= CHRIS POV =

It’s been two weeks since Sarah started living with me. 

I felt like a nervous wreck all the time.

 I was exhausted, trying to handle my work on top of trying to sell her damn car; customers sending my texts about purchasing Sarah’s car while dealing with all of Sarah’s outstanding bills and payments was a headache, and yet I was still expected to remain completely focused when at work.

The hours spent by myself relaxing got shorter and shorter, and I found myself being surly and curt at work, perhaps even to the point where I was almost slave-driving people.

 I made sure that everyone hit their KPIs or else.

 I wasn’t taking nonsense from anyone as I was already taking a lot of nonsense from Sarah, and I had to be cool and calm about it with her, even though the whole thing was her god damn mess.

I could show my displeasure with her, but the minute I even twitched, the girl jumped and scurried away from me like a frightened cat, and I had to hunt her down in the house, the only respite being a few moments of bliss in the form of a request of affection from her…which just made me feel worse , as she looked so terrified every time I demanded it, and then blissed out like I had sucked her very soul from her body after I had my way with her…and it was usually just a hug or a kiss; I hadn’t even tried going to third based with her yet!

And so I felt like an asshole. 

I started to hate myself, but I couldn’t stop. I was doing all this for her, the least she could do was reward me for my efforts, right? But I couldn’t get her large, watery green eyes out of my mind or those soft trembling lips off my skin as I took them, night after night, relentlessly, like a starved women, addicted to her body. 

“Christina Fairfield?” A voice said behind me as I was in the middle of a briefing with my staff for the day.

I turned to find my boss’s boss, standing at the door to the meeting room, looking at me expectantly.

“Ms Cullens? How may I help you?” I replied, closing the iPad I had, which had the schedule on it.

The staff “Ooed” as if I had done something wrong. I shot them a condescending look, and they all kept quiet, looking at their hands or their phones in order to avoid eye contact.

“Sorry to interrupt the morning briefing, but could I have a word with you after the meeting, say at 1 o’clock?” She asked, walking in. “I’m Miranda Cullens, Rosa’s Supervisor,” the lady said, reaching out to shake my hand.

“Yes, I know. Nice to formally meet you” I replied, shaking her hand in a firm grip.

“Should I stop by your office?” I asked but she shook her head as she continued to hold firmly to my hand.

“I think it would be best to have the meeting at Office One. Rosa will be joining us” She explained, then released my hand.

I felt a lump in my throat. Office One was located across from the HR department. Office one was where people went to get reprimanded or fired.

“T-Thank you, I will be there at 1’o clock” I replied, nodding. I could feel all the eyes on me, and a few snickers were badly suppressed around the room.

“Don’t worry, we won’t keep you too long. However, we have already assigned someone else your afternoon shift, so you can be at ease during the meeting,” Ms Cullens said. “ See you later,” and left the meeting room.

I turned back to the faces of seven employees feigning innocent ignorance as they looked up at me expectantly from the boardroom table.

“Well, do any of you have any questions about today’s schedule?” I asked, trying to keep my composure.

“Yeah, are you getting fired?” One of them asked, and the table laughed.

I slammed my hand on the table, and they all shut up immediately.

“The only person getting fired today is the person who F***s up during the breakfast buffet. Cheryl, your attempts at making eggs gave the assistant chef food poisoning when they QC-ed your work. Do you want me to write to HR about your performance? Or what about you, Sebastian? How many times are you going to forget to use a measuring cup to measure salt before adding it to the broth? Do you want us to deduct the wasted vegetables from your salary?” I shouted, fuming.

Everyone bowed their heads in shame.

I straightened myself up. 

I was not one to be played with. If the hotel wanted to fire the only competent person on staff, then I wasn’t walking out being made fun of to my face.

“You all need to buck up. No matter where you go, no matter what job you do, I have been there and done it all, so you can’t lie to me. Do better and use the measuring devices provided. This hotel is a Five Star Platinum Branch, don’t bring it down even by one notch” I said and walked out of the meeting room, letting the door bang behind me.

I heard them cursing me out as I walked away, but I didn’t care, I was on my last nerve, and they could all eat dirt because that was the level of their culinary capabilities.

After I had made my rounds supervising the buffet spread, I took stock of the inventory left over and sent the report to the other head chefs to keep the notified if there were any orders that needed to be made. 

The rest of the morning flew by, and before long, I made my way to Office One. 

I couldn’t lie to myself; I was nervous. If I lost this job, not only would I be out of work, but Sarah would also suffer tremendously. 

I opened the Job apps I had on my phone while I walked over to the meeting place. My resume was updated to my latest place of work, and sure, I could send it out any time, but would I really be getting a better position than this? And did I want a better position anyway? Maybe it was time to look overseas for work instead. 

Perhaps even Sarah could do with the break from living paycheck to paycheck in this unforgiving city. 

I pushed open the door, and there sat Ms Cullens and Rosa, waiting for me at a circle table. There was only one chair left, and it was facing them. I felt like my soul left my body.