Page 18 of Spark

I released her wrist and turned back around, my back to her as I pulled the blanket back up to my shoulders with every intention of going right back to sleep.

“Jaden, I really don’t want to have to alert Mr. Davis about this,” she said with regret.

“Get him.” I shrugged, not giving a shit. “Good luck, though.” If she could even get through to him.

I heard a slow, disappointed sigh before her light footsteps headed for the door, closing it behind her. Good. I could go back to sleep now. But it wasn’t meant to be; about two minutes later, and being nearly asleep, I thought I heard the door to my suite get ripped off its hinges. I flinched instinctively at the noise only to then find rough hands grabbing me by my upper arms and lifting me up from my pillow.

“What the FUCK did I tell you yesterday at breakfast?!” Darren roared at me. I flinched but found my voice as I glared at him.

“I could ask you the same thing!” I shouted back, my voice cracked and dry from the early morning.

“Get up, get dressed, and get your ass moving. Now!”

“Or what, Darren?” I snickered.

He couldn’t physically hurt me, not without sending me back weeks of recovery, and any further mental punishment would only drive me further into my depression. What the fuck did he think he had over me now? Maybe my family, but he already admitted who his real targets were.

Darren’s eyes flickered for a second in frustration before they settled back on me, his lips curving into a sly grin.

“Or,” he said with a smirk, “you’re going to spend the entire day with me.”

I furrowed my brows at him. Was he joking?

“What?” I said in shock.

“You heard me. Either you spend your day with Holly or you can spend it with me in my office, and believe me, Jaden, I can come up with plenty of things to keep you occupied,” he sneered.

I scowled at him in disgust. I didn’t want to spend a single second in his company, let alone an entire day with him. Even though it might give me some insight on his business, I somehow doubted he would divulge anything that would give him away. But I also really didn’t want to spend the day with Holly either. I guess it had to come down to the lesser of two evils.

“Fine,” I bit out. “I’ll go with Holly.”

“Good girl,” he said and released me, dropping me back down onto my pillow. Darren turned and immediately headed for the door. “You have five minutes to get your ass ready,” he said sharply and slammed the door shut behind him.

I rolled my eyes and begrudgingly sat up, resting my elbows on my knees and running my hands through my hair. I looked over at the clock to find it was fucking seven o’clock in the morning. Why the fuck were they waking me up so early?! And where the fuck was Hank and Blondie? Where was Ginsby?

Irritated, I shoved myself off the reading nook and practically stomped my way to the bathroom. Exactly four minutes later, I emerged from the bathroom; my hair was in a high ponytail, and I felt somewhat awake. I found clothes already laid out on my hospital bed and was surprised to find a pair of actual shorts rather than a stupid-ass skort. I picked up the white shorts and examined them, wondering if you could even call them shorts before they became straight up underwear. At least they were athletic and looked comfortable. There was also a matching white tank top with a built-in bra inside and a pair of hot pink running shoes.

Quickly changing into my new Darren-mandated outfit, I tightened my ponytail and headed toward the door, tentatively pulling it open. I was shocked to find it wasn’t locked, but the shock instantly died away when I found Blondie and Hank standing guard on either side of the door. Well, duh.

Holly quietly paced the hallway in front of the door with a worried look on her face. Maybe she was nervous I’d be pissed at her for tattling on me. Good.

“Hey, tattletale,” I mocked with a smartass grin on my face. I knew I was going to be forced into doing this anyway, so getting to piss Darren off at seven o’clock in the morning was my way of compensation. Worth every penny.

Holly immediately turned at the sound of my voice, her hands clasped together at the top of her chest like she was hoping for forgiveness or something.

“Oh, good, you’re ready.” She smiled and then nearly jumped in excitement. It’d be a miracle if I didn’t punch this bitch in the throat in the next five minutes. It was seven in the morning, for fuck’s sake.

I crossed my arms and leaned against the doorway expectedly, raising an eyebrow and awaiting the orders of my new temporary commander-in-chief.

“Care to explain why I’m awake at the crack ass of dawn?” I asked.

I loved that she flinched at my bluntness. I was curious to see how soon she’d get used to it.

“Yes. Come on,” she said brightly, encouraging me to follow her. “I think you’re really going to enjoy this.”

“Not unless it involves me either going back to bed or getting piss drunk,” I grumbled.

She giggled awkwardly in response as if I was joking or something. This was going to be a fun day.

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