"You know him?" Faith asked with surprise. She looked over at Adele who was also gaping at her.
"Who doesn't know him?" Sheila shook her head at Faith. "Girl, have you been living under a rock?""No, just living under a lot of work."Sheila rolled her eyes but didn't make any comment about that. "He is one of the richest, most successful people in the country.""It's true. He owns a tech company." Adele chipped in. "I can't believe you don't know him. He's always in magazines. He was voted most eligible bachelor by the Star Magazine last year.""So he's like a big deal?""The biggest deal. I can't believe that he's schooling here and no one knew till now. They really worked hard to keep it out of the media." Sheila shook her head."You seem to know him quite well.""More like I know of him. My father does some business with him so I've met him a few times. Nothing deep."Faith gulped. If her super-rich friends were acting so wonderstruck, just how important was this Devlin character.Oblivious to Faith's thoughts, Adele gave a loud happy sigh and flopped down onto the sofa. "Oh my gosh," she sang, "I can't believe you just met the most eligible bachelor in the country in the most fairy tale way possible!"Sheila rolled her eyes at the girl. "Everything is a fairy tale to you, Adele. Don't even go there. He is a notorious Playboy. He has no interest in a serious relationship.""Oh, that makes it even better! Faith can be the girl who tamed the CEO! It'll make a wonderful love story for sure!"Sheila shook her head. "Don't even think about it. And you, don't get your hopes up. Devlin has not had a serious relationship in all the years I've known him.""Hey, I don't even like the guy. He's much too arrogant for me. There's no danger of that happening ""Good." Sheila spun on her heel and walked away, leaving them.Adele tiptoed over to Faith and whispered, "Don't mind her. If you put your mind to it, you can do it!"Faith matched her whisper. "I don't even want to do it." She left the romantic girl and walked off to her own room."Don't write it off too soon," she called after her.Faith only shook her head. Her friend loved to manufacture love stories about other people's lives and force them to live it while she sat inside all day and night reading.If she wanted to see love so badly, she should go out and meet someone herself.The thought of her and Devlin ever being anything was just laughable. She saw herself as a pretty affable person.She got along fine with most people but she could already tell that this man was the type to get on her last nerves.If not that she absolutely needed the money, she would elect to never have the misfortune of meeting him again.At least, she would get to see that eye candy of a man, Cassius. It was the one saving grace in this situation. That, and the money of course.Faith laid down on her bed, face up, as she considered the events of the day. The day had started out so dismal but ended on such a good note."Thank you, God," she whispered.Tomorrow, she would go to her jobs and tell them she was quitting. Well, except for the one at the library. She had decided to keep that one. It couldn't hurt.She couldn't believe things were turning out so well. She should call her parents and tell them the good news.She rummaged through her bag for her phone and dialled the number. It rang a few times before someone picked it up."Hello?" Her dad's voice filled the receiver. Faith felt tension she hadn't even known was in her body, release at the sound of her father's voice."Dad, it's Faith.""Oh, my favourite daughter," he mock whispered, "How are you?""I'm fine, Dad. How are you? And everyone?""We're all good--surviving. You know how it is. What about you? How is school?""School is great, Dad. Actually, today I got a job. It's a good one with good pay. I can quit some of my jobs.""That's great, Faith. I'm happy for you.""With this, I can even afford to send home some money to assist you." Faith heard her father sigh into the phone."You don't have to do that. We'll be fine. Just worry about taking care of yourself. That's all that matters.""Taking care of myself is taking care of you guys. I'll just continue being worried about you. That's not good for me either.""We're doing okay. We're making it work," he assured her."Please Dad, let me do this. Let me help out a little."There was a few beats of silence while her father considered her offer. Eventually, he answered. "Alright, do what you can. I appreciate it."Faith breathed a sigh of relief too. "Thank you, Dad. Where's mom? Can I talk to her?""Your mother is off at work. She got a new cleaning job at one of the houses in town. She's there right now.""I didn't know she started cleaning too. How many jobs does that make?""Five jobs," her father answered."When I send home the money, tell her to quit one job, okay?""I'll do that."Faith pressed the phone closer to her ear as though she could somehow feel him through it. "Good. Make sure you take care of yourself too, Dad. Don't work too many jobs.""Yes, dear. I won't.""Goodnight Dad." After they'd exchanged goodbyes, Faith dropped the phone on the bed beside her and laid back down.She supposed it was hypocritical of her to tell her parents not to work too much when she was doing the same thing just a day ago.But what could she do? She didn't want them breaking down. By the time she sent them some money, they'd be able to augment whatever they made.Grmm, Grmm. Faith's phone buzzed. She stretched out her hand and grabbed it, holding it up over her face to see the screen.A message notification was displayed on the screen. It was from an unknown message. She tapped on it.A short text popped open on the screen. Faith read through it quickly."Oh sh*t, it's starting," she said."This is Devlin. Here's my direct line. See you at 6 on Monday for our first session. Address attached."That was the content of the message that had turned her stomach to a sludge pudge for the past four days.From the moment she read the message, she was filled with apprehension. At first, she didn't understand why. After all, this was not her first rodeo. She'd tutored all through high school for the extra bucks.But this time, the stakes were higher. She wasn't tutoring for a few bucks anymore. This job was now her lifeline especially since she dramatically quit two of her jobs over the past few days.She recalled her encounter with Anthony the manager just two days before. She'd come in to work as she was scheduled and gone in the back to inform him that she wouldn't be working there any longer.He did not take that information well. "You can't quit now! Where do you expect me to get a replacement? The session is already underway.""Perhaps you should look in the same place you
