SIX.

Jake was typing away on his laptop when Tori walked in. She rolled her eyes on seeing his calm posture.

"Here" she said, stamping the bill on the laptop screen.

"What for?" Jake asked, raising his brow at her.

"The bill"

"What am I doing with it?"

Tori rolled her eyes. Even though a good Samaritan helped her at the mall, Jake was still going to pay. She was going to take the money to compensate herself for the embarrassment she faced earlier that day.

"I need my money back" she gawked at him.

"I don't have any to give you"

Tori's grip on the bag tightened. She wished she were bold enough to slap the smirk off his lips.

The only weapon she had was her tongue and was going to make sure she utilized it.

"Then I'll return these stuffs to the Mall, or better still trash them" she threatened.

Jake chuckled at her outburst. He placed his laptop aside, clasped his hands together then said, "Aunty Tori, please don't do that" he mimicked her tiny voice.

"Stop making fun of me" she scowled, eyes misty with tears.

"Yes Aunty Tori but whatever you do in case you don't know you'll end up being the loser" he smirked. This time around, he used his deep baritone.

"Just give me my money, is it too much to ask?" She groaned.

"Trust me when I say my account is in the red. I'm broke. Moreover, can't you spare your boss the bill?"

"That would be the last thing I'll do. My money please, I have something more important to do".

Seeing that Tori was bent on having her money back, Jake fished out his wallet, he counted some money.

"That's it" he said, tossing the money at her. Tori picked the money he tossed at her. She discovered it was surplus, with a smile on her lips, she tossed the surplus at him.

"That's your surplus" She placed the bag containing the stationary she got from the mall on the table before heading towards the stairs.

While she climbed, Jake was watching every move she took. By the time she was on top of the stairs, he called her.

"What do you want?" She scowled, glaring at the masked boy before her.

"Come take the surplus…"

"I don't need your money" she snapped.

"I wasn't giving you my hard-earned money in the first place. Use the surplus to get me more stationary" he smirked.

Whatever confidence Tori had when she was talking to him earlier disappeared that moment. She hurried downstairs, grabbed the money from the floor with a large scowl on her face.  She was about to return to the stairs when Jake grabbed her wrist.

"Get your filthy hand off me" she snapped. Instead of letting her go as she requested, Jake tightened the grip on her wrist.

"You got a nice ass" he smirked.

Tori turned aside. Her cheeks were blood-red, and she hated herself for blushing because of his words.

The moment Jake released her hand, she scurried to her room before her cheeks explodes.

Still staring at the stairs,Jace walked up to him then stood beside him.

"Tell me bro, she's the new girl, huh?" He asked.

Jake ran his hand through his hair. He pushed his hair upward, revealing his sea blue eyes.

"Don't play dirty games with Tori. She's not like the other girls" Jace said before he left the living room.

It was three-months now since Tori began to live with the Hendrix's. She had adapted pretty well, but the only problem was her constant fight with Jake who would stop at nothing to make her cry.

If they were not arguing, they were scowling at each other if not that, they were planning their next actions.

No one complained about their constant fights. In fact, they were enjoying the show.

Jake was bent on teaching Tori a little lesson as he termed it that night. That was after a fall-out they had earlier that evening.

He made sure it was past midnight before he set his plan in motion.

He turned the knob of Tori's door. A smile appeared on his face on seeing her sleeping figure.

"Wake up" he groaned as he was tapping sleeping Tori.

Tori thought he would just go away when she didn't reply, but that didn't happen.

She grabbed her pillow then placed it over her ears. She had a long day at the hotel. All she needed was sleep, and Jake was determined to deprive her of that.

"What do you want?" Tori yelled when he wouldn't let her be.

Satisfied she was awake now, Jake exhaled, causing her to knot her brow.

"I see you don't have anything important to say. Have a bad night and dream about vampires sucking your blood" she scoffed.

She was about to place her head on the pillow when Jake pulled her up.

"What?" She screamed, but Jake was quick to cover her mouth with his palm. If anyone wakes up, his plan will be futile.

"Must you act stupid all the time?" He scowled.

Tori slapped his hands off, then pushed him away. She looked at the wall clock hanging on her wall. The time was 00:32.

"It's past midnight, I need to go back to bed if you really want an efficient worker in your Hotel tomorrow"

"Spare me efficiency and come along" he left her room to only God knows where, but when she heard the soft banging of the door, she knew he was in his room.

Tori delayed a little bit. She wanted to barge in his room like he usually did, but she kicked against it.

"Here, type this memo and upload it on the worker's site. Then you type this code of conduct, make enough photocopies for everyone then…" He chuckled. Tori was at the verge of bursting with anger.

"What's funny now, huh?" She glared at him.

"Have anyone told you, you look cute when annoyed? If no one had, take my words. I'm always sincere" he chuckled. He tried to shuffle her hair, but she slapped his hands off.

For the next two hours, Tori was up. Her eyes were heavy with sleep, but she needed to complete her assignment.

When she finally did, she scurried to Jake's room while praying he was fast asleep.

Her answers were granted when she saw Jake lying on his tummy with his AirPods on.

Despite praying, he should be asleep, she became angry all of a sudden seeing him lying on his bed.

She grabbed a pen and was fiddling with it. If only she had the courage to do whatever she had in mind.

"What are you staring at?" Jake's baritone startled her. She quickly dropped the pen, then scurried out of the room.

Determined to get her sleep, she locked her door before jumping on her bed.

She took a one last look at the wall clock, which read 03:12am. She had just three hours to sleep.

The moment had head touched her soft pillow, she drifted into the dream world where she had been found wanting.