Let Love Win

Chapter 2 - Hadley

As requested, the main door to Mel's room was left unlocked. I walked in and threw my purse on the couch in the living space. I took the bag with my uniform and some clean underwear stolen from Mel's top drawer, and headed into her bathroom. I didn't know where she was but I didn't see her when I came in. No big deal though, she's a big girl.

I ran the shower water until it was nice and hot. I stripped out of the clothes I'd spent all night in and hopped in the shower. The water burned my skin at first, but I quickly became used to it and found myself purely enjoying the heat as it rinsed off the events of yesterday and last night. Honestly, I was disappointed with the quality of service during my stay. I mean, between Monty's wallet and the compensation that the orphanage provided for delinquents, there had to have been at least $10'000 worth of bail put in for my overnight stays. You would think I would get a luxury suite and proper meals and beverages.

I chuckled at the thought and turned the shower off. I pulled a towel into the stall so I could dry off and stepped out to get dressed. I wrapped a separate towel around my hair as I applied makeup, consisting of eyeliner, mascara and red lipstick. I walked out into the main room and saw Mel sitting on the couch.

"Where were you when I got here?" I asked as I quickly towel dried my hair.

"Irrelevant," she answered dismissively, turning the TV off and focusing her attention on me. "Now tell me, who is Jake?"

I smirked and started tying my hair up into a ponytail. "He was my cellmate, he offered and he was hot. Who was I to turn him down? Plus, he had amazing hands. Other than that, though, nothing to go back for."

"You're such a slut."

"Thank you. We're still going to that off campus party tonight right?"

"Of course. You know I don't miss a good party! Especially the ones thrown by the cute fourth years."

"Cool. I told Monty I would swing by to visit before I go, so I'll meet you there later. In the meantime, I'm headed off to work."

I grabbed my purse and headed towards the door. "Have fun!" Mel called after me.

"Shut up, at least I have a job. Bye, bitch."

"See ya, slut."

I walked down to the café on the main floor of the campus. Austin, my co-worker, was standing behind the counter flirting with a girl while taking her order. He had his sleeves rolled up to put emphasis on his triceps as he made her coffee. I could tell by the way she looked at him that it wasn't going to go beyond friendship with them. Being the kind-hearted person I was, I decided to intervene before Austin got slapped in the face by rejection.

I went in through the employee entrance and came up behind him. I washed my hands in the sink beside the coffee machine he was using on purpose. "She's not interested," I whispered.

He glanced sideways at me, looked back at the girl waiting at the counter and finally looked back at me. "5 bucks says she totally is," he bet.

"10 says she isn't."

"You're on. By the way, Cal is looking for you in his office."

"Thanks."

Austin and I went our separate ways: he headed back to the girl at the counter with her coffee while I made my way to my boss's office. I knocked on the door and he called for me to come in. I opened the door and found my boss, Caldric Martin, sitting behind his desk. He looked up and gestured for me to have a seat in the chair across from him.

I closed the door behind me and sat down. "I heard it through the grapevine that you wanted to see me?" I inquired.

He closed his laptop and turned all his attention on me. "I did," he confirmed.