"Clothes? Passport? Luggage?" Judy asked as she placed her bags in the hallway, and I did not know if she was talking to herself or me. "Allys, are you listening to me?"

I nodded my head and chuckled. "Stop being so nervous! You have everything, trust me."

"I meant you." She crossed her arms. "Allys, please, I need to make sure you're going to be alright."

"I'm gonna be great. Stop worrying so much. I'm not a kid anymore." I got up from the white couch, grabbed both her hands, and squeezed them gently. "I can take care of myself."

"I know," she said, her voice trembling, and hugged me. My beanie almost fell because of her hands caressing my hair. "I really don't want to leave you alone."

"I know." 'Me neither,' it's what I thought. But we both needed this. For her to spend some time with her family and for me to start living life again.

She pulled me away and said, in a bossy tone, "Eat well, and when I come back, I hope to see you in better shape. You have lost weight these months."

"I know, and I will. Shannon will be staying here to make sure I'm fine until you come back, so don't worry about it."

"Are you kidding me? Now I'm worried than ever. That girl cannot even cook. Remember the last time I let her cook dinner, and the food were all burnt off?" she remarked with her sweet laugh and shook her head. "Don't let her cook anymore. She's talented, but her cooking skills are the worst."

I laughed, remembering like it happened yesterday. "I won't, I promise."

She pulled me into her arms again and kissed my cheek. "I love you, sweetheart. Take care, okay?"

"You too."

I carried her heavy suitcases downstairs, and Gary -our chauffeur- was putting them in the trunk while Judy was getting in the car. 

She rolled down the window, and I said, "Your family must have already landed from London. So, Gary will take you and your family to the family's private jet."

"Wow! A private jet? I've never been in one."

"Now, you and your family will. Call me when you get there and have a safe flight."

"I will, honey. Thank you for everything." She rolled the window up, and I tapped the car twice, watching it go. There was a bit of fog that morning, so I wasn't sure if she could see me waving goodbye through the black window.

It was 0630 in the morning when I went back upstairs to do the last check right before leaving to work. Work. I missed my friends, the barracks, the action, the adrenaline running through my veins.., but everything changed since that day. It wasn't the same as having your partner following the same path. I knew it was just a temporary job, but it wasn't as exciting as it was, being in the field.

I was near the building and almost slipped when I stared at a cute little boy who smiled at me with his red and chubby cheeks. I loved this city, but it's so hard to walk on the streets when snowing. How could people enjoy this weather? 

Snowflakes fell on my face as I lifted my head, trying to see the end of the building. Grand Loo Tower, it's called. I shook the snow off of my shoulders and pushed the door. Heading to the elevator, I said hi to the kind doorman that wanted to help me carry my luggage, but I politely said no. He was not the kind of man to give up easily when he asked, "Which floor are you going, ma'am?"

There was a touchscreen that showed all the floors instead of buttons.

"The 50th floor, please," I politely said.

"Are you a friend of Mr. Fernandez?" He pressed the 50th-floor button, and elevator C opened its doors.

"I suppose I can say I'm his employee," I said hesitantly. "It's my first day of work."

"Good luck, then, ma'am." I thanked him and got in the elevator, relief that he didn't accompany me inside.

Looking myself in the mirror, I took off my beanie. My cheeks and nose were red from the cold weather, and I brushed my messy medium brown hair with my fingers, thinking, 'Why was I nervous about this job?' The sound of the elevator startled me, and the doors slowly opened. There was only one door across the hall, so I rang the bell of my new life, but no one answered.

Was I at the right address? Check.

Was I on the right floor? Check.

Was I in the right door? There was only one, so: Check.

I rang again. What if Mr. Fernandez forgot about today? I rang one more time, just to be sure, before leaving. I felt stupid for coming here and accepting this job. I should've gone back to the army and continued my another four years of active duty instead of going back to be a civilian.

"What the fuck?" A young man opened the door, which startled me, causing me to take a step back. "What the fuck do you want? Do you even know what time it is? Geez!" 

His voice was hoarse, I could bet he just woke up. Was I on the right floor? My eyes widened as I looked at his bare chest, and I immediately looked up to meet his angry dark brown eyes. With this cold, how could someone only wear black sweatpants and white socks? It was freezing outside!

I cleared my throat and straightened my body. "Good morning, sir. Sorry for waking you up. I was looking for Allen Fernandez. Does he live here?" His sleepy and confused eyes looked at me, and I showed him the paper. "I am here for the job." I did a little research and found out that Allen Fernandez was the owner of the Blackmoon Hotel, and his son was the CEO. As I was scanning his face, it took me a moment to realize who I was speaking to, "Sorry, am I speaking to his son? Are you Dave Fernandez?"

