Chapter 6

As promised someone called around the next day with the contracts. I was more surprised at the fact that the person buzzing at my door was Lucius. Upon seeing my startled look he grinned at me and pulled out a huge wad of papers from his bag.

"I just wanted to check that you weren't backing out." His tone was smug as he spoke undermining his words; it was as if he knew I wouldn't reject the deal. It was almost too good to be true and was my only option of getting Danny and myself out of this flat and into a better area.

With a sigh I led Mr Satani into the living room, placing a finger to my lips as we passed Danny's bedroom so that he would keep quiet. I didn't even want to think about the hassle it had been to get Danny to sleep; I was exhausted as it was because Danny had been up all night. I had only just managed to close my eyes when the door buzzed so I'm sure I looked like hell right now. If Lucius noticed my less than great appearance, well he was actually chivalrous enough not to comment on it, instead he looked rather aloof as he walked past me handing me the pile of contracts.

I gestured for him to take a seat and was somewhat relieved that I had made sure to put away all of the laundry so that I wouldn't embarrass myself again. Though, I added as an afterthought, I hoped he didn't need to use the bathroom any time soon because my underwear was strung up on a drying rack in there and that is not something I want him to see. Cursing myself at my lack of forward thinking I slumped down onto the armchair and eyed the stack of papers I clasped in my hands. I didn't even want to think how long it would take me to read them.

When he saw my wide eyed look, Mr Satani started laughing. "You do realise there are three copies of the contract there. One for you, one for my office and there is one for human resources." I didn't miss the glint in his eye when he said human resources but sure enough as I flicked through the pile I saw that it was divided into three separate documents.

 Removing two from the pile I put them on the arm of the chair as I pulled back the cover of the contract and began reading. I was never any good at these things but I knew I would have to pay attention, especially when I was being offered so much that there had to be a hidden clause in here somewhere. I got about halfway through the first page when I got really annoyed and picked up the remote from the cushion it was wedged beside and tossed it over to the man who was boring holes into the side of my face. My lips let out a little chuckle when I heard him grunt in pain before cussing rather loudly. I lifted my head and shot him a glare. "One no swearing and two, stop shouting, you'll wake my son up and then I will be really annoyed and trust me, you do not want to see me mad. Now take the remote and watch some TV." Out of the corner of my eye I watched as he rubbed his nose a few times where the remote hit and then proceeded to click the buttons on the remote control so that the TV flared to life. He was lucky for the digital switchover or he would have been stuck watching Antiques road show or something equally boring. My mum and gran always loved those shows but I always found it incredibly monotonous, seriously, how many people truly find some fancy vase in their attic worth two grand, no one, the whole show is a fix if you ask me.

Lucius cleared his throat after two minutes of watching the screen blankly. His gaze bored into mine as I glanced up from the papers with a resigned sigh. "Do you think I could get a drink?" He asked as he brushed off his trousers to remove invisible flecks of dirt. Putting the papers to the side I started to stand up but he held out a hand to stop me. "Just point me in the right direction and I'll get it myself."

I nodded placing the papers back in my lap and pointed to the door which led directly into the kitchen. "Can you grab me one of whatever you're having?" I questioned turning my attention to a paragraph that was full of legal jargon that in my sleep deprived state was making absolutely no sense at all. I didn't hear any reply, just the distinct squeak as his weight shifted off of the sofa and the padding of his retreating footsteps. Trying to concentrate was taking all of my effort but this sentence before me was weird. "Any things seen or heard within the building cannot be told to any third party unless permission for a senior member of staff has authorised the sharing of information."  My lips formed the words whilst my brows furrowed. Why would it matter what was seen or heard within the building?

"Because we don't want the rival companies getting our ideas, thus there is a penalty for such actions as it can cost the company big money." Lucius stated calmly but firmly from next to me. As I spotted his feet in the corner of my vision his presence suddenly overwhelmed me which caused me to jump and scatter some of the documents onto the chair at his sudden reappearance. "Sorry." He didn't sound like he was sorry at all as his deep voice rolled over me sending shivers down my spine for unknown reasons, if anything it looked like there was a small smile vindictive smile curling at the corner of his mouth as he thrust an unopened can of coke in my face.

