devil sons
Chapter twenty four
James thought he had adapted to his boss behavior. After all, he was good at adapting to situations.
Until he receive a call on his way to deliver some files to the boss's office. He hadn't been the one to drive him, his cousin was.
His cousin was jovial and smiled a lot. He looked like he had a permanent etching of grin on his face. Whereas, his boss was another matter entirely. He wasn't sure his facial muscles were capable of making any expressions resembling human form.
Except one day that a glitch in the matrix happened and he had caught the beginning of a smile stretching his father. He shuddered.
A smile on his face would be contrary to fact, much like the sun rising in the north.
Chapter twenty four
James thought he had adapted to his boss behavior. After all, he was good at adapting to situations.
Until he receive a call on his way to deliver some files to the boss's office. He hadn't been the one to drive him, his cousin was.
His cousin was jovial and smiled a lot. He looked like he had a permanent etching of grin on his face. Whereas, his boss was another matter entirely. He wasn't sure his facial muscles were capable of making any expressions resembling human form.
Except one day that a glitch in the matrix happened and he had caught the beginning of a smile stretching his father. He shuddered.
A smile on his face would be contrary to fact, much like the sun rising in the north.
"Hello?" He answered the call with heavy heart.
"There's two hours, sixteen minutes and forty three seconds left before your working hour ends, yeah?" His boss asked.
James rolled his eyes. What was he supposed to say to that? Trust his boss to be right and steady with his information right down to the seconds.
"Yes..sir?" The high lilt gave his words a questioning end.
"I'm quite.. inconvenienced right now and I would like you to do something to me." He said gravely.
James stomach dropped into his shoes. A request of Ezekiel Wang was the equivalent of digging a hole with a spoon. It's time consuming, stressful and almost never turns out well.
"I need you to go my house and babysit my boys. A thousand dollars per hour." He heard shuffling noise underneath and a soft argument before silence.
Meanwhile, James thought were running ahead of him. A thousand dollars per hour to babysit some kids? He had hit the jackpot!
A smile cracked his lips and he thought there might be some use working for a cold, robotic but rich boss. Very rich boss.
He felt like jumping up.
"Sixteen minutes should be enough to drive to my house." His voice rang clear and firm, James eyelids quivered a little.
He couldn't help it. It was a reflex reaction.
"Yes sir!" He agreed enthusiastically.
Really. How hard can it be?
~~
The answer to that question came to him some thirty minutes later, when he was sitting face to face with two identical boys.
The looked so much like his boss that he had to check thrice to be sure this wasn't a set up. Especially the one named Harry.
Sitting across from him with his glasses perched on his nose, he stared up and down at him.
"Did Zeke send you here?" He queried. His voice was just as commanding and even tinged with a bit of hostility.
James thought he felt a head of sweat sliding down his back. It was like dealing with his boss 2.0 and 2.5.
"Yeah, I was sent to babysit you for two hours." He stared into their blue eyes and added, "sirs."
"That won't be necessary. We do not need a babysitter." Harry gave him another once over, the third since he got there, "You don't even look qualified."
"It's fine. You can stay for two hours. It isn't everyday we get to see a new face." Chimed Garry. He had a smile on his face.
A silent conversation commenced between the twins for three minutes, and he felt more sweat sliding down his back. His armpits were itchy. A telltale sign of nervousness.
"Fine!" Harry said and stalked out of the room. For a boy below ten, he has such a commanding and domineering face that he shuddered to think what he would he like, when he gets older.
Meanwhile, Garry grinned like he got lucky and it was Christmas and his birthday all at once. James immediately revisited his assessment of him.
He was equally as dangerous as his brother! To think these boys are just seven years old!
"Let's play some video games!" He grinned, a perfect replica of his uncle and clapped his hands together in eagerness.
James made a very covert attempt to stare around him. He couldn't even begin to fathom how much fortune, riches, and time this building must have consumed.
It was that amazing.
Finally, something that is expected of a seven years old. James felt his relief come out in a pant and he nodded, equally eager.
This was an opportunity which not many people who get in their whole existence.
He would brag of this day to whoever would listen.
Not only had be been inside the house infamous Ezekiel Wang, the ice King house, he played video game with his son. That thought alone was enough to sustain him when he was depressed.
The thought and the money that he was going to make by the end of this.
He heard someone paddling and it was Harry. He was holding a huge textbook with both his hands. He was strained by the weight.
He took pity on the little boy. After all, his boss was their father. His boss wasn't even human enough, so how was he going to raise his sons?
He was sure they would have no normal memories of boys their age. Like playing in the rain, pranks and tantrums.
Throw tantrums to who? Their father?!
"Let's play the game together." He offered the boy, who stared sharply at him.
He was sitting beside his brother who was busy selecting game on the huge television.
His brother replied him, "Oh no. Garry doesn't play games. He likes to read instead."
James was shocked. Who likes reading more than games in this life? He stared at the boy with a new perspective. James didn't think he'd ever read willingly on his own when he was their age.
It was always at gun point, slap point, or going hungry.
"Sure! I have an idea. This," he pushed the textbook to the front and James could now feel the sweat beginning to soak his shirt. He had a bad intuition that he knew where this was going and he wasn't going to like it a bit.
"This textbook is an advanced mathematical textbook that I've recently found. We can take turns solving questions! I bet it'll be real fun." Said Harry.
His eyes trained on James, daring him to reject. Daring him to say something contrary.
But what came out of his mouth was, "Sure! Let's do it!" His voice was shrill and high pitched with anxiety.
He glanced surreptitiously at the clock, wanting his two hours to be up already. What he saw made tears come up in his eyes.
There was one hour, eighteen minutes and ten seconds to go.
Garry laughter revibrated around the room.
His sons were simply devil incarnate! Like father, like sons.