Avoiding The Bad Boy

Chapter Six

Archer’s POV

I was crawling around under my desk after the damn ball point pen that had made a break for freedom whilst I sorted out the paperwork on my desk.

Crouching in the gap under the table top, I smacked my head on the underside, a string of muttered curses leaving my lips as I inched back out, rubbing my head to dull the pain.

Straightening up I closed my eyes briefly, trying to deal with the ache in the top of my skull when I gasp came from my doorway.

My eyes flying open I turned toward the door just for all the air to leave my lungs in one desperate whoosh.

‘Everleigh’ I muttered dazedly, my voice hoarse as though I hadn’t spoken for years.

The woman in my doorway stiffened, her shoulders hunching in on herself defensively as my brain caught up with my mouth. This couldn’t be Everleigh, I know it can’t be, Everleigh was dead, buried in the cemetery between my home town and the next. I hadn’t attended her funeral, couldn’t bring myself too, but I’d visited her afterwards, hoping to find some relief from the guilt weighing on me but finding none.

‘My name is Graciela’ the brunette in front of me growled back, arms crossing over her chest as if she was trying to put a barrier between us, a forcefield that would protect her from the reality of the two of us being in this office together, 'not that i'd expect you to remember, it took you seconds to forget me the first time.'

‘Gracie . . ‘ I mumbled in shock, I hadn’t seen her since she was eleven years old and she was grinning down at me from the bedroom window of their two story home as I came to pick up her sister for our date. Nearly seven years had turned the little girl with pigtails into a replica of her older sister, it was no surprise I had needed to do a double take. Looking closer though, I could see the differences between them. The smattering of freckles across Graciela’s slightly upturned nose and the green hue around her brown irises that had never been present in Eveleigh’s eyes when I’d gazed into them.

‘My friends call me Gracie’ she snapped angrily, ‘you may call me Graciela or Ms Frost.’

The coldness of her tone snapped me out of my thoughts and I physically recoiled at the pure anger radiating off the girl stood only three feet away from me.

‘Yes, sorry, Graciela’ I stumbled, waving awkwardly toward the seat opposite my own.

Glancing back through the door, Graciela hesitated, ‘maybe I should deal with another member of staff’ she started, obviously reluctant to spend any time near me.

‘I’m the only finance officer’ I replied curtly, silently screaming at myself. What the hell was I doing? This was an obvious conflict of interest, I should hand her over to an intern just like I had with Ace, but here I was telling her that I was the only person who could handle her scholarship.

Graciela muttered something under her breath that sounded distinctly like, ‘you must hate me God, what else are you going to do to ruin my life? Reanimate my dead rabbit into a zombie, and order it to dig its way out of its grave and come back and attack me?’

I smothered a chuckle, she’d always been a funny kid and I’d secretly enjoyed the fact that she wanted to hang around with Everleigh and me when I came over.

I obviously didn’t do a very good job as she glared at me, raising an eyebrow in challenge, ‘something funny?’ she demanded.

‘Nope’ I replied quickly, taking my seat and gesturing to the one across from me again, ‘nothing at all, if you shut the door we can start with your paperwork.’

Giving one last longing look back at the corridor, Graciela slowly reached for the door handle and pushed the door closed, shutting us both in the small office together that suddenly felt one hundred times smaller.

Edging over to the chair opposite me, she sank down, perching on the edge, her bag gripped tightly in her hands as it rested on her knees, her whole body screaming that she was ready to run at a moment’s notice.

‘I’m surprised to see you here’ I started, trying to keep the turmoil inside of me under lock and key.

‘Yeah, that makes two of us’ she mumbled to herself before meeting my gaze, ‘I earned my place here’ she added defensively, her voice becoming overly loud, ‘I don’t see why it’s so strange that I would be at this college.’

I shook my head quickly, ‘I meant here in my office’ I rushed out, ‘I didn’t expect you to be on a scholarship.’

