The Secret Alpha Boss

Chapter 1

I have been planning this girl’s holiday for months now! I am beyond excited! I haven’t seen some of these girls since I left high school and went to college. We all went our separate ways and unfortunately have not found the time to reunite and spend some quality time together. We have so much to talk about! After all, we did start college a few months ago. That is an exciting and new experience for everyone. Especially for a girl like me. I came from a very small town with less than 100 people living in it. I had to commute to the neighboring town to go to school since our town was too small to facilitate for a high school. Now that I have been accepted into college, I had to move out of my parent’s house and move into a big city. All alone, with no friends at all. It gets a little lonely sometimes, but I know that the longer I stay in the city, the more friends I will make. I am excited to make new memories, but I am even more excited to meet up with my old friends and talk about the old memories we had.

I have packed my bags a few days in advance. We are going to the coast for the weekend. We have all been talking about this day for months now. We booked the perfect hotel and have arranged a bunch of fun activities! There will be four girls in total coming on the trip with me. Maeve, my best friend since we were five years old. We are inseparable. Holly and Hannah, the twins who I met in high school, and Emma, my old neighbor who went to the same school as us but is a year older than the rest of us.

“Please don’t forget to feed my cat,” I remind my room mate Rachelle. She can be a little forgetful sometimes, so I am a little concerned about leaving my precious Sandy with her. “Don’t worry about it, Taylor. How hard can it be to take care of a cat?” she asks and shrugs her shoulders. I chuckle. My cat is not some ordinary cat. I love her to pieces. She is only a year old but has captured my heart faster than any animal I have ever owned. She is so spoilt, and I know she will miss me while I am gone. I sit on the floor in front of my full-length mirror to get ready for the journey. I will drive to our destination with Maeve and we will meet the other girls at the hotel. I begin to brush out the knots in my long blonde hair before putting it in a Dutch braid. I usually braid it to keep it out of my face and make it easier to control. As for make-up, I don’t use much, some foundation and powder to hide some discoloration in my skin, some bronzer for a tanned look and highlighter to make my cheeks pop. I apply a little brown shadow to my eyelids to make my green eyes stand out a little more and finish the look off with a bit of mascara and lip balm.

When I am satisfied with my look, I check the time on my iPhone. It is 8am. I have about 30 minutes left before I have to leave to collect Maeve. For breakfast I have some toast and coffee. Easy to cook and cheap. I have been saving all my money for this trip. I work part time in a restaurant as a waitress to earn money for college. My parents always offer me some money to help me out, but I rather be financially independent. Plus, I don’t want to put them in a financial strain either. My cat Sandy comes out of her little pen and rubs her body against my leg, looking for attention. I lift her up and place her on my lap. I pet her soft white fur with one hand while I use my other hand to finish the rest of my coffee. I used to not drink coffee until I came to college. Now I need at least two cups a day to keep me going. People always told me that when I reach my 20’s I will be tired all the time, but I did not expect that to come when I just turned 21.

When it is time for me to leave, I give Sandy a kiss goodbye. She purrs before disappearing into my bedroom. I look up at Rachelle. “I will only be gone for two days. I will be back Sunday night,” I inform her. “I know, you already told me,” she laughs. I give her a big smile. “Go have fun, don’t worry about the apartment or the cat, I got everything under control,” she assures me. I give her a quick hug before leaving. I hop into my red mini cooper and start the engine. My car is not in the best shape but it gets me from A to B safely so I can’t complain. Besides, I have more important things to spend my money on than a new car.

It takes me a little over half an hour to get to Maeve’s house. When I reach her driveway, I park my car and pull out my phone. I check the group chat and find multiple messages from the girls expressing how excited they are for the trip. I dial Maeve’s number and call her to let her know that I am waiting outside. She is running a little late as always but that is okay because we are leaving a little earlier than we need to. I know her long enough to be aware of the fact that we always need to leave extra early with Maeve to make it to an event on time. I scroll through my social media while I wait for her to come out. I know she is coming towards me when I hear a loud pitched squeal. I look up and see her trying to run towards my car. She is struggling a lot because of the luggage in her hands. She has one shoe on her foot and the other in her hand as she rushes towards me. I laugh and get out of the car to help her.

