(NOTE: Before you read on, some people have been confused because Lou is in college, yet she is only sixteen. Since 'Work For Me' is set in England, people leave secondary school/high school when they are sixteen and go to college for two years, before then going on to university. Therefore it is the usual for a sixteen year old to attend college at sixteen.)

Hope this cleared this issue up.

Enjoy the chapter!

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"You're kidding, right?" I raised an eyebrow.

His facial expression returned to solid stone as he replied, "No."

"But I'm sixteen!" I exclaimed, horrified by the idea of having to work for someone who hates my guts. "I need to go to college!"

"It doesn't have to be full time. You can just work whenever you're free." He reasoned, now stood with his arms crossed as he stared at me.

"You really are serious about this, aren't you?" I said plainly.

His eyebrows lowered in irritation, "Of course I'm serious! You damaged my car as well as nearly getting me for manslaughter!" he snapped.

I suddenly clicked on - I didn't even know his name yet.

I flipped off his last comment, "How am I supposed to work for someone if I don't even know their name?"

"Zachary Caldwell." he introduced himself brusquely, holding his hand out. I put my hand in his hesitantly.

The warmth from his hand seeped into mine and I froze, losing myself completely as he held me there in a soft but firm grip, his dark eyes plunging into mine. We were stood in silence for a few minutes, our hands still firmly locked together, before he raised an eyebrow and the ghost of a grin swept across his lips, nearly making me faint.

"And you're Lou, right?" his deep voice washed over me like a warm wave.

He knew my name?

As if reading my mind he rolled his eyes, "I had a right to know who damaged my car so I found out when you got to the hospital." he responded abruptly as he tore his hand away from mine, shoving his hand back into his pocket. I tried to hide my disappointment.

"Oh."

The door suddenly opened and my Mum and Alyssa stepped in, holding coffee. My Mum frowned when she saw me on my feet.

"Lou! What are you doing up? You need to rest!" she scolded, but instantly froze when she saw Zach.

"Oh! Hello! And you are?" she asked politely.

"Zach Caldwell." he said as he shook her hand. "I'm sorry for my involvement in the accident."

Her eyes widened, "You're the one who was in the car?"

"Unfortunately, yes." he told her with an apologetic look.

His voice was so deep and smooth like velvet...

I nearly choked on my own air when I realised what I was thinking. He's an arrogant prick. Arrogant prick. Arrogant prick. Arrogant prick. Arrogant pri-

"Lou."

I was suddenly jerked back to reality to see my Mum looking at me expectantly.

"As I was saying - I think it's a great idea for you to work for Mr Caldwell for a few months. It'll help pay off the damage as well as being a perk on your CV for when you get another job." she explained happily, obviously under the impression this was a great opportunity.

She was condemning me to hell! There was no way I could survive a few minutes working for him - never mind a few months!

"Just call me Zach." he laughed heartily and I couldn't stop the shiver that shot down my spine as he did so. What the-

"Sorry...Zach." My Mum smiled goofily. I glanced over at Alyssa, who was still frozen in the doorway with the cup of coffee, staring at Zach. Not her too!

"Anyway, she can start as soon as she's well. I don't want her working until she's fully recovered." he explained firmly.

For a moment I was almost fooled into thinking he was actually concerned about me. Ha! Well he wasn't going to pull the wool over my eyes! I scowled at him. I know exactly what you're like underneath that innocent image you put on, an aggressive, hot headed, stuck up-

"I'm sure you'll be fine in a few weeks or so, right hun?" My Mum chirped as she gave me a supportive smile. I nodded reluctantly.

"Well here's my card, Mrs Whitlock." he said, handing her a small black card. "You'll have to excuse me, I'm going to be late for a meeting."

"It's been a pleasure." My Mum replied as she ogled him.

A pleasure? What's been a pleasure? He ran me over and now you're drooling all over him!

"Good riddance." I muttered under my breath.

"Louise!" My Mum cautioned and I winced at her use of my full name.

