After trying all my best to lure Jessica home, I eventually decided to give up. Since she wasn't coming, fine, I would stay and guard her. I would make sure she didn't get into trouble, and would make sure she's safe from perverts and as*holes. What are sisters for?
"What did she say?" Shirley asked.
"That she isn't going home" I replied.
"I think I told you, that girl ain't going anywhere. I think you should just go home and rest, she will be back tomorrow" she said, placing a hand on my shoulder, "You look tired by the way"
"Okay, but I don't think I am going anywhere, Shirley. Even if I go home now, I don't think I can fall as sleep" I muttered.
"Why?"
"Because," I cleared my throat and continued, "I am worried about her" – I gestured towards Jessica.
"Like seriously?" Shirley burst into laughter.
"What's funny?"
"Everything, Laura, everything is funny. You know what, I think you need to ask yourself why her mom isn't here, of course she's there enjoying her sleep while you are here trying to kill yourself over her daughter. Jessica isn't a kid, remember? And like I said earlier, this isn't the first time we are having this kind of party. It's not new, and I assure you nobody's gonna get hurt. Nobody!" she said and asked if her words offended me.
"Do I look hurt? I don't, right?" I muttered.
"Yes you don't" she giggled, "So, can we dance now?"
"Nah, go and meet Fred. I don't wanna dance. I am okay standing and watching" I crooked a smile on my face.
"Oh, well, alright..." she said and told me to look around for perverts, "try as much as possible to ignore them. They won't harm you, all they need is a naive girl to release their, you know, inside her..."
"Come on, Shirley, do you have to say all that?" I spit.
"You are welcome!" she smirked and left.
I never knew she could be naughty until now, but despite that I still cherished her more among Jessica's friends. I liked how understanding she was and always ready to listen to whatever you had to say. Unlike who always stick by Jessica's side.
As for the guys, Fred was more friendly than Jack. Even though sometimes he was a brute, he was still better than Jack to me. I heard his father was a Federal Investigation Bureau agent working in the bureau's head office.
I didn't hear that clearly though, but I sure heard something of that nature from Jessica while teasing him at the house earlier...
"Miss, would you like a glass of wine?" A guy dressed like a waiter came to me with a tray in one hand and a glass of wine in the other.
"No, thank you" I politely said, wearing a fake smile. I didn't want to sound rude to him.
"Alright" he bounced away to another person standing next to me. It was a guy in a shiny dark suit, smoking what looks like a hémb.
"Thanks!" The guy collected the glass from him, sipped it and turned to me. "Any problem?" he asked.
I didn't know what to say to him, I was scared hence I quickly turned my face away from him. God, who's this person? I gulped hard trying to completely ignore his presence.
"Hey, I am talking to ya!" he yelled at me. It seemed he was looking for trouble. I did nothing, so why was he yelling at me? "Hey, b*tch, didn't you heard me?" he said and gently walked over to me. "Look at me when I am talking to you!" he stood in front of me and blew his cigarette on my face.
Shit! I coughed, turning my face away. "What's wrong with you?" I fanned away the smoke with my hand and glared at him.
"Are you asking me?" he roared.
"Yes, why would you... what have I done to you?" I exclaimed.
"You gave me a disrespectful glance, you shouldn't have" he said.
"What? No, that's not true. I only followed the waiter with a look and ended up glancing at you, it wasn't intentional and I never knew you were standing there!" I bellowed.
"Oh really? Well, why should I believe you when you were just about running away when I caught you?"
"What? I wasn't..."
"You know what? Just follow me to that trailer over there..." he pointed at the direction of the trailer, "so we could settle the matter" he said wearing an evil smile on his face.
I knew where he was heading to, and I wasn't that dump to fall for his trick. "Guy, you are dealing with the wrong girl. Please, look around for someone. I am not going to fall for this!" I rolled my eyes at him.
"Really? Well, let's see who's gonna save you from me" he said about grabbing my arm when Frank appeared from nowhere and pushed him away. "The hell you think you are doing, man?" he glared at him.
"Stay away from her!" Frank yelled at him.
"Her? Is she yours? Come on, man, you don't want me to summon my guys..." They guy said as Frank chimed in,
"She's my girlfriend!"
"Girlfriend?" The guy glanced at us. I was also surprised, my expression says it all. "You know what man, f*ck you!" The guy said and left, not before dropping his cigarette in front of Frank smashing it witg his boot.
"Crazy motherf*cker, go look for who to f*ck. Not my..." Frank paused and glanced at me. "Are you okay?" he asked, "Hope he didn't get to..."
"Touch me? No, he wouldn't dare!" I said as if if he'd decided to touch me I would be able to do something apart from screaming for help.
"Hmm, you have to be very careful around here. There are different kinds of guys here, you shouldn't stay alone otherwise they would try all their best to make sure they get their way inside you" he warned me.
