Kieran’s POV
A small yawn slid past my lips as I slowly opened my eyes. Despite taking my sweet time before opening them and sitting up, my eyes still felt tired. I couldn’t help the fact that I was still so sleepy.
Without giving it much thought, I allowed myself to crumble back into the bed again.
A small smile made its way to my lips as my head came in contact with my pillow. It wasn’t the fluffiest, but I could say it knew the exact times I needed comfort, like right now.
I sighed satisfactorily as I closed my eyes.
Before they flew open in shock.
I had caught sight of the small alarm clock beside my bed. I stared in shock as the neon green lights brightened before me. I felt my heart thump to the ground.
Shit.
I jerked up, almost falling over. I was still seated, but my eyes ran a million miles at once, scouring through my room. Once again, my eyes landed on the clock and I still couldn’t believe my eyes.
I was late.
Honestly, just saying I was ‘late’ sounded like a big understatement. All my life, I wasn’t sure I could think of a time when I overslept. I usually woke up on time, or didn’t sleep at all, so what had gone wrong this time?
I got the answer to my question the moment I asked. Like I had requested it, memories of last night came rushing at me and it suddenly made sense. The only reason why I had woken up late, was because I hadn’t slept early either. And why didn’t I sleep early? I had a certain someone on my mind all night long.
Xander.
I was still torn in between deciding if his visit was a good or bad one. I definitely couldn’t deny the pull I felt towards him when he showed up, but it didn’t deter or nullify the fact that he had hurt me. He didn’t stand up for me, he barely did anyway.
But then again, I did tell him not to tell anyone about the fact that we were mates, so I guess I couldn’t completely blame him.
His family was the real problem. His mother especially, she’s so… I don’t know why she hates me so much. Sabrina on the other hand… Goddess, even the thought of her hurt. I still couldn’t believe it.
There had to be a reason, right?
I could feel my wolf getting slightly angry.
“Stop it, Kieran.” she scolded, putting a stop to the string of thoughts swirling around in my head.
It was hard, but I willed myself to forget about it, to forget about everything, at least for the now.
Right now, I had gotten into more trouble than I could get out off. Even if he offered to help, I wasn’t sure Xander would be able to do anything about it.
I shook my head, willing the thoughts to go away. I was already late for my shift by an hour, and if that wasn’t proof that I was way past redemption or forgiveness, then I had no idea what was. I dashed into the bathroom immediately, and in a matter of minutes, I was done with my bath. I slipped into my clothes as quickly as I could, and with just one glance at the mirror, I decided I was good to go.
I took the stairs that led downstairs two at a time. At a point, I almost missed a step but thank goddess I didn’t. Just as I got to the bottom of the stairs, I caught a glance of a familiar face.
“Hi Cecil.” I rushed out in one breath. “Bye Cecil.”
She laughed after me.
Only when I had gotten out the door, did I catch my breath. I had barely begun my journey and I was already tired.
Today, my shift was at the salon, and I was already more than late. I rushed there as quickly as I could.
Since I had started working with Alice, this was the first time I would be going late, and honestly, I wasn’t exactly sure how to feel about it, and how she would feel too. Fear nipped at my chest.
I let out a breath of relief when I eventually sighted the shop. But as I drew closer, I couldn’t help the fear and anxiety that swirled around in my belly. I was nervous but it didn’t stop me from walking closer.
“Hi Eliza.” I let out slowly, as the bell dinged above me. I always liked the fact that the bell signaled when someone had arrived, but today, I hated it so much.
“Good morning.” I greeted her, as my nails dug into my palm. I was so nervous.
Eliza said nothing, but only threw a glance in my direction.
“Ma’am, I’m so sorry.” I got straight into it. I was wrong for coming late and there was no way I couldn’t apologize.
“I completely lost track of time and-” I started to explain.
“Save it.” She cut me off and I flinched.
“I don’t want to hear any excuses.” she said sternly.
I stared at my boss in disbelief. I had worked with her for a while, and believe me when I said this was the first time she was being this cold to me.
It has never happened before. Up until this moment, I never believed she even had the ability to be mean to anyone.
But I guess I was wrong.
“The last thing I will do is tolerate any excuses from you.” She hissed.
“Make sure this is the first and last time, something like this ever repeats itself.” she warned.
“Yes ma’am” I answered quickly.
Without so much as another glance in my direction, I watched in shock Mrs Eliza stalked off in the opposite direction. For the next couple of seconds, I stood rooted to my spot. I couldn’t believe it. I wanted to believe that this was all part of a prank.
I got to work immediately.
A small part of me wanted her to explain to me that she was just in a bad mood and transferred aggression to me or something.
But as minutes slowly ticked into hours, and there was still no word from her, I decided to accept my fate.
It was hard to deal with. The normal jokes and conversations we would make was no where to be found.
What was wrong with her? And why did she react like that? Did something happen? I mean, something has to have happened, she looked so out of it.
I decided to just suck it up and try to talk to her. I was really worried.
“Ma’am?” I called out to her softly.
“I don’t know what’s wrong, or if something happened, but are you okay? I just-” I started to talk but she cut me off.
“I’m fine.” Her voice was icy, and it sent shivers down my spine.
“But…”
“Why don’t you mind your business, Kieran?” She snapped and I blinked.
“Oh.” I muttered. “Okay, okay. I’m sorry for bothering you ma’am.”
Without a word, I got back to work, but as I did, I couldn’t help but see the similarity between the two women. Eliza also has a bad side, but Alice got all of it. She was her mother’s daughter after all.
The rest of the work day was incredibly slow with only a few customers and the tension in the air was thick. Some hours later, I was shocked by the sound of Eliza’s voice.
“Kieran.” I perked up at the sound of my name. Immediately, I turned, just to see my boss standing behind me, nothing short of a stern expression on her face.
“I want you to lock up the shop.” she said. What?
“Already?” I asked. “We haven’t even…”
“Lock up the shop.” She cut me off. “Now.”
Whatever mood she was in still hadn’t gotten better, so I did what I was told. After waiting for her to leave, I quickly locked the shop. While I did, I realized that this was the first time I had some free time on my hands.
I was free to spend my time whichever way I liked. I didn’t have much to do, so I decided to take a stroll first. If I went back home first, then the chances of me falling asleep again were very high and I didn’t want to waste this time doing that.
I had not walked for long when something caught my eyes. Just to my right, a couple of stalls were decked against the wall , each one of the advertising goods of some sort. A variety of items were scattered about, but the only thing that caught my eye, were the clothes currently on sale.
They weren’t anything fancy, but the fact that I liked them, brought a smile on my face.
“How much are these, please?” I quickly walked over to the shopkeeper. She was a cheery old lady and she was more than happy to attend to me.
After sifting through the many wears, I found some things that I really liked. They weren’t anything fancy, just some tops and a dress.
My eyes widened at the array of makeup spread out next to it, and just as I reached out for it, I froze.
What was wrong with me? I wasn’t even the shopping type of person. Was I somehow shopping because I was considering going to the ball with Xander?
I pushed the thought far away from my mind before paying for what I had gotten. On my way back, I realized I had somehow wandered to the streets that ran across the palace. A wave of nostalgia hit me, but it didn’t prepare me for what happened next.
Just when I was about to move on, my gaze landed on someone. Someone I never thought I was going to see ever again.
“Sabrina?” I froze. “What are you doing here?”