Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 56: Considering his job offer

Chapter 56: Considering his job offer

In whispering way. Inside Elizabeth’s small eatery, the middle aged woman was seen clearing up the used plates of her costumers. She walked inside the kitchen and put the plates away in the sink before using her apron to wipe off the beads of sweat on her forehead. She was used to having to do all the work in the eatery by herself without any help, but today was different. Because of the new building being constructed in whispering way, the workers were coming to eat at her eatery.

Elizabeth hadn’t gotten a single moment of rest through out today. But then she wasn’t complaining because she was in desperate need of money to pay back the bank loan. She didn’t want her daughter to bear the burden of paying for something she had acquired herself. It may seem selfish to admit, but she was relieved that Mia hadn’t found a job. It would only create more stress for her to juggle between school and work. Elizabeth was willing to exhaust herself with work to shoulder all the responsibilities because it was the right thing to do.

No matter what, she had already sworn to protect Mia from her monstrous father and give her a better life that has nothing to do with her past, just like she had promised a certain someone that she would never allow Mia know the truth of her father and what happened that night.

Kelvin Rodrigo. Elizabeth thought with a fearful reminiscing expression, was hers and Mia’s worst nightmare. He was a selfish bastard with no human feeling.

Mia’s mother had regretted marrying him the moment he raised his hand to hit her immediately after their wedding ceremony was over_ because she had gone to the restroom and missed his business partner who he wanted her to meet.

Kelvin was a short-tempered maniac. And If there was anything Elizabeth was grateful about now, it was the fact that Mia had no recollection of him and what he had made her do at a very young age. Elizabeth had changed hers and Mia’s identities just to get away from that evil man. He was a crazy man with a crooked mindset. It was good that he had no idea Mia survived the incident fifteen years ago, or else, he wouldn’t rest until he saw to it that he found her and finish his unfinished business from years ago.

Elizabeth was willing to live this poor life and continued to work hard until she made Mia’s life better and give her everything she deserved in life. As long as Mia would never find out about what went wrong in the past, Elizabeth was content with it.

Elizabeth was lost in her thoughts when Owen’s voice snapped her out of it. He greeted her with a smile as he walked into the kitchen, saying, "Good afternoon, Aunt Elizabeth." It had become a habit for him to come to the eatery before going home after school, and Elizabeth was used to the routine and would always look forward to his and Mia’s return from school.

Turning around, Elizabeth smiled back at Owen and asked warmly, "Afternoon, Owen. How’s school?" She knew he must be starving, so she walked towards the pot of hot food to serve him. Even though they were just neighbors in the apartment building, she had taken Owen like a family after learning that he had lost his mother at a young age and his father was absent in his life as he spent his days drinking without concern for his son’s well-being. And one thing Elizabeth couldn’t stand was seeing a neglected child.

Owen sat on the table in the kitchen as he replied to her inquiry about his school, "It’s stressful as always since I’m in my final years in the University." He replied fondly as he put his bag down, but then something crossed his mind and he looked up at the elder woman, "Where is Mia?" He asked while looking around. She normally got home before him and he’d usually come here to meet her helping her mother before dinner.

"Mia isn’t back yet. You know how she is sometimes, she doesn’t come home early." Elizabeth remarked as she walked back to hand Owen with the food. He took the tray from her while muttering a "thank you, ma’am." He then said, "I was hoping she would have been back home considering how the weather looks like it’s going to rain anytime soon. You know how Mia is with rain..."

Elizabeth froze in place upon noticing it indeed looked like it was going to rain anytime soon. This wasn’t good at all. Mia wasn’t fond of rain after what happened to her years ago in her childhood: rain and thunder traumatized her to the extent she wouldn’t want to be alone or outside in the rain.

Elizabeth paled at the thought that Mia wasn’t rushing home today even though the weather looks like this. Normally she would have found her way home at the slight signs of rain.

"Let me call her and see why she isn’t home yet," Elizabeth rushed to get to her phone and dialed her daughter’s number. The phone rang repeatedly but she didn’t pick up. Where was she not to notice it was going to rain?!

***

"What?!" Mia exclaimed in astonishment after Neil told her the job he had for her. She might have been desperate to find a part time job but what he was offering was completely out of the picture!

"You heard me, Harrison. I will pay you enough to come and cook and clean my condo three days in a week." Neil remarked nonchalantly

as he walked out of his closet holding a shirt and his short trouser for the girl to wear as her clothes were already ruined and he knew she’d need something to wear. Because seeing her in that towel_where her smooth legs and collarbone were exposed, wasn’t doing him any good. He didn’t want to admire anything about her body, but his eyes kept swaying to her against his will.

About the job thing, he had thought about it when she first stepped into his condo. Even though he didn’t know this older version of Mimi, he had figured out that she would never take money from him willingly to pay back the loan Liam had reported to him about. He didn’t want to interfere in her life, but then since she needed a job and he also needed someone that would temporary clean his house without him getting annoyed by their presence in his space, then why not offer her to do it then pay her what she needed?

He didn’t lack money in life, he had enough of it to waste on rebuying furniture when they get dusty instead of getting someone to clean them. Furthermore, he needed to keep the girl close until he got all the information about the story she found on Da Kroll organization. He had been commanded by his uncle to get the girl to take him to the place she first saw the men and also get her to describe all the faces she could remember so a drawing of them would be made. He wouldn’t want her suspecting his intentions of asking questions so he would have to do it one at a time.

Not to mention her nosy journalist instincts that he’d noticed. He wouldn’t want her knowing his identity and then publishing it to the world and ruining everything for him. Neil thought as he handed her the clothes.

"Wear them." He said calmly. And when she took the clothes from him, he sat down on the edge of his bed waiting to hear her answer on the job offer. If she didn’t want it, he wasn’t going to force it on her. He wasn’t the one in need for a job.

Mia, who absent-mindedly took the gray t-shirt and shorts from him, looked down at the clothes as she silently thought about his offer. She had been looking for a part-time job for days now, and now that she had gotten one_that wasn’t something she would have considered before_ she was hesitant. She could cook and clean, but having to do so for someone with a short temper like Mr. Bennett, was something to think twice about.

He had told her to pick a time and days that would be convenient for her study, and he had also said that she wouldn’t be working for him for long because he would be leaving the city after their main professor, who used to teach them Investigative Journalism before he took his place as a substitute, returns.

Remembering how she would be needing the money to support her mother, Mia decided to take the job offer. After all at this point, she wasn’t yet sure if she would still be a student in Ivy Grove institution by tomorrow if Diane requested her father to withdraw her scholarship.

"I will take the job." Mia murmured softly while subconsciously hugging the clothes he gave her against her chest.

"Good. Now dress up so I can drop you off." He said while standing up from the bed and regarding her with his stone cold gray eyes. If he was pleased by her decision, he didn’t show it in his expression and continued to stare at her as if waiting for her to dress up so he could get her out of his space.

Mia frowned upon realizing that he had no intention of granting her privacy to dress. "Are you planning to stand there and watch me or..." she questioned, her voice trailing off as she glanced at the weather outside through the glass walls of his bedroom. The sky had darkened, and an ominous gloom hung in the air, suggesting an upcoming rain. Her eyes widened.

She needed to return home before the rain began. However, as soon as those words entered her mind, a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, accompanied by a deafening thunderclap, causing her face to drain of color.