She drops everything and wraps her thin arms around me. “Oh Taylor, I am so happy to see you!” she exclaims and hugs me tighter. I giggle. “Me too. I missed you,” I tell her. She squeezes me even tighter. Her ginger hair is flowing in the breeze, getting in my face and in hers. I laugh as she struggles to control it. Maeve and her family came from Ireland when she was only four years old. If you take one glance in her direction you will know she is Irish. She has the stereotypical Irish look. Ginger curly hair, pale skin, blue eyes and freckles. “Here let me help you,” I offer when she finally let’s go of me. I lift up her bags while she puts on her second shoe and manages her hair into a ponytail. I squeeze her bags into the car beside mine before getting in. “You girls have fun!” shouts Maeve’s mam from the front door of their house. I wave at her with a huge smile on my face. “Thank you, Mrs. O’Connor,” I yell back. Mary has always been like a second mother to me. I can always count on her for advice or even a place to stay whenever I am stuck. Not that I need it often because I am blessed with the greatest and most supportive parents in the world. I consider myself so lucky to have incredible people in my life. “Next stop, the beach!” yells Maeve at the top of her lungs. I giggle and start the engine. We have a long drive ahead of us, but I do not mind because we have so much to talk about.

After an hour of constant driving, chatting and laughing Maeve begs me to stop at a gas station to get some snacks. “If we keep driving, we will get there quicker,” I tell her. She rolls her eyes. “It’s okay if we are a little late. We need a coffee break,” she argues. “Did you not have breakfast?” I ask her and laugh. She is quite unorganized. “I kind of woke up late,” she admits. I laugh. She never fails to impress me with her poor time management. “Okay, you have 10 minutes to go into the shop and get some food. But if you aren’t back in 10 minutes, I will be forced to leave without you,” I joke. She punches me playfully. “You wouldn’t do that,” she states. “Right?” she asks, making me laugh even more. I pull up to the next gas station and wait in the car while she goes to the shop for some food. 10 minutes go by and she has not returned yet. I expected that anyways, so I don’t think much of it at first. But when another 10 minutes go by, I get a little anxious. What is taking her so long? It does not take close to 20 minutes to get some food and come back.

I get out of the car and make sure to lock it behind me. I go into the shop to look for Maeve. There isn’t a seating area in this store, so she doesn’t even have anywhere to sit down and eat her food. How strange. It takes me a few minutes to look around the entire store and I cannot find her. Confused, I walk back to my car, hoping she would have returned by now. Luckily, I find her standing beside the car waiting for me to come back. “Where were you?” she asks me. I scoff. “The question is, where were you? You were supposed to come back 10 minutes ago,” I state. She blushes. “I’m sorry Tay,” she begins. “I got caught up talking to this really cute guy,” she explains. I sigh but can’t help but smile. “Typical Maeve,” I joke and open the car for both of us to hop in. She blushes even more.

“Nothing has changed I see,” I state when we both have out seat belts on. She shrugs. “I can’t help but chat to a handsome dude,” she explains. Maeve has always had good luck when it comes to men. She is like a man magnet. Her uncommon looks must be very attractive to the opposite gender. She never had an issue with getting the man that she wants. The only thing is, she seems to be non-committal. Her longest relationships only last a little over a year. She has a strange fear of commitment and has no interest in marriage or having a family.

“How about you?” she asks. “Any luck since, you know who?” she says. I know exactly what she is talking about. Back in high school I was dating a man named Justin. We dated for almost three years then we broke up before I went to college. We decided to go to different colleges and long-distance relationships just aren’t my thing. “I don’t want to date right now,” I admit. She sighs. “Tay, it has been many months now since you two broke up. Maybe it is time for you to move on and find yourself a new dude,” she suggests. I roll my eyes. She doesn’t know what it is like. “Maybe we can find you some hot guy on the beach,” she suggests and winks. I blush. “Oh god, please don’t,” I say. I hate being set up with someone. That just seems fake to me. I am a huge believer in meeting the right people at the right time. Being set up does not feel like that.

“Who knows, maybe we will come across some hot guys in the clubs or the hotel,” she says and wiggles her eyebrows suggestively. I chuckle. “This is a girl’s holiday,” I state. “No boys allowed,” I add. She laughs. “Well, never say never,” she tells me before taking a bite from the sandwich she bought in the store.