"Yeah?" He took the paper out of my hands. "My father doesn't live here. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! I totally forgot about today." He ran his fingers through his dark brown hair, noticing a few strands of blonde highlights.

"I can come back tomorrow or another day if this isn't a good time." I was a bit upset. But if Mr. Fernandez didn't live here, then what's the point of coming here? And why Judy gave me this address? She wasn't the type to be off the mark.

"No, please, come in," he said calmly, rubbing his eyes and stepping aside to let me in. His condo was beautiful and big -bigger than my place- but I looked appalled the second I looked at the wooden floor. There were red cups everywhere I looked. "Sorry for the mess. You don't have to clean all of this up. Someone will. Follow me, please," he ordered, and I followed him.

I tried not to step on any red cup or alcohol stain as we walked through the corridor to his surprisingly clean office.

"Maybe I-"

"I'll be right back. I'll pay you twice if you stay here," he said before closing the door. That sounded so bad that I rolled my eyes and let out an exasperating sigh. Money was not a problem, but this job. I could walk out of here easily without him noticing, but Judy would kill me. Would I be working for him instead?

I sat on the ripple black leather chair in front of the wooden desk. There was a window in my left hand, and I could see the ocean from here, snowflakes beautifully falling onto the ground. There's a television hanging at the corner of the white wall and a black cupboard behind me with books, folders, and family pictures.

A text popped into my phone.

'How is your first day of work going?'

'I thought Allen Fernandez lives here, but his son opened the door. I've been sitting in his office for like 30 minutes, and he hasn't come back yet. Should I leave?'

'Do not leave! What is he doing, anyway? Is he hot in person as he is in the pictures? ;)'

I rolled my eyes at the last question, and I was about to respond when I heard a girl giggling and saying, "See you soon, Dave."

He was shirtless. Of course, he had company. I was about to get up, not wanting to waste another minute of my time, when I saw the door opening.

"Thank you for waiting," he took a seat in front of me and handed me a cup of coffee. I could tell by his cologne and how the water droplets were dripping from his hair that he took a shower, not having enough time to dry it. "What's your name?"

"Allys Richards, sir. But don't bother, I think I'm gonna go. Thank you for... your time," I ironically said and got up.

"You're Judy's girl." I stopped and turned to him. Judy's girl? That sounded like I was working for Judy as a prostitute. "Nice to finally meet you. I'm Dave, but you already know that. Please, take a seat. I won't be wasting another minute of your precious time. I promise."

"I'm not Judy's girl. I'm her family," I said harshly. "And a cup of coffee won't do for forgetting about this day and for making me wait for 30 minutes. Are you joking, right?"

"Are you? Do you want a cup of tea instead?" He looked at me, waiting for a giggle or a smile for his hilarious response, but I was not in the mood. "I sincerely apologize for my behavior and my use of words. I have no excuse other than that I forgot. Please, give me another chance."

I sighed and sat back down. "I thought I'd be working for your father."

"You have been misinformed. My dear father had the idea, but you'd be working for me if that's okay with you."

It sounded more like a question, but I replied, "No, I have no problem."

"Great! It's good to hear that," he smiled at me, then pulled the drawer next to him and grabbed some papers. "Judy already spoke to me a little about you. So, what you're looking for is a six-month job, right?" 

"Yes, that's right."

He handed me some documents. "Take the time you need to read the contract and fill this paper in when you finish."

For a temporary job position, it surprisingly did pay well, and the conditions were acceptable. I have the weekends off, which was nice to focus on my mom's company, and I could get out early if I'd done my daily tasks. Traveling happened very often since he -being the CEO, has to attend international meetings and conferences.

Grabbing a pen from the desk, I started filling the blank spaces. "Great party you had yesterday."

"It was my birthday. You don't get to turn 26 years every year, right?"

I looked up at him, "Belated happy birthday, then."

"Thank you."

He was talking to someone on the phone when I finished filling out the paper. I looked at the big picture that was hanging on the wall behind him. It was a picture of his family, all smiling at the camera with white t-shirts. The last time I took a family picture was two years ago on Christmas Eve. I spent my Christmas at Shannon's with her family. And on New Year's Eve, I spend it with my aunt and uncle.

"Thank you. I'll talk to you later," Dave said over the phone and hung up. "Sign here, please."