Zach stepped forward with a grin closely resembling a Cheshire cat, one that only I could see, before reaching over and ruffling my hair. I instantly jumped back from his weird gesture and glared at him.

"I hope you're not coming to work with hair like that, kiddo." he smirked.

"Kiddo? Really?" I replied dryly, giving him a sour look.

"I'll see you later." he said with a smile, ignoring my comment. I found myself entranced by his impenetrable gaze and charm until he turned away and strode out of the room, swiftly picking up a sleek modern briefcase on his way out that I hadn't even noticed before.

Alyssa was still standing there, gob smacked. I didn't really blame her. I ambled over to her slowly, trying not to aggravate my ribs and that horrendous bruise on my stomach.

"Hello?" I spoke, waving a hand in front of her face, snapping her out of her spaced out state. I raised an eyebrow. "You'd think you'd never seen a man before."

"Like you can talk." she smirked. I scoffed and gave her a dry look.

"Don't give me that look." she laughed, "You were checking him out the whole time, weren't you?"

"No!" I denied quickly, but it was no use - I was a pathetic liar.

"Aha." she seemed unimpressed so I just dropped it and sighed.

For the next few weeks I spent my time mostly indoors with Alyssa when I wasn't in college just watching TV with unhealthy snacks, surfing the internet, talking about everything in general and feeding my little gray tabby cat Jinx.

It was a Sunday afternoon and I was sprawled across the couch in my pyjamas and a dressing gown watching The Notebook, when the phone rang. I groaned, realising I had to move from my perfectly comfortable spot and Ryan Gosling's gorgeous face to answer the phone. Nevertheless I managed to gather enough strength to get up and begrudgingly walk over to the phone.

I sighed before answering, "Hello?"

"Have you even left the house for these past few weeks?" I heard Alyssa ask plainly.

"What a lovely greeting." I retorted sarcastically.

She completely ignored me, "Well, have you?" she probed.

"Maybe." I replied.

"What do you mean maybe?" she laughed.

"It depends - does going out to buy Jinx some food count?" I questioned sheepishly.

"No."

"Oh well, I tried." I shrugged to myself.

"You're still in your pyjamas aren't you?" she sighed.

"No?" I quickly scoped the house in search of Alyssa hiding behind a piece of furniture or a hidden camera spying on me.

"Stop looking around your house, I'm not spying on you." she told me with a laugh.

"How did y-"

"It's written all over your voice." he cut me off.

"How does that even work?" I blustered, giving her a look even though she couldn't see me.

"It doesn't matter so stop looking at me like that. Anyway, we're going out today so hurry up and get ready. I'll be there in half an hour." she told me.

"I wasn't even-" I let out a sigh. "Where are we going?"

"I have no idea. I just need to get you out of that house of yours before you become a hermit." she explained casually.

"A hermit?" I repeated in confusion.

"Never mind. Just get ready." she ordered.

The line went dead before I could answer. Alyssa barely ever says goodbye on a phone call, she just hangs up. It's so annoying. I looked at the clock. I have time for a quick shower.

When I'd washed my hair, I hopped out of the shower and threw on some jeans and a vest top. I quickly dried my hair and put on my makeup. I heard a meow from below and looked down to see Jinx weaving in and out of my legs, curling his little tail around my left calf as he rubbed his fluffy cheeks against my right.

"Hello Jinx." I smiled as I kneeled down to scoop him into my arms. I planted a kiss on the top of his head and he nuzzled into me before I let him jump down.

As I walked downstairs, I heard my phone go off again. I frowned. I'm going to kill Alyssa one of these days. Picking up the phone, I held it close to my ear.

"What do you want, Lyssa?" I asked monotonously.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and a deep familiar voice replied at the same time.

"Hello Lou."

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Hello! I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I have a lot more chapters already written but I'm going to proofread and edit them before I upload. If you liked it, please comment! It's nice to know what you think and feel free to correct me if I've made any mistakes, I appreciate it!

Thank you for reading :)

Sweets xxx