Page 57 of Resting Grump Face
He pushes the newspaper away and turns towards me. “You look like you’re headed out. Can I take you anywhere?”
“That’s okay. You probably gotta drive Mr. Lemonface later.”
Without a word, Miles gets up, opens a door in the kitchen and waits for me to enter. I follow his lead and soon find myselfin the garage. There’s the limousine that I already know, a small electric vehicle that looks like it might have belonged to Ryker’s grandma and a vintage sports car that might have been his grandpa’s.
“He’d murder me if I didn’t drive you.” Miles opens the passenger door for me to get in. “And by murder, I mean he’d have a very stern talk with me, and then he’d eat kimchi straight from the jar while sitting in the passenger seat because he knows how I hate the smell.”
“What a petty bastard,” I say with a smile and climb in. I hate finding out about stuff like this. It sounds like something I would do and we’re really nothing alike. Or at least almost nothing alike.
The drive is quite pleasant. Miles tells me about his former job, his love of books, and the date he is planning for Megan, aka the Baddest Bitch who is not going out with the other guy anymore. We make it to the headquarter of Grayson Holdings with no issue. Through the parking garage, I enter the office building. Miles drives off again and I am ready for my new morning workout. This isn’t the highest skyscraper in the city but it is 68 floors nonetheless. Ryker’s office is on the very top. So in my new grandma yoga pants, I begin the climb. It’s shortly after 7 AM and I am confident I should make it to the top before Ryker gets here.
The first ten floors go by quickly, even though having to carry a bag with my new outfit does not help. By floor 22, I am cursing my lack of regular workout. On floor 24, I discover the familiar logo of Grayson Holdings. Needing a break, I stop there and take a look inside the office. A confused woman at reception takes pity on me and orders me to rest there for a while. She’s the office manager for the HR department of Grayson Holdings. I use the chance to chat with her for a while about herself, her work and, of course, her boss. After a refreshment and briefexplanation that I am not a fan of elevators, I am back to climbing Ryker’s tower.
I spot another Grayson Holdings logo on floor 42 where another woman is already waiting for me with a towel and some chill lemonade. Apparently, my new friend down in HR had warned her to look out for me. Both of them have the same expression on their face when they find out that I am working directly with their boss’s boss. It’s something between pity and envy. I leave to continue my ascend after a few cramps and a nice pep talk.
It’s 8:24 AM when I finally arrive on the 68thfloor. A familiar smile receives me with a warm welcome. It’s Barbara, Ryker’s secretary, personal assistant, anything else he might require, and avid hater of Awkward Pause’s show host. She looks absolutely stunning today.
“I’d understand if you were to quit right away,” she says and takes my bag.
“And give him the satisfaction?” I reply, dab the sweat on my forehead and then bend down to re-tie the strings of my shoes.
Right at that moment, the elevator behind us opens and the devil himself appears. His usual Grump Face turns even grumpier when he sees me. His eyes rest on my ass for a moment before he steps out of the elevator and greets Barbara.
“Miss de la Vega,” he says without looking at me, “my office. Now.”
Both of us follow and Barbara starts to brief him on his day. The rest of the employees, who seem to be gathered around someone’s desk, look at the three of us when we enter, and then quickly avert their gazes when Ryker looks their way. It’s like in a movie where people suddenly start looking at the sky when being caught staring.
We go up a flight of stairs that takes us to the very top floor of the building. Barbara closes the door to Ryker’s office behindus. The view from up here is amazing and if my thighs weren’t on fire, I could probably enjoy it.
“That would be all for now,” he interrupts his assistant and waits for her to leave.
“Rude,” I say once she is gone as I have a look around his office.
“Where were you this morning?” he asks, obviously trying not to sound annoyed.
I stand in front of a wall with awards and memorabilia when I discover the same mechanism he has installed in his house. When I pull the lever, a hidden door opens and reveals a bathroom.
“How do you do that?” he asks a little stunned.
“Well, you gotta hide them better.” The door slides open easily. “Is this a shower?” I inquire and step inside. “Outstanding. You said work starts at 9, right? That means I have half an hour left.”
Before Ryker can answer, I close the door behind me. It’s a nice bathroom. Of course, it is. It’s even nicer if you have a bit of an exhibitionist kink because there’s a rather large window front that, I assume, lets everyone take a peek at you when you’re showering. Overlooking the entire city, I take the fanciest shower of my life. My legs are already aching and I know that tomorrow I will have to get here even earlier to make it on time, but at least I’ll be in fantastic shape once I get fired.
When I am done, I put on my borrowed outfit and step back into my client’s office. He’s lounging in his chair, his legs propped up on his desk and his eyes trained on me as if he has been sitting there like this for the last 29 minutes.
“8:59 AM,” I announce, and take a seat in a leather chair opposite of him. “Not a minute too late. I’d love to do a base jump from up here. I mean, I don’t know how to do that and I’d probably die, but doesn’t it sound exciting?”
“Why are you coming to work all sweaty in yoga pants when you insisted you couldn’t wear your old clothes yesterday?”
I think about telling him the truth about me and one of the most murderous machines to ever exist, but decide not to. There’d be no use in giving him more fodder to torture me with. “All part of the job,” I claim. “I did some research into your image amongst your employees. Figured it’d be a good indicator of the kind of boss you are. The workout clothes were part of my cover. As was taking the stairs all the way up here.”
“Right,” he grunts. “And?” Ryker crosses his arms and furrows his brows, which makes him look quite serious.
“Did you know they have a group chat to alarm everyone in case you leave your office?”
“They do?” he asks with disinterest.
“No, I just made that up, but maybe I should introduce the idea in order to improve morale around here.”
