A Broken Beautiful Beginning (10 page)

“I’ll be fine” I look at my watch and
realize I’m running late.

“Shit, I
gotta get going. If you need anything I’ll be in my office.” I give him a quick kiss and head out the door toward my office at the end of the floor.

All the offices that were built have floor to ceiling windows with beautiful views
facing the street, my office however is the only one facing the beautiful sea. The reception area is the only area with glass walls and an open plan. It’s friendly and inviting.

I spend most of the day interviewing, I’ve already got the cleaning crew hired but I’m having no luck finding a receptionist. All the woman that came in were big breasted with hardly any clothes on and were more focused on the clients that use the gym rather than the actual work they would need to be carrying out if they got the job.

Of course
I wanted a good looking female working the front desk but I wanted someone with brains too.

Walking out the last blond bombshell
I spot this black haired girl running my way.

She’s out of breath
by the time she reaches me.

“I’m so sorry I’m late
ma’am.” The girl up close is rather plain looking. She carries a huge duffel bag over her shoulder as if all her belongings are in there. Her hair is in a braid that falls down her back all the way to her waist. Her face is red and I’m guessing she ran a couple blocks to get here. She’s short, unbelievably shorter than me and very skinny, as if she hasn’t eaten in days. She wears three quarter jeans that are a little ripped up and sneakers with a striped green and white shirt that says, “Gayle’s Grocer.”

“I’m in
no rush, how about you come in?” I give her a sweet smile and gesture for her to come inside my office. I go to my little fridge and get her a soda out and hand it to her.

“Thank
you so much, jeepers… I just ran a couple of blocks from work. I saw a flyer in the job section of the newspaper and I didn’t want to miss this opportunity; I really need a new job.” She wipes the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand while she gulps down most of the soda.

“What’s your name
Hun?” I ask as I get seated behind the desk.

Nearly choking
on her soda, she wipes her mouth, “Oh! I’m sorry…” She places her hand over the desk for me to shake. “I’m Miracle Valentine, everyone calls me Mira though.” She blushes, I smile at hearing her name, it’s quirky just like her. I shake her hand and grin, just as I’m about to open my mouth to speak she puts up her hands and explains.

“I have no idea what
they were thinking naming me that especially with the surname,
Valentine
. No clue whatsoever.” She smiles but it’s a little off.

“
Well I think it’s beautiful.” My smile only enhances her grin.

“How old are you Mira?” I
ask while I push the standard interview questions I had to the side of my desk.

“Just turned eighteen ma’am.” She smiles brightly
. The girl is rather plain but those dark green eyes of hers have me fascinated, something about her is familiar but I can’t put my finger on it. She has freckles on her nose and upper cheeks and she has a habit of biting her nails.

“No need to call me ma’am. My name is
Harley. So… you’re currently working at Gayle’s grocer?” She looks down at the little logo on her shirt and her entire body tenses.

“Y...yes ma- I mean Harley.” She doesn’t speak further.

“How long have you been working there?” I sit back into my chair hoping my relaxed posture will calm her nerves.

“Since I was fourteen
; I started school a year early so when I finished I was a year younger than all my classmates. I’ve been out of school for almost a year now.” She says softly. She’s completely gone into her shell, not as bubbly as she was when she walked in and she seems totally closed off.

“Why are you looking to work here?”

“Well the pay is better…. obviously and I can’t stand to work there any longer.” She starts picking at her nails.

“
Do they treat you badly?” I know I’m overstepping here but I can’t help the feeling of protectiveness I have for her. She takes a moment as she thinks of an answer. I sit patiently.

“Mrs Gayle was really nice when I started working there
, but when she got too old to stay in the shop all day, her uh...” I watch her swallow and stutter nervously, she clears her throat and sits up straight trying to look tough but I can see her trembling.

“When her son started working there things got
bad.” She avoids looking at me. I stand up and move to sit in the chair next to her; I take her little hand and hold it tight in mine. Even the bones in her wrist and fingers stick out.

