9. What Are You Hiding?

Theo and Nicole had had a long talk the day before. He had told her all about his girlfriend, Adrienne and had been so excited while talking about her. Nicole smiled as she remembered their conversation.

During their talk and while she was drinking her second beer, Theo joined her and they both drank together. He was such a lightweight that he ended up being tipsy at half a bottle. She had laughed so hard and called him a pussy.

She had been very tipsy on her way home and he had sweetly paid for her Uber. She had awoken this morning with a slight headache from having too much to drink.

Even now that she sat with Violet in the sitting room, she still felt a bit dizzy. She was very tired and couldn't stop yawning.

Alexander went to work and she had to come babysit Violet today. Trevor had gone to pick her from school, and when she arrived, Nicole bathed her, dressed her up, ordered take out, ate and now they were watching Barbie. The plastic doll with a boyfriend named Ken, had a better love life than Nicole ever did or ever would have.

"Are you tired?" Violet signed to her.

She smiled tiredly, "Woke up tired. It is not my usual state of mind, I promise." She signed back. She was sure Violet had concluded she was such a sleepyhead since the first day she came here, she slept too.

The little angel seemed to think for a second, her thinking face the cutest thing Nicole had ever seen.

"It is okay to be tired." She signed.

Nicole felt like squeezing her chubby cheeks. She was so cute.

"Thank you, sweetheart. Can I take a nap quickly? I would really appreciate it. Don't go anywhere, okay?" She signed.

Violet nodded, her eyes lighting up with joy. She gave Nicole space by moving to the other sofa and giving her full attention to the TV.

Nicole smiled as she laid down. She loved this beautiful kid wholeheartedly.

She woke up and Violet was nowhere around. She panicked.

"Violet!" She called out as she got up from the sofa she had fallen asleep on.

"Hey. Welcome back to Earth." His deep voice startled her.

She groaned silently. Once again, Alexander had returned and met her deep asleep on his sofa. Just the second day and already, she could lose her job.

"I'm so sorry..." She tried apologizing.

He waved his hand dismissively, "It's all good. Violet told me you were tired and had to take a nap."

Nicole looked to see the little angel grinning at her while her little hand was clasped in her father's.

"Yeah, my eyes were a bit heavy..." She replied while stifling a yawn. Why was she so tired?

It wasn't even evening yet from what she could see and that meant he had come back quite early. Looking at him through sleep-deprived eyes, she could see he wore a black singlet and shorts. His muscular arms looked so strong that she suddenly imagined them wrapped around her.

She gasped, shocked to her core at the mental image. What was she thinking?

"Are you okay?" Alexander asked at her gasp.

"Yes." She said quickly. "You came back quite early." She added.

He nodded in response, "Yeah. Do you want to go home now?"

She should go home. She wanted to but then...

"I could hang around for a bit."

Nicole kept asking herself why she chose to stay. Alexander sat beside his daughter, who was already fast asleep, on one sofa while she sat on the other sofa. They watched a boring sitcom and the silence between them was extremely awkward for her but on the other hand, he looked very comfortable with it. She already regretted her decision.

What was she even doing 'hanging around' her nemesis anyway?

"I..." She started but got interrupted by him.

"I am sorry, Nicole." He suddenly said with his deep brown eyes focused intensely on her.

She gulped nervously, "What for?"

"I was an ass to you in high school. You didn't deserve to be bullied."

She was taken aback by his unexpected apology but still, she had questions.

"Then why did you?" She asked calmly.

His eyes widened in surprise but it suddenly vanished like it was never there. "What?" He asked.

Wait, had he expected her to just accept his apology? She hated him for crying out loud! It wasn't going to be that easy no matter how good-looking he was.

"Why did you feel it was okay to bully just me? I wasn't the only awkward teenager in that class, your friends bullied everyone they considered lower but you chose me for some reason. Why?"

He kept silent like he was thinking.

"And you added Theo into the mix. You made me break up with my best friend. Why?" She continued. Actually, what she wanted was genuine answers - all she wanted to know was why.

He seemed torn between telling her the truth or lying. Nicole could see he didn't want her to know something and she really wondered what it was.

"What are you asking? I didn't bully just you." He said at last.

"What are you hiding?" She demanded.

He scoffed and looked at her coldly, "You're getting way too ahead of yourself, Nicole. I did not choose you, you were just like every other person...insignificant and I wanted to let you know that just like I did with the others."

Nicole saw red but since he was her boss, she held her array of words back and ended with, "Fuck you, Alexander. I really thought you had become a human being but I guess you are still the same scumbag I knew in high school."

He kept silent while she picked up her bag and walked towards the entrance of his home in anger.