Boss undercover series b.., p.21
Boss Undercover Series Bundle, page 21
After some time, Zack had managed to survive the morning—he directed that towards Claire. She was fed up; it clearly showed by her lack of effort to pour herself a cup of tea, so the milk ended up on the counter rather than in the mug, and she was complaining of exhaustion, but Zack was soon able to manoeuvre her out the door and get them to the bus on time. Sitting at the back, Claire rested her head on Zack’s shoulder, astonishing him quite a bit. Zack accepted what little affection he was receiving. After all, this was Claire. And he had his fair share of pillows being thrown at his head, being punched and shoved out of bed—that topping the list by far.
“Zack,” she muttered, alerting him and dragging him far away from his thoughts.
“Yeah?” he replied, smiling inwardly, knowing it had been three whole minutes she’d not lifted her head. Quite some open affection here.
“I hate you,” she declared with an exasperated sigh.
“Go—”
“But you’re all right at the same time,” she added, interrupting Zack and once again surprising him right on the spot. Perhaps she was warming up to him, or this was just her fatigue, but either way, Zack was happy to gain some fondness from her.
“Zack,” Claire began again.
“Yeah?”
“You’re a dick.”
Zack chuckled lightly. “Well, that’s just fine then, isn’t it?” Then he gently lifted his arm and rested it across her shoulder without even a peep of complaint from her, and instead, Claire snuggled closer under his arm. Perhaps it was that intoxicating cologne he wore or the means of having something comfortable to rest her eyes on, and it could have even been the secret enjoyment of the attachment, but whatever it was, Claire did not deny herself.
***
Graves was first on the scene when Claire and Zack entered the department floor, and Claire let loose of Zack’s hand that she’d been holding. The department boss presented a toothless smile to them both before dismissing Claire and asking for Zack’s presence in his office. Without much of a choice, Zack followed the rather broad-shouldered man into his office. There at Graves’ desk was Monica, who was smiling too eagerly as she pulled back and forth on a rubber band between her fingers. Zack wanted to question her presence, but instead he chose to sit on the chair facing opposite the desk. Jeez, was this what it was like when people came to visit his office?
“Zack Chase,” Graves began, not even bothering to take a seat. “I just wanted to see how you were coming along in the company? Usually I’m on to fresh employees like a cat on a mouse, but I’ve been distracted from the numerous projects. I do apologise. However, I’m so fortunate to have Monica, because she’s told me you have been struggling a little with the workload. You know there’s no shame in that. Perhaps your mentoring with Claire hasn’t entirely helped,” he suggested, strolling to his large desktop chair.
Monica flashed a dazzling smile, all too fake, like a slithering snake, towards Graves. “Why, Clive, please, I’m just doing my job.” As if she didn’t flatter herself already, Monica placed her manicured red-nailed hands, poised as could be, onto his shoulder.
Graves returned a smile briefly before resuming with Zack. Was Monica trying to get back at him? Heck, was this all because he rejected her recently? Man, this woman was digging low. Just another reason to fire her ass once this was all over. “Mr. Chase, we like our employees to be more confident and up-to-date with the schemes of things, so I do apologise if I haven’t offered you the resources you needed to feel comfortable to do your job. After all, the CV you gave was highly impressive, so of course, I find it most disheartening to know you’re struggling with the work set.”
Zack wanted to snort. Struggling? Since swapping desks and moving on the other side of the department, he’d only been set to answer phone calls and aid support on double checking miscalculations on spreadsheets for last month’s record. And that wasn’t rocket science even if it felt like most of the time, he was sneaking up to his own office working hard to ensure Project 42’s success. And what about the presentation? He was working alongside that with Claire, and that didn’t need to be problematic. Zack was well aware that this was just a deceitful lie Monica had come up with. “I’d hardly think—” Zack blurted aloud, irritated as he was cut off completely from voicing his case.
“Oh, Mr. Chase, there’s no need to voice your concern,” Graves interposed, clicking his tongue at the roof of his mouth. “I’m just going to offer some support.”
“Like what?”
Monica nodded. “Mr. Graves and I feel it is…best,” she paused, her lips stretching like a rubber band, “that you continue with some mentoring, as we may have forced too many expectations upon you without realizing you needed the extra support.”
Zack was frustrated, but he decided to play along. “Extra support?”
Graves clasped his hands together upon the desk. “Yes, I’m designating you to Monica here. I presume you already have a great relationship with her, so that shouldn’t be a problem. But, yes, you’ll continue further mentoring under Monica, this time, who I believe will help you accelerate and perform at the exact level of all the other employees. She’ll help you understand the system around here a little better. Again, I do apologise for not being more supportive, as again, I didn’t know you were struggling. Next time, you should voice your thoughts and feelings. We like this to be a healthy environment. Isn’t that right, Ms. Andrews?”
“Yes, Mr. Graves. We only want what’s best for the company and our employees,” she chirped, a sly smile hiding beneath the surface of the superficiality. “If we had known that Ms. Winters hadn’t been supportive during your trial period, we would have immediately designated someone with more experience. But let’s not dwell on the past. I’m just glad I was able to assist and recognize that you were struggling. You shouldn’t have been so proud, Mr. Chase. It’s normal to feel a little overwhelmed.”