“Did he...” I’m interrupted when Caleb and Hunter come barrelling into my office laughing and clapping each other on the shoulders as if they’re the
bestest of friends.

“Oh- I’m sorry babe, thought you’d be done by now.” Caleb looks to Mira.

“Hi, I’m Caleb
.” He gestures to Hunter. “This is Hunter.” I feel Mira move closer towards me and the grip on her hand tightens when Caleb sticks his hand out for her to shake. She looks back at me as if seeking approval, I nod and smile. She places her shaking hand in Caleb’s.

Caleb’s
smile falters and I look back to see a frown on Hunter’s face. Clearly the boys witnessed the same thing I just did. Mira is petrified of them.

Caleb and Hunter are really b
ig guys and after a session in the gym their muscles shine and they tend to look rather intimidating.

“This is Mira babe, she’s our new receptionist.” I say
. Mira whips her head in my direction, her mouth hangs open and her eyes widen.

“You’re hiring me?” she asks in disbelief.

“Sure am.” I smile and pat her hand that still rests in mine.

“Thank
you so much, I won’t let you down I promise! I’ll work so hard, you won’t regret hiring me.” I reach out to hug her and notice her hesitance but I hug her anyway. I feel her tense and freeze under my arms; I hug her tighter and whisper, “You don’t ever have to go back there again.”

When she wraps her arms around me and gives me a little squeeze I know she understands.

I hand her a fruit bar and another soda on her way out and she clutches it to her as if it’s her last meal. I tell her to come straight to my office tomorrow morning so I can help her get settled and show her around. She walks out my office soon after leaving Caleb, Hunter and I speechless. I’m pretty sure they noticed her freeze up when they came in and how petrified she looked being in their presence. I flop myself down in my seat and look at the résumé she brought in.

I was too wrapped up in her that I didn’t
even bother to look at it while she was here. It’s only a page long, stating the high school she graduated from, the subjects and her results. What I see makes my jaw drop. This girl has brains, nothing below 96%.

“Why the hell isn’t she in a college or some
fancy University? Mira is smart!” I turn the page around as I look up to the boys. Hunter looks as if he is in some far away land deep in thought and Caleb looks real angry.

“You saw her clothes, she clearly
can’t afford it. The girl looked as if she hadn’t eaten in days too! And what about the way she looked at us when we came in? You think she’s going to be okay to work the front desk? She does know that she will be surrounded by guys, right? Big guys!” Caleb says resting his elbows on his knees.

Before I can
speak, Hunter butts in sounding angry. “Dude, quit it. I’m sure the girl will be fine.” He looks up to me, “So, you making those hamburgers for us tonight?”

I frown at his outburst unsure of what to make of it. I’ll have to ask him about it later when I can speak to him alone.

I
’m busy brushing my teeth when Caleb starts questioning me again later that evening.

“Are you certain she’s the right person for the job Harley? You do
realize she’s the first person people will see when they walk through the door? First impressions count.” He speaks over the noise of the water as he showers.

I spit out the remaining tooth paste and rinse my mouth out. “Caleb seriously…
I love you but do
you
realize that you sound like a real jerk right now?” I say sarcastically. I look in the mirror to see him open the shower door and peak his head out. He has shampoo all over his hair and soap all over his body.

He gives me a sheepish smile, “Sorry baby. I don’t mean to sound harsh but I’m worried about the girl and if it will be too much for her to handle.”

I turn around smiling, he bends down and I give him a kiss.

“Caleb… you trusted me enough to make me a manager, so please babe…let me do my job. Mira will be fine. I’ll be keeping an eye on her to make sure she’s okay.
Let me worry about it.” I kiss his wet cheek.

“I know Harlz,
I’m sorry but that’s exactly what I’m concerned about. You already have so much stress on your plate and you’ve been through so much over the past few months, I just don’t want you to have something or
someone else
to add to your load. I know you have a soft heart babe, but some people you can’t fix.” He says in a calm voice as he runs his wet thumb along my cheek. The shower is still on and the hot water is starting to steam up the bathroom.

