Offer (25)
Grace
I read the message and it gave me a pause and then my mind went blank for a second. What? What does it mean? An urgent matter?
“What happened, Grace?” Mrs. Johnson asked me. Startled, I stared at her in daze. She looked at my facial expressions and raised her eyebrow. Putting the water can on the ground, I cleared my throat once.
“Uhh, Mrs. Johnson. I have to go to my college back. Something came up. I'm really sorry but I have to leave.” I told her. I clapped my hand together, clearing out any dust in my hands but it was of no use. My jeans were muddy, and I was pretty sure that I looked like a toddler who rolled around in mud.
“Sure. The work has already been done. I thought we could have lunch together but if you have to go then maybe we can do it some other day.” She said. I rubbed my hands on my jeans and nodded my head.
“Yes. Thank you. I'll see you later.” I said and bid my goodbye. I walked out of the door and jogged — walked to my house. In a hurry, I took a shower and changed my clothes. All the time, I was feeling anxious. I had no idea what this was about. I called an Uber and finally, reached his house.
My nerves were getting the best of me, so I took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down. Gathering what little courage I had in me, I rang the doorbell.
On speaker, I heard a female voice.
“Who is this?” She asked.
“Umm. I'm Grace.” I replied.
“Grace?” She asked.
“Yes. I'm -” I spoke but was cut off.
“Humm. Ma'am we can't let you in. What work do you have here?” She asked in a firm voice. Her tone of voice gave me a pause. She sounded like she was talking to a homeless person rather than a mere person.
“Mr. Davis is expecting me.” I replied. I heard voices in the background, talking. Then a male voice appeared in the speaker.
“Grace?” Mr. Davis spoke into the speaker.
“Yes, Mr Davis it's me.” I replied.
“Come on in.” He said and the door click opened. I walked inside. Entering the door, I remembered how rich Jake's Dad was. It was a huge house. I walked inside the house and heard Mr Davis' voice.
“I'm sorry about that. No one will stop you from now on. After all, you're my son's girlfriend.” I spun my head around and saw Jake's dad sitting on the sofa and working on his laptop.
“I think I chose the wrong time to come here since you're busy. Maybe I should come back later.” I said meekly and he shook his head. Closing the laptop, he looked at me and gestured to me to take a seat.
“No. Absolutely not. I was just completing my work. An old man got to work to eat.” He said as I sat down. His words reflected a completely opposite picture to what he had. From his words, he sounded like a sixty old year man working on weekends to meet his needs but in reality it was everything but a man meeting his needs.
“You're not old Sir.” I said, and he let out a deep, throaty laughter. His eyes sparkled just like Jake's, when he laughed. He saw me watching so I looked away.
“Jake looks so much like you.” I said as an explanation. He gently smiled at me.
“So… you asked me that you have to discuss something urgent with me.” I asked him in a low voice. His smile vanished and my stomach churned inside. He didn't speak for a few seconds which did nothing to ease my nervousness. He cleared his throat.
“Right.” He said and straightened a bit.
“Do you want something to drink? Water?” He asked. He seemed hesitant about whatever he wanted to say. His avoidance only made me more anxious. Why doesn't he just get to the point?
“No, thank you. So what was it about?” I asked, hoping he won't delay it any longer.
He sighed.
“So I'll get to the point. I know what you do for a living.” He said in a low, serious voice and I froze. Did he just say what I heard?
“What?” Question escaped my mouth and I stared at him blankly.
“I do know what you do for your living.” He said again. I came back to my senses. My heart thumped wildly and I swallowed hard.
“How do you know what I do for a living?” I asked him. Wait! Did he call me here to tell me to break off my relationship with Jake?
“Wait? Are you asking me to break off my relationship with Jake? Is that why you called me here? Sir I -” I was cut off in the middle of the sentence.
“No. No, I'm not asking you to break off your relationship with my son. That's not why I called you here. Look Grace, I know times are tough for you and I want to help. I'm offering you a job in my company as a receptionist.” I started to speak, but he held his hand up, stopping me from speaking.
“Let me finish. You don't have to worry about pay. It will be enough for you to cover your expenses plus you'll get bonuses from our company as well. Your working hours will be fixed so you don't have to miss out on your college. You can choose to work at evening shift and about your travelling at night, I'll find someone to drive you to your house.” He explained and I sat there, shook. It went from zero to three-sixty real fast. He looked at me and stood up. He came back holding a glass of water and gave it to me. I took it silently and gulped it all the way down.
