Chapter 16: CHAPTER SIXTEEN

The week passed by in a blur, my new job taking over every bit of my time, even when I was off.

I wanted to impress Mr. Alaric so he didn't sack me when he'd finally gotten that wild Voicemail I'd sent to him.

I'd tried finding out if he'd seen it but there was no way I could that won't rat me out. I mean, if he hadn't seen it, why wake the sleeping dog?

He was terrible with technology which I found weird but this fact may have played to my advantage so if it meant he never heard me screaming his name in pleasure the very first day I'd seen his gray eyes, I was more than happy.

It was finally Friday and I couldn't wait to actually rest and get some things done around my new house.

I'd been taking work home so I didn't have any time for myself for the whole week.

So as I packed my bag for the day, earlier than usual, I felt a little guilty.

He was always the first to leave and now it was going to be the other way around.

So I finished with that and sat back down on my seat, rearranging what I'd already arranged.

It was about thirty minutes afterwards and I decided to take matters into my own hands.

I decided to simply say goodbye to him in his office and be on my way.

He'd been giving me too much money for coffee runs and always insisted on me taking the change so I had extra money on me and I already planned on cooking creamy pasta and chicken and I didn't want to waste a second more here.

Who knows what my life will be like next week? I mean, this sense of normalcy was barely two weeks old and I was always scared of everything returning back to the horrid way it was so I decided to ensure I took advantage of this opportunity.

I knocked on his door but there was no response.

I opened the door and he was slumped over his desk, and not in a good way.

My heart rate spiked and I quickly rushed over to him.

“Mr Denver?!” I screamed in panic, shaking him awake.

Suddenly, I felt weak for absolutely no reason and took my hand away from him like I'd touched hot coal.

But he'd roused from his slumber and grabbed my hand, his eyes stark red.

“Please wait,” he grumbled, his voice gravelly and hoarse.

I felt weaker the longer he grabbed my hand.

“Let go!” I struggled weakly but it wasn't effective.

Suddenly, he let go of my hand and I stumbled to the ground.

I got up from the ground, a little shaky and made for the door.

“Please Aria, wait,” he begged and I turned around to look at the strange man I was working for.

Everything about him was off, his aura, his beauty and the way he made my body sing in a different language.

And now, with just a touch, he was draining me.

When it happened the day I had intended to run away and got into an accident, I had waved it off, thinking of it as complete madness but it was obvious now that somehow, touching my boss led to me losing energy.

This meant that whatever had happened at the hospital that day wasn't a figment of my imagination. The corridor that I'd run through had actually changed into a bigger, modern hospital.

I gasped in shock as his eyes returned back to their dark gray color instead of red and I took a step back.

“Look, I can explain okay? Just wait,”

“No!” I exclaimed, too loudly but my heart was beating out of my chest and I ran out of the office.

I'd just seen my boss switch eye color.

I'd just been drained by him in a very weird way.

I'd just…

‘Oh my God!’ I realized the events of the past week as I'd tried running away from my father's plans for me and none of this made any sense.

As I got home, still reeling from the insane experience, all I could think about was, what now?

Should I quit?

But I couldn't.

I needed to keep working and hopefully convince my father this Saturday that I wasn't just useful for making business or political deals.

And if I didn't, I'd at least have a job while at it.

But then, what if this happened again and it killed me? The first time it did, I blacked out.

My stomach roared and I decided to attend to it first.

Maybe I'll have the energy to actually figure out what to do. I'd not eaten all day so I took the groceries I'd gotten and began to cook.

***

ALARIC'S POV

“I’ve fucked up Octavio,” I groaned, swallowing the sixth glass of bourbon in his apartment.

“Yes you have brother. The question now is, are you going to wipe her memory or tell her everything?” He asked me the direct question that I'd been avoiding.

I groaned in frustration.

How could I fuck up so much in just one week?

I'd made the mistake of draining myself out and then overestimating my own strength and ended up passing out in the middle of nowhere.

If she hadn't been the one to come to me, I would have probably been in some government testing lab right now.

After visiting hell to deal with business, I'd needed to drain myself again and she walked right in the moment where I'd been vulnerable.

It should have been so easy to make this choice.

I'd done it all the time and yet here I was, unable to do that to her.

“Isn't there any other way?”

“I'm sorry, I can't think of any other alternatives,”

“Fine, I'll do it,”

“Great, I'll go get the equipment,” he replied and was about to leave when I stopped him.

“I'm not wipi

ng her memory, Octavio,”

He looked at me in shock.

Me too brother, I couldn't believe what I was about to do either.