"Okay" I muttered and nodded in acknowledgement.
"Good. By the way, have you been able to convince Jessica? What did she say when you told her about home?" he asked.
"Jessica doesn't want to go home, so I decided to stay with her too" I said folding my arms across my chest.
"Are you sure you want to do this? Or should I just drive you home because I don't think waiting for her is a good idea" he said, trying to convince me.
"Hmm, why do y'all kept advising me to go home? If this place isn't safe for me, then I guess no lady is safe either" I muttered.
"Okay but have you seen any woman being harassed here? By the way, you are not wearing your costume and that will lure a lot of predators to you" he said, rendering me speechless, "I hope you know that?" he added.
"Fine, but I don't feel like going home" I blurted.
"Really? Okay, but this is the right time for you to make a choice whether to stay or to leave because there would be animals in the highway soon. The one we almost hit earlier, that's just one of them. I can't afford being sued by animal rights activists" he elaborated.
"Hmm," I heaved a sigh, thinking about what to do then. If Jessica was safe with her friends, then I guess I didn't need to worry about anything but my own safety. Sadly, I wasn't safe there. I should have worn my costume. "Okay, I will go home. But first, you need to dance with me in the dance floor"
"What? Are you serious?" he asked.
"Sure!" I beamed at him.
"Okay" he was overly excited. He quickly held my hand and walked me to the dance floor, thus he extended the other hand to my waist and began dancing gently with me.
People didn't care about us at first but gradually, everything changed and we became a sight to behold. Everybody was just staring at us and mimicking us. Jessica and her friends looked towards us too.
I was happy, finally people's attention was on us as if we were some kind of celebrities. "Are you sure you are comfortable with all the stares?" Frank asked, concerned.
"Well," I gulped, "as long as we don't topple, I think we will be fine"
"Okay, good" he said. And just as his wristwatch beeped he told me we had to go.
"What's that?" I asked.
"It's the timer I set, we really have to go now" he said.
"Alright!" I muttered and left the dance floor together with our hands held to each other. "But wait, can I talk to..." I looked around but couldn't find Jessica, or any of her friends, "where are they?"
"Who? Your friends?" Frank asked.
"Yes!" I nodded my head.
"You are probably not looking careful enough but can't you just call them while we are in the car? I mean, you can tell them whatever it is you want to say, through the phone" he suggested.
"Right? Okay, we should go!" I said.
"Alright," he said. Thus, we headed to his car and drove off.
While on our way, he told me more about his father's company. He was the sole heir of the company but yet, had little knowledge about how to run the company. He was the type that loved living around freely with no task to interrupt his whereabouts.
"If you don't like to be the CEO of your father's company, who then is going to take over the company when your dad is..." I paused, not wanting to say the word. I didn't know what he might feel about it.
"Dead?" he asked.
"Well, yes... are you going to hire someone to help you with management?" I said.
"Hmm, maybe" he huffed, "Maybe I will hire you to do the job for me"
"Me?" I blurted, somehow excited.
"Yes, or what do you think?"
"Sounds exciting, I love the idea. But wait, I don't know any experience about management or business administration"
"Doesn't matter" he shrugged.
"Hmm, doesn't matter? Your dad's company is big and successful, are you sure you don't need another person for that position?"
"For now, no. By the way, has Jessica completed her studies?" he asked.
"High school? Yes, she's got a high school diploma. She's not willing to further her education here, she wants to go to oxford and her mom has no money for that. So she decides to be hanging around with her friends, most of whom are college dropouts"
"Geez, that's bad!" he huffed, "Anyways, I could get her a job in our company. That will keep her busy, she won't have time to be hanging around with those guys no more"
"Hmm, nice... but what kind of job are you getting her? I hope it's not something she's gonna despise?"
"I am willing to get her a job in the customer service center, do you think she will like it?" he asked.
I didn't even know what to reply him with or what to say. Firstly, it wasn't as if Jessica and I talked about finding a job for her. Secondly, she could be unpredictable. You can't even stand for her on things, she could disappoint you.
"Well," I cleared my throat and continued, "Jessica never showed interest in working right now, by the way she is still trying to convince her mom to sponsor her to oxford. The only person that needs a job now is me, I really need a job!" I laid emphasis on my last few words.
"Ohh," he uttered, "okay, I thought you were furthering? I mean, university degree is something every decent – beautiful girl like you would like to bag before getting a job, right?" he glanced at me.
"Hmm, I wanted to. But now, I've changed my mind. If you can get me a job in your company, I would be very grateful. You don't know how eager I am to get a job, Frank!"
He smiled, "Well, if that's the case then I would like to meet you tomorrow in Mainland at around 10am. Can you make it?"
"Of course, yes!" I uttered, overly excited.
"Alright then, as soon as you reach the third Mainland Road, call me. I will come and pick you from there" he said.
