The Heart Thief

the heart thief- |04|

Millie

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                 My alarm alerted me to the fact that it was Monday and the beginning of another agonizing week. Everyone despises Monday, and it's the worst day of the week when you can't seem to get a grip on your life. It was returning from a vacation with a shitload of work to do. It sucked. But for me, it wasn't the shitload of work that was waiting for me that made me groan every morning. It was because I had to face my dreadful boss, Gavin. Every reminder of his existence felt like a pounding in my temples.

               I awoke wanting to go back to sleep, just like any other day. My body wanted to drag itself under my warm blanket as the irritability set in, but alas, life didn't wait for anyone, particularly not a bald, selfish boss. No matter how badly I needed to sleep after hardly getting any last night. A rational person, after all, wouldn't be able to sleep at night after allowing a total stranger to intrude into their life.

               Roman. I felt he was charming and friendly, but those qualities might just as easily describe a psychopath who likes to entice women before jumping them. The next thing you know, I'd be meeting my maker. But something about stubborn and curious people is, regardless of how many red flags they receive, they dive right in.

               It's been over twenty-four hours since Roman offered to help me, and in those hours, I had thoroughly cleaned my entire apartment due to stress. I haven't heard from him again. I feared that he had backed out of the deal because he didn't want to waste his time helping me, or that I had been the victim of a prank.

                Oh, shit. Why didn't I think of that?

                When we left the bar that night, he insisted that I give him my number, but I made no effort to gain his. I was certain I'd laugh about it all and move on in the morning because I was convinced it was a prank or a dare. Either way, I made up my mind not to let it bother me. Yes, I had made up my mind to forget Roman, so why did I keep checking my messages every few minutes after leaving him? What happened to make me go from staring at my phone to having a restless night?

                  Some may say I was fascinated, curious, or interested. I knew what it was. Yeah, I could say I was curious or interested, but I was mostly just high on the feeling of actually talking to someone I was curious about — interested, even. Whether it was romantic or not, I felt excitement for the first time. Roman was the first person I wanted to befriend. I've never felt drawn to someone enough to want to be friends with them. I was glad I didn't get his phone number because I would have texted him constantly and he would have had to report me for harassment. I made a mental note to put him out of my mind when I woke up this morning.

                 It's what I did.

                 I worked for Harley Enterprises, a business with expertise in a number of industries, including construction, hospitality, and automotive. The company was founded by William Harley sixty years ago. After his death, his son Jonathan, inherited the company. Harley Enterprises now owns a number of hotels and condominiums across the country and produces automobiles for use in hospitals, sports venues, farms, and trucks.

                 Walking into work and being greeted by my boss' murderous gaze was not how I wanted to begin the day, but unfortunately, this was the norm. Gavin Higgs, who oversaw the research and development team, was the worst person to work with. Working for him was like going back to middle school, where he was the big bully and the workplace was his playground. He was never happy with anyone. He was constantly on everyone's neck. The fact that he essentially let everyone else do their job and then took the credit made me want to report him to HR every day.