“Did you not sleep last night?” Barbara asked as soon as Summer entered. She felt sluggish and naturally irritated because, as much as she wanted to go back to sleep, she just couldn’t. And ended up thinking, or rather overthinking, about a person named Serena and the untamed wolf.
Summer mumbled, “Not much.” She plucked the apron from the kitchen and tied it swiftly. “At least you could have covered it with some makeup,” the older woman grumbled as she carried batches of freshly baked cupcakes and cookies. Summer could have replied that she was in a hurry or she had forgotten, but she didn’t. In reality, she did not expect her to even notice that she had a sleepless night. No one did before. She mumbled an apology, but said nothing further.
The day went on uneventfully. Once they had served the last customer, Summer flipped the board that had the ‘closed’ sign and pulled the blinds. As she unknotted her apron, she blurted, “Are there wolves here?” Barbara, who had been noting down the day’s earnings, stiffened. Summer frowned. Did she ask something…odd? As the older woman continued to note down everything on her little notepad, her anxiety spiked. Why did she blurt out and ask such a weird question? Who asks about wolves out of nowhere, with no context?
“I… um… I heard it somewhere, before...coming here. So…” she trailed off and started fidgeting with the apron. She peeked at the older woman, whose brows had furrowed and lips had thinned. Summer hurriedly amended, “I am sorry...it’s just—”
“There are no wolves here. None at all. This place is for humans and why would you think a city would have wolves?” Her tone was sharp. Barbara did not look up from her work, though. Summer gulped and mutely shook her head. She hurriedly went into the kitchen where Liam was washing the trays, his back turned towards her. But she could see that his shoulders were tensed.
She quietly but clumsily set the apron aside and started helping with the washing. She did it sometimes, even after Liam’s countless protests. But today, he was absurdly quiet. For some time, the clinking of trays, the running water and the sound of scrubbing prevailed in the room. Summer wouldn’t call it companionable silence. She figured that her question had somehow disturbed the couple, for whatever reason might be.
Having completed the task, she mumbled a quiet goodbye and was both taken aback and relieved to find a packet sitting atop the counter. Liam did not say anything when she went out of the kitchen, and Barbara merely nodded in acknowledgement. Once outside the bakery, she sighed in relief. That was one tense and anxiety-filled evening.
The air was cold, and the evening was darker than it should have been. She took her usual route, walking at a languid pace, not in a hurry to go back, no one to punish her for being late. Her mind wandered back to the house where she had grown up. What were they doing now? Were they creating chaos and searching for her only to humiliate and punish her for being a supposed ‘monster’ as they claimed? Or were they always on the lookout whether she would be back? She hoped it was the last one.
Making a detour to the nearby convenience store, she bought a few necessary household items because waiting for an entire month seemed to cost her a lot somehow and some groceries. Coming back to a silent home sometimes made her feel...uncomfortable. She had never been engulfed by this much silence. Toeing off her shoes, she placed the groceries on the countertop and then deposited her purse on the bed.
As she was about to make her way to the bathroom, she suddenly felt dizzy. Red eyes flashed in her mind’s eye. She plonked on the bed. What just happened? This is why she did not like silence. It drove her mad. It spiked her anxiety. She breathed out shakily.
~~~~
Barbara acted normally the next day, even though Summer tried to be as vigilant with her words as possible. She must have done a good job because neither Barbara nor Liam had called her out on it.
“What do you think about working in the HR of a company?” Barbara had suddenly raised the question. The three-tiered trays filled with macaroons had almost fallen down from her hands. “Huh?” she could only utter unintelligibly. Barbara made a noncommittal noise as she took the trays from her hands. “One of my cousins is in HR. The company is recruiting staff for the HR department, so I thought of informing you. They are going to have a walk-in interview on Friday. If you like I can give you my cousin’s contact number.”
Summer stared at her, slack-jawed. She almost asked why the older woman was telling her all this all of a sudden, but she restrained herself lest she should get the same treatment. “I….okay,” she acceded reluctantly. Barbara nodded and then they went about their work and before she left, the former gave her the number.
