Avoiding The Bad Boy

Archer’s POV Waking up, I groan, gripping my head as it argues loudly with my attempts to force open my eyes. It’s two weeks before I break up from my final year of college and it has been non stop parties for the last seven days. Prising my eyelids open, that feel like sandpaper against my eyeballs, I wince as the light of a thousand suns pierce my irises. Damn you tequila, may every bottle of your evil liquid be buried in an avalanche and never recovered. Sitting up, I glance to my left to find the outline of some girl sprawled on her stomach next to me. Her long blonde hair is covering her back all the way to a pert ass that is covered only by a thin sheet. I don’t even remember meeting her, but by the looks of it, we did more than talk. A peek over the edge of the bed finds a used condom in the trash can, well at least I’m not going down the same street as my friend Jay. Grabbing my clothes, I pull on my underwear, socks and jeans, gripping my shoes and shirt in my hand as I sneak out, shutting the door silently behind me. I grimace as I turn around to come face to face with one of blondies roommates who is giving me a disgusted look from her perch on the couch in the living room, cup of coffee held in her hands. Giving a small, sheepish wave, I head to the front door, opening it quickly and slipping outside to do my walk of shame, pulling on my sneakers on the doorstep before hurrying down the road toward my own apartment. Running home, I enter my building, heading up in the elevator to my floor and stepping out into the familiar hallway that leads to my apartment. Unlocking the door, I push inside, dropping my keys on the table by the door and kicking off my shoes. That’s one of my rules, no shoes in the apartment, I don’t want the filth you’ve walked through trudged into my carpet. Entering the living room, I find one of my roommates is already awake, and I pull a face when he gives me a knowing look. ‘Dude you look like s**t’ my friend Grant says, running his gaze over me studiously. I nod, rubbing my hand down my face, ‘I feel like s**t’ I admit, ‘I can’t believe you fuckers left me there.’ Grant threw back his head and laughed, ‘you had already disappeared behind a closed door by the time we left’ he replied, ‘and I love you man, but not enough to barge in on you getting your rocks off.’ Flipping him off, I stalk toward my room, the apartment is mine, my dad rented it for me when I came to college, but I found the three bed space lonely. When I met Grant on the football team, we clicked immediately and when his parents were struggling to afford his dorm after the second semester, I invited him to move in with me. We then collected Ace who joined us on a football scholarship the next year and the three of us have been roommates ever since. I Hastily showered, trying to scrub the dirt of the sorority house I’d woken up in off my skin before heading to college. After a hurried breakfast, my roommates and I jump into my truck and drive toward campus, Ace and Grant arguing over the best footballer of all time as I navigate morning traffic. Pulling into the parking lot, I rolled to a stop, throwing the truck into park before climbing out and waving to my two friends as they set off toward their lessons. I had already finished all my course work, I was ready to graduate and head back home to take my place in the Jones family empire. A lump formed in my throat at the thought, ‘are you sure you are ready to step out into the limelight at the prodigal son?’ a little voice in my head whispered vindictively. Of course I was, I was Archer Jones, I’d been groomed to step into my father’s shoes and he was waiting for me to come home from college so he could teach me the ropes and finally step back from the head of the company. I made my way toward the administration building, I’d been interning in the finance office for the two years, helping out old Professor Conrad, the finance officer. I’d originally volunteered for six months as a way to get some extra credit and pretend I wasn’t drowning in my own abyss of loneliness, but I had actually found it interesting to work with the old guy and has stayed on after my internship ended. I enjoyed helping the students that were here on scholarships. I’d become pretty good at digging out information on financial help for my peers whose daddies didn’t own a billion dollar company. Pushing open the door, I walked past a few open door, waving to the occupants before sliding into my own poky office that was next to Professor Conrad’s much larger office. Dropping into my chair, I picked up the stack of files that had been placed on my in tray by the professor over the weekend and opened the first, firing up my computer so that I could enter the information of the new students that would be starting next semester. Lost in the work, I was jolted out of my concentration by a knock on my office door. Glancing up I find the College Dean, Zeke Ringford, smiling down at me. ‘Bad time?’ he asks, walking in and taking a seat as I shake my head, placing my pen down on the folder I’m currently working on and giving him my full attention. Clearing his throat, the dean eyes me for a moment, ‘tell me Archer, what are your plans now that you have your Masters?’ he asked. I sighed softly, trying not to show my reluctance to follow the path laid out for me, ‘go back to Richmond Hill, take over my father’s company I suppose’ I reply, trying to keep the unhappiness out of my voice. The dean nods as he inches forward, ‘would you be interested in putting that career path off for another year?’ he asked curiously, ‘Pardon me for saying so, but you don’t sound like you are ready to head into your dad’s empire quite yet’ he adds with a raised eyebrow. I frowned in confusion. ‘what other options do I have? Dad has been grooming me for his position since I was born, there is no-one else to take over, my brother’s answer when asked if he was interested in a position in the company was, and I quote, f**k no’ I replied making the Dean laugh. ‘Your brother isn’t a man of the business world then?’ he mused. I shook my head with a smile, ‘nope, he just opened his own mechanics garage after he graduated, he and his fiancée live in a small three bed house and are loving it, he has no interest at all in the world of corporate business.’ Dean Thomas grinned, ‘well, if you are also looking to put off your future, I have a proposition for you’ he said warmly, ‘you’ve been working as an assistant for George Conrad for eighteen months, he just dropped the letter on my desk this morning saying that he is retiring at the end of the semester leaving me without a Financial Advisor, I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a little bit of work experience?’ I started at his words, gaping at him as the Dean holds up a hand, ‘no rush for an answer’ he adds hastily, ‘take the week to think about it, but I need a reply before next weekend as I’ll have to start advertising for someone if you say no. Honestly, I hope you will agree, you know the job, you know George’s system, the scholarship kids know your face, I won’t even have to train you.’ Standing up, he raps the desk with his knuckles, ‘think about it Archer, the job is yours if you want it.’ Staring at the empty doorway for a couple of minutes, I jumped out of my chair, hurrying after the tall, dark haired man and pushing his office door open just as he went to shut it behind him. ‘I’ll take it’ I said quickly, refusing to overthink what I was doing, pushing aside the disappointment I would be bound to get when I rang my father and told him. ‘I’ll take the financial advisors job for the next year.’ The Dean beamed widely, waving me into his office and shutting the door behind me before clapping me on the shoulder and leading me toward a chair. ‘That was quick’ he teased, ‘are you sure you don’t want to think about it for a while? Though I’m reluctant to offer you that as I don’t want you to change your mind’ he laughed. I shook my head immediately, ‘no, I’m sure, I’ll take the job’ I repeated determinedly. The Dean nodded, smiling widely, ‘excellent, I’ll get Denise to draw up your employment contract today and you can have a read through and sign it. George will have you sit in with him for the last few days of the semester so you can take over but still have him on hand in case you have any questions. Then come the start of the new term, you are in the driving seat.’ Swallowing, I nodded, holding out my hand, praying that he wouldn’t feel the slight tremble in my fingers as I shook his hand. ‘Good to have you on board Archer’ he boomed, giving my hand a strong shake. ‘It’ll be a pleasure to work with you sir’ I replied, smiling weakly. The Dean shook his head in amusement, ‘you are faculty now son’ he laughed, ‘just call me Zeke.’ I nodded, ‘OK . . .Zeke’ I mumbled, the name foreign on my tongue, I’d never addressed any of the staff by their first name, this was going to take some getting used to. Standing up, I bid the Dean goodbye and stumbled back to my office where I fell into my chair, rubbing a hand down my face, well, that wasn’t how I thought my day was going to go. Rummaging in my pocket, I pulled my phone out with a shaky hand, swiping through my contacts before landing on the only person I wanted to talk too. Pressing the name, I watched the video call ring before it connected and the face of my younger brother came onto the screen, smiling at me. ‘f**k me, did someone die?’ he demanded making me laugh. ‘f**k off, it hasn’t been that long since I last spoke to you’ I retorted, my fraught nerves calming as I grinned back at my brother. Wade snorted, ‘I could have got married since you last rang’ he huffed, ‘Cass could be knocked up for all you know.’ ‘I am not knocked up! Don’t tell him that, he’ll be telling your dad and then my mum will be screaming at me down the phone’ came Cassidy’s voice, my younger brother’s fiancée. ‘Hey Cass, how’s my favourite sister in law?’ I called out just as Wade got shoved out the way and my second favourite person in the world filled the screen. ‘I’m fine’ Cassidy replied, smiling happily, ‘though please tell your brother that I am not arriving at the church on a motorcycle’ she growled, glaring to the side where I knew my brother was sat smirking. Laughing, I shook my head, ‘stick to your guns Cass’ I said, ‘no-one as pretty as you should be on one of those filthy machines in a wedding dress.’ ‘Stop chatting up my wife!’ came Wade’s annoyed voice as an arm snaked around the woman in front of me and he kissed her cheek. Cassidy ws studying me through the screen, her brow furrowing, ‘what’s wrong Arch?’ she asked making me flinch, the girl had a knack for reading people’s moods. ‘Who sad something is wrong?’ I mumbled, avoiding her gaze. ‘Archer Jones, don’t make me use my mother’s stern voice’ she warned, a shiver running down my back, no-one messes with Mrs R or Mrs W as she was now. ‘OK, OK’ I grumbled, ‘I might have just took a job for the next year at the College as the new Financial Advisor’ I rushed out. Wade gave a low whistle, ‘does dad know?’ he asked in concern. I shook my head, swallowing, ‘not yet’ I admitted. Cassidy sighed, ‘he’ll be fine about it Arch, he just wants you to be happy, if you aren’t ready to join the company just yet, he’ll understand.’ I nodded, already thankful I had rung them, ‘and if he doesn’t, I’ll do something stupid so he’ll focus on that and forget about you’ Wade offered, grinning at me as I chuckled. ‘Cheers mate’ I replied, calmness washing over me, my brother and sister in law weren’t telling me I was insane, maybe this was a good idea after all.