“I’ll drive,” I said. “I could use the fresh air. Have the phantom lifted please.”
He nodded. “Yes sir.”
He turned around and walked out without saying anything else, and I narrowed my eyes. He clearly had some intention for seeking me out that morning, but I shook it off. He’d bring it up at some point, I imagined, and until that point, I had more important matters to take care of.
The last thing I donned before heading out was one of my gifted Rolex watches, a black onyx one with a silver face and an ‘R’ in the center of the hands, then I grabbed my bag, slipped on a pair of black Italian oxfords, and left.
My dark gray Rolls Royce Phantom was already waiting for me out front of my compound when I got there, and Milli had the keys in his hand. He handed them to me as I passed, offering me a polite bow as he did so, then I climbed in the car, smiled at its welcoming, sleek interior, and started off up the driveway that would take me to the gate that separated my home from the road.
“Have a good day, Mr. Raines,” my front security guard said as he activated the gate’s lift for me.
“Thank you,” I replied, and zoomed past before it was even fully pulled aside and started off on the forty-five-minute drive for my office.
I got to the offices of KGP a little after seven in the morning, and things were just winding up for the day. The receptionist greeted me with a friendly smile and a nod, and I looked her up and down as I passed. She was curvy, kind, and wore herself like a woman who didn’t require a relationship with a man.
Maybe…
“Stop it.” The words only briefly preceded a sharp jab across the back of my head. My hair flopped forward a bit and I had to run my fingers through it to set it back in place. I looked over with a glare and Kelly was passing me, stunningly dressed in a professional suit with a pencil skirt and her blond hair held up in a clip. She forced a coffee into my hands as she growled, “You’re not costing us another receptionist. This one is actually good. You’re at work, focus on work.”
“Ass,” I hissed.
“Brat,” she barked back.
At the back of KGP’s first floor, marble-clad lobby was a wall of silver elevators, most of which led to every floor in the ten-story building, save for the one furthest down on the right. Kelly and I stepped swiftly towards this one in particular, and when we got close enough, she pulled the badge out hanging from her hip and slid it across the electronic panel next to the elevator door. It beeped to let Kelly know that her badge had read successfully, then the elevator pinged, and the doors slid open.
I held out a hand for her to go ahead of me to get on, then I climbed on after her. Kelly pressed the tenth-floor button and immediately fished into her bag as the doors started to close. “I have the contract for the new Oicho Building if you want to...” A hand slammed in between the doors just before they closed, and Kelly jumped. “Jesus.”
“Heh.” Punk pulled until the doors were open enough for him to step on, and then he shuffled until he was between us. “Mornin’ Kel.”
“I can’t stand you,” she growled, and I knew it was a lie. The two of them had been hooking up for a little over six months.
Even though they’d yet to tell me.
The doors to the elevator closed, and Punk looked at his reflection and flicked a hand through his shoulder-length, black hair and did the best he could to press his very wrinkled, white button-up shirt into something presentable. Not that it mattered much with the black jeans and combat boots he’d partnered with it.
“Aw, come on,” Punk grumbled. “You know it makes your whole day to see me.”
“Yeah, it makes my whole day,” she replied, “worse.”
He frowned and rolled his eyes before holding out a fist to me to bump. “What’s up, Gio?”
I met his childish greeting. “Hey. I’m surprised you’re here. It’s still prime hangover hours for you.”
He laughed. “Well, duty calls.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Narzand duty?”
He gave me a knowing look. “We’ll discuss it when we’re in your office.”
Kelly finished sifting through her bag and pulled out an incredibly thick contract and started to hand it over to me. At the last second, just as I was about to take it, she pulled it back and shifted it towards Punk. “Well, I guess it makes more sense for you to tell me if these parameters work first.”
Punk took the contract from Kelly and started to flip through the pages. I watched over his shoulder, catching all the fine details as he moved, when he eventually got to the specs page, detailing what the newest client was looking for. Punk always got this super-concentrated look on his face when he was going over specs or drawings. For the fact that he usually went for ‘lovable doofus’, it was always interesting to see.
“Yeah, I can do it, but this timeline ain’t gonna work,” Punk said. “I need six weeks.”
Kelly’s jaw dropped. “Six weeks?! You did the entire Williams Restoration in three.”
“If he said he needs six weeks, get him six weeks,” I said. “You know what happens when we rush him.”
