Chapter 15: The Intern And The Boss

"This is all your fault" Claudia gritted in anger, pointing at Magnus who sipped cautiously on his glass, not showing any concern for what she said. She paced around the house, her face red and hands clenched beside her, ready to explode. She had initially been angry, but with the way Magnus acted, it tripled.

"I don't get why you are so stressed up about it"

"I was in love with him!" Claudia barked angrily

"Woah. I had no idea. Since you were in love with him, you should have done a better job in hiding this"

"If you had just waited for the perfect timing, this wouldn't have happened, you dimwit"

"Hey watch that tone" Magnus snapped, pointing his index at her as a memo to watch her mouth. "Do you think Xavier loves you? He can't love you. He was just using you to satisfy his sexual needs".

Claudia didn't let the words sink in before sending a smack to his face, but soon regretted it afterward, stepping a few steps backward. He scoffed with a smirk on his face as he looked up at her. "Now you are getting too aggressive" he tutted, irritably, his dry tongue against his palate as he stood up from where he sat and walked towards Claudia.

She kept moving back in fear, her heart in her throat. Maybe she shouldn't have angered him. She thought in fear, but it was already too late. When her back hit the hard wall as a dead, she realized she was doomed. Magnus picked up the glass cup of wine on the table and threw it to where she stood. She flinched, shifting herself from the wall but wasn't lucky enough. A piece of glass struck her on the chin, cutting her delicate skin as the blood trickled down. A whimper escaped from her lips, her legs wobbly as she felt the cold shiver run down her spine.

"Please" she begged out in fear when he started approaching her.

Claudia wished the walls could open for her to get into them. He had a death stare in his brown eyes as he raised his finger to her chin and took a swipe of her blood. The sting she felt afterwards made her shudder. A gasp escaped from her lips as she watched him lick the blood off his finger. That was revolting. This man was indeed crazy. She wasn't quick to realize that before getting herself involved with him.

"Hmmm," he walked away from her. She breathed out sharply, tears welling in her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. He wanted her to show weakness, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of seeing her like that.

"Magnus I'm done"

"No, you can't be done. You are only done when I'm done with you"

"What are you going to do about it? Throw a wine bottle at me!" She fired angrily at him.

"No darling" he walked back to where she was. Claudia felt her throat tighten in fear, making it harder for her to breathe. "I'm going to kill you. Once you are in, you are in"

"Fuck you, Magnus!"

"So now's it's like that? You asked for my help. I gave you what you wanted, took you in. Now it's time to repay the favor and you are not going anywhere until I'm done. Don't even think of running away. That's isn't a very safe option darling and you know it" he bellowed, striking fear into her soft heart.

He walked back to the table, took the bottle of wine, and left the room, leaving Claudia broken physically, mentally, and emotionally. She slipped through the wall unto the floor as tears flowed down her cheeks. This was not how she imagined this at all.

Being a heavy debtor 2 years ago, Claudia made up her mind to pay it up at all costs. By all costs, it meant even sleeping around for it. She stumbled on Magnus in a club one night. They were supposed to have sex, but instead of devouring her body at the slightest chance just as the other men did, he poured her a drink instead and they talked. The intoxicating drink eventually got her drunk and she Cluelessly, told him how much her life sucked, also not leaving the numerous debts she owed people. She recalled how he only sat back, not saying a word as he gave only head nods.

The next morning she woke up with a heavy head, but a happy bank account. He was nowhere to be found. A smile curved on her lips with her eyes staring at the money seated right on her account. A message popped up afterward.*remember nothing comes for free*It was from. Magnus. She read it, but never understood it.

But now she did and despised ever meeting him. She should have thought it through before taking his filthy money. Now she was cut up in all this mess. When would it stop?


*************
"I think the first one is better" Rachael suggested.

Xavier baffled, turned around. He hadn't even realized she had been standing there.

"What?"

"The first tie is better" she repeated, closing the door behind her as she walked toward him. "This one is too sharp for a grey tuxedo" she shrugged.

"Going on a date?" That was a personal question, but Rachael couldn't help it.

"I don't do dates" he paused, taking a look at her "Going for a business meeting" he added as he took the blue tie she suggested. It was good to know her opinion counted anyway.

"I don't see you as a tie guy though" she stated, watching him struggle with the tie. "Can I help?"

Xavier groaned in frustration. "Yes please"

"You don't know a thing about getting your tie on?"

"As you said, I'm not a tie guy."

"don't get me wrong, it suits you" she moved closer to him, taking the tie from him. It was at that point she realized it wasn't such a good idea. Now she had to fix his tie as close to him as possible. How could she survive that? Probably if she kept her eyes on the tie and not on his intense eyes, it wouldn't be difficult.

"Tiny over the big. Make a loop ..."

"What's that?"

"An anthem my mum sang whenever she did my dad's tie"

"You don't ever speak of your father"

"He's dead. He was shot at night by the police. The police said he was armed. I was so little when I heard this, but I felt the pain" she paused to breathe in. "The only person I have left is my mother. I can't bear to lose her"

Xavier just stared at her, confused about what to say or do. Finally, he found someone who related to him. The pain in her eyes affected him. He didn't know why he reacted that way, but couldn't help it. He also shared his equal amount of pain, but couldn't even admit it just like she did, rather he allowed it to consume him deeply.

"Done" she grinned at him, but something she didn't expect to happen, occurred. Without warning, Xavier pulled her closer to himself, pressing her head against his chest as he hugged her. Rachael was stunned. It was something she didn't expect from Xavier in 10 years. Despite the odds, she hugged him back, enveloping herself in the overwhelming comfort she felt just by being close to him. part of her pain vanished into thin air. This was something she was willing to kill for.

The sound of the door opening cut off her ecstasy as she stepped away from him. He didn't even look at her as he walked to his seat. It was Jerry. Luckily he didn't see anything. It would have been so weird. “The intern hugging her boss”

"Jerry is there a problem?" Xavier asked as he adjusted his tie. probably She made it too tight.

Rachael walked towards the door, brushing past Jerry who scanned the documents in his hands. How clueless he was. Before leaving, she turned to look at Xavier, hoping to get away with just a glance, but got it all wrong. His hooded intense eyes were already on her. She swallowed hard as she made her way out of the door. That had to be the most intense 5 minutes of her life. The way she shuddered under his touch. No man had ever made her feel the way Xavier made her feel. Just a hug and she could feel the throb from her mound like a hormonal teenager who found first love. Now she needed to be careful around him to prevent her from doing anything that would be regretted.

***********

Xavier face palmed himself mentally when the thoughts of what he earlier did occured to him. How could he let his emotions get the better part of him? At that point, he couldn't help it, but now he felt stupid for it. Hugging someone emotionally, that was most definitely not Xavier. He had that strong need to protect her and instead of thinking it through, he hugged her.

Truth be told, he enjoyed it. He loved the way she made him feel. Just a hug and he already wanted more of her strawberry-scented body. He couldn't help the thoughts that kept flooding into his head, distracting him from his environment. That was something that always happened. Whenever she came by his office, he paid no attention to where he was, but only to her. The way her mouth twisted when she was taunted, her clumsy nature, and her daring attitude.

"Rachael Anderson" he muttered underneath his breath. She was a woman he found hard to understand no matter how much he tried, hiding a lot in her green eyes