𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝙲𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚊 𝙻𝚒𝚏𝚎𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 ✓ (𝟷𝟾+)

The Contract

Roger 

Call it premonition or an inkling but I somehow knew Arin would decide on resigning. Although I still don't many things about her as my assistant, I had gotten to know her pretty well as Babydoll. 

I knew how her mind worked and how she would try all possible means to avoid facing me in the light of this new discovery. She would have also spent a considerable amount of time, tossing and turning in bed, contemplating ways to relieve herself off her official duties. Somewhere, a part of my which was well versed with the way she did things, nudged me to notice, she would try to resign either via mail or before I would make an appearance in office. 

Arin was too considerate, too caring in the ways of us human being to not come to office or talk to Mrs. Rose. She wouldn't simply abandon her colleagues and mates she nurtured her relationship with. But she would also try to avoid me at any cost. Thus the only logical act she was most likely to execute was one where she would enter the office and drop her resignation, placing care packages for her friends before leaving for good. 

Although I knew her address too, it wasn't a plan I wanted to undertake. All I wanted was to see her in the same office she worked as my assistant. The same place where I sat clueless, of whom she portrayed outside of work.

The entire night, I kept twisting and turning, unable to sleep. My mind still wasn't able to wrap around the fact that she was 'The One.' The girl to whom, I was rude and brutal with my words and deeds in office yet so gentle over calls.

Guilt flared up. It pricked the back of my neck, taunting me with karmic retribution. How on earth would I be able to justify the things I said and did to Arin. There was no fault of hers but I admonished her because I was in a bad mood. Like someone showed me the mirror and I couldn't believe my own reflection, couldn't fathom who I turned out to be. Arin was being herself all the while she worked for me. It was I, who was the twat and pushed her limits. If Arin would every ask me the reason for why I behaved the way I did, I would never be able to justify. 

How could I? None could justify the blatant act of hurting people.

Arin Rafferty Oswald. The name kept pinging back in my head. Unable to sleep, I tossed my quilt and went over to my couch. The fireplace heat was dying down but the warmth lingered. I held the employee sheet with Arin's name on it. Still ran my finger over her name and her address, her joining date and her date of resignation. 

The date matched close to the day Xavier told about her new found discovery. Of her being the Oswald heiress. Maybe Arin resigned because she didn't want the world to know what she did for survival. Truth was bitter, harsh. Not everybody possessed a strong gut to handle bad press. I knew she couldn't. After what Stella did to her, rat her out in front of the world, it was only logical for her to play safe. 

I could only imagine the taboo she must have thought of facing, it a mild news of her being an heiress made more wave than the country's falling economy. 

My alarm was set for six. The red digits dancing on my clock near my bedstand displayed four. Tow more hours. Two more hours in which anything could happen. In which time, Arin could come and go. Sleep had evaded me and any attempt to run behind it was a waste. I hopped out of the couch and walked into the bathroom. It was still early for Arin to even attempt walk in and resign but I didn't want to take a chance. Even if all odds were stacked against her, I wasn't willing to risk it. 

The needed to see her, the wanted to talk to her. After knowing who she was, my want and need grew with every passing minute. Babydoll, the girl who was always a faceless entity with words meant to sin and a smile which yanked the air out of lungs, now had a face. An innocent, sweet face of my assistant. My steno. The lady of letters. I had heard her boast about her self crowned title. If only I knew her talent wasn't merely limited to letters but words and speeches too.