If anything my explanation made her even angrier, ‘what?’ she snapped, ‘you didn’t think I was smart enough to win a place here? I’ll have you know that I worked my ass off for this. When everyone else was out at dances and drinking stolen liquor with the guys from the all boys school a mile down the road, I was volunteering at an animal shelter and visiting the senior citizens centre!’ Her voice rose as she worked herself up, ‘I didn’t just get handed this place and I’ll thank you not to make such assumptions about me just because you THINK you know me! I’m a long way from the little girl that you left devastated without a backwards glance.’ The last bit was muttered under her breath but I still heard her and my heart clenched in my chest at the pain laced in the words.

I gaped at the teenager in front of me, my mouth trying to make words but no sound was coming out. s**t, I hadn’t meant it like that!

‘You need to find someone else to deal with my case’ Gabriela continued shrilly, ‘I do not believe that you are the only advisor here, this is a huge campus.’

‘I . . I . . I . . ‘Jesus, why was my mouth not working? Talk goddamn it man!

The teenager was already standing up, her bag crushed to her chest as she stared around herself wildly.

‘I’ll just go’ she stumbled, ‘this is such a bad . . . how am I supposed . . . what the hell am I . . . ‘

‘The other advisors all have full dockets, you have to deal with me or not claim your help’ I finally gasped out, feeling like the worlds biggest d**k as I lied through my teeth. I had no right to hold back her help, it was part of her scholarship but the wide eyed, terrified look that flickered in her eyes told me that she wasn’t 100% sure whether or not I did in fact have that power.

Swallowing thickly, I tried to make my voice calm as I opened my drawer and pulled out the form for her two hundred dollar book allowance and placed it in front of me. I have no idea why I want Gabriela Frost around me, in honesty, I should be grabbing her get out of jail free card with both hands and dancing naked on my desk with it. Instead I’m lying bitterly, using her financial situation to my advantage to keep her under my workload. ‘I just need to fill this in for you and sign it and you can go to the administration office to cash it in’ I added desperately.

Graciela glanced down at the piece of paper in front of me, a war raging across her features between getting the ticket to her books that she must need desperately by now or storming out, leaving me and my arrogant ass in her wake.

Dropping back into the chair, she huffed out angrily, ‘fine’ she growled, ‘fill it in so I can go.’

Smiling weakly, reaching for my pen before realising it was still under my desk as I’d never actually found it what with trying to give myself a concussion and all.

Graciela raised an eyebrow in derision, ‘really?’ she snapped, ‘now you don’t have a pen?’

I forced a laugh, ‘would you believe that was what I was looking for when you came in?’ I asked hopelessly.

Scowling deeply, she dragged open her bag, rummaging inside before pulling out a black zip fastened pencil case that she unzipped and pulled a blue ball point out of that had the name of a hotel written along the top half. Handing it over, she drummed her fingers agitatedly on the edge of my desk as I slowly filled in her name and date of birth.

‘Student ID?’ I asked, glancing up, wincing at the daggers that were being thrown my way from her gaze.

‘I could just fill it in myself’ she huffed in annoyance. OK, everyone else I just signed the form and got them to fill everything in, but I wasn’t going to look at all at why I was filling hers in for her.

‘College policy’ I replied, trying to look like I was also unhappy with it.

‘Whatever’ was the muttered reply, ‘619443’

Writing it on the form, I moved to the bottom and signed my name, authorising the funds. ‘Take this down the hall to Janet’ I said, holding it out, ‘she’s the red head, she’ll sort your money out for you.’

Snatching the paper from my fingers, Graciela jumped to her feet, not sparing me another glance as she turned on her heel and fled my office, the door slamming shut behind her.

Staring at the space that Eveleigh’s sister had just occupied, I swore under my breath.

Graciela Frost was at my college, a scholarship student for some reason and obviously very very angry with me. I couldn’t blame her, I deserved every bit of anger she had to give. My head was berating me, telling me to hand her over, to stop making an awful situation so much worse, but something inside of me was stopping me from taking the easy road.

I hated that she reminded me of the worst moment of my life, but I also hated the fact that she hated me and something deep down was whispering that I needed to keep her around me, needed her to forgive me.