Lily's POV - 15

Immediately Lucien stopped the car, I opened the door and limped out. He hadn't spoken one word since we left the bowling alley, and I didn't want the memory of his defence to leave my head. However, I had hardly taken three steps away when he called out.

"Lily, I hope ypu know your leg doesn't stop you from being my guide."

I nodded. "I know. I'm sure it'll be fine by tomorrow," I answered with a hopeful smile, but the grimace on his face remained.

"Tomorrow? There's an event by six tonight, and want to be there."

My eyes slightly popped out. The water slide competition was happening at another hotel, within walking distance, and I had no plans of attending. Especially after what happened in the afternoon. "But...I thought you don't like crowds."

"Yes, but I take exceptions with water," he replied with a shrug, and focused on his car. I watched in confusion as his eyes scanned the interiors, and my lips itched to ask why he was doing that. However, his request puzzled me more.

"Okay. Can't you go with Ateg and the other group? I'm sure they'll be happy to–"

"Accommodate me?" His frown deepened. "Do I look like a charity case to you? Look here. The only reason I hired you was because I wanted a personal tour guide. If I wanted a group tour, you would have no usefulness to me."

"But I didn't ask for it," I mumbled, and loudly, I continued, "Still, my leg is hurt and I won't be able to do much walking."

At that, he rolled his eyes and waved me off. "It'll be fine. She hardly touched you."

My brows shot up, but he pretended not to notice and walked past me. "Be ready at six. I don't want to be late."

"But...but…," I said, limping after him but he didn't stop till he entered the hotel and went straight for the elevator. With a sigh, I stopped and glanced after him. The conversation was over.

How could he change in the twinkle of an eye? One minute, he was being all nice and protective of me, and the next, he was mean and nonchalant. The place where he touched my waist still burned, but the memory was slowly being overshadowed by his thinly veiled words of disdain.

This was definitely something he could attend by himself, but these days, it seemed like Lucien was hell bent on giving me a hard time. Was this because of the slap, or something else? I didn't want to believe that my rejection would cause him to act this way.

It was usually girls who behaved like that, not men who had been rejected in one way or another throughout their lives. It was unfair, but in some ways, the world favoured women more.

Except that he's rich. And handsome. What do you expect?

The more I thought about it, the more it made sense. Lucien was probably used to getting one-night stands as often as he wanted, along with casual flings who threw themselves at him. I wasn't like that, and it irked him.

The thought gave me a small beam of pride, and despite his attitude, I managed a smile. When I moved into the building, everywhere was mostly quiet. It appeared that the other tourists hadn't come back yet, so there was nothing to be done. It was already time for my lunch break, so I stamped a note on my desk and walked the short distance to Catherine's workplace.

Thankfully, the leg didn't hurt as much so I managed to successfully limp there without a lot of people asking. However, my best friend easily noticed. Immediately our eyes met, she ran towards me with a frown.

"Lily, what's wrong? Why are you limping? Did something happen?" The worry was evident in her voice, and to calm her nerves, I smiled warmly.

"I'm fine. It was just an incident at the bowling alley."

She cocked her head. "You went bowling? By this time of the day. It would be too crowded," she responded with a shake of her head, and pulled me over to a seat. I was about to ask about her customers, but there seemed to already be a replacement handling it.

Catherine's eyes followed my train of sight, and waved a hand to the young, dark guy currently attending to the clients. "That's Peter, my new colleague. He's still learning the ropes, so he's working with me. Or for me," she added quietly.

"Oh okay," I responded, and looked around for a moment, before bringing my face close to hers. "You'll never guess who I saw today."

Her ears perked up. "Who? Tell me!"

"Stacy. Stacy Henberts."

Catherine's lips furrowed. "Stacy who? From where?"

"High school. Don't you remember the girl who used to dump pudding in the girls' gym bathroom?" The thought of her actions, one decade ago, still stung my memory. I was one of the recipients of that prank, and for days, I couldn't get the putrid smell off my body.

"I can't remember who…oh wait! Stacy! The girl who cheated on our final exams, and had to be transferred right?"

"Yes! That Stacy. I saw her in the bowling alley today," I explained, and Cahherine searched my eyes for a moment before they cast downward to my injured foot.

"Was she the one who did this?"

My first thought was to lie, and just say the other stuff about how Lucien defended me. However, my best friend knew me too well.

"Yes." I noticed the lack of confidence in my voice, and it annoyed me. Why couldn't I stand up to her, in the same way everyone else did? Even Catherine eventually confronted her, on my behalf of course.

"Tell me everything." Within minutes, I explained the whole story including how Lucien told me to take him to a party in the next two hours. Her face easily morphed from annoyance, to confusion, and then she had an unreadable expression. Still, she waited until I finished speaking.

"What's with that guy?" Her question totally threw me off guard, but before I could respond, she continued, "One minute he's acting sweet like he still wants you, and the next, he's being a huge fuck. Men like that disgust me."

"Woah, Catherine! Easy with the words," I said, and the frown on her face deepened.

"What did I say? I know you don't like swear words, but he's just being horrible now. I mean, he was there when it happened. The least he can do is go on his own to the party. After all, it's not so far and I'm sure there'll be someone in the tour group who's wishing for a taste of him."

It wasn't far from the truth, and there was no need to ask her how sure she was about that. Men like that, rich and famous, usually had women around them, young and old. Truth be told, it was the same thing I expected.

The girls in the tour group all wanted his attention, so he just needed to pick one and go with them. He definitely knew this, and yet, he was hell bent on stressing me.

"I don't know," I mumbled and shook my head. "It's not like I have a choice. It's now part of my job description."

"To obey and serve?" Caherine asked with a sarcastic look. "You know, you can complain to your boss or something. Or should I talk to him?" Her eyes had a mean look to them, and I quickly shook my head.

"No, no need. I'll be fine. The leg is already getting better, see?" I pointed to the foot which was still slightly swollen, and without warning, she touched it. A yell escaped my throat, and she pursed her lips.

"Wow. Stacy really did something. It's still swollen Lily, I don't think you should stress it so much."

"I'll be fine. If it gets too bad, I'll sit on the sand and watch the performers," I responded with a careful smile, and she watched me for a moment.

"Are you sure? You don't need to force yourself, if it's not something you can do. What's the worst he can do to you?"

Take away my job. Make my life miserable.

"He has my boss wrapped around his finger, Catherine. I don't want to take chances," I answered, and she gave a shrug.

"Are you sure? Should I go with you, and make sure everything is alright?" She seemed so sincere, and it warmed my heart. However, I couldn't afford to stress her. She had been working back to back for a while, and going for a party wasn't in the plan for this week.

I shook my head. "I'll be fine. No need to worry." With a smile, I stood up to leave. It was time to go back to work, and face the music of dealing with my employer. Lucien Wills.