Petty Rage by Thandiwe Mpofu

Chapter 17

KIM

Past

ME:Have you ever hated anyone before? Like with your entire soul. A pure, burning, unending kind of hate?

Fairy:Yes.

ME:Can I ask who?

Fairy:None of your fucking business, but I promise you this, being hated by me… is the last thing you want.

ME: Okay…

Present

Ah fuck!

I knew this was too good to be fucking true. I just knew it.

I knew seeing Noah was going to be the beginning of everything going down the drain. I mean that’s a given whenever we’re in close proximity, but I seriously wasn’t counting on seeing him at all tonight.

Hell, Raea and Ivy both confirmed that Noah was in LA with Emmett and had zero intentions of coming back to Westbrook Blues.

The last time I saw him was on Hell Day and even that ended on a pretty dark note, and now this?

“So, when he says he’s the proprietor…” I start, my voice trailing off as I look at Christina.

She bites her lip, but otherwise I’m not even surprised to see that she’s already getting back to her work like nothing just happened.

“It means just that,” Christina says softly. “Noah, as my only living child and the sole heir to the Montreal family wealth in its entirety—and every shitty thing that comes with it—is the one who owns everything now. Especially after my bastard of a husband up and left.”

“In other words, he’s the…”

“One who signs your paychecks and will sign off on your sisters getting the scholarships at the school every school year.”

Of course.

At this point, I’m pretty sure I was born with some sort of bad luck that has made my life this… this unbearably shitty.

But this is more than bad luck. This is like some dark karma for what I did. Or more specifically, the bloodline I come from.

“I’m so sorry dear, but I wasn’t aware that he agreed to take over,” Christina says softly, but as I look at her, I swear there’s an undertone of ‘unbothered-ness’.

“I’m not really sure how to feel about this.”

“I thought you didn’t care about my son’s opinion,” she says with an eyebrow arched.

“I don’t.”

“So, what’s the issue?” She stands up then and walks over to me in that elegant stride that makes me reluctantly admire her some more.

“There’s…” I start, but my voice trails off as I look at where Noah disappeared. “There’s history between your son and me.”

“I know. You’re his Kim Possible.” Shocked, I stare at her with my mouth dropped. “Oh, don’t look so stunned, dear. Years ago, I just happened to walk in on him laughing at some text he said he received from ‘Kim Possible.’”

Anguish crawls its way into my veins like it always does when I’m hit with painful nostalgia.

Noah and I texted a lot. Before.

We could go hours just texting, talking about nothing and everything.

We shared secrets, shared our most intimate thoughts and feelings, but now… there’s just nothing.

Before everything went to shit with Emmett pretending to die just to get the key to George’s room, there wasn’t a day that went by that Noah and I didn’t talk.

And then the truth came out.

I was the liar, the villain, the deceptive bitch that hurt him, and for my penance, I lost a whole lot more than anyone will ever know.

More than that, I lost a significant part of my life. Him.

And now, he hates me.

“Well, that was a long time ago. We’re no longer kids, Christina.”

“Oh, it’s much worse. You’re both behaving like toddlers.”

I sigh. She’s not wrong and now I’m faced with a dilemma I knew was coming the moment I agreed to hear Christina out about this… strange as fuck job she offered in the most peculiar way.

“Either way, dear, you have to understand that my son is—”

“Unhinged? Livid? A hateful asshole who knows how to hold a grudge like nothing else in this world?” As soon as I say that last part, I wince. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to curse your son.”

“Why not?” she shrugs carelessly. “He was pretty rude to you just now.”

“You really are down to earth,” I murmur. “The first time I saw you, I thought you were…”

“An uptight rich housewife whose only problem was which diamonds to wear for the day?”

Well, then.

“Actually, I was going to say you scared me shitless.”

“That’s what I was going for.”

“Really?”

“Well, I’d picked up the tail end of the chat you were having with Astraea.”

“You eavesdropped?”

“Err, just the end.”

“Just how much did you hear?”

“Well, I heard the part where you told her that you would do anything for your sisters, so it was in that moment that I knew how strong and loving you are.”

“Didn’t you hear your son? I’m also a liar and could betray you.”

“Not when both your sisters’ futures are on the line.”

And here lies my fucking problem.

See, the dollar amount Christina offered me was enough to set up their futures so that they’d never have to depend on anyone for anything ever again. They’d become their own people, lacking nothing.

They wouldn’t grow up like I did and that’s the whole point of me taking this fucking job.

But accepting this job means giving someone who loathes me power over my time, my worth, and ultimately, my cold, broken heart.

“Listen, Christina, I really like you and after today, I can definitely say I respect the hell out of you but I…” I suck in a deep breath, turning to look at where Noah was sitting. “I don’t think I can do this.” If I have to find three or four jobs, work like a dog to give my sisters a better life than I ever had so that they don’t starve or beg or have to steal, then I’ll do that. “I can’t take this seriously overpaid job.”

I keep my shoulders straight and my voice level. For all I know, her son might be eavesdropping like the little piece of shit he is.

I expect Christina to look surprised or disappointed, but she just watches me.

“Tell me why not.”

“Your son,” I whisper with shame. “He might be a problem.”

“So let me get this straight,” she starts. “You know exactly what’s on the line if you refuse this job since you’ve already signed the contract, but you want to do it anyway because of… a man.”

It’s the way she says it that slithers under my skin and reminds me of the one person I never want to be.

