Chapter 27
Nora
I could hear Felix’s shoes squeaking on the marble floor as he followed me. He was keeping his distance, presumably because he didn’t want to make a scene — it was a five-star hotel after all.
“Nora!” I heard him hiss as I rushed down one of the corridors. I didn’t even know where I was going. I’d been at this hotel for less than twelve hours, and it was a huge place.
“Nora! For fuck’s sake!” I heard him groan when I didn’t stop. I pushed through double glass doors at the end of the corridor and I burst out into a small leafy alcove. It was a garden surrounded by thick, tall hedges, with a canopy of trees shading us. The sound of waves gently crashing resounded from nearby. I had nowhere to go. I’d hit a dead end. Felix followed me into the alcove and I saw that we were all alone.
“What do you want from me?” I snapped, turning to him.
Felix stopped several feet from me, and he sighed and stuck his hands in the pockets of his pants. He was in a suit as always; it was a steel-gray color, and he was wearing a white shirt and a silver tie. He was dressed to the nines, as usual, and I felt stupid in the bright, silly colors of the hotel uniform.
“Okay, you need to calm down,” Felix said, and I watched as his eyes darkened. I gulped, keeping my head held high.
“Why did you bring me here? Like I’m some puppet on strings that you’re constantly pulling. You kicked me out of your house the other night, and now you bring me here? Out of the blue? With no warning? You have a nanny! Why didn’t you bring her to babysit for you?” I knew my voice was raised, but I couldn’t control it. I felt ashamed of myself, for falling for his tricks over and over again.
“Watch your tone, Nora, I’m still your boss,” Felix said calmly. I put the tray of drinks down on the grass and crossed my arms over my heaving breasts.
“Well, you know what? Not anymore. I quit!” I said. I could hear the sizzle in my own voice. Felix’s brows were crossed like he couldn’t believe that anyone would want to quit this job.
“What are you talking about?” he asked, looking confused.
“It’s very simple. I quit. I’ve had enough of you pushing me around, bossing me and getting me involved in your life, and then pushing me away. Why did nobody tell me why I was being sent to Hawaii? I thought it was my job. I thought I was being sent here for training…and now…and now I see that you transferred me here so that I could babysit for you on your little fake vacation!” my voice was strained. I could barely hold the tears back.
This was not what I’d signed up for. This was not the life I’d hoped for when I moved to the big city. I didn’t expect my heart to be tossed about and played with. Now, more than ever, I longed for my simple life in Minnesota.
“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Felix said and took a step towards me.
I stepped away from him, and he stopped.
“I took up this job, at your hotel, hoping that it would be a start to a new life. I spent all my life looking after my granddad. I just wanted to have some time to myself. I wanted to learn something new, see the world a little…and now, I’m nothing more than my boss’s babysitter, whenever he wants me to be. Is that why you didn’t fire me that first day? Because you saw potential in me as a babysitter?” I asked, tightening my arms on my breasts. My nostrils were flared, and I knew that my cheeks were flushed too, and that Felix could see exactly how I was feeling.
“Nora, you’re here because you need the training and because Jackson isn't an impartial mentor. Everyone at that hotel has opinions on your lack of experience. I thought that if you spent some weeks here in Hawaii, learned the ropes here, you’d be better prepared to handle the heavy-duty stuff back home,” Felix said. He was searching my eyes; his voice had softened.
Despite how much I wanted to hate him, and everything he said…I also wanted to throw myself at him. I wanted to feel his arms around me; I wished I knew what the comfort of being held by him was.
“And you picked Hawaii because you and Cici were coming here,” I said softly.
Felix gulped but said nothing.
“You’ve been using me, since the first day we met. At first, I thought it was just one day, one chance incident…and you were my boss, and it was my duty to do what I could to help. But now, it just seems like you’ve found yourself the perfect punching bag,” I continued.
Felix’s eyes narrowed at me, he had his jaw clenched, but still he said nothing. How could he say nothing? This man was turning out to be truly someone without a heart. It was no surprise that Cici was such a sad child, that she tried so hard to get her father’s attention.
“I’m going to go check on Cici and make sure she’s fine. You have one day to find someone else to babysit Cici on this trip. Tomorrow, I’m going back to San Francisco, and I’m quitting this darn job,” I said.
I bent down to pick up the tray again, and I walked past him. Felix didn’t stop me or run after me this time. He just let me walk back to the hotel. My heels clicked on the marble floor as I tried to keep my head held high. I had already made up my mind; I wasn’t going to cry over Felix Stone anymore.