~~~~~~
Her thumb hovered on the number. She had switched on her phone for the first time after coming here. Thankfully, Barbara never asked for her never and neither did she give her one. Now, though, she had to recharge her number. She had waited with bated breath as the device booted up. But thankfully, and to her slight disappointment, there weren’t any calls or important texts. Not even from Gloria. It was as if they had forgotten her. Only two weeks and not even Gloria remembered her.
She swallowed back her disappointment. Biting her lower lip, trying to reach a decision. Was Barbara just being kind? Or was this a trap? But why would she trap her? Was she indirectly firing her from the work? Before she could think anymore, she pressed the call button, deciding to give this a try.
The conversation turned out to be fruitful, more or less. Even though Summer had to hide certain facts about her home. Other than that the man asked for her work-related stuff and asked to come for the interview on Friday.
~~~~~~
Friday came in the blink of an eye. She tapped her foot on the white-tiled floor as she waited for her turn. It was a little difficult to find the company. But she managed to reach just 5 minutes before time. She saw a lot of men and women were seated. Her gaze had subtly scanned everyone. She couldn’t help but feel self-conscious about her attire. Was this too shabby? Will they reject her? What if she stammers?
She was pulled out from her internal turmoil by the receptionist. On wobbly legs, she entered the room. A panel of four was set up. The interview breezed through, and by the time she exited, she could only hope that she had been able to answer them more or less correctly.
~~~~~~
She received an email from them and a call from HR on the following Friday, confirming her post in HR. She didn’t know that she was crying until she tasted the salt drops. The next day, she hugged Barbara, shoving down all the protests of her body. The couple looked happy for her and that day she even had dinner with them.
When she came back home, she couldn’t help but think wistfully about having a home-like theirs, filled with laughter and warmth. But she was happy nonetheless. For once again, luck had smiled upon her. She looked forward to the new beginning.
She hissed slightly as the cold water cascaded down her body. Belatedly, she realised that she had absent-mindedly scrubbed on a healing wound on her left forearm a little too hard. The water made it sting. She stared at it as the water cascaded down her body, rinsing the suds and sluicing down the drain. The wound had turned an angry red. She brushed her thumb over it and hissed again. It mocked her, taking more time to heal than others had as if serving as an angry reminder of her life that she had left behind. However, unlike the past month today, the scars stared mockingly at her.Turning off the shower knob, she stepped out, shivering at the sudden change in temperature. The heater had been acting up for a few days now and finally took its last breath last night. She hurriedly dried herself and pulled on her work clothes — a pair of black trousers and a beige cotton blouse. Tying her damp hair into a bun, she tossed the damp towel in the laundry basket. Looking out
Amber eyes clashed with a pair of silver, sharp and icy. She gasped, not at the cold-faced Adonis standing in front of her, but because of a sudden vision that flashed across her mind’s eye. Red eyes. The ones that she had seen a few weeks ago.Dorian looked at the employee with ill-concealed ire after the momentary daze that had convinced him that the girl was his mate. He glared at her. She was practically gawking at him, which annoyed him further. Who recruited her? He wondered. His wolf was another story. He was purring at the sight of his mate, the suppressants barely keeping him from taking over. He looked down at his now spoiled shirt. He’d have to go back and change again.“Watch your steps,” he gritted, continuing to glare at her. He glanced around. A sizeable crowd had gathered. His employees tried to be inconspicuous as they watched the scene unfold. No one dared to come close to him or offer him any help. Dorian didn&rsqu
“You have dinner with family at 7,” Kyle said as he flicked scrolled through the schedule in the tab. Dorian grunted. He scoffed internally as he thought about how his ‘family’ put up so much effort to meet each other once every week, but in reality, everyone wanted to kill the other, everyone especially wanted to kill him. As his eyes skimmed through the papers, that Kyle had brought for him to sign, he couldn’t help but chuckle. Oh, how they thought that appeasing him would help them be in his good books.“Alpha?” Kyle’s tentative call made him look up. His beta’s eyebrows had drawn together, maybe because he puzzled as to why he had suddenly huffed out a chuckle. Dorian plucked a silver pen, gifted by his grandfather from the pen stand and said, “I am just amused by this pretentious family dinner.” Kyle frowned but refrained from commenting on his view.Once alone in his office, Dorian&rsq
