AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was now confirmed: there was no one likable in this place.No one.Not even these strange little people.
The girl put her hands on her hips, waiting for me to get moving, as if I couldn’t be trusted to work without her supervision.
“I’m going to need a minute,” I said.
“Fine. We’ll wait.” She crossed tiny arms in front of her chest.
“Alone.” I took a step toward them, not above chasing them out if needed. After all, they weren’t actually children, but they were still small enough to toss out the door.
She lifted her lip, nearly snarling at me. “Fine, but we’ll be checking in on you shortly.” She walked out. The boy gave me his best evil eye before following her.
Shit. Literally, I’d be cleaningshit. It didn’t matter. A paycheck was a paycheck, and if cleaning the toilets paid the bills, I’d clean every toilet in here.
Rifling through the bag of meager supplies I’d grabbed before coming here, I found a clean t-shirt and sweatpants. It was better than my dirty clothes from yesterday.
The place was quiet as I made my way out, dragging my bucket of cleaning supplies with me, trying to not make too much noise. I didn’t see the two little jerks anywhere as I snooped around, but I found a kitchen. There was a platter of muffins and pastries, and a bowl of fruit beside it. I grabbed a banana, swallowing down half of it in two bites.
I looked up to see the little blond tyrant was standing in the doorway, looking at me.
“Don’t worry. I’ll get my work done,” I said, giving her an evil look back. I wasn’t above chasing her out of the kitchen.
Her tiny little mouth was in a flat line as she walked away.
I dry-heaved for the third time in an hour, wondering if anyone had cleaned this bathroom in the last year.
“I see you’ve decided to make yourself busy,” Kaden said from behind me. The sounds of my retching must have hidden his approaching footsteps.
I dropped my stuff into the pail, preparing to see the amusement that had been clear in his voice.My hair was sticking out all over the place, and my knees were wet from kneeling.
I got to my feet.“I’m going to need to be paid while I’m here,” I said, figuring a number in my head.
He leaned against the sink. “How much do you think you’re worth?”
“Obviously more than you think, or I wouldn’t be scrubbing toilets.” That didn’t mean I wouldn’t charge him accountant rates. If he wanted to waste my training, that was his problem. Not mine.
“I don’t recall telling you to join the cleaning crew.” He shrugged, grinning at me.
If he thought he was going to get away with not paying me, he didn’t know what kind of warfare he was in for.
“I need a paycheck until I…” Forget trying to explain how I wasn’t staying. That was a waste of time with him. I was going to demand to be paid. “I have bills. I worked, and I need to receive compensation.”
“Whatever bills you had are gone. They no longer matter.” He looked me over, taking in the sweatpants that had a rip in them and a t-shirt that had been purchased on a clearance rack in a discount store.
“I can assure you, they do.” I forced myself not to hunch or partially hide, even as his shirt and pants were perfectly starched. Of course he didn’t think my bills were an issue. He looked like he bought whatever he wanted, whenever he wanted.
He took in a long, deep breath, forcing a smile as he exhaled. “It’s a good thing we don’t typically get reservations. I’m finding that explaining how things are here, and being continuously told I’m wrong, is not very enjoyable.” He straightened and walked to the door. “Follow me. I need to show you some things.”
I wasn’t going to balk over a break. The brush hit the bucket with a splash, and I tossed my gloves off.
He walked past the door that led to his office and then opened the next door down.
This room was small and filled with filing cabinets and bookshelves from floor to ceiling. A desk was in the center with a computer that looked like it predated modern history, like maybe it was a first generation, pulled out of a garage in California. He leaned down and typed on a keyboard that looked as ancient as the machinery it was attached to. He pulled the seat out for me and waved.
“We don’t have Wi-Fi here, but this computer is linked to Topside. Go ahead. Try to access your accounts.”
Did he really think I’d hand over more of my information so he and his weird crew could use it against me? I didn’t budge.
“How do I know your computer isn’t going to save my passwords and steal my accounts?” Was I really accusing him of being a petty thief? Yeah. Pretty much. It wasn’t my normal way of handling things at all. I was a peacemaker. I got along and didn’t make waves, but nothing about what I’d experienced so far seemed like it was on the up-and-up. It was weird and strange, and I wanted out and didn’t care who got insulted.
