Page 24 of Petals and Fangs

“Oh, come on. Don’t be so dramatic.”

“I am supposed to either call or email him and inform him of my work plan for tomorrow.”

“Go for it. A call is a lot better,” Arial says with a mischievous smirk on her face.

Before I can say anything else, Arial grabs my phone and scrolls through my contacts.

“Oh, you have him saved as Mr. Rothschild? Cute,” she says and hits the call button.

“Arial! What the hell?!” I scream, my eyes wide open. I try to get the phone back, but Arial holds it away from me, giggling.

“Good evening, Mr. Rothschild. This is Lily. I was calling to let you know what I have planned for tomorrow,” Arial says, mimicking me and rehearsing.

“Are you serious right now? I will never forgive you, Arial,” I whisper as I watch her, trying to reach for my phone.

When I finally manage to get the phone, I hear a stern greeting on the other end. His voice makes me shiver. I am not sure if it is out of stress or excitement. Whatever the feeling is, I am not the biggest fan of it.

“Hello?” Ethan's voice sounds distant and faint.

“Hey, this is Lily,” I say, my heart pounding against my chest.

“Yes, what is it?” His voice is cold.

“I am calling about tomorrow. I was planning on-”

“Is this important, Ms. Snow?” He interrupts me.

“Yes, it is, Ethan- I mean Mr. Rothschild.”

“I'm in the middle of an important meeting right now, Ms. Snow. Could this wait until morning? You can email my secretary,” he says, his tone annoyed.

“I am sorry. Yes, this can wait.”

“Have a good night, Ms. Snow,” he says. The phone goes silent. I stare at it for a few moments, until he hangs up.

Why is he talking to me like this? Does he not like me? What is it that I did wrong? So many thoughts are racing through my mind.

“You look pale.”

“I can't believe I am going to have to face this person every day for the next month or so,” I mutter and throw my phone on the bed.

I feel annoyed at Arial, but I also needed to hear Ethan's voice. I was going to call him eventually. I must admit that I expected him to be much warmer, especially after our encounter in his office.

I look up at the ceiling, wondering what is waiting for me the next day. I feel tired. A nice, warm bath would do wonders for my mood right now.

“He does have a nice voice. It matches his looks,” Arial teases, trying to cheer me up.

“Yeah. Too bad he has the personality of a brick,” I reply.

“You should give him a chance, Lily. He could be the one,” Arial says.

“Oh, please. He has been this stern since he drove me home. He also yelled at me in his office.”

“What? Why?” she asks, shocked.

“I was too forward, apparently. He didn't want me touching his stuff,” I tell her.

“Could you elaborate more, please? I am intrigued,” Arial asks, smiling.

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