When the Night Falls

Hunger: a feeling of discomfort or weakness caused by lack of food, coupled with the desire to eat.

JASMINE

Standing before me was the most powerful man in the US. I looked up at him to see him studying me carefully. I tried desperately to keep my eyes on his face.

“Hi.” After a beat, I slowly lowered my hand, which I’d just used to wave at him. Not my finest moment.

I couldn’t even look directly at the man. There was this intensely powerful aura surrounding him.

“Iris,” shouted Theodore, his eyes never leaving me. A moment later, the door opened and Iris hurried inside, looking flushed.

Her eyes widened when she saw me and Theodore standing in the room, with Thea peering in through the window.

“I… Mr. Jefferson,” she muttered, at a loss for words. “How can I help you?”

“I would like to speak with Ms. Gibson,” he said firmly, as if I weren't standing right there in the room with him.

“Sure, Mr. Jefferson,” Iris replied.

“Privately. Please collect my daughter and bring her to the kitchen.”

Still looking baffled, Iris hurried past us to grab Thea and carry her out of the room. When the door shut behind them, I felt like I was being sealed into my doom.

Theodore's furious gaze burned into me.

I’d never in my life imagined I would be meeting him. I mean, who would’ve thought that they would meet the man of every woman’s dreams?

Finally, Mr. Jefferson turned his gaze away from me and walked over to his dresser. He pulled out a shirt and slipped it on over his chiseled abs.

It was with difficulty that I tore my eyes away from the rapidly vanishing muscles.

“Ms. Gibson, you were assigned to take care of my daughter, not to sneak her out.”

His voice startled me. I blinked, and tried to hide my shaking hands.

“I was not sneaking her out, Mr. Jefferson.” He raised an eyebrow.

“Just…you know…I wanted her to have a bit of excitement.”

He didn’t respond but pulled another file from the stack on his desk.

“I hate when people lie.”

I gulped down my nervousness. Of course. That made sense. I knew he hated basically everything.

How was I going to say to his face that he was an asshole for keeping his little girl away from the world and not allowing her to go out?

How could a father stay away from his daughter and not spend time with her? He should have shown her the world and played with her.

“Ms. Gibson, there is a reason why I keep Thea here. My responsibilities keep me away from my daughter. It’s impossible for me to take her with me.”

I watched him with wide eyes. Had I said my thoughts out loud?

“Mr. Jefferson, I would like to get straight to the point. Thea is a growing kid. She has to live a normal life. She can’t stay in this house all the time. Allow her to enjoy life like a normal kid,” I said, suddenly not feeling nervous anymore.

He watched me carefully while I spoke.

There was a brief silence. He didn’t say anything; just kept staring at me until I started feeling a bit uncomfortable. His eyes roamed from the top of my head down to my toes.

I turned my head a bit, crossing my arms to cover my chest. I didn’t want him to know that I wasn’t wearing a bra.

“Is your hair auburn, Ms. Gibson?” he asked, so unexpectedly that I almost didn’t realize he’d spoken.

“Huh? Um, yes.” I rolled my lips into my mouth as I looked at him, wondering if I’d heard correctly.

He nodded and took one final look at my hair. Then he turned his attention to other matters.

“Did you feed my daughter pancakes for breakfast?”

I gulped, then nodded. “Yes, sir Mr. Jefferson. I made her an omelette first, but she said she wanted pancakes instead.”

Mr. Jefferson tut-tutted, then shook his head. “That is unacceptable, Ms. Gibson. Thea requires a healthy, balanced breakfast. You will go back to the kitchen and fix her a proper breakfast. And because I cannot trust you to make sure she eats it, I will be there soon to ensure I’ve been obeyed. And then you find something on the property to do together. Do you understand?”

I felt anger growing inside me. I balled my hands into fists.

I knew I should just stay quiet, but something stopped me.

“Mr. Jefferson,” I said with as much strength as I could muster. “You cannot force Thea to stay in this house like some kind of slave. That’s something terrible parents do. Are you a terrible parent?”

The moment I’d spoken, I regretted it. The fiery look in Mr. Jefferson’s eyes looked like it could melt metal. I was sure he was about to fire me.

But, to my surprise, he looked back down at his papers. “You may go,” he said.