"Want a ride?" Devlin's devilish face smiled at her from the comfort of a black BMV Convertible with the top down.Why was he laughing? What was there to laugh about? Frustrated and angry, the tears burst out from Faith in torrents."Are you crying?" Devlin asked in disbelief. He stepped out of his car and hurried up to her. "What's wrong?""What's wrong?" She repeated. "What is wrong is that I've been walking through this massive graveyard of an estate for thirty minutes."The words were coming out in torrents. "The guard wouldn't let the cab in which you could have told me ahead. He sent me into this maze with no directions. Nothing! Devlin stood quietly, letting her vent. "All I have is your stupid house number, 387A. But the numbering here is insane! Why would 157A be right next to 226A? And WHY IN THE WORLD would it be opposite 228B!" She finished her rant, breathing heavily.Realizing that she was done, Devlin finally spoke. "I'm sorry. It's my fault. I didn't even think of th
Devlin gave her a confused look. "Fired? Why would I fire you?""I d-didn't arrive on time. You said we should meet by six but it's almost seven now.""I don't see how that's your fault. Isn't that what you were yelling at me earlier? That's it's all my fault?" He grinned at how flustered she became as she remembered yelling. "Why would I fire you for something that's my fault?"She didn't have any answer to that. She groped around her mind for what was appropriate to say. She finally settled for, "Thank you." "Yeah, whatever. I know I'm awesome."Faith rolled her eyes and turned to enter the bathroom. There was no way she would sit there tutoring him looking like a homeless racoon.Before she closed the door behind her, she held his eyes, "And I absolutely don't have any mucus on my face." She slammed the door shut in his face.The sound of Devlin's laughter filtered through the thick door. Faith stood before the mirror and checked herself out. She looked horrid. Her eyes were swoll
Faith prepared herself to grab the steering wheel. She would rather die than be kidnapped for whatever evil purposes a CEO would kidnap a person for.Her mind moved rapidly, reminding her of every bit of alarming information she'd heard on the news; from sex rings to strange rituals. She would do down swinging, and take the bastard with her.Devlin glanced at Faith. He must have seen the mad glint in her eyes because he finally deigned to say something. "Calm down, will you? I'm just taking you to your d*amned hostel."It took a moment for his words to register in Faith's half-crazed brain. "What?" She said slowly. "Why would you do that?""Because I'm a gentleman?" He scoffed.Faith responded with a scoff of her own. Gentleman, indeed. If he were a gentleman, then she was the pope."Doesn't seem right to leave you to make your way back this late when I can just drive you home." Faith squinted at him suspiciously. What did that mean? That he was trying to be nice. She don't think he
Faith traipsed self-consciously to her morning lecture. The events of the past few days had set her on edge.As predicted by Sheila, she'd quickly become the talk of the campus. She'd also appeared in several tabloids and YouTube videos.Granted, she'd always dreamed of being famous but not in this way. Rather than being known for her brain and dedication, she was now wildly known for being Devlin Bank's potential love interest.She couldn't go anywhere on campus without people looking at her, pointing at her and whispering about her. Going out of her room at all had become a serious problem.Just to attend her lectures today, she'd donned a face cap pulled down over her eyes and a nose mask to mask her identity.It was surprisingly effective. Sure, some people gave her an odd look or two but they didn't stop to stare and whisper.That very unfortunate night that Devlin drove her back, she'd gotten a text from a reporter at StarTimes requesting a sit-down with her. That very night!De
Before she could say anything, another sound came through the door. This time it was a different voice and a different kind of grunt. The loud moan filled the air. Her eyes widened. A laugh burst through her lips. She clapped her hands over her mouth to keep it silent."Oh, Mr Banks," the moan came again. Faith unconsciously took a step forward. She thought she recognized the voice but she couldn't be sure.Casiuss put out a hand in front of her and stopped. He motioned to her to follow him. They left that area and went to a different room.It was a full-size gym. Every kind of equipment she would expect to see in a standard, commercial was there. "Wow." She stepped further into the gym."You like to gym?" Cassius asked."Do I look like I gym?" She asked with a laugh.He smiled at her. "I guess not. I hope you don't mind but since we're here, I'm just going to get some work in.""Oh, I don't mind at all."He started undoing his buttons. Faith swallowed heavily, the threads of antici
"Look here, Mr Banks.""Over here, Mr Banks.""Hi, Devlin! Devlin!"Everyone was shouting at once. The lights didn't stop flashing for a moment. Faith was starting to feel nauseous.Devlin was forced to slow down and stop the car lest he run over someone. The lights flashing in his face probably made it difficult to drive as well.He folded his hands and leaned back casually in the seat. Meanwhile, Faith practically cowered against the side of the door.She would open the door and make a run for it but they were everywhere, pressed up to the door, to the hood...everywhere! She couldn't even open the door."Hi," Devlin said as casually as he looked.Like magic, they all fell quiet. "How are you guys going today?""We're good, Devlin. Thanks for asking," someone shot back."Is this your new girlfriend, Mr Banks?" Another person asked."Who? Her?" He casually put his hand around her seat. What was he doing? Was he trying to destroy her? If someone took a picture of them in that position
Faith made her way back from her last lecture. She had a session scheduled with Devlin today so Casiuss would be around to pick her up any minute from now.She intended to thank Devlin today for clearing her name. She didn't know why that made her nervous. Actually, she did know. He would probably make some snide remark and make her feel stupid for even attempting to thank him in the first place.She sighed. She really did appreciate him. After her father called that night, she'd repeatedly sent up thanks that she'd been able to prove to him that nothing was going on between them.If they'd only seen the tabloids a few hours before, she didn't know how she would have convinced them. She knew her father. He would've shown up at Barbell and demanded to see Devlin.That would not end well for any one of them. She'd ended up sending him the latest articles disproving their romance as receipts and he finally believed her. Phew!The effect of his deed was also obvious here. No one spared h