Chapter 1 - Brandon
“Oy, Brandon!” I turned in my chair as I heard my name, looking through the glass doors of my office. Asher stood in the doorway, leaning against the door. His light brown hair was cut short, looking like he’d done it himself. I would comment on it, but I could tell from his face he wasn’t in the mood for me to give him shit.
“Yes?” I asked, leaning back in my chair slightly, hearing it creak. “Or did you just come in to admire my office again?”
He rolled his eyes. “You know fully well the only reason you have an office is that you sign our checks.”
He had me there. I didn’t even use the space often, just occasionally when I had paperwork that needed to be done for the uppers. Asher stepped through the doorway, throwing himself onto my couch in the corner. I had redecorated the space, knowing that the guys would come in anyway.
“Speaking of checks, you wanna slide a raise in there for me?”
I snorted, rolling my eyes. “Asher, I have actual work I need to get done. So if you could get to your point.”
Asher made a face. “You’re no fun.”
I glanced at my paper, signing my name. “And you look like you let Kaleb come at you with a pair of scissors.”
“What?” Asher pulled a hand up, running it over his hair. “My hair looks great.”
I laughed. “Okay.”
“You’re an asshole, you know that?”
“At least I look good.”
“What are you doing?” A new voice spoke up, and we both turned to the door. Chelsey, our boss, stood in the doorway. She had her arms crossed, her left foot tapping as she glared at us. She was a petite woman with auburn hair, but we knew better than to let that fool us. There was a reason she was the boss, and everyone knew it.
“What are we doing?” I asked, tilting my head. “Did you need me?”
Chelsey scowled, her viper eyes flicked to Asher, who stiffened in his position. “I sent him in here to get you for the meeting, but it seems he didn’t listen when I said it was urgent.”
“I was getting there,” Asher said, smiling at her. “You can’t stay mad at me.”
Her black eyes narrowed, and Asher snapped up quickly. “Chelsey told me to get you.” And like a child, he moved, zooming past Chelsey and out of the room. Chelsey turned her sharp eyes onto me.
“I was working,” I stated, waving a hand over my desk and all the paperwork.
“You run your team softly. I wouldn’t have this problem if someone else were in charge of them.”
I scowled. “You just hate that they listen to me better than you.”
She sighed, placing her hands on her hips. “We have an urgent matter to discuss.”
I tossed my pen down. “You should know by now to send Kaleb when you need to get me. Asher is not a quick person.”
She rolled her eyes. “I thought by now your team would know their place. You’ve been working under me for three years now.”
I pulled myself up. I loomed over Chelsey, but it didn’t seem to bother her. She simply looked up at me. She turned and started into the hallway, and I followed her.
I glanced outside the window across the open space, taking in a shitty day. It was rainy outside and clearly windy. Thunder rumbled, and it could be felt even on the third floor of a building.
We stopped once we got to a couple of doors. They were all meeting rooms, and the door to the left was open. We entered, and I found my crew was already there. Asher was sitting in the chair closest to the door. Next to him was Westley, who yawned, looking tired. I imagined he was since he was working nights right now.
Kaleb, my best and oldest friend, sat across the table with an empty chair next to him. I walked over, pulling the chair out, and sat down. Kaleb looked at me and smirked. “I told her to send me to grab you.”
A small smirk pulled at my lips as Chelsey walked around the table, going toward the whiteboard. She turned her projector on and grabbed the clicker that sat on the table. I would almost laugh at how this probably looked. A group of large guys, all sitting around a table with a woman who was hardly five feet tall.
“Alright, now that everyone is here.” She glared at Asher for a second longer than each of us, and I held back a laugh. “I’d like to get this started.”