“
But I can help her Caleb! It doesn’t look like she has anyone to help her. I want to be that person. I know you don’t understand but-”

“I do understand baby…”

“Okay” I shake my head frustrated because I know he’s right, some people
are
just too broken to fix but I’ll be damned if I don’t at least try to help them. I don’t want to argue with Caleb about the subject because I am going to help Mira either way. I turn to move away from where the shower water is dropping from his body onto my toes but he grabs my hand.

I watch the water dripping from his wet naked body onto the mat on the floor. “Caleb you’re
drip-”

“You know I love you so much right?”
I look up to find a huge naughty grin on his face and I know he’s up to something, it’s a pity I didn’t catch it sooner.

“Yeah…” I say warily as I take a cautious step away.

I squeal as he opens the shower door fully and pulls my clothed body into the shower and under the water with him. My pyjamas are drenched but I’m laughing too much to care.

“Let me help you with these…” Caleb laughs tugging my soaked shirt off.

Chapter 6

I arrive early the next morning to find Mira sitting on one of the chairs in the entryway. She has a different pair of jeans on
but they too look torn up. Her sneakers are the same ratty pair she wore yesterday however she now has a huge blue shirt on that looks two sizes too big, almost reaching her upper thighs.

She seems lost in th
ought as she picks at her nails with that huge duffle bag of hers sitting on the floor next to her. When she spots me walking in, her pretty eyes sparkle and she gives me a bright smile.

“Morning Harley
, how are you?” she says politely, I smile and lead her towards my office.

“
I’m doing great Hun, how are you this morning?” I say, unlocking the door to my office.

She
gives me a nervous smile. “I’m doing alright; I’m very excited to start working here.”

I lead her
into my office and make her sit down on the sofa, I hand her an orange juice and another breakfast bar. She doesn’t waste anytime opening it and scoffing it down. I find her the clothes I picked out and hand them to her.

“These are
the shirts you will be wearing with these black tights, I know it looks as if your about to hit the gym but that’s exactly the look we want the staff here to have.” She runs her hands over the fabric and smiles.

“You can go get dressed in my bathroom over there.”
I point to the bathroom I have next to my office and she walks out clutching the clothes to her chest. Her big duffle bag sits on the floor next to the sofa, it looks terribly heavy and I’m not sure how this tiny girl manages to cart it around everywhere.

I try really hard to hide my shock
when she comes out of the bathroom and I get a first glance at her skinny body in the clothes I’ve given her. The items are an extra small and they are still a little baggy in certain areas. I can tell she feels uncomfortable in the loose clothes so I hand her one of the staff black hoodies, she eagerly takes it and I immediately see her relax once she’s all covered up.

I grab her ratty sneakers and turn them over to see what size she is. I dig through my storage cabinet looking for
a pair in her size and luckily enough I find one.

I grab the
plain black sneakers and hand them to her.

“Thank you.” She says softly.

Her face lights up as she holds the shoes in her hands, she looks at them for another minute before undoing the laces but doesn’t say another word.

I watch her
quietly, thoughts running wild in my head as I try to figure this girl out. Mira puts on the shoes clearly deep in thought.

D
oes she have an eating disorder? No... That can’t be it, she ate the breakfast bar I gave her as if it was the first meal she’s had in a long time and all it was, was a damn fruit bar? Maybe she doesn’t have food at home?

“
What do your parents do Mira?” I ask softly knowing I’m overstepping my boundaries. I watch as she closes herself off again, wrapping her arms tightly around her body.

“They uh...
um... my mom works in the next town doing something in uh... sales and my dad, he uh... he does... um he’s a contractor.” She says unsurely, I know she’s lying but clearly this is a topic she doesn’t want to talk about so I’ll respect that and steer clear, just until she’s more comfortable around me.

