Vice

33: Back Home

The sunset blooms waves of dark pink across the darkening sky as Natara bikes back home. The sky looks almost red above her, reminding her of all the red accents in Mr. Vice's office. 

She bikes so fast her legs ache, adrenaline stirs her cells to a soft buzz, and her heart pounds but she can't get away from her growing feelings toward her boss. 

The further she gets from the situation the more clearly she can think about everything. Why does she have so much trouble thinking rationally when her boss is around? 

The rational thing was to say that she had work to do in her own office and not ever walk down the hallway and enter his office. The rational thing was to not rub his shoulders - that was way too inappropriate for a normal secretary - and to pull away when he pulled her onto his lap and held her in his warm embrace.

So why hadn't she done any of that? And, for that matter, why hadn't she just let him be in his penthouse the very first night they met? Did she pity him, or did she pity herself? Did she really just want someone to want her that badly? Was she curious about what it would be like to be with someone forbidden, older, and who works as her boss? What was it? Had she spent too much time watching drama television with her little sister? 

It couldn't be the last one, Natara decides. There isn't such a thing as too much time spent watching Asian dramas. 

But why was Mr. Vice so appealing to her? He was the guy she shouldn't be with and there was a perfectly great guy, Jace, who actually would be a great choice to start dating if she only just wanted him equally.

She brakes her bike to a halt, chains it outside her house, and slaps her forehead.

Now she'll have to deal with the consequences of her choices. She knows when she steps inside the house that her parents are going to be mad, and she fully deserves it. She never does anything out of line. Macey is much more likely to be the child to stay out a couple minutes past her curfew or spend time chasing boys, but not well-behaved Natara.

She braces her shoulders as she steps through the front door. After a long and stressful day at work coming home to more stress is the last thing she wants. How is she going to handle this sort of thing on a day to day basis? All of the paperwork and stress and whirlwinds of emotions on a daily basis could drive anyone crazy.

Hopefully, she won't ever be spending another night with her boss like that, though.

Sure enough - her parents are setting the table for dinner when she steps inside and they immediately stop putting the plates and silverware in order and turn to her with disappointed expressions. Natara's sure she hurt them, even if it was unintentional, by not telling them where she was last night. 

She's lucky they didn't call the police on her. How would they have reacted if they'd called the police and the police had checked inside Vicetech for her but she wasn't there, after all? Natara shudders. How would they feel if the police did find her, but it was inside Mr. Vice's penthouse?

Macey doesn't approach Natara or look up when she enters the house. She just continues washing the dishes in the kitchen. Natara holds in a sigh. She really didn't want Macey to be mad about this, too.

"You can never do this again, Natara. Do you understand?" Her mother immediately raises her voice. Her disappointed expression turns to stern. Her father crosses his arms beside her. "People don't just fall asleep at their workplaces. It's not a house, it's a place of employment."

"I'm sorry, mom. I won't do it again. It was an accident. You know I always try to tell you if I think I'm going to be out late. I'm so sorry," Natara rambles. She feels almost on the verge of tears. She doesn't usually disappoint her parents and definitely not this deeply. She feels awful.

"If there is any chance whatsoever that you're going to be out overnight for any reason, you have to let us know. Did you know your father drove around town for hours last night looking for your bike or you in case you'd gotten hurt on your way home? If we didn't hear from you this morning we would have even called the police," her mother clenches the skirt of her apron in her hand. Natara raises an eyebrow, recognizing the action as something she also does when she's nervous or upset. Did she learn that from her mother? 

"Do not do that to us, Natara. Do you realize how worried we were about you?" Natara's father places his hand on her mother's shoulder. Her mother's shoulders relax only slightly from the touch. The grip on her apron loosens.

Natara turns her gaze to the floor. How could she have been so stupid? She caused all of this trouble and stress for her family. Her mother is prone to worrying and Natara doesn't have to look at the dark circles under her eyes to know that she wasn't able to sleep at all last night because of her.

"We're glad you're safe," Natara's father says. "But do not do it again, no matter how tired you are. You must give us notice if you're going to be out like that. If you don't, we're going to have to put one of those tracking phone apps on your phone and I know you wouldn't like that."

Natara cringes. She can imagine it right now - them seeing her out all night at a random penthouse in town. What would they even say? What would they think? She shakes her head quickly.

"I promise I'll text you even if I think there's a slight chance that I'll be working late. I'm sorry that this job is like this but...I'm not sure if there will be more late nights like this. They really give me a lot of overtime work." The excuse slips from her lips before she even realizes she's making it. She chose to give herself an out to see him again. 

She opens and closes her mouth like a guppy before clamping it shut.

She's not as sorry that the job is like this as she is sorry that she's like this. For some reason, she has become the type of person who lies. The type of person who spends all night long in bed with their boss. And the type of person that comes up with excuses to make it possible for her to do it again in the future. 

"We hope you'll stick to that promise. If it happens even one more time, you know what's happening. At LEAST let us know. Now, you look exhausted. You should get some rest. We'll put aside dinner for you in the fridge," her father says. 

Natara nods, thankful that they're going to put food away for her to eat later. What she really needs right now - after everything - is some sleep.