Not wanting to test my luck, I turned and hurried out of the room.

“Ms. Gibson,” he said, making me stop in the doorway. “Try to wear more concealing clothes. I don’t want my men eyeing you, being distracted from their work.”

I bit my lower lip before walking away. As I wandered to my room to change my clothes, I ran into Iris and Thea.

“Iris, why didn’t you tell me about Thea’s father?”

“Ms. Gibson, Mr. Jefferson didn’t give me permission to reveal his personal information.”

Before I could ask her anything else, she wandered off, who knows where.

“I’m sorry, Flower.”

I looked down at Thea, who was looking at me with tear-filled eyes.

“Shh… It’s okay, baby. Daddy didn’t scold me. You didn’t do anything wrong.” I wiped her tears away and took her hand in mine.

“I’ll get dressed, then we have to make you a healthier breakfast.” I quickly changed into my sweatpants and put on a bra.

We made breakfast while I explained what I was doing each step of the way to Thea, who was eager to learn to cook.

Soon, it was like the events of this morning were a bad dream. Thea and I were goofing off like normal once more.

We were just finishing up our bowls of fruit, Thea laughing while I told her how I used to make a mess in the kitchen during my freshman year, when Iris walked into the kitchen along with a man and a woman I hadn’t met before.

“Ms. Gibson, Mick and Sherry will be assisting you,” Iris said, pointing to the couple.

“With what?”

“Mr. Jefferson has given his permission for you to take Thea out, provided you’re back by five.”

“Really?!” Thea shouted, and we both jumped for joy. Without waiting to hear another word from Iris, we ran to our rooms to get ready.

“Can I shower in your room?” Thea asked as I went through her clothes.

“Sure.” I pulled out a white T-shirt and her favorite pair of pants. I let her choose her underwear.

As soon as we got to my room, I headed for the bathroom and started running water in the tub for her. “Why don’t you take a bath while I figure out what I’m going to wear,” I said.

She put her clothes on my bed and climbed into the tub, while I pulled out a white crop top, my bomber jacket, and a pair of jeans.

While she was still soaking, I booked our movie tickets. I was excited to take her to see Frozen, the latest Disney princess movie—I knew she’d love it.

***

“Is he going to cut your hair?” Thea asked, looking curiously at the masseuse.

“No, baby. He’s going to massage my scalp. You wanna try?”

“Yes, please.”

I chuckled, seeing her bright eyes widen as soon as I asked her.

“I’ll be gentle with her,” the masseuse assured me.

After the movie, we’d gone to Domino’s for lunch. Then I’d decided a visit to a spa was in order.

“Relax, baby. He’s going to give you a scalp massage. If you don’t like it, let me know,” I said, and she nodded.

Mick and Sherry were sitting on the sofa behind us. Iris had called a while ago, asking what we were doing. I was sure she’d called Mick and Sherry a bunch of times too. Major trust issues.

I tried to relax and thought about Thea’s father. There was a dangerous and powerful aura around him that scared me.

There was something about his blue eyes that had darkened when I’d said what I thought about how Thea lived. I was sure those words had hit his ego.

The reason why I was lingering here at a day spa was because I didn’t want to face him. I wanted him to be gone before we reached the mansion.

I wasn’t very interested in the business world and didn’t keep up with the news. I’d learned about Mr. Jefferson mostly from the women I used to work with, though even when I was in college, he’d been pretty famous.

My coworkers never stopped gossiping about him, so I’d Googled him to learn who this guy was. There had been a lot of things written about him—some positive, some negative. But there was never a hint that he had a daughter.

He was a mystery figure who kept his distance from the media. He never gave interviews and was never seen on television, but I always saw his name on the cover of Forbes and the ~Harvard Business Review~ when I passed by a newsstand. And then there was that article in ~Time~…

Iris had mentioned that he wouldn’t be staying at the mansion; he must have been there briefly to check on Thea. If he was there to see Thea, why would he have allowed us to go out? Was he going to stay in the mansion after all? Oh God! I don’t want him to stay there. He was an asshole, and I felt my blood boil whenever I was around him~…~

And yet there was something about him.

I couldn’t help but wonder if he made my heart race for entirely different reasons.