I show her the
locker room where she can store her clothes and duffle bag, then lead her up to the security room. I ask Owen, one of Devils’ Grimm security guys whom now work for Caleb, to leave the room so I can talk to Mira. He makes sure to give her a sweet smile before leaving, Mira doesn’t smile back, in fact… she actually frowns and moves closer to my side. It’s as if Owen’s friendly behaviour confuses her.

“There’s something I want to show you before we do anything else.” I open the door to where all the footage is. There’s a wall full of screens where the video cameras for the entire gym feed into.

“See here.” I show her the screen right in the centre where her desk will be. “This is
your desk; you don’t have to worry about
anyone
doing anything to hurt you. We won’t let that happen. You don’t have to be scared or intimidated by anyone. Okay?” I look back down to her and she slowly nods her head.

I’m not sure why Caleb felt the need to have so much security for a gym but I guess it has something to do with my father and the trouble his club brings.
I walk her down to the front desk and start showing her how to work the system, how to answer the phones and where to transfer each call if she can’t help them or doesn’t know what to do.

“If you look down here
…” I bend down to where a little switch is placed under the table near the telephone. “You will see a little panic button. If you’re having a problem with anyone or even if someone is making you feel uncomfortable in anyway all you need to do is press that button and someone will be here immediately, okay?” This seems to ease her nervousness.

“Do y
ou remember Caleb and Hunter from yesterday?” She nods her head. Her unease is obvious as she avoids looking me in the eye.

I think she’s afraid I may question her about her behaviour yesterday wh
en the boys walked in my office. It was so noticeable that even she looked a little embarrassed by the way she had reacted.

“Well
… there are a lot of men that come to this gym that look like they do and some are even more scary looking.” I immediately notice her eyes widen and her fingers that rest on the table have a shake to them.

“
There’s no need for you to be afraid of them though, be confident and don’t take any of their shit. If you feel unsure of
anything
just press that button and one of the guys will be at your side before you know it, okay? The guys we have working here are here to protect you.” I smile as I look down at her. If my words ease her worry, she doesn’t show it, she looks more concerned now than before I even showed her the security room.

I spend the rest of the day showing Mira
the ropes and telling her exactly what I expect from her. I have a feeling Caleb doesn’t think she’ll be able to do the job due to her shyness or the fact that she’s afraid of big tattooed men, but I’m determined to prove him wrong. Nearing the end of the day I sneak up to the camera room, so I can see how she copes on her own.

I sit
on the leather office chair next to Owen and rest my elbows on the table as I look at the screen; Owen and I are both smiling as we watch her, I have a proud smile on my face and Owen? Well… I have no clue why he’s smiling at her.

She’s doing everything perfectly and exactly how I
showed her, she doesn’t even seem shy when answering the calls or speaking to the walk-ins. Once Mira gets behind that desk she is confident and an entirely different person, she most definitely took my advice.

The distant look in her eyes
is gone and she looks happy to work here, I don’t recognize her as the same fragile little girl that walked into my office yesterday.

“Where’d you find
this beauty?” Owen turns to smile at me.

I hear what sou
nds like a grunt from behind me and turn to find Hunter leaning against the door frame, arms folded and eyes determinedly focused on the monitor that shows Mira speaking happily to another man over the counter.

“Best
you remember no fucking between employees, Caleb’s words.” Hunter barks out, now focusing his glare at Owen. That’s the first I’ve heard about the
“no fucking between employees rule.”
I turn my direction back to Owen when he speaks.

“But you don’t even work here bro?” he asks sounding confused.

“Exactly” Is all Hunter says before walking out the office.

I look back at Owen,
watching as his head turns back to look at the monitor a slow smile spreads across his face. Clearly he’s accepted the challenge.

“Na uh… no way Owen, this isn’t some game.” I move my finger around in his face. “You two better stay away from Mira. She isn’t to be messed around with, the girl has a lot going on
and she doesn’t need to be in the middle of whatever you and Hunter have got going on right now.” I push away from the chair and move to the door.

