Beth’s Anger

When Beth walked into Elaine and Xavier’s mansion after the close of the day, it was dark inside. The security guard at the door had let her in as they knew who she was. She hadn’t seen Elaine for the past two days at work and had decided to come find out for herself what was wrong with her friend.

She gripped her bag that was crossed around her body tightly as she began to make her way into the house, passing through the entrance hallway until she got to the magnificent living room, the lights turning on at her entrance.

She looked around. The place never failed to amaze her each time she stepped her feet in. She never stopped looking around even after getting accustomed to the house and visiting frequently. The rich interiors and designs still managed to get to her every single time.

She took steps deeper into the living room, all the while staring around, her eyes skimming through all the paintings on the wall. She was so immersed in her stares that she didn’t notice the person walking from the other side until she bumped into him, the file that she’d been holding falling to the floor with a thud. She groaned.

A louder groan escaped her lips when she raised her head to look at who she bumped into only for her to see him. He had one hand buried in his tailored black suit pocket while the other held a phone to his ears. She rolled her eyes.

“I’ll give you a call once he’s back. For now, do nothing and stay put,” Rigel spoke into the phone and soon ended the call before returning his attention to the woman before him. He pushed himself backward away from her like she was some sort of virus. “The fuck you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here? And didn’t you see me coming? You ruined the file.”

“Perhaps you’re too small for anyone to notice? I’m the head of security here. What are you doing here?”

“Well, I’m here for my boss.” She bent down to pick up the file and arranged it carefully.

“Be careful with your steps next time. I hate it when people act like their eyes hold no value.”

She snorted as she rose. “Are you shitting me right now? I was careful with my steps. You’re the one who acted like you didn’t see me and bumped into me.” She combed her hair backward with her fingers, her eyes glaring daggers at the man like she was ready to fight if he brought it on.

After their so-called trip or vacation whatever, she’d been avoiding the man. He always managed to make her worked up and she knew that it wasn’t a good thing. Plus he was fucking troublesome.

“I don’t give a fuck what you say. Stay out of my way.”

Beth rolled her eyes and walked past him to a couch. She sat on one of the couches and crossed her legs, refusing to give the man a face. But Rigel as always was hell-bent on annoying her. With a sly smirk on his lips, he turned around and also walked to a couch, sitting opposite her. She raised her eyes.

“Weren't you leaving? What do you want now?”

“This is neither of our houses.”

“I can’t believe you. You were leaving so go.”

“I changed my mind.” He crossed his long legs together. “Perhaps I found something interesting.”

Her chest heaved up and down as she tried to resist the anger that overtook her but the sight of the man was enough to make her snap and she grabbed a couch pillow. Her eyes fell on his hair which covered a part of his forehead and then on his broad chest which was covered with a light white shirt. His looks made her even more annoyed. “Should I tell you a truth?”

He raised a brow. “I shouldn’t care but, go on.”

“The sight of my dog’s butt is better than your face.” With that, she threw the couch pillow at him with force. But just before it could collide with his face, he caught it with his hand. Fuck, she forgot to mention that the man also had good reflexes. And when he threw the pillow back at her unexpectedly, it collided with her face directly.

“Don’t strike first if you can’t handle one, Miss… Elizabeth.”

The mention of her full name caused her to flare in anger, she rose from the couch and pointed at him, her eyes burning in anger. See why she hated the man? He knew how well to get on her fucking nerves. She hated it when someone called her in her full name. How did he even know that her full name was Elizabeth and not something else? Perhaps it was so easy to guess?

“Don’t call me that ever again.”

“Wow, that’s new. Do you have another name?”

“Don’t ever call me my name in full. It’s Beth to you and every other person, do you hear me?”

He leaned back on the couch and scratched his brow with his forefinger. “It’s a shame that I’m not good at following rules. Just like you.”

“You’re detestable.”

“And you’re repulsive. There’s no one here now. I can’t be formal with you when you keep being a brat.”

Beth threw her head backward and burst out into laughter. Why the fuck did she have to encounter the man today of all days. Why the fuck was he in her face? And he just called her a brat too. God, she wanted to strangle him.

While there were people around, he always spoke to her formally or with restraint. But now that they were alone, opposite each other in the same space, he couldn’t help but speak to her as he wanted to for a while now. To put her in her place. She had a really sharp mouth, one that made him pissed all the goddamn time.

“Brat? Me?”

“Do you have a problem with me calling you that?”

“You’re so ill-mannered. Your governess did a very bad job,” she spat.

“I can say the same.”

“I don’t want to keep bantering words. I’ll just sit here and wait for her.”

But before she could return to her position on the couch, a soft giggle from the entrance of the mansion caused both of their heads to snap to the side, their eyes falling on the couple who stepped into the house, stopping at the sight of them.

Xavier had a bunch of shipping bags in his hands while Elaine had her hands locked around his arms, her eyes widening at the sight of the two people in their living room. She looked from Beth to Rigel and immediately noticed that something was wrong with them. There was a thick tension that stood before them.

“Beth? You’re here.”

“Elaine.” Beth moved over to her side just in time for Elaine to break away from her husband and they locked themselves in each other’s gazes.
“Where have you been for the past few days?” She grumbled. “I tried calling, texting. Do you know how worried I was? I decided to come check if you’re alright only to meet him instead.” She shot Rigel a distasteful look.

Elaine pulled away from her and grabbed her wrists, leading her to the couch while Rigel moved to Xavier’s side. The men laid the shopping bags on the couch so they could talk.

“Xavier and I decided to stay off work and phone for the past days. We wanted to spend quality time with each other. Forgive me for ignoring work. My husband is a bit demanding.”

“He keeps taking you away,” Beth complained. He’s so lucky that he takes good care of you and buys you gifts. I would’ve gouged out his eyes if he was stingy.” She handed the file over to Elaine and explained that it needed her signature and stamp.

“Thank you. Since it’s the weekend, we’ll see on Monday.”

“You better be done with your husband by then or I’ll come and drag you out.”

“Sure, sure, boss.” Elaine raised a brow as she saw Beth pass Rigel a dirty look while he simply just ignored her and looked away. She pulled Beth to her side and whispered into her ear. “Did you both fight again?”

“Fight?” Beth exclaimed loudly so that everyone heard. “You know how busy I am. I can’t spend my time fighting with him. I don’t know how to deal with annoying people. I’ll just put them in their places.”

She scoffed when she saw the corner of his lips raise into a smile and he ran his tongue across his lips.

“You’re crazy, Beth. He’s not even troublesome.”

“He’s fucking annoying. He even called me a brat. I can’t stand him.”

“I get it, I get it. Don’t get yourself so worked up, okay?”