Chapter 15 Ms. Goody-Two- Shoes Goes To Malibu
What Can I name this chapter?
Malik's POV
The office went silent immediately Brenda stepped out, and my guard came back up immediately.
Nobody had ever put me in my place like she did.
It hurt me because her words should not affect me. She was nothing but a means to an end.
Forget everything that happened prior to her attending my first game. It was all fake!
In less than three months, she would be gone from my life completely and I wouldn't not have to deal with her anymore.
"I hope you're ready for this, Ms. 'Goody-Too-Shoes'?" I mocked, hoping to get back at her after last night.
She turned the swivel chair so that she was facing me.
She chinned up in defiance like she was about to say something so cutthroat that would hurt my ego even more.
"So, we're back to the name calling? You tried to make it seem as though I was imagining stuff in my head yesterday and I put you in your place. You have nothing else to say to me so you've resulted into making fun of my lifestyle choice? Mhm mhm." She shook her head.
She got up, tossing her hair before walked up to me.
"Malik, prior to all of this, I worked on my dissertation for a year and a half and it still got rejected by my supervisor. I've gone through my fair share of things in life, and so there's nothing on this earth that you can say to make me quit this. I told you last night that you're nothing but a case study. You're a means to an end." She spat, walking out of the office.
I stood there, speechless.
She had left me with nothing to say.
At this point, it was obvious that we were both playing a mental game.
After last night, one of us was looking to get the upper hand.
I thought it’d be easy since I’ve always had my way, but maybe there was really more to her than being the ‘Goody-Too-Shoes’ I called her.
She would not have the upper hand next time.
That was something I was going to make sure of.
Sloane’s POV
“It’s best if you both leave now if you’re gonna get there before nightfall.” Brenda advised as Malik loaded the last of his stuff into the trunk of the car, slamming it shut.
“Malibu’s fifty minutes away, Brenda. There’s no need to worry.” He shook his head, circling the car until he opened the door to the driver’s seat and hopped into it.
Brenda made her way to the window of the front passenger’s seat. She placed her two arms on it and leaned over to look at me.
“I know you guys are still fighting, but the team needs this. The fans need this. I swear, three months will pass by in the blink of an eye and you can go back to not knowing each other. We need to secure this Nike deal, you guys. Please don’t kill yourselves while on the trip. I’ll be contacting you from time to time to know when the Nike team will be coming.” She informed us and Malik nodded.
Without saying anything else, he started the ignition, reversed and hit the road.
Brenda suggested it would be better if he drove instead of using the driver because she said couples tended to avoid one on one conversations when they fought.
She said we needed some alone time to iron the issues out.
I fished out my AirPods, connected them to my phone and continued to listen to some music as he drove.
All of a sudden the car came to a halt.
I wanted to ask him why, but I ignored him.
I hummed to the lyrics of the song, my favorite part about to start.
The left ear of the AirPods got pulled out.
“Excuse me?” I turned to look at him.
“Your seatbelt, Sloane. Put it on.”
Rolling my eyes, I obliged before outstretching my hands for the second ear of my pods.
Instead of returning it to me, he slipped it into the pocket of his jeans.
“What was that for?”
“Road safety. You’re only allowed to use one ear. You need to be conscious of your environment.” He smiled at me, turning back to face the road ahead before he started the car again.
Fuck this man.
Angrily, I pulled out the second ear of the pods and slipped it into the case.
I was so done with this.
One second, I thought I had put this man in his place and the next second he was putting me back in my place.
At this point, there was a literal battle of ego happening.
For the rest of the drive, I dozed off.
The cabin looked smaller than any one I’d seen on TV.
“What the fuck is this shit?” Malik groused beside me.
We both stood in front of it.
“It can’t be that bad. Let’s see the inside before we complain.” I looked up at him, suggesting.
He shrugged, walking ahead of me to open the door.
I followed behind him.
The first thing that greeted us when he opened the door was a kitchen.
A freaking kitchen?
Come on now.
Malik powered through, walking past the next door.
When we entered the tiny bedroom with a king sized bed and a small couch resting by the wall, my jaw dropped. Literally and figuratively.
Malik made his way to the next door.
He pushed it open and it led outside.
“You have got to be kidding me!” He declared.
He immediately pulled out his phone from his pocket, dialing a particular number.
“Brenda, what the fuck did you do?” He asked, clenching jaw angrily.
“What are you talking about?” I heard Brenda say through the phone.
“First off, you book a very small cabin that can barely house me talk more of the both of us. Next, you put the both of us in a situation where it’s only one bed and you want us to share. What exactly are you trying to achieve?” He demanded.
“I’m trying to show the whole world that you both are in love and are so in each other’s space that it doesn’t matter how small the space is. I’ll hang up now. Make sure to enjoy your time there. Tell Sloane I said hi.” She cut the call before Malik could utter another word.
“I’m not going to sit here and play these types of games with Brenda.” Malik shook his head.
He could stand there and mope around all he wanted. As for me? I was exhausted and I needed some sleep.
I took off my socks and fell flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling.
“Hello,” Malik said.
He listened to what the person on the other end of the line said.
“Yes, please. I’m currently in Malibu California and I’m in urgent need of an extra bed. How quickly can it be brought to my address? I’ll send you my live location now?” He asked.
“Two hours?” He scratched his head. “Great. I’ll make the payment now and I’ll be expecting the furniture.”
“Yeah, thank you.” He nodded, ending the call.
He typed a few things on his phone before he got up and walked out of the tiny bedroom.
As for me? I was somewhere in between slipping in and out of my slumber and fighting to stay awake.
A loud rumble that came from my stomach finally woke me up.
I didn’t eat anything this morning because I was trying to prove a point to him.
I made my way to the kitchen and saw a half-eaten and opened can of Pringles lying there.
It wasn’t there when we came.
It belonged to Malik.
I’d rather starve to death than eat the stupid snacks that he brought.
Rolling my eyes, I turned around to return back into the bedroom when it made another rumbling sound, this one like never before.
My head was spinning. As though in no time, I was going to faint.
I was about to lose my stance completely when I reached for the can and took some chips out.
I shoved it into my mouth.
Wow, I had never had this flavor before.
It was so good.
I dipped my hand into the can, eating chip after chip until it was damn near exhausted.
I grabbed the half-empty bottle of water next to the can of Pringles and chugged down the whole thing.
I needed to know the flavor of the Pringle.
I picked the can, staring at the name of the flavor.
I strained my eyes because I stupidly forgot my glasses back at home.
“Cheddar….” I squinted some more, licking my fingers.
“It’s Cheddar Cheese.”
I jumped in my seat, tossing the can away as I stared at Malik’s figure at the doorway.
“I’m…. I…” I blabbed, staring at him while I looked like a complete idiot.
“Where’s the bed?” I asked instead.
He’d seen me eating his chips. There was nothing I could say to justify that.
“There’s currently a storm on the Pacific Coast. The truck had to turn around because it was stuck.”
I swallowed,
“So what does that mean?”
“That we’re sharing a bed tonight.” He walked into the bedroom, not bothering to spare me a second glance.