Chapter 62

Florence.

I stared at the hands of the clock as they ticked by, their gentle tick tock, tick tock sounds reaching my ears. It was relaxing, but at the same time the small sounds made my stomach churn and I had no idea why. With each hand that moved I felt my stomach sink a little more deeper towards my feet. It was exhausting because no matter how hard I tried I just couldn't figure out the source of my unease.

A sigh slid past my lips as I finally pulled my eyes away from the clock. It was a golden giant circle that looked too much like the sun if you asked me. If I peered closely and ignored the intricate designs that had been smeared on the clock, I would have said my younger me's creations were now coming to life.

I wish.

A small smile made its way to my lips immediately. But what if I'd done something valuable when I was little ? Would I have generational wealth by now? Would I have dinners and lunch with the elites? Or maybe I would turn out to Dominique? Or perhaps a slightly nicer version of him?

I was daydreaming and I knew it, even when I had work to do. Since Dominique was absent, I was literally next in charge in looking after his house. It was a Saturday and Dominique had gone to check in on his aunt at the hospital. I always said I loved his aunt, but wnat Dominique felt for her, was a whole new discovery entirely.

I jogged up a memory of us in the hospital after his uncle had broken the news to us. As he sat on one of the benches in the waiting room, he was literally shivering. He was literally the one the news shook the most. In that moment, I wanted nothing more than to hold his hand and tell him it was going to be okay. And I would have, if his uncle had at least tried to keep his eyes away from me. I'd always heard perverts were real but I'd never experienced them, until I met Dominique's uncle.

I wasn't sure why, but the moment I laid my eyes on him in the office, I just knew he was trouble. I legit thought the last time I was going to see him would be at the Thanksgiving dinner, but I guess life had other plans for me. Plans, I didn't exactly like.

I tried my best to avoid his gaze and everything else, but the moment he slid his arm around my waist, I was ready to let all hell break lose. Goosebumps prickled the surface of my skin as an intense wave of disgust washed over me. To be honest, I had no idea how I would have reacted or what I would have done, if the phone call didn't take that exact moment to come in.

I was happy for the interruption, but devastated at the news it brought. Aunt Olivia was sick and she never mentioned it to anyone, not a single soul. And now she was in a critical condition. I just hope she'll be okay and…..

“Oh my God!” I yelped out loud as someone's hand fell over my shoulder. Like the heart attack I'd gotten wasn't bad enough, whoever it was gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “ What the… what the… you scared me!*

“I'm so so sorry.” I spun around to find out it was Jeremy. My fear of being burgled went down immediately, but it was going to take a while before heart stopped thudding. “ I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you.”

“It's okay, Jeremy.” I shook my head slightly as my hand went up to my chest. I rubbed slow and gentle circles around that spot hoping it would calm my racing heart. “ It's okay.”

No, it wasn't okay. But would I tell him that? Not at all.

“Are you sure?” If anything, he looked really sorry for scaring the shit out of me, and the way he stood gave nothing away but the fact that he didn't actually mean it. “ I'd been calling out to you for a while but I got no response. That's why. I'm Sorry. It won't happen again.”

“No, no.” I managed a small smile. “It's fine. Don't beat yourself up too much.”

“Thank you.” He nodded curtly. The atmosphere around us slowly gave way to silence, witty each one of us staring and looking at everything else but the one person in front of the other. “ Uhh, how have you been? It's been a while since I saw you around.”

“Yeah. It is a big mansion so..” I nodded sheepishly as I trailed off. It was a lie though, after Dominique's little outburst after I and Jeremy's little conversation in the kitchen the last time, I started avoiding him. I had no idea why. Dominique could have been my boss, but the last thing he could do would be to dictate who I spoke to and who I didn't. That was what I believed but surprisingly, I found myself avoiding Jeremy, even when I didn't want to. All because of Dominique.

“I guess so.” He shrugged, not in the least bit offended. “ That, and the fact that you've been hanging out with the boss a little more than normal now.”

“What?” I queried. My heart leapt back in fear and if it was due to shock or anger, I hadn't quite figured it out yet. “ I don't understand…”

“It's okay.” He chuckled lightly. “ You don't owe me anything. I just want you to be careful though. Around Dominique.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” I knew I should have ended the conversation there, but my curious mind would curse my entire generation if I didn't find out the truth, or what he meant by that. “ What do you mean?”

“You know how Dominique is.” Jeremy started. “ He's rude, cruel, lacks human sympathy….”

“But he dashed out of here early this morning just to go check on his aunt at the hospital.” I let out through gritted teeth, cutting him off immediately.

“He wouldn't have done that if he lacked human sympathy.”

“Maybe.” Jeremy shrugged, obviously not convinced. “ Literally everyone knows he holds his aunt in high regards, but what about everyone else? I can boldly say he cares only about his aunt….”

“How can you be so sure?” I cut in again. “ You couldn't possibly know….”

“But I do.” It was Jeremy's turn to interrupt me this time. “ Because I Know Dominique, at least to a fault.”

“How?” I didn't like this. I didn't like it at all where this conversation was going. “ What do you mean?”

“His aunt, aunt Olivia was once an aunt to my mum too.” He paused, just right after he'd dropped the bombshell. If he'd done it just so the words could sink in, I wasn't quite sure or perhaps he'd

done it just to be dramatic, I had no idea, but he did continue after some minutes. “ In fact, she's the reason I'm here actually.”

“So what are you saying?” My heart thudded as I asked this question. I had no idea what he was going to say next, but I knew for a fact that whatever he would say, wasn't going to sit well with me at all. I could feel it.

“I'm saying, Dominique can't ever be a good man.” Jeremy stood his ground. “ At this point, he's long gone and irredeemable.”