Arin

Roger wanted to sue Brandon, his father. But why?

I thought of the various possibilities as I typed the letter he wanted.

"Did you type it yet?" A stern voice boomed from his office before he emerged. His broad-shouldered body towered over me.

The letter to the attorney said nothing more than Brendon's funds' embezzlement but I knew it was more than that. Roger was merely initiating the fall of the first domino. Later he would have a whole case around it.

I typed the last few words before printing and handing it to Roger, who waited in front of me, tapping his feet onto the wooden floor.

"Took you long enough," his voice - stern and authoritative - as he stared at me with those jaded blue eyes.

I couldn't help but wonder if Roger was being rude and hurtful on purpose.

"I had to ensure the letter was error-free," I answered.

He peeled his gaze from the letter towards me before peering back at the page.

Maybe I said a lot. Maybe he wasn't used to people talking back.

"It's error-free. Alright. Type faster next time," he replied without having the courtesy to look at me while addressing me.

"In that case, don't stand on my head and I will get it done quicker." Words fell out of my mouth before the realization struck.

Roger, who had begun his walk towards his office turned. There wasn't anger in his eyes but what I witnessed wasn't a pleasant expression either. It was something vicious. Something that sought revenge and was willing to hurt.

Something I couldn't understand.

He crumpled the letter and tossed it in the trash while his eyes stayed focused on me. "It had an error. Type again."

His voice boomed through the floor as he commanded me; his slave assistant to type another letter. Roger stood in front of my desk while I composed myself, typing again. I knew his gaze was set frozen on me; as was the entire office'.

You can't cry now Arin.

You have to be strong.

Don't show you were affected by his arrogant behavior.

Words of encouragement calmed the revolt of emotions inside me.

I wondered what happened to the sweet man who talked with me on the call. Who was this ruthless piece of human garbage who took over?

I finished typing as fast as I could, trying in parallel to not burst into tears. I controlled the boiling emotions bubbling up inside as I printed the letter again and handed it to him, not meeting his intense gaze.

"Not good enough." The same viciousness and hate in his voice boomed back as he crumple the letter again. He was punishing me for my statement. He doesn't like people talking back.

His attitude brought forth the rollercoaster of emotions inside of me to a standstill. Instantly, the hurt and the tears bubbling like lava were repressed.

Determination had an odd effect on me.

I typed the next letter faster than ever, focused on making it without any errors. Printing it, I muttered a little prayer before handing it to him. This time, I looked at him, meeting his burning gaze with the same intensity.

Residual tears had dried away. I wasn't scared. I was, two letters back, but not anymore.

What was the worst he would do? Fire me?

"Not good enough," he said with a smirk attached to his face. "Type it again."

The rubber band that was my patience, snapped as I growled. "Then do it yourself or get someone else to."

Anger would make you say and do stupid things. I was a living example of that.

The entire office maintained a pin-drop silence, watching how things escalated between me and Roger.

Mrs. Rose intervened, trying to defuse the situation.

"Roger maybe I..." she said but the heartless beast of a man didn't even let her finish her sentence, halting her words with his raised hand.

"No need..." he possessed a different tone now - milder. The one I have not heard in a long time.

As he stared at me, I matched his intense gaze. Surely, I would be fired any minute now so how about going down with a fight?

For what felt like ages, Roger and I kept staring at each other. None ready to bow down.

Then he took the letter and walked away.

I fell back into my chair, the adrenaline rush inside my body fading. The thrill of it remained.

I swear, I would have punched that man, if he'd crumpled this letter.

Mrs. Rose's soft voice cut through my thoughts. Looking up I saw concern swirl on her face. "Don't ever try that... Again."

I heeded her warning. In the rush of adrenaline tossed with emotions, I completely forgot that if I were to be fired, it would be my life that would turn miserable while Roger would go on living as if nothing happened.

"Sorry, Mrs. Rose. It won't happen again," I whispered to her as she sat across, nodding and smiling. Her assurance calmed me further.

The rest of the day went uneventful. While the remaining office staff talked about the morning show, I did my work. Thankfully, Roger didn't require any more dictations for the day so I was safe.

By evening, when everyone packed up for the day, I heard a beautiful, familiar voice.

"Hey babes." Georgia was around.

"Hello there." I smiled as I finish typing pending emails.

"Did I hear it right? You went all ape shit crazy on Mr. Murphy?" She chuckled, confirming what I assumed to have become - the talk of the office.

"It's the other way round Georgie. I was on the receiving end of an ape shit crazy act."

"The word which is spreading around is something else."

Well, even bad publicity was publicity itself. Am I right? So if that put me on the map of people not to be messed around with, I would happily take it.

"Oh by the way." Georgia snapped her finger while coming around the corner of my desk. "Remember that I wanted to tell you something in the morning."

"Yes, yes. You couldn't finish earlier."

"Well, Philips was telling me that Roger was screwing Dalia yesterday," her breathed words came out so low, I could barely register it

"What!"

Ahh, that made complete sense. Why won't he? It was their arrangement after all.

Or was it just an office rumor mill?