Doing so, he grabbed the pen that was in my hand and signed next to my signature. "May I ask you something?" he asked, and I doubtfully nodded. "What is a young woman like you, whose parents own a hotel, doing here? You are the competition. Why work for someone like me in a position where your skills are much needed elsewhere? And why should I hire you?"

Coming from the same industry, I knew he was going to ask me that sooner or later. "Owned," I corrected him. "My parents have recently died."

"Right, my mistake," he cleared his throat. "My condolences."

The news about my parent's tragic death and the future of my dad's hospital and my mom's hotel has been in the newspapers for months, so I suppose he already read it. 

"Don't you think you should've asked me before signing the contract?" And he was the CEO of his dad's company?

"I can always tear it up," he shrugged his shoulders and leaned over the desk. "You didn't answer my questions."

"I am just trying to do something different from the experiences I previously had in my life. Do I own the hotel? Maybe. Do I manage it? Not entirely, but my aunt and I are. But I guess you already know that because you wouldn't have me signed the contract in the first place if you hadn't. News travels fast. And, if you're worried about me leaking information or trying to ruin your company, don't be. I don't know if Judy told you, but I've been away for quite a long time, so I barely know anything. I know how this works: if I ruin yours, you'll make the same move."

"Not complaining, but I'm curious. Why this job?"

"Why all these questions? Shouldn't you have asked them before?" I was confused. If I were him, I would've asked them before giving the competition -as he described it- the job.

"Answer mine first, and I will answer whatever questions you may have."

"Judy gave me this job, which it's something I can handle for the moment since I know how to cook and clean, and I'm an organized person. I know my skills are much needed somewhere, trust me. I just needed this job to take my mind off things from where I am going through." I crossed my arms. "Now, knowing my background, why would you hire me? Why not being straightforward with me from the beginning? It's a little suspicious, don't you think?"

He chuckled and got up. I watched him lean on the desk, arms crossed in front of his chest, eyes staring deep into mine, that I felt intimidated. "I don't hire people because of their successes or their money. I don't care about your background, what you've been through to be where you are right now, or where you've been. I don't care if you don't own a hotel or not, because it's like what you said, "If I ruin yours, you'll gonna ruin mine,"" he smiled wickedly. "I care about honesty, and you showed me that by answering my questions. It proves that I can trust you, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. I can always fire you if I see something that I don't like."

"Fair enough," I said.

"Got any more questions?"

"Any allergies? It's for the meal schedule, sir."

"Strawberries. And, please, don't call me sir. I am no sir," he chuckled. "You have no problem traveling with me, right? Did Judy tell you?"

"She did, and I don't mind."

"Welcome aboard, then." He extended his hand, and I shook it, his thumb gently caressing my hand, causing me to shiver.

"Thank you," I pulled my hand apart.

"Now, let me show you around." We got out of his office, my bag in his hand. I noticed there're no more red cups on the floor, no more stains as he showed me each room of the penthouse, and the odd smell from before had disappeared. He was right. Someone had cleaned up the mess while we were in his office. He was direct and explicit about getting things done the way he liked, which was a shortlist that I already memorized. "And this is your room. You can decorate it if you want to make yourself at home."

Home. A familiar word, yet so unknown.

***

"Jared!" I hysterically screamed. "Jared! Please, don't do this! Jared!"

I watched him go away, and I tried to chase him, but someone grabbed me by my waist. I called his name three times, fighting to get away from the guy who took me until I could no longer see him.

The guy put me down on the ground, and I angrily pushed him away.

"Jared!" I yelled one more time, but I heard nothing but weapons firing.

I was starting to get my vision blurred from the exhaustion. My injuries were causing unbearable pain, and the guy covered in blood was standing next to me, breathing heavily and sweating.

"He's gone, Allys," he said, and my body started shaking. 'That's not true,' I mentally said. I ran again, but my legs betrayed me, so I fell, causing my injuries to bleed even more.

"JARED!" I yelled, crying.

I woke up with sweat all over my face, my heart pounding, and lying on the floor. Where was I? Right. It was not my house. It was Dave's. I was glad that my room was at the end of the hallway, far away from him.

I got up from the floor and walked towards my window, each step taking a deep breath.

Gosh! How long would I be having these kinds of dreams? My therapist assured me that it was natural to have nightmares since I have PTSD. I was already used to them, but the more they appeared, the more I felt the pain that I tried to forget these past years.

Hello! Hope you liked this chapter and let me know what you think about it ;)

Q: What do you think of Dave? And a personal question: what is your dream job?

Hope you guys have a nice week and see you in the next chapter! ;)

XOXO