Page 11 of Play of Love
“No, you damn well aren’t, get out of my house and don’t come back,” he bellowed.
My cheeks burned from the embarrassment. I’d had a rough upbringing but in all my adult years no one had ever spoken to me like that, and I felt it even more because I really needed this job.
What was I to do, though? Insist that I was staying?
I couldn’t do that, but I couldn’t leave, either. My mother needed me, and as bad as the place was I had to put up with whatever crap he threw at me.
“I was hired to be your PA. I’m just trying to clean the office.” I thought I could reason with him by explaining.
“I don’t need a PA, and the office doesn’t need cleaning.” His eyes bored into me with darkness and anger.
I was trying to focus on what he was saying but I swore something scurried past again. The dirt was one thing, but there was one thing I hated more than anything and that was…
I screamed from the depths of my soul as I saw the long thick tail of a rat disappearing behind the desk. And again when the said rat diverted and scrambled back towards me in a frantic pursuit with its thick brown furry body and beady eyes. I stumbled, not knowing which direction to run, and tried to gather myself.
Higher ground. I needed higher ground, so I turned to make a run for the desk, trying to avoid the filthy creature.
However, I didn’t see the second rat that charged towards me in blind panic and ran straight over my foot. All I knew was I could feel its nasty claws over the exposed skin of my feet in my sandals, and its body was wet and slimy. The cherry on top of the horror was its disgusting long, pink tail whipping out at my ankles as it went by.
That was all my brain was able to establish before the air left my lungs and I fainted.
* * *
Josh
* * *
Jesus Christ.
What the hell was I supposed to do with her now?
Was it too much to ask to be left alone? I just wanted everyone to leave me to do what I wanted, but people kept forcing themselves on me. That damn Zelda.And my whole damn team, for that matter.
They all needed to back the fuck off and leave me be. Now look. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate, I had this woman to deal with. She’d fainted before me and crumpled into a delicate heap with her mass of golden hair sprawled out on the floor.
Shit. Who fainted at the sight of an animal? Sure, it was a rat, but fainting was a little dramatic. I looked at her wondering if I should just leave her there, but saw the creatures running around the room and felt a bit bad.
From somewhere inside me, I couldn’t tell where, I felt bad to leave her there in the midst of something she was clearly afraid of.
So, with deep annoyance, I picked her up and carried her to the sitting room so I could lay her on the sofa.
“Hey, wake up.” I nudged her, poking her arms. “Wake the hell up.”
Nothing, she was out cold and completely unresponsive. Panic made me check her breathing as the thought occurred to me that she may have hit her head.
Her breathing was fine and her head seemed okay too; she just really had fainted at the sight of the rats. I’d call pest control later, right now I was going to call Zelda. She’d wound me up the wrong way and I wasn’t going to be forced into anything.
I grabbed my phone and dialed the number. Zelda answered within the first ring. I opened with a mouthful of curses that fell off the tip of my tongue.
“You ass-backwards bastard, don’t you dare speak to me like that,” Zelda retorted. One thing about her was that she didn’t tiptoe around me because I was grieving. I’d never known her to go soft on me and she wasn’t about to now. She served back twice as much as she got in an argument.
“I don’t need a PA.”
“Son, you seem to be living in a dream world, but let’s not pussyfoot around the situation,” she balked. “If you don’t want to play for the team, resign. It’s simple. Just resign. Until your management informs me of your resignation, you sure as my ass ain’t skinny will have a PA. Now deal with it and make sure you shape up for the ESPN show. Or leave.”
She didn’t give me the chance to reply. I heard the phone slam down on her end and the line went dead.
Feeling frustrated, I threw my phone into the wall and watched it smash. I’d never felt so torn in my life and so damn conflicted.