"And how does Philip know about it?" I wanted to get confirmation. In a way, my heart and mind wanted to understand the truth. Innocent until proven guilty was applicable here too.

"He was walking past his office when he heard it..." Georgia began. "And afterwards, Dalia came out of his office." She signed her two fingers to overlap together, making me understand the connection.

Roger didn't call me yesterday. After all, he was busy frolicking with Dalia.

I mean, why would you want to have phone sex when you can have an actual one. Who wouldn't prefer a busty woman spread open on the table for one to take.

"Wow that's some news," I cleared my throat and mind from picturing them together. "You are quite the rumour postmaster."

"You are taking this quite well." Georgia laughed in retort. "My jaws were hanging till the floor when I heard it."

"I think it must be today's face-off with him. I am still reeling back from it." I defended my reaction to the day's situation. The truth was only privy to me.

"Oh babes, before I forget to tell you, you did great." She patted my back. "None of us are capable of standing against him. We all are so proud of you for doing it."

Proud. Sure. But would anyone support me if I get fired for my little stunt? Nope.

By late evening, I wrapped up my work to leave only to be stopped at my steps as I heard Mrs. Rose call out my name. Her face lit up as I approached.

"Don't worry about today," she gave her usual confident-inducing smile. "Roger doesn't keep grudges unless it's Brandon."

Her words soothe the lingering fear inside of me. Calm flooded through me, knowing no irreparable damage was done.

~

Inside my apartment, I followed my usual schedule before dialing the operator. Within seconds, the call came through.

"Hello there," the routine began again as I answered the call.

"Hello... I... who... are... May I know?" A nervous voice cracked through the receiver

Goody. Another first-timer.

The last first-caller turned out to be my boss. But this wasn't him. Roger was busy with Dalia. I felt a streak of anger rising inside of me, every time I thought of them together.

"Hey, you can call me anything you want and tell me what you would want to be called." I reiterated the usual, boring introductions. "Also don't tell me your name."

"I want to be called Superman," the nervous voice suddenly turned confident as the caller stressed the last word.

Of course, you do honey.

The caller must be a boy around in his early twenties. Nerd, who somehow spared 30 bucks to make the call and talk. Bullied at school or college and wanted to feel macho by being referred to as the strongest fictional character by a woman who according to him, was going to be bedded.

Yes, I was good at reading people over calls too.

Before I could say anything, there was a distortion. A crackling.

"Hey, hello can you hear me?" trying to control my laughter I said, "Can you hear me, Superman?"

It would make much more sense if I finished the sentence with 'it's me, Louis Lane.'

The operator's voice reappeared on the call.

"Hello, Arin."

"Hey what happened to the call? Did it get disconnected?"

"We are patching you through on a new call."

So it did get disconnected.

The new call got patched through. Before I can speak, I heard it.

"Hello there, Babydoll."

There it was, his voice. Roger was on the call.

My brain tossed me scrambled instructions and I disconnected the call. My heart raced as I dial the phone operator, wiping the sweat beads that formed on my forehead.

I moment ago, I was talking to Superman.

Where did Darth Vader appear from?

"Yes, Arin. Is there a problem with the connection?" She inquired.

"Ahh no. I mean yes. I was talking to... Superman. What happened to him?"

She chuckled. "Sorry I don't mean to laugh," clearing her throat, she began. "We had to patch the new call as he specifically requested for you."

"That's not how it works." With my voice squeaking up, I paced up and down my tiny room.

"He asked for you, Arin. And he already paid for it." She reasoned with me but I was already freaked out.

"Already paid. The payment is always post our calls not pre-calls."

"He paid the double from last time so we had to patch him through. Brace yourself, girl. I am patching him again."

As the call got through, I took a long deep breath, preparing myself for his voice.

"Hello, master." I had to pull the words out of my mouth. They didn't emerge voluntarily in the light of our morning office session.

"Good to hear your voice, Babydoll," his warm, intoxicating voice came through.

Maybe Dalia was busy and so he had to call me. Still, he was paying so I had to be nice

"Same here, Master... You did not call yesterday. What happened?"

"Did you miss me, Babydoll?" He breathed over and asked, probably knowing the answer himself. His voice emerged raspy in contrast to the morning where all he could channel was a commanding and scary tone.

The truth was, I did miss him. I missed the way he called my name or how he got impressed whenever I said something snarky. I missed all of it till I realized it was him...Him... Roger fucking Murphy.

I was tossing in anticipation, waiting for his call yesterday while he was fucking Dalia. Now, I didn't feel anything. Roger lost his enchanting hold over me the minute I heard what Georgia had to say.

So I lied.

"No, I didn't miss you, Master."

"Don't lie, Babydoll. Remember I can know when someone..."

"...Lies even on a call." I didn't let him finish. "I remember what you said last time."

"Hmm." His voice turned from husky to a whisper. "Quite a mouth you have there, Babydoll. Unlike the first day."

"Why... you don't like it when I talk back, Master?"

I really wanted to know.

"I love it when you talk back. But you will also be punished for it," he whispered. It trailed goosebumps over my skin, both scaring and thrilling me.

***

Awesome Pawsomes

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THE KING KILLER

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Love

S