Snatching it from his grasp I pulled it open and gulped down several mouthfuls, grateful for the fact that the fizziness woke me up a bit but I knew it wouldn't last long. As he retook his seat I continued leafing through the contract. The clauses sounded reasonable to me. Minimum term of employment a year and a half, any wishes to leave earlier must be cleared by the CEO and should give adequate notice. The terms of contract state that the house is mine for as long as I am in employment of Satani media. If I work there for longer than 10 years then the deeds will be signed over to said employee as bonus for long term employment.

I reached the last page seeing no loopholes or anything but then again I was no lawyer but it all looked legit enough to me. It was only a contract for a job anyway, it's not as if I was signing over my soul or anything as drastic as that, and the clauses state that I won't get fired without compensation and at least a month's notice which means I will at least have a solid income for the time being. "Do you have a pen?" I questioned lifting my eyes from the paper to Lucius who had taken his shoes off and was now lying across the sofa with remote in hand. It was quite bizarre seeing my boss outside of work but it was even worse now because he was lounging across the sofa like it was his house. I raised an eyebrow at this as he absently perused his breast pocket without taking his eyes off of the screen and tossed me a pen.

I caught it before it inflicted any harm and then signed on the necessary pages on each copy of the contract. When that was done I put my copy to the side and held the others out to Lucius. I expected him to take them and go but instead he took the papers, slipped them into an envelope and then got himself comfy on the sofa once more. Staring at him in disbelief I waited for him to get up and go but I knew the only way I would get him out right now would be to physically drag him if the smirk on his lips was anything to go by.

Glancing up at the clock, I saw that it was nearly 6 pm which would account for the empty feeling in my stomach. With resignation I looked up at Lucius, whom I just realised I had been calling Lucius in my head the whole day instead of calling him Mr Satani. I shook my head, it was probably because he had been acting so casual around my house and technically he wasn't my boss right now so it was fine not to call him by his title. Clearing my throat, I watched as his dark head of hair swung my way and his blue eyes landed on me.

"Do you...want to stay for dinner?" I questioned unsurely, not quite sure whether I was looking forwards to him leaving or whether I wanted him to stay just to have some company that wasn't a crying, pooping and puking baby. Not that I didn't love Danny but I was sorely missing adult contact, most of my single friends avoided me now I had a son which was a shame but if they couldn't accept that I would no longer going out on the pull, well then I didn't want them around me or my son.

Lucius didn't answer me for a moment and I knew that he was just trying to think of a way to let me down gently. Slumping back into the cushions I closed my eyes feeling drained. The only think I could see what the pink hue of light filtering through my closed eyelids accompanied by the inane chatter of the television.

"Okay." The response came after two whole minutes of silence from the silent brooding man. Being me and my less than composed state I let my eyes flick over to him and gaped at him for a second. I didn't think he'd actually accept and now I had to think of what I actually had in the freezer.

"Okay, is there-" I paused and cleared my throat which was a bit dry and scratchy before trying again. "Is there anything you don't like? I was going to make some Spag Bol for dinner if that's alright with you."  I twisted my fingers in my lap as I kept my gaze on the man. He ran a hand through his hair as if he was actually considering whether he thought my choice in food was palatable before he nodded.

"Sounds good, I haven't had a good home cooked meal in years." He paused as if he considered something. "You can cook right?" I snorted as I pushed up from the chair.

"No, I was going to make you eat a microwave meal whilst I order a takeout." I replied as I put my hands on my hips and my eyes rolled on their own accord. "And for that comment you have to help." Walking over to him I snatched the hand from behind his head and tugged him off of the sofa which was a lot more difficult than it sounded because of the weight difference. I managed to tug him through to the kitchen. He stood there in the middle of the kitchen whilst I bustled through the place like a one woman tornado getting the right ingredients and such out of the cupboards.

