Chapter 3

•Benjamin Walker•

A couple of seconds passed, a couple of seconds that I used to try and think of something, anything, to say. I blinked quickly, I couldn't tell if I was surprised by the news, which clearly was important, or by the fact that Brodie sounded serious when he said that. "What do you mean? What makes you think that? Why is it important?" I asked quickly, I didn't tel him to find out if the male was gay.

"It's because he wears these clothes and his way of talking..." he said as his words were left hanging in the air. "Okay, I don't need- I didn't need to know that, you know?" I said as I frowned. "Make your way to the company, we will talk there, and please, don't talk to him anymore." I said and disconnected from the transmission, rolling my eyes briefly.

I did the rest of things I had to do before I could make my way to the office, and once ready I left the house and got in my car, exhaling through my nose briefly as I thought about what had just happened. Why would I even ask Brodie to do such a thing?

****

"Because... after finding out he was also a worker in another place, why would I trust him?" I said, replying to the question I had asked myself in the car and that now was being asked by Brodie. He was staring at me with raised eyebrows, clearly not believing a word I was saying. "If that's the case, why did you sound shocked, you weren't talking so that's a metaphor, but-"

"I get it" I snapped, sighing "look, this is not something I need to discuss with you, okay?" I responded. He looked visibly offended, and I took that chance to turn my laptop on so I could get some job done. After the report accident, I hadn't asked Kyle anything else, and he seemed relieved. Now that I could have time away from him I could focus better, and I was sure he probably was enjoying his time away from me, which clearly annoyed me because, who didn't like being with me?

But then again, why did I make Brodie follow him? I knew he wasn't rich and the money we gave him was scarce, but he also had a second job, so that wasn't my problem anymore, he was there to work, and work only. The thoughts made my inner demons laugh, because even if I didn't want to admit it, I always had fun with my workers one way or another, and I doubted Kyle would be any different from the rest. After glancing at Brodie and motioning him to leave I went back to do my job, which wasn't interesting at all and my mind kept drifting back to the things that had happened in just a short period of time.

****

I don't know how long it had been before a lot of voices reached my ears and forced me to disconnect from the article. I stared at my door, and seeing that Brodie didn't come to tell me what was going on, I figured it required my attention.

I placed the pen down and stood before making my way out of my office, but the voices didn't come from that floor, they came from the floor below, the floor where Kyle was, and my mind immediately figured he was the one that caused whatever was going on.

I sighed and took the elevator, when it reached and I stepped out I saw something that I wasn't expecting: Cake, drinks, people laughing and a crowd around Kyle, who hada blush on his face and a smile on his lips. I frowned a bit and made my way over. It was clear my presence wasn't needed, due to everybody stopping the laughs and just staring at me. "What's going on?" I asked, looking at Kyle and waiting for him to explain.

I was surprised, though, when one of the workers, tanned skin and olive eyes, stepped in and answered. "Good morning, today is Kyle's birthday, and given that he has work this afternoon, we figured we would just give him a little surprise party here" he said, what made me think about who the fuck gave them permission.

My inner question was answered by Brodie, who walked up behind me and grinned "I guessed you wouldn't mind, given that you are always locked in your office and don't care about these things either way" he replied, and I stared at him blankly. He just smiled and patted my shoulder, which made me frown even more, not only was he defying me in front of my workers, he was also making it seem like he was the one that took the decisions of the place. "To my office, now" I said seriously, making the smile disappear. I looked at the others and shook my head "this place is to work, not to party, if you want to do that you can leave" I said and with that, I followed Brodie to my office.

•Kyle Kuznetsov•

I was surprised when I entered the building and was greeted with that, my colleagues had taken the time to make a party for me, and even though it wasn't huge, I could see they had put effort into it. Everything was going smoothly until Mr. Party Boomer had to step in to do his job. The way he talked to Brodie was cruel, and for a second I feared he was going to fire him and us. But he left after telling us to get back to doing what we were being paid to do.

"Wel, thanks guys, It was fun," I said, and after we cleaned everything up we went back to doing our job, the air now colder. I was really confused about why our boss hated us so much, after all, he was the one that had hired us and was the one getting his job done. I decided maybe he was one of those bosses that didn't want colleagues but just work machines, and so, I decided to act as one.

The rest of my working hours in the office were really calm, Benjamin didn't come out and I had a nice time chatting with my friends about the weekend plans and a bunch of other things that we thought of. After the time for me to leave had arrived I picked my things up and left, heading straight to the café to continue working.

I didn't know if it was because I felt like I had done something wrong or if it was just me being annoyed at Benjamin's attitude, but I was salty, and my boss at the café noticed immediately as I walked in: "Don't come in here if you are angry, we don't need customers thinking we dislike our job, even if we do" she said and smiled at me, she was funny, and the wink made me chuckle before I nodded my head, realizing the customers came there to enjoy their time and to get away from troubles, and they didn't need anyone to ruin that for them.

I got changed and put my phone on silent before I went to work, pacing around the tables and asking what people wanted before taking the notes to the kitchen and bringing the food once it was done. After ten minutes I wasn't even angry anymore, there was an old couple in one of the tables that were really nice, the man, with white hair and wrinkles around his blue eyes was helping his wife, a pretty woman that seemed to have difficulties remembering what she liked. They were really nice and thankful when I stood and patiently waited for them to choose, helping the husband since he couldn't really stand up all the time to help his wife. After they had gone they left a big tip and said that I had been really comprehensive and helpful and that he was sure they would come back. That cheered me up and I went back to work with a smile on my face.

After a while, I got told that 'stupid boss' was calling my phone, earning a smile from Adelene, my café boss, who knew something was up. She nudged me and I rolled my eyes, going to the locker room and answering the phone silently, trying to not let the man ruin my good mood. "Hello?" I voiced.

The line was silent for a bit before he finally spoke "Kyle, I need you here now, we are having trouble and Brodie can't help" he said. I sighed silently, what did they need me for, he had studied for this, I was sure he could manage without me. "I'm working now, I can't get away" I said before he talked again.

"This is your job too, you need to come and help" he said. "Just tell me what happened" I said, deciding to ask since there was the risk I went over there for the stupidest of reasons. "Well, the screen went white, then it started glitching, and now it won't work" he said. "Then maybe you need to change the screen or connect or disconnect a specific cable" I said "Can we work through this tomorrow?" I said "I really need to go back to work.

"I'm coming to your place tonight and you can help me with it" he said and hung up before I could even protest. After that I figured I couldn't do much about it and I decided to go back to work, anxious about having to meet with my boss. Adelene eventually told me to leave, it was only thirty minutes earlier, and they could manage without me, but that I " really needed to give the boss a warm welcome". After not letting me argue again, I left, going home and arriving fast before I proceed to clean as much as I could, not wanting the male to think I was a pig or something, which he probably already thought and I was oblivious of it.

It was 10 pm when the bell rang, making me jump, I went to open the door and Benjamin walked in, but he wasn't alone, a man that looked clearly younger accompanied him, I didn't have time to ask before I was pushed back and the door clicked shut. Benjamin proceed to say something in another language and while the male was busy locking my door and pulling the curtains, he took his laptop out and made me sit before he sat beside me. "You better help, this is important, and if you tell someone what you are going to see, I will kill you" he said, and my heart almost stopped.