Denial was a beautiful thing.
Truly underrated.
Amara finally got it now why people held it like a lifeboat. After all, it made everything… easier somehow.
After a whole night of zero sleep, a liter of caffeine, and far too much thinking, she'd made up her mind that what she experienced yesterday was just a weird delusion or cruel prank.
She could practically imagine him hiring a few guys in costumes just to scare her off. They said rich people loved to do weird things, and this might be his. What a hobby, really.
Only, the joke was on her because she'd fallen too hard for it.
Still, she wasn't the type to let things like that cost her rent money.
So, by 7 a.m., she was already back in the cleaning staff room, stuffing her bag into her locker.
Work first. Panic later. That was the golden rule.
Of couse, she was scared and everything, but she couldn't just quit. Thanks to rent, bills, and other things she needed to pay off so she could continue living, though not in luxury, but enough.
PLAK
She slapped her cheeks, put on a brave face, checked all the supplies on the cleaning cart, and wheeled it out there like a soldier ready for a battle.
Though her eyes scanned around every corner, corridor, and turn.
She was all alone. No sign of her boss. Nice.
She pushed the cart faster, thinking that maybe if she just kept moving then…
"Hey!"
"WWAAAAHHH!"
She spun around to find a familiar face grinning back at her. It was Sierra, the company's sunshine and also accounting intern who'd somehow befriended her since day one.
"Oh my god, Sierra! Don't do that!"
"Wow," Sierra said, adjusting her glasses and eyeing her up and down. "You look like hell and are so jumpy today."
"Yeah," Amara sighed. "Caffeine overdose."
Sierra laughed, leaning against the wall. "Rough night?"
"Define rough."
The next thing she knew, they walked together down the hall and to the bathroom. Sierra told her about her mountain of invoices, and Amara nodded along, offering generic replies
"So," Sierra said, adjusting her lanyard, "how was yours?"
"You know," she said lightly. "Just mopping, taking out trash, cleaning windows, tables. Just my usual glamorous life."
Yeah, she chose to leave out some parts of the story. It was just their routine, to catch up on their work, but she didn't dare mention anything about last night because what could she even say?
'Oh, I accidentally kissed our boss, and watched him grow his horns, scales, and wings, fainted, and found myself in his private office bedroom. What a night, right?'
Sierra chuckled, fixing her ponytail in the mirror.
Amara went straight to work, refilling the paper towels, changing bins, pretending she wasn't fighting the flashbacks of what happened to her. She caught Sierra's reflection watching her in the mirror and without thinking, she blurted out a question.
"Hey, you know our boss, right?"
"Mr. Dravik? Of course. The big boss. Who doesn't?" Sierra smirked. "I've seen him maybe twice? Three? What about him?"
Amara bit her lip. "Do you ever think he's… strange?
"Strange how?"
"Well…" Amara said, vaguely gesturing with a roll of tissue. "Like… different. His style? Appearance? Unhuman levels of… something."
Sierra blinked. "Oh, right. His face. I mean, he looks like one of those male leads in novels. Just look at her jawline, it could probably cut glass."
"Couldn't agree more. But not what I mean, though."
"Then what did you mean?"
Amara shook her head with a little smile, knowing there was no use in continuing this conversation. "Nah, forget it. I'm just tired and have been watching too many fantasy series."
"Mmm-hmm. Well, I'm heading home. Are you sure you're okay finishing the shift alone?"
"Yeah, go," Amara said, waving her hand. "Don't want to keep the best intern from her beauty sleep."
They laughed before exchanging goodbyes, and just like that, Amara was all alone again.
By the time the clock ticked past nine, most of the light in the building had already dimmed. Amara pushed her cart down the empty hallways as she continued to remind herself.
Don't think too much about it. Just clean and go home.
Her next stop was the executive floor, the one she really didn't want to visit.
What if he was there? What if she saw… that again?
She could skip it, pretend she forgot. But if anyone noticed, she'd be out of a job by morning. And right now, she couldn't even afford new shoes, let alone unemployment.
So she took a deep breath and stepped in with every ounce of courage she could gather.
"Grow up, Amara," she whispered. "It's just a stupid floor."
She worked faster than usual, dusting, wiping, checking corners, trying not to think too much. And when she was done with everything, she laughed quietly when there was nothing out of the ordinary in sight.
She went down, packed up, changed into her worn-out hoodie, and grabbed her phone. The battery was hanging on at 4%. Oh, of course.
The emergency stairwell was her usual exit route. She would walk through the basement and to the back alley where she could catch the last train home.
She was scrolling through her phone to check train times when she bumped into something solid.
No, not a wall or pillar, thank God.
"Ah… so sorry, I wasn't…" Her words stopped when the man she just bumped into was no one other than the man she'd prayed all day not to see.
But he wasn't alone. There were seven or eight men in black suits standing around him, and they looked mean.
Amara thought she'd walked onto the wrong new action movie set, for a second.
Every inch of her body begged her to just run, but somehow she couldn't do that and just stared at those guys like waiting for some kind of explanation for what they were doing in this basement.
Darien glared at her. "What the hell are you doing here?"
Amara opened her mouth to answer but it was just a jumble of words. "I.. I was just… cleaning? No, leaving?"
One of the men laughed, and the sound was so ugly that it made Amara frown in disgust. "Well, look who decided to join this little party. Hey, pretty thing, why don't you stick around? After we're done with this jerk, maybe we can have our own little fun."
Amara's jaw dropped in disgust more than she felt before. But before she could answer that, Darien shoved her behind him, his body shielding hers completely.
"Touch her," he said, "and let's see if you'll ever use your hands again."
That's it, Boss! Tell them they can't just say something like that to a woman!
But she gulped hard when she saw the hostility between them. It was getting worse, and Amara seemed the one who caused it.
"Uumm… Mr. Dravik," she whispered, clutching the back of his shirt. "What's happening?"
He didn't look back. "When I tell you to run," he said quietly, "you run and leave this place."
"What? No, wait…"
"Run."
But before she could move, one of the men lunged forward Darien, and from there, everything broke loose.