Alpha Billionaire Series

KAYLA

A few weeks later...

“Martha told me at the Auxiliary Guild Thanksgiving that you gave notice at the craft store. Isn't that something you should have told me?”

Mom cornered me in my room. I was going to tell her, in my own time. I just hadn't figured out when that was exactly.

“I was going to tell you."All content is property © NôvelDrama.Org.

She glared at me, and at the pile of clothes I had out on my bed.

“It looks like you have a few things to tell me."

I let out a sigh. Yeah, I had a lot to tell her. I guess I didn't have a choice, might as well tell her now. After all, she already knew I gave notice, and this was my last week at the craft store.

“I think you need to start with why you thought it was a good idea to take the job and then quit practically immediately. Its not as if you have many options, not with your lack of experience and skills"

I blinked up at her. Did my own mother think so little of me that my only job options were store clerk? Whatever happened to starting at the bottom and working my way up? That was part of the message she had always told me. It's why I stayed with Stole Brothers all through college. I actually didn't like working for the small department store, but I had advanced to department assistant manager for housewares.

The message from Mom had never been to figure out what you love and find a way to make it into a career or go after something that pays well. And that's what I desperately needed, more money.

it's why I was doing this. Nick Sadler had nothing to do with it. At least that's what I kept telling myself. As much as I was embarrassed by everything that happened, I had liked him, liked him more than I knew I could. I didn't understand why he requested me for this job. How could he want to see me after what had happened? But according to Isaac, the man who had contacted me, Nick specifically requested me.

“I was waiting to tell you until everything was confirmed. I gave my notice because I wanted the store to have a full two weeks, even though I'm only seasonal”

“Until what is confirmed?” Mom pursed her lips, pinching her whole face in.

I took a big breath. I wasn't used to lying to Mom.

“When I was in Los Angeles, I met..” I paused. I couldn't say I met a man. That would set Mom off on a different tangent. “..a woman, and—"

“Does your uncle know her?"

“I don't think so. I met her at a party that Jessie and Gabe took me to."

Mom crossed her arms and huffed. “Did your uncle know about this party?”

If I thought about it, Uncle Dave didn't seem to know or care what we had done. If I asked him if he was aware that we had gone to a costume party, I had to wonder if he would even remember. He really hadn't paid attention to us at all.

“Do your cousins know her?"

“I don't know, Mom. I thought we were just talking, but she really liked me and offered me a job."

Mom narrowed her eyes. “What kind of job? And where?”

I swallowed. This was the hard part.

“The job is in Los Angeles. Hollywood. And the job is as her assistant. I'd be working with her and her clients. She already thinks that I'd be a good fit for some of her older clients.”

Mom just blinked and glowered at me.

“So you're moving to Los Angeles? Have you contacted your uncle? Will you be staying with him?"

My stomach clenched and I had that sinking feeling. Nothing about this conversation was going right. Nothing about this conversation was easy.

“No, I haven't told Uncle Dave. It really doesn't have anything to do with him. And I won't be staying with him. Il be living in an apartment.”

“A single woman, alone in Los Angeles? Kayla, you are asking for trouble. Something terrible will happen to you. You might as well advertise to be robbed, or worse."

“Mom, nothing horrible is going to happen. Living on my own is not an advertisement for something bad. Plenty of women my age lives on their own, or with roommates. I will be fine.” I will be fine. I kept telling myself over and over again.

I told myself this was a good idea, that I would be fine, that I had no other choice. I was being blackmailed for a lot of money. I needed to protect my mother, myself, and Nick's reputation. And right now the best way to do that was to move across the country and accept a ridiculous amount of money to accompany Nick to a few fancy parties.

The entire situation was ridiculous. But I needed the money, and I wasn't going to make what I needed at the local craft store. Even if I did make it to a managerial position within a year or so.

“So you're just going to move across the country for a job?"

I grimaced. “More like a career move. People do that all the time. I can really see myself doing this work. And my new boss—" “Does she have a name? I've noticed you haven't mentioned it."

“Isaac” Crap, I blurted out the name of Nick's personal manager, the man who hired me.

Mom's eyes narrowed a bit more.

“Donna Isaac,” I added the first name I could think of. “She has plenty of clients. Ill learn a lot from her”

“What kind of clients? Doing what?” Mom shot question after question at me. This was an interrogation. Of course, she wanted to know what was going on. I wish I had been better prepared for all the answers I would need.

“I would be working as a personal assistant."

“Hers or her clients?”

Shit, what had I told her? I was so bad at lying and making Stuff up. “he runs a business providing personal assistants to rich people, and a few celebrities. At first, I think I will be working with her directly, and then when she is confident about my abilities, I will then work for one of her clients.”

I think that sounded feasible.

Mom began nodding her head in little sharp movements. She didn't like what she was hearing.

“A career. Do you want a career? I thought you were good with having a decent little job until you met someone and got married. How are you going to find a husband if you become a career girl?”

“How am I supposed to find a husband working at a store?” I asked.

“You could easily meet someone at work”

“Men don't shop much. Not unless they are following their wives around. Mom, maybe I don't want to find a husband. Maybe I want a meaningful job, a career. You know, something that I enjoy doing and can make a life at. Not some little job I have while I wait until I get married.”

“Fine.” She threw her hands around and let them fall heavily to her sides before gesturing at my packing processes. “You want a career. Is this necessary? Moving all the way to California?”

“It's where the job is. Maybe if I had opportunities around things would be different. But I don't. I have to leave” I wanted to leave. I had been dreaming of leaving for so long. I never thought this would be my way out, running away from my fear.

I climbed off the bed and stepped closer to Mom. She was never much of a hugger, but I wrapped my arms around her and squeezed.

“I love you. But this is something I have to do."

She shrugged out of my embrace.

I stepped back and leaned against my bed. I didn't sit back down. “Do you have to leave so close to Christmas?”

“You are always so busy with your auxiliary group. You won't have time to even notice I'm gone.”

“And what is Amber going to say about all of this? You're going to just leave your best friend behind?”

I chuckled. Amber wasn't going to let me leave her. “She's a little mad at me, but she is a lot excited for me. She's already asked me to get her a job. She wants to move to Los Angeles with me. And when she does, I won't be alone”

“50, you think Amber is going to follow you out there?"

I nodded. I didn't simply think it, I knew Amber was already making plans. Getting her resume in order so that at the beginning of the new year she could start looking for a job. At least she was being smart about it. She wanted a job before she moved.

Mom rubbed her hands over her upper arms. The house was always on the chilly side in the winter. Even with the sweater she had on, I couldn't tell if she was cold or nervous. Maybe both.

“Fine. How will you be getting there? When do you leave?”

“Is... Donna said she would make all the arrangements. I need to be there by the eighteenth. She said she'd make sure a car picked me up and took me to the airport”

“Do you have your ticket yet?"

I shook my head. Isaac said he would send a plane to get me. I think he meant he was sending a private plane. I wasn't sure. I just knew that someone would be picking me up at the end of the next week and that I needed to pack all the things I thought I would need or want.

isaac had been very clear about “things! Toys, mementos, but not household items. He was lining up a furnished apartment for me. And he had been very clear if I needed anything or forgot something, LA pretty much had it all. 'd be able to buy anything I wanted there.

“When is your last day at the store? Or have you stopped working already?”

“My last day is the fifteenth. Ill be leaving on the sixteenth or the seventeenth I needed to make every penny I could so I could start paying off the black mailer.