."

She hurries to get ready, not wanting to keep this man waiting. She doesn't like keeping anyone waiting but knowing he's sitting around while she gets ready when he probably has plenty of other things he can be doing for the Vice family is unsettling for her. She doesn't want to inconvenience them. 

Natara ties her wild curls up in a bun, washes her face, and figures she can take care of everything else at work when she gets there. She can't believe she managed to sleep in that clingy dress from yesterday, but she somehow did.

When she's ready to leave Natara approaches the chauffeur and he nods, leading her out to one of the Vice family's expensive vehicles. He opens the door for her and once she's inside he starts the car and drives to the Vicetech building.

When he drops Natara off, she grabs her things and hops out of the car. Before he can drive away, she stops him. "Excuse me, sir, but what's your name?" 

He's been friendly, taken good care of her, and clearly he's important to the Vice family. As the younger Mr. Vice's secretary, she should probably know this man's name.

"It's Franklin, miss." A light smile comes to his lips. He looks surprised, as if he wasn't expecting Natara to ask what his name was at all. "And yours?"

"Natara," she says.

"A pleasure to meet you," he replies and drives away.

Natara can't help smiling a little as she walks into the Vicetech building. Natara's so happy that there are still a few genuinely nice people left in the world that even the glaring woman at the desk purposely not saying good morning to her doesn't faze her good mood. 

She just hopes nothing else will happen today to ruin it.