When he didn't make a move to do anything I let out a huff before stepping past him to grab the aprons that were hanging on the back of the door. I pulled one over my head before I tugged the one saying 'Kiss the cook' over his head and reached around his torso to ties the strings at his back. "There we go, that wasn't too hard was it." I mocked patting him on the shoulder like he was a little dog that had just learned to sit. "Come on, you can cut the onions, but wash your hands first." When he continued to stand there I let out a breath in exasperation before backtracking and pulling him over to the sink, even going so far as to squirt some soap onto his hands and putting them under the running water.

By the time the food was dished up and we both sat down to eat, I was even more exhausted than I had been before. I had to walk him through everything, step by step so it took twice as long to make. The conversation was worth it though; once the onions had been browned off he loosened up and even made several jokes which eased the awkward tension between us. He didn't comment on the fact that I was calling him Lucius so I took that for a good sign. I didn't want to overstep my boundaries. The only time it got tense was when he mentioned my first night at the company. He had been nonchalant enough but it sent my hackles rising again. I remember he had asked what I remembered and almost instantly my hands were shaking as images from that night flashed through my mind. It was weird though because I could remember the man with a crossbow and being more scared than I had ever been in my life but the rest is all a bit fuzzy and seemed to make my head hurt whenever I thought about it. I didn't however like the way he seemed to breathe an audible sigh of relief when he realised I didn't or more like couldn't remember anything. It made me think that there was something I should be remembering.

Shaking the thoughts from my head, I turned my attention back to the man across from me. He was scraping his fork irritatingly across the bare plate, his face set with determination as he tried to get the last scraps of sauce from the dish. My whole body cringed from the nails on a chalkboard sound it produced. Though, I had to smile at the way his brow furrowed and his tongue poked out the corner of his mouth from concentration.

I stood up from the chair before moving towards him and taking the plate and fork from his grasp which earned me a pout but I was more focused on making the sound stop.  I let out a breath of relief when my pounding head slowed to a slowed to a constant thump that was only mildly painful. I hoped to that Danny would wake up soon so that I could give him a bottle and then set him back down again to sleep, hopefully catching a few Z's myself.

"Here let me do that, you did most of the cooking so you get to sit back and relax." Lucius' deep velvety voice was like music to my ears as he stood up from the chair, the only thing separating out bodies was the dirty dishes. I smiled in thanks as he pulled them from my grasp with one hand whilst the other reached up and brushed across my forehead, his cold hand soothing my hot forehead as he swept my hair aside. "You're burning up, you should go and rest." He pushed me onto the sofa with one hand so that my legs hit the sofa and after a moment of imbalance, I toppled back onto the sofa. Lucius bent down and lifted my legs from the floor and placed them gently onto the cushions. "Just rest."

I tried to protest, sitting myself up again but he placed a halting hand on my shoulder. "Savannah will you just listen to me and lay down." His voice was hard and quite frankly scary as his eyes flashed with something that was completely foreign to me. Although he was trying to help, I got the impression that he didn't do this often and it was quite clear by the way he fidgeted slightly, that it was going against his very nature to be kind and caring. Meekly I lay back down but opened my mouth to protest when Danny popped into my head.

"What about Danny?" I questioned even when he held up his hand to shut me up. He frowned for a moment obviously not quite sure what to respond with before he let out a breath of air and used the hand that wasn't holding the plate to brush through his thick dark hair.

"Don't worry I'll wake you up when he gets up okay?" He said pushing my head so that it was lying onto the cushions. Reluctantly I gave in, I could feel my eyes already starting to close because of how exhausted I was, my whole body melting into the sofa. Breathing deeply as my eyes fluttered shut, I heard his retreating footsteps but not until after he ordered none too gently with his deep soothing voice for me to sleep. And so I did.