Bittersweet Expectations (Hate at First Flight #0.5)

21. The Library Camaraderie

SONG : Love Words - CHEN

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A loud knock on the door echoed into my ears.

I shot up instantly as if the bed had electrocuted me awake, my eyes wide open as I looked to my left and right before my eyes focused on the door.

The knocks continued.

My muscles protested as I shifted towards the edge of my bed, my eyes half open as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes.

"Ms Bishop," I heard the sharp tone of Diana call out from the other side of the door. "Ms Bishop!"

My eyes instantly widened as I slipped into my bunny slippers and brushed my unkempt hair down with my hand, trying to look as presentable as I could given the fact that I'd just woken up seconds before. 

I wondered why my supervisor was knocking on my door. She never did that before. 

Did I do something wrong? Maybe she found out what happened yesterday. Did she know that I had been in Ethan Clarke's bedroom? On his bed nonetheless?  Was she there so early in the morning to scold me before everyone else could witness her wrath?

My eyes drifted towards the alarm clock that stared at me from my dresser and instantly I gasped.

10:04 the clock read.

I froze instantly before I gasped out loud, "Shit!" I looked over to the door and I knew instantly why Diana was knocking on my door and why she sounded less than pleased at that very moment. Then again, she never once sounded pleased when we spoke.

I was late. And I wasn't just late by a couple of minutes. I was more than an hour late.

I pondered over my options.

I could walk up to the door, and act like nothing was amiss, like I wasn't late at all. Or I could sneak back into bed and feign an illness. Or... my eyes drifted to the small window to the left, it was big enough to fit my body, if I squeezed myself enough to fit through. Then what? I jump out and then act like I'd been long awake, in my night dress.

"Ms Bishop!" Diana called out again, the impatience in her voice had increased as she knocked again on the door, this time the knocks thundering and emphasized her displeasure.

I took a deep breath and decided to face the music, one that was sorrowful and foreshadowed my demise at Diana's hand.

I opened the door, and put on an apologetic smile as I looked at the middle-aged woman before me. 

Her face wore an unreadable mask as her eyes took in my disheveled state. She expressed her horror at my state as she scrunched up her face. Even though she was inches shorter than me, I cowered before her, and it wasn't because she was my superior. Diana just had a way to make you feel like you failed to meet her expectations.

"Ms Bishop, I would like to think that you do not dilly dally towards your responsibilities in this house as you do opening the door," she sternly said as her pierced into me.

"Diana, I'm sorry," I mumbled out an apology as I felt my face burn up. "I wasn't aware of the time."

"Evidently," she manifested her disdain into that one word as she once again looked me up and down.

I wished I had a huge afghan to drape over myself at that moment.

"I came to call on you because-"

"I'm sorry," I cut her off. "I know I woke up late and that I shouldn't have. I promise you that I never do this and that I take my job very seriously and that I won't do it again and that I'm sorry," I hastily said in one breath as I tried my best to show how sorry I was on my face.