“So you need the water, after all.” He said as he sat back down. Looking at him, many questions popped in my head.
“So you don't care that I'm a prostitute?” I asked him. For once, being blunt and bold.
He looked away then back at me. He rubbed the back of his neck and spoke.
“No. I don't care what you do to make your living.” I stared at him in disbelief. Jake accepted me being a prostitute much faster and now I'm listening to his father's mind at all that his son is literally in a relationship with someone who sells her body to earn money.
“If you don't mind me asking, how are you so accepting me so easily, just like your son did? Have you ever dealt with a person like me before, in your family?” I asked him suspiciously. He smiled at me like I was naive and stupid kid. His looks made me feel defensive towards mine.
“No.” He shook his head, still smiling.
“No. We never had met someone who is a prostitute or even a stripper for that matter, however your question is valid.” He sighed and he turned serious.
“Here's the thing Grace. When I found out that you were dating Jake, I did a background check on you. Nowhere it mentioned your work. Then one of my friends noticed you. You had a session with him. When he asked me about you, he told me everything. Especially, that you go with the name Sally in your work and not Grace.” He explained and I panicked. He resumed speaking.
“But when I heard it, I understood two things. One, you're trying to stay anonymous. That's why I told him to never speak about it again or I'll make sure that he'll never speak again. And second, that you were financially suffering. No one would choose this work if they had a choice.” He and Jake are father and son with no doubt. They both don't speak without including threat in a conversation. I was grateful for him to respect my anonymity but his last line hurt me. And it hurt me deep.
“I am really thankful that you stopped your friend from speaking about me again. But you are wrong about everything else. I chose this line of work willingly. When I really needed the support, this job supported me to go through the worst time of my life. When I felt that I had nobody there for me and my life will remain the same then this job gave me hope. I have a roof over my head, food in my fridge and a not so bad lifestyle over all, because of this job. I understand that you might not have respect for this job but I do. I don't care about what anyone sees this job as but for me, it is a way that I build myself up to the point where I am studying in the most second reputed college in the city.” I lectured him and then I took a deep breath.
“Anyway, when you found out about me, weren't you angry? After all, it might cause a dent in your reputation.” I asked bitterly.
“Actually, I was. I was very angry but then I saw Jake. Nowadays, he seems brighter, happier. You might call me delusional but I've never seen my son so happy. I don't know if you noticed or not but you're bringing a better change in him that you might never notice. My short tempered, grumpy son who walked around telling kids that my college was his domain and who was in my office almost every day for bullying kids suddenly stopped showing in my office. Who never cared about his own safety, would start caring about a girl if she got home safely or not, when he couldn't drop her himself.” He spoke softly without looking at me like he was talking to himself. His words made me fall in daze.
Was I bringing a change in him? Did I ever notice Jake's messages asking me if I reached home safely, when he couldn't give me a ride? Was he simply complying with the changes that had nothing to do with me? In my daze I barely heard him say.
“That's why I wanted him to find a girlfriend.” Coming out of his daze, he said.
“He still walks around telling people that college is his domain.” I mumbled and Jake's Dad laughed. I mean seriously, Jake gave me a few examples even after we've been together.
“Forgetting all this, Grace I would like you to take up this offer and start working for me.” He said.
“Thank you but I can't take up that offer. I really appreciate it but I can't.” I told him in a low and slow voice.
“What? Why not?” He asked. He looked baffled with my answer, like he thought I would agree to it right away.
“Because I don't want anyone's favour in my life. I want to build myself a life that I made myself. Whatever it will be, it will be mine.” I explained.
“What? That's completely stupid. I'm offering you a generous offer and you're denying it? Your reason sounds so stupid.” He blurted out, one thing after another.
“Maybe, for you it's stupid and it might even be true but it is what it is. I can't accept your offer.” I told him.
“Think about it. My offer still stands.” He said. I stood up and gently shook my head.
“There's nothing to think about. Thank you for the offer though. I have to leave now.” I said and spun around to leave but stopped in my mid move.
“You seriously don't mind my relationship with Jake?” I asked him.
“No.” He said and I nodded my head. With a last heavy thought, that shook me, I left the house.
Why did I become so afraid that he would ask me to leave Jake?