My mother.

“No, that’s not—”

“I mean don’t get me wrong, you had your own first impression of me when we met, and I had mine. I looked at you and do you know what I saw?” I shiver, suddenly missing my best friend with an acuteness that makes me want to cry. “That day, you looked so defeated, so sad and a bit out of sorts but even through all that, all I could feel and see was how strong you were.”

“Maybe I was pretending to be strong.”

“No. No one can pretend to have strength like that. You don’t cower to anyone but as soon as my son walks in—the same one you assured me was persona non grata to you—you are ready to quit?”

Fuck.

“Christina, you have to understand. Your son…” I trail off. How do I tell her when what I used to have with Noah is still so sacred and secret to just us, well, to me? Everything we ever talked about, everything we went through, our brand of sass, it was just for us. “Your son is not just a random guy to me.”

We stare at each other. I see that she knows what I’m not saying and I hate that she can read it so clearly in me.

“And just to be clear, as evidenced by what just happened, whatever we had, it’s all in the past.”

“Then show me,” she states calmly. “Prove to me that it’s in the past, Kimmy. Take the job and do it as well as I know you will.”

“Planning out and organizing your life?”

“Every aspect of my life, Kim. You are now my eyes, my ears, actually, you are the face of Christina Reneé Montreal and that my dear is more work than you might think.”

I think I might have an idea of that.

“Okay, fine. I’m not quitting,” I say with a frustrated sigh. “But I do need you to be honest with me.”

“I’ll do my best.”

“That will do,” I smile sadly then we both grow serious. “Was everything he said true? Will I be working for your son instead of you?”

We stare at each other, studying each other. She’s the first to break.

“You’ll be working for us both.”

Noah Montreal is many things.

He’s drop dead sexy, cocky and now, he’s become a flawless liar who caused me to lose my job, but when he knew it would fuck me up in some way, he tells the truth.

“Will I be answering to him?”

“To us both, yes.”

“Will I be working in some capacity for him only?”

“In a manner of speaking,” she says with a cringe. “But at some point, you’ll be working together with him.”

Fuck. Me.

“Does that mean he has power, at any given time, to fire me?”

“Actually, no.”

“What?”

“That contract that you just signed still gives me the ability to hire and fire, not my son, even though he has all this power now.”

Well then. This changes things significantly. Noah can’t fire me, but still, he can make my life a living hell.

“Thank you for your thorough candor,” I say sarcastically.

“You’re welcome, but I do have one question for you though. Just one.”

“Yes?”

“Will you let him walk all over you?”

* * *

NOAH

“She’s never going to last,” I state, watching as Kimberly walks to her raggedy car and drives away.

“You were in rare form tonight,” Mom says with a sigh. I can feel her questioning gaze on me but I’m not in the mood to entertain her.

I had one extra-long week from hell.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Yes, you do,” she counters. “I’ve never seen you so bent out of shape like that before.”

I’ve never felt that kind of crazy before either.

On one hand I wanted her to leave and never fucking come back, but then before I saw her car outside, I was already contemplating going to her.

Who knows, I might still do that tonight.

“I had a long week but that still doesn’t change the fact that you’re making a huge mistake bringing her in like that,” I mutter, looking at her with a frown.

“That’s what you think,” Mom hums, looking suspiciously oblivious as she reads something on her iPad.

“Where the fuck did you even find her?”

“Around.”

“Mom!” I snap, feeling exasperated. “This is serious.”

“No, you want to throw a tantrum and I’m not having it.”

“A tantrum?” I walk over to her desk, staring her down. “What I want to know is why you hired her.”

“She’s good.”

“How do you know? She doesn’t even have any qualifications. No education besides a fucking common high school diploma.”

“As far as I see it, you’re both in the same boat. It’s not like you have your college degree yet.”

“That’s a low blow, Mom. I took a gap year.”

“Yeah, and she’s getting her life together too, doing her best to take care of her sisters and I think her character is exactly the right one I need.”

“But we’re talking about your seat here!” I snap. “You own thirty-five percent of Montreal Inc and you’re just going to give her your proxy!”

“Yes.”

“She’s a stranger!”

Mom looks up at me then. I see her eyes twinkling with mischief. She’s seriously entertained by this! The fuck?

“Is she?” she whispers conspiratorially. “Is she really a stranger to you?”

Fuck this! I push past the chair in front of her desk and give her one last withering look.

“Tantrum,” she mutters.

“Annoyance.”

“Over Kimmy? It’s funny, she said the same thing about you!”

My nostrils flare.

“She won’t last!”

“You seem to really believe that so how about we make a wager?” she says, leaning in, with a smirk on her face. “If she’s still here after your birthday, then you’ll tell me everything you’ve been hiding.”

I grow incredibly tense, blinking at her.

“I don’t know what that means.”

“You know exactly what that means,” she says, eyes narrowed. “You’ve been running around with this look on your face… you’re more paranoid than usual which means you’re searching for something.”

“I’m just not interested in being in the same space as that…”

The intercom rings and a voice crackles, announcing that Kim Possible is leaving the estates.

Mom looks up at me, eyebrow raised.

“Fine! But if I win, I want her out! And she’s not going to get a fucking dime.”

“Are you sure about that?”

“Crystal.”

“Well then,” she reaches for the intercom button and while looking at me the whole time she says, “Let her pass and next time she comes back, she’s been granted full access.”