Page 15 of Baby For My Bossy Fake Fiancé

As the Audi raced past skyscrapers and magnificence, I suddenly wanted to escape it all. Bail on work. But I couldn’t.

Even though I was sad and angry and everything in between, I had to find the courage to continue. And succumb to the tyranny of my boss.

How opposing.

It had been an entirely different feeling when I applied for the position of junior associate. I had been following their website for updates on jobs. Hoping they’d drop one within my level of experience.

And eventually they did. The job application was open to recent graduates.

Without wasting time, I applied, with a strong sense of hope… hope that someday I’d fulfil my dreams in one of the best companies.

For the first time in my life, something came easy for me. A few days later, I woke up to a letter of interview. I could still recall how I had run to my parent’s grave with tears in my eyes, to spill the good news to the plaque and ingrained writings.

A memorable day it was. But also a sad one because a few days later, I had to make a decision. The decision to move and begin on a different note.

It wasn’t like I had anything there anyway. All I had were loans, and they followed me.

Perhaps I was supposed to still have a house in the poorer part of the city… our house. But that had been long gone as collateral for a loan my parents didn’t have the chance to pay.

I hadn’t gotten the job yet, but moving was my way of exercising faith. Or I just knew I couldn’t stay in the rusty old neighborhood forever. Somehow, I knew the time had come for me to experience better things.

There were only two things I began to want after my parents died. To become an established lawyer and finally find love. Though the latter didn’t seem visible anytime soon.

My past boyfriends were only there for pleasure. I’d never really felt anything for them.

I finally escaped the clutches of my degraded apartment to the relinquishing grandeur of the more upgraded part. It was funny how this all sounded like I moved from an entirely different state.

But that’s what it felt like when you’d lived close to half of your life below social standard.

I knew leaving my comfort zone was going to be hard. But again, hardship was all I’d ever known. So, it was easy.

A saddening oxymoron. Easy hardship.

Thankfully, I found Sierra at a store on one of the days I went house hunting. The store was having a discount sale and our cheap asses were there. I found out she needed a roommate while we were shopping.

Moving my scanty things wasn’t much of a bother and we sort of clicked after that. I never had a friend. I was too busy struggling to live.

But in a short time, Sierra proved to be more than one.

I sighed again, this time angling my head to see her lips tugged into a mischievous grin. She had managed to have her way again. Her billionaire fling had given her his Audi for three days.

I’d have called her lucky, for bagging a rich dude -whatever they had going on-and have him acquiesce to even the silliest of requests.

But I knew her secret tears.

I knew how all the money she earned from waitressing in the morning and stripping at night still wasn’t enough to cater to her responsibilities. Her father wasn’t in the picture. And she had to constantly send money for her mother’s chemo and her brother’s sickle cell disease. Still, she always managed to be the life of the party.

Everyone had their struggles. Everyone fought a secret battle. I had fought many.

But one I didn’t understand was working for Mr. Knight.

“Renee,” I whipped my head to the side to find her staring at me.

“It’s a fast car. Eyes on the road, please,” I joked. I knew she had caught me thinking again and hoped my joke would deter whatever scolding would come after.

“If I had a penny for every time I called your name, I’d be a billionaire,” she grunted, gaze affixed on the road.

I sighed. “Sorry.”

---