Diamond Lounge

Elijah POV

"Well I'm sorry, I won't be offering you this job."

The girl froze immediately.

Her fingers tightened around her purse.

For a second she just stood there staring at Isabella like maybe she heard wrong.

Then her throat moved slightly.

"Oh," she whispered.

Her eyes dropped toward the floor quickly.

I leaned back against the couch watching her carefully.

She tried to smile.

"Thank you for your time, ma."

That smile almost pissed me off more than the rejection itself.

She bent slightly to grab her bag properly and turned toward the door.

"You're hired."

Both women looked at me instantly.

Isabella's face tightened first.

The girl looked completely confused.

"I am?" she asked softly.

"Yes."

Her lips parted slightly.

I stood up from the couch slowly and buttoned my sleeve.

"You resume tomorrow morning."

She nodded too fast. "Okay."

"You will be paid two hundred and fifty thousand dollars monthly."

Her eyes widened immediately.

"Monthly?" she repeated like she could not believe the words.

"Yes. Monthly."

She blinked twice before nodding quickly again. 

"Yes, sir. That is fine. More than fine actually."

A small laugh escaped her before she quickly covered her mouth.

She was kind of cute when she did that.

"Thank you so much, sir."

I grabbed my phone from the table. "Dan, my secretary will send the rest of the details."

"Thank you," she said again.

I glanced at Isabella briefly before walking toward the stairs.

"You are welcome."

I could still feel Isabella's stare burning into my back while I walked away.

The second I stepped into my office upstairs, I loosened my tie and dropped into the chair behind my desk.

The quiet lasted about thirty seconds.

Then heels clicked loudly down the hallway, sharp, fast and already angry.

The office door slammed open.

"Elijah."

I picked up a file from the desk calmly.

"Elijah."

"If you are going to scream my name all evening, at least close the door first."

She slammed it harder.

"There was absolutely no reason for you to do that."

I kept reading the file.

"You heard me refuse her."

"I did."

"And you still hired her."

"Yes."

Her heels clicked sharply against the floor as she walked toward the desk.

"You embarrassed me."

I looked up slowly. "You embarrass yourself daily. I doubt one extra moment changed much."

Her mouth fell open slightly.

"Wow."

"You came in here for a fight. Continue."

She folded her arms tightly. "You hired her because she is pretty."

I laughed once under my breath.

"That is your argument?"

"You were staring at her."

"So were you."

"That girl looked nervous and desperate."

"And?"

"And desperate people steal."

I tossed the file onto the desk.

"You rejected the only applicant that showed up."

"She was not qualified."

"She is cleaning a house, Isabella. Not running a company."

"She looked poor."

"There it is."

Her jaw tightened instantly.

"You always do this," I muttered while standing up from the chair.

"Do what?"

"You decide somebody's value the second you look at their clothes."

"She literally admitted she needed money."

"And somehow that offended you."

"She looked at this house like she had never seen marble before."

"She probably has not."

Isabella rolled her eyes dramatically and turned away from me.

"You cannot seriously expect me to live with that girl inside this house."

"You already fired the last housekeeper."

"She was incompetent."

"You called her incompetent because she served your coffee with almond milk instead of oat milk."

"She should have listened properly."

I stared at her for a long second before walking toward the mini bar near the window.

"You know what your problem is?"

"Oh please enlighten me."

"You are bored."

She scoffed loudly. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

I poured myself a drink slowly.

"You wake up every morning looking for somebody to control because your own life has nothing happening in it."

Her face darkened immediately.

"At least I am actually home," she snapped back.

I took a slow sip from the glass.

"There it is again."

"You barely spend time here anymore."

"Because every conversation with you turns into this."

"This happened because you overruled me in front of a stranger."

"This happened because you keep firing staff like children throwing away toys."

She crossed her arms tighter. "You did that intentionally."

"Yes."

She went quiet for a moment, which meant she had no answer for that.

At least she appreciated honesty.

"You smiled at her," Isabella said suddenly.

I raised one brow. "What?"

"You smiled at her."

I stared at her blankly before laughing softly.

"You are unbelievable."

"You did."

"And now you are jealous of a housekeeper."

"I am not jealous."

"Good. Because that would be embarrassing."

She grabbed the pillow from the couch and threw it at me.

I caught it before it landed.

"Grow up, Isabella."

"Maybe stop acting like an asshole then."

I tossed the pillow back onto the couch.

"Are we done?"

"No."

I grabbed my jacket from the chair anyway.

"Too bad. I am done."

She followed me toward the door. "You always walk away when conversations get difficult."

"No. I walk away when conversations get stupid."

"Elijah."

I opened the office door.

"If you fire that girl," I said calmly, "you will clean this entire house yourself."

She stared at me.

"I mean every single room."

"You would not dare."

"Try me."

"You are choosing some random girl over your wife?"

I stepped closer slowly.

"I am choosing peace in my own house."

Her nostrils flared slightly.

"You cannot threaten me."

"And yet here we are."

I walked past her and headed downstairs.

Behind me, something crashed loudly inside the office, which meant another vase was gone.

At least she was predictable.

By the time I reached the living room, my phone buzzed inside my pocket.

The screen showed an unknown number.

The number had no name attached to it, no profile picture, nothing but messages that had been appearing out of nowhere for the past three weeks.

I unlocked it immediately.

Miss me already?

I stared at the message for a second.

Then another one came in.

Diamond Lounge tonight?

A small smirk pulled at my mouth.

Whoever this was had terrible timing and somehow perfect timing at the same time.

I walked outside toward my car.

Behind me, Isabella's voice echoed through the house again.

"Elijah!"

I ignored her completely.

The cold evening air hit my face the second I stepped outside.

The driver rushed toward me quickly. "Sir, should I bring the car around?"

"I will drive myself tonight."

"Yes, sir."

I slid into the driver's seat and shut the door quietly.

The screen glowed in my hand, waiting.

I had no idea who was on the other end of these messages, and for some reason that was exactly why I was going.