I stood up from the toilet seat and walked over to the sink to brush my teeth.

I looked terrible.

There were bags underneath my eyes, obviously because of lack of proper sleep and my face just looked......dull and miserable.

Although Zach came over last night and helped me a lot with dealing everything that was going on in my life but I still couldn't help but feel this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I couldn't sleep last night, probably because my mind still couldn't register the fact that I was going to Paris, the dream land of a lot of people but as weird as it sounded, I really wasn't excited about this little trip.

Mainly because I knew staying with my boss who seemed to act bipolar and had this weird habit of making me feel uncomfortable whenever he wanted was the last thing I wanted to do when the most important person in my life was in a hospital.

After getting ready, I picked up my suitcase and carried it downstairs as I threw it close to the door and made my way to the kitchen to try to gulp down anything before I died of hunger.

Another one of my abnormal habit was that I couldn't eat when I was nervous. Everything just refused to go down my throat.

I sat on the couch as I waited for Mr. Rhodes' driver or whoever was coming to pick me up. Before leaving the office yesterday, Mr. Rhodes called me again and told me the details of the trip.

That I was supposed to get ready by seven in the morning and this was a three day trip. That was all I needed to know according to him.

I mean the guy could be a fucking serial killer for all I knew and he could kill me and dump my body in the ocean without anyone knowing it.

Alright Isabelle, enough of your wild imagination.

I heard the horn of a car right outside my door and just like that, I was on the verge of running back upstairs and locking myself up in my room yet again.

************

"Where are we exactly going right now?" I asked the driver who actually seemed like a nice guy and guess what? He talked.

Unlike my grumpy boss and a few of his minions I so far met, this old man was actually sweet.

"Oh we're headed to Mr. Rhodes' house," the driver said and I nodded.

"Right."

I fidgeted with the hem of my shirt and counted downwards from a hundred to zero to distract myself from thinking about anything related to my boss, my father, or this stupid trip to Paris.

Obviously, I failed.

The car came to a halt and my chain of thoughts was broken. I looked outside the window and I was pretty damn sure my jaw was touching the floor.

When this driver guy said that we were headed to Mr. Rhodes' house, did he forget to mention that he lived in a freaking castle?!

The mansion that we were standing outside of was beyond my abilities to put into words. It was so extraordinary that it was safe to say that I was fucking homeless in front of the guy I worked for.

Out of nowhere, the car door opened and Mr. Rhodes popped in wearing Gucci shades and a suit he looked ridiculously handsome in that for a good second I just held onto the back of the passenger seat and kept myself was exploding into a pile of emotions.

"Good Morning, Miss Reinhart," he smiled. He smiled. Ace Rhodes smiled. The grumpy ass smiled at me.

"Good m-morning, Mr. Rhodes."

I looked outside the window and tried to calm my breathing down. He was sitting so close to me and I was suffocating in his scent of cologne. My nails were digging holes into my palms and I was sure that if I pressed any further, I would start bleeding.

"Are you okay, Miss Isabelle? You're sweating," he inched a little closer to me and I pressed myself further into the door.

"I'm fine," I replied a bit too early and he obviously took it as a hint that I didn't want to talk about it.

************

Of course.

A private jet.

I should've known, right? After all, I was flying with one of the most successful businessmen in the world. This should be normal for me and I should get used to it by now, right? Only I wasn't.

I followed Mr. Rhodes into the jet and as I stepped inside, an air hostess greeted me and warmly smiled at me just like she was taught to.

I smiled back and went inside as I took a seat and removed my jacket before taking a few more deep breaths and trying not to throw up from anxiety.

I had a lot of things to worry about now.

First, I was phobic to flying. I mean I did pretty well when papa was around because he knew exactly how to calm me down but after that he was paralysed, I didn't fly anywhere so I didn't know how I would react to it or if I still had that phobia anymore or not. It only happened when the plane took off or when it was about to land so I just had to control my emotions and distract myself for just a few moments. It wouldn't be that hard, right?

Second, I didn't want my boss to see me freaking out on something like this because obviously he was rich and he surely would find it hilarious to see me freaking out while traveling in a freaking plane.

Third, I just wanted to run back home.

And to add more to my misery, Mr. Rhodes took a seat right beside me as if giving me those killer gazes wasn't doing enough.

I turned my head his way and mustered up the best normal smile that I could and told my heart to just shut off my emotions like Elena did in the Vampire Diaries.

Obviously it didn't.

"Isn't Mr. Kingston going to accompany us?" I asked in a tiny voice and hoped that it wouldn't piss Mr. Rhodes mood which was miraculously wonderful today.

"One of us had to look over the company," he shrugged and I nodded.

Add one more thing to the bucket list of my worries.

The plane started its motion on the runaway as I held my breath and closed my eyes and prayed for it to be over soon.

This was it. It was taking off and whatever coffee I had taken this morning was almost in my mouth now.

Just when I thought that I was about to puke my guts out, I felt a hand creeping over mine. There was only one person here present with me so that only meant that Mr. Rhodes was trying to freak me out even more.

I felt the light touch of his hand first, like he was scared I might move mine away but when he was sure that I wasn't planning on moving until this damn plane landed, he firmly held my hand in his, resting it in my lap.

"It's okay," he lightly whispered and I opened my eyes and looked at him to find him staring at me with concern in his expressions.

He was so close to me, I could feel his breath fanning my cheek. The way his thumb was running circles at the back of my hand caused goosebumps to rise up my skin.

He was looking at me, straight into the eyes like he was trying to figure out something that was really important to him while I was looking deep into his eyes and was trying to look through the facade he showed the world.

"It's over," he smiled and I realised that both of us had been staring at each other for like an eternity and I immediately looked down at my lap to find my fingers still laced with his.

Surprisingly, I loved the way my hand fit in his. I was freaking out all along since I got to know about this trip and was thinking that I'd probably die of a heart attack if he'd ever touch me but I felt....contented and I didn't know why but....it felt right to hold his hand like this.

I looked outside the window and rested my head on the headrest. We were airborne. I was holding my boss' hand for my dear life. I was flying to Paris.

Could life get any unpredictable?

"Wanna talk about it?" I heard Mr. Rhodes say as he lightly untangled his fingers from mine and slowly took his hand away as I tried my best to not show my discomfort.

"I just get a little sick...when the plane takes off," I explained and turned my head to look at him.

"I wasn't talking about it," he said in a low voice that did wonders to my already unsettled emotions.

"You've been out of it since yesterday. What's wrong?"

Oh, so the grumpy ass notices.

"My...my father is in the hospital for a while now and....the doctors said that his condition is getting worse," I told him and felt my eyes prickle but quickly blinked the tears away.

I wasn't the one to cry in front of someone. What was happening to my emotions?

He didn't say anything for a while and nodded his head as he moved his eyes away from me. After a few moments he spoke up again, "You could've denied to come along with me."

I thought about if for a while and then gave a light chuckle, "It's my job Mr. Rhodes. I certainly am not in a position to deny your orders."

We sat in silence for a while more before Mr. Rhodes stood up and said, "You can use that cabin and make yourself comfortable.—

he pointed at the cabin situated right in front of me

—The flight is gonna be long so don't keep sitting here. We have a long day tomorrow. I'll be in the next one if you need anything."

And just like that, he was gone and I picked up my jacket and my novel as I made my way towards the cabin that was supposedly mine for the day.

************