“How is work?” Clara asked primly, while gracefully twirling the noodles with the fork. The others subtly looked at them, he could feel it. Dorian stifled a sigh. He was utterly bored and they weren’t even halfway through the dinner. Among the family members, only his grandpa and Clara were the ones who made an effort to talk to him. Clara used to be his closest cousin and confidant, but somewhere along the journey of adulthood, they had drifted apart.“Good,” he replied, not looking up from his plate. He just wanted to be out of this facade of a dinner. For the next few minutes, only the clinking of plates and glasses could be heard. Dorian sometimes wondered why they bothered to arrange this when no one wanted to talk with another, and they all walked on eggshells around him. It always irked him to see his father’s empty seat, left as a stark reminder of the past. Grandfather never let him forget it fo
It was dark and gloomy. She could hear the rumbling thunder outside. She could smell the damp air, could hear the constant dripping of water from the leaking roof into the room where they were trapped. Why? She didn’t know. How? She didn’t know that either.“‘Don’t hurt my daughter...don’t...please. I will...I will tell you...I….” the faceless woman pleaded as she tried to drag her blood-soaked body back until her back hit the wall. She was cradled in her arms, unable to see who it was that addressed her as their daughter. Was she her biological mother? Possibly. She peeked a look at the man who stood not too far away from them. Was it a man? Or a dog? What species was it? It was growling...it always did. Its red glowing eyes made her shudder. And then…There was blood, dark and thick. She sat shivering in one corner of the room, trying to blend into the wall almost as she watched the c
Her eyes fluttered open to an unfamiliar room. She was familiar with this type of ceiling. She had been to this place countless times. And then everything came gushing back, making her sit up for the next moment. Red eyes….red eyes...her mind chanted and then the voice which had said her to beware of the red eyes…“Finally, you decide to grace the living world,” a timbre voice says from her right. Her gaze snapped towards its origin. Her eyes widened when she found that none other than her boss was lounging on the couch, staring at her, or rather scowling back at her. He was fully dressed in a suit now, thankfully.She swallowed nervously and averted her gaze. How on earth was she so unlucky? Just when she had thought that life was going to be mundane, she had multiple encounters with her all-too-unhappy boss and all in a span of
She heard a sharp intake of breath. She did not look up from the porcelain bowl. The white countertop made her feel dizzy before she resumed, “I don’t know much about my time at the orphanage but I can say one thing that I could live and breathe freely there. One day, I was adopted by the Whites, a childless couple who seemed to be lovable and cheerful in the beginning.” Her lips twisted slightly at the words ‘cheerful’ and ‘loveable’.She pushed back the bowl slightly and glanced at Barbara who was staring back at her. Her face was an open book, painted with a plethora of emotions. “I was taken care of initially,” she said, furrowing her eyebrows and remembering the days when they actually cared for her like parents would for a child. “But then...things started getting worse,” she continued. Summer gripped the spoon tighter. “Financially they weren’t stable and bringing me into their li
‘So she knows how to thank people, but doesn’t know how to reply back, ’ Dorian thought as he glanced at his phone which remained silent. He did not expect any reply after he sent one, yet he felt a twinge of disappointment when his phone did not light up.He tore his gaze from the unsuspecting device to his laptop screen. The emails were starting to give him a headache. He was about to type yet another response when the doorbell rang. He knew it was his beta, Kyle.“How many times did I tell you to just use the damn key,” he groused as he let him in. Kyle ambled in, two take away packets in his hand, and walked straight to his study. Dorian shook his head and closed the door. Kyle placed the takeaway packets on the desk and said sheepishly, “I keep forgetting about the key.”