"What do you want to say?" I asked annoyed.
"How are you, Ariana?" Malcolm asked casually as if we were sitting at a cafe catching up like old friends.
"I'm sure you aren't the slightest bit concerned over my well being, so please cut the small talk, Mr. Bennett and tell me what do you want." I snapped rudely making Malcolm glower.
"You are going to watch your tone with me, Ariana, I would not have you speaking to me like this," Malcolm warned.
"Then say whatever you want to and leave, that way you won't have to listen to me talk," I told him while folding my arms across my chest.
Malcolm sighed as if trying to control his temper. "I want to hire you," he told me causing me to frown in confusion.
"Pardon me, what did you say?" I asked wanting to make sure whether I had heard him right.
"I said I want to hire you. I want to get the walls of my penthouse repainted, so I want to hire you," he told smoothly.
"Thanks but no thanks, I'm not going to take your offer, good night Mr. Bennett," I said and stood up to leave when Malcolm banged his fist on the table making me jump.
"Sit down, Ariana, don't make me repeat myself," Malcolm seethed causing me to instantly sit back down.
"Now, we are going to try this one more time. Ariana, I want to hire you to paint the walls of my penthouse, and I'm going to pay you a good amount in return for painting my walls," Malcolm said calmly, as if he hadn't acted like Hulk just a few seconds ago.
"Mr. Bennett, I'm sorry to tell you but I'm going to have to refuse your offer. I'm sure you can find other people who could paint the walls of your house, so please hire them," I replied timidly, afraid that he would unleash his anger on me.
"I'm not accepting a no as an answer. I want you to paint the walls of my house and you are going to paint the walls of my damn house, is that understood?" Malcolm questioned arrogantly.
I shook my head in negative causing Malcolm's eyes to darken. "I'm sorry, Mr. Bennett, but I refuse to work for you," I told him.
"You are going to work for me, Ariana, or else," Malcolm threatened making my temper rise.
"Or else what?" I shouted, tired of him and his threats.
"Or else I'm going to ruin your life, baby, and you don't want that now, do you? Since you have a baby on the way," Malcolm let the sentence hang, clearly knowing that he had won.
"I hate you, Malcolm Bennett," I seethed in rage.
"You don't hate me nearly as much as you're going to once you start working for me," Malcolm said and stood up with a victorious smile on his handsome face. He took out his wallet from the pocket of his dress pants and took out a white card. He placed the card in front of me while I only glared at the white card.
"Here is my address, be at my place at 6:00 am, I do not accept tardiness, so be on time," he said and strode casually out of the club as if he hadn't just threatened a pregnant lady to work for him. Stupid Bastard!
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After Jason dropped me off at my apartment I hurried inside and rummaged in the fridge for something to eat. The only thing I found was a half eaten pizza. Well guess it would have to do. I wanted to save as much money as possible for my baby, and if it meant eating leftovers and old food so be it.
I settled on my battered old couch and turned on the TV. I didn't turn on the cooling system as I didn't want to waste money on bills; even though it was considerably warm it wasn't hot which was fine by me.
Not finding any of my favorite shows on TV, I settled on watching reruns of Friends. I grabbed my purse and took out the white card Malcolm gave me that had his address on it.
Quickly running my eyes over the card I got to know that Malcolm lived in the posh areas of the city. My heart sank knowing my child will never experience the luxuries his/her father could easily provide. But I would not give up. I might never be able to afford living in a penthouse but I would try my very best to give my child everything he/she would ask for.
After finishing my pizza, I turned off the TV and the lights, then went to my room. Changing into my tank top and shorts I climbed under the thin sheet and went to sleep. My thoughts revolving around the arrogant jerk who was unfortunately the father of my unborn child.
Malcolm Bennett I was not looking forward to working for you.