“Beside
s… you two are
way
too old for her, the girl just turned eighteen and If Caleb says no inter-office relations or whatever, then you better listen to him.” I phrase my words appropriately which only causes Owen to chuckle; I know full well he isn’t taking in a word I’m saying right now. I slam the door behind me when his laughter gets louder.

Damn idiot…

I walk determinedly around the gym looking f
or Hunter; I have no clue what’s going on in his head but he’s been acting strange ever since Mira showed up here and I need to know what’s going on. I hear the sound of weights being lifted and dropped as I walk past one of the private training rooms. Peaking inside I find Hunter sitting on one of the machines staring at himself in the mirror, lifting weights.

As soon as he sees me enter the
small room he places the weights on the floor beside his feet, sits forward and wipes the sweat off his face with a towel. He stands up abruptly then moves towards the door.

I stand in front of it
quickly, I can tell this angers him for some reason because he tilts his head to the side as he glares at me and I watch the muscle in his jaw tense as if he’s trying to keep himself from saying whatever he’s about to say. I’ve never seen him look this angry before, it’s rather frightening.

“Move Princess.” He grits out.

“No.
” I shake my head firmly. “I’m not moving until you explain to me exactly what’s going on. What the hell happened in there with Owen? I’ve never once seen you turn your attention on another girl and now that Mira shows up you start acting all alpha. Talk to me Hunter.”

A grin appears on his face and I immediately know I’m not going to like what he has to say. He leans into me,
making me feel rather uncomfortable and I back up against the door. He moves closer into my space resting both of his hands on either side of my head. I am caged in against the door, his size is intimidating and I feel my breathing pick up as I stare at his huge chest in front of me.

He leans into my ear as he whispers. “Besides you…that is. I’ve never turned my attention on another girl… besides you.” His breath is warm against my ear, he’s never acted this way with me before and I don’t understand it. He’s never crossed this line. The only explanation I can
think of for his behaviour is that he knows I don’t have any sexual feelings for him and he’s trying to push me away, erect walls that he thinks I won’t attempt to climb….but I won’t let him do that.

“Is someone jealous?
Little princess is bitter because the attention isn’t on her for once.” When his hand moves down to my hip it’s the final straw, my patience has run out.

I manage to get both of my hands up between us then I place them on his sweaty bare chest
. His eyes immediately dart down to look at my hands, he frowns and I swear he looks a little scared of my touch on his bare skin. I don’t waste time; I push against him….hard. He stumbles back and looks up at me confused.

“What the hell is wrong with
you?” I shout. His eyes widen, and then he looks around the room and back at me regretfully as if he’s just realized what he’s done.

“I
don’t see you like that Hunter! You know I don’t see you like that so there’s no need for me to be jealous! I’m worried about Mira just like I’m worried about you.” He lets out a deep breath and rubs his jaw with his hands; the anger that was surging inside him is gone, only confusion and sadness is apparent in his posture as he sits down on one of the benches.

I walk slowly toward
s him and bend down on my knees in front of him as I move away his hands that cover his face. I plead softly with him, “Please…talk to me Hunter, I need you to tell me what’s going on?” He’s quiet for a few minutes before he finally opens his mouth to speak.

“She… the girl… she uh…” he rubs his face with his hands again then looks down at me, I can tell he’s upset and doesn’t know how to get the words out so I sit patiently and wait. It takes him a few moments before he’s able to form words again.

“She reminds me a lot of myself and how I was… after I ran away from my foster parents.”

I didn’t expect to hear that,
I don’t even know what to say. I remember him telling me he didn’t have a family but I don’t know the entire story. I lean up and give him a hug as he spreads his arms and holds me tight.

I’m not sure what the right words to say are
but before I can say anything he whispers, “I’m sorry for just now. I don’t know what I was thinking. I didn’t want to explain myself and I didn’t know how to make you leave. Fuck… I’m so sorry Princess.” He squeezes me a little too tight; in fact I’m pretty sure my face is going a little red due to the lack of oxygen. Luckily enough, he releases me before I manage to pass out.