Bitch, he cursed to himself. His brain was picketing this ridiculous façade. This was just Monica. And this was Clive Graves, agreeing to her manipulation because of the obvious playtime happening between these two. He hadn’t time to be playing games with her. It angered him how easily Graves was allowing this. There was just no way he was believing this act. If Zack wasn’t being sentenced with this horrific ordeal, he may have found the way the pair presented themselves together quite comically, like a king and jester. He wanted to eradicate Monica from the establishment, but he couldn’t. Not in this position…yet. He still had work to do.
Zack said nothing and accepted the awful ordeal.
Very soon, he was dismissed and following Monica out of the door. As soon as he had a second to confront her, he took it. They stood near the lift shafts, not entirely hidden from plain sight from wandering souls passing down their aisles but completely invisible to those sat in their white three-walled cubicles.
“What the fuck are you doing, Monica?” Zack hissed, his right hand balling into a tight fist. No, he wasn’t actually going to use his fist, but it made it one hundred percent clear that he was pissed.
“Whoa, I haven’t done anything,” she innocently replied, her eyes scanning his before calmly glancing around the room. “You shouldn’t be displaying your anger to me. I was only trying to help, and as the department co-leading manager, you shouldn’t be acting this way towards me. As he said, there’s no shame in this. You just need the extra help, and I intend to do just that.” She fluttered her false black eyelashes as she flattened her white blouse down that was tucked into her black skirt.
“And that’s making me into your very own lap dog now?”
Monica bit down on her bottom lip. “Oh, if that’s how you want to play it, honey, then I love it.” She dared to rest one hand on his chest.
Zack swatted her hand away in frustration. “You’re pathetic, seriously.”
They moved into the lifts as Monica cattily spat as soon as the doors shut. “Pathetic? No, I am not. You weren’t like this when we hooked up. You were all over me. You couldn’t take your hands off me!” Zack glanced awkwardly to the floor, aware of the bald-headed, middle-aged man standing in the far corner, looking sheepishly to the grey metal wall. Monica was ignorant. She didn’t seem to care as she continued to rant. “I always get what I want, so when I don’t, I make sure I do. You should be thanking me. I’m the one who has made it so we spend more time together. Graves won’t even bat an eyelid, and yet you’re acting as if I’m the most disgusting, vile creature.” She jabbed her fingers into his chest. “Do you know how many guys in the office want to sleep with me?”
The bald-headed man choked on his own saliva, quickly looking to the floor as Monica turned on her heels and narrowed her eyes towards him in response to his reaction.
“Monica, I don’t think this is the time or place for this conversation, nor do I think I give a fuck how many fucking guys want to sleep with you. So, instead, can you just not?” He growled under his breath as if he were a wolf threatening his rival pack’s alpha.
“No, I will not!” Monica stomped her heel. “You better watch it, or I’ll get you fired. I can, and I will.”
Zack snorted. “Yeah, because I heard there’s a seven inches deep pact between you two.”
There was another dry cough from the man, who Zack could have guessed wanted to curl up into a ball from this awkward confrontation.
“You’ll watch your mouth. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
Zack decided not to bite back. He didn’t have the strength to argue with the woman. He remained quiet, feeling sympathetic for the bald-headed man who shuffled out of the lift like a desperate, headless chicken. Zack preferred to have been in the man’s shoes so he could make a quick exit than to be left in hell with the devil over here. This was what he deserved for sleeping around. Zack crossed his arms and leaned back on the wall, sighing as Monica remained poised as she slipped out her compact mirror and fixed her powder.
Monica sauntered out of the lift first, deliberately taking her time as if she had the whole entire world in the palms of her hands. With no other choice, he followed her into the canteen, where she demanded he get her a coffee. He could have barked back, but he was out of energy, and he didn’t want any more attention awkwardly tuning in. Eurgh, since when did he do things like this? Olivia was always the one who fetched his cup of coffee or tea if he was in the mood, and sometimes a can of Coke if he was feeling under the weather.
Zack barely managed to make it back to the lifts when Monica caught up to him, holding her hand across his chest to prevent him from taking another step forward. “Where do you think you’re going?” she hissed. “You’re coming with me.”
“Oh, I don’t know, back up there?” He pointed to the ceiling figuratively. “You’ve got your damn coffee, so let’s go. I haven’t got all day. If you want to play this game, we’ll play it, so go on, mentor me,” Zack mocked, raising his brows and folding his arms together.
She wasn’t entirely pleased; that he was certain. She was about to rant and complain. “Well, no. I have something else I need to do before we mentor. I need you to come to my car first,” she answered, snapping her fingers with impatience.
Zack’s sigh could have been heard over a kilometre away as he followed Monica outside into the carpark adjacent to the large skyscraper. No surprise was it then when her car happened to be a red Mini Coupe and stickered with large fake eyelashes on the headlights. How pathetic! He felt very sorry for the car. Even the inside, when she opened the passenger’s side, was plastered top to bottom with pink somewhere or another. Pink air freshener, pink plastic mug in the centre, pink steering wheel cover, and of course, pink mats.
Monica rattled through some paperwork in the boot of the car as Zack leaned on the wall, glancing briefly at his watch. Still early hours. What was he supposed to do? Stand and guard her all the time? What was she, royalty?
“Look, I’m going to really walk off in a bit because you’re taking the piss,” Zack stated as he peered over the side of the bonnet to see if he could catch her face. Monica sneered in return.
“You ain’t going anywhere. You’ve been appointed to me, so I want you by me always. Besides, I’ve got a job for you anyway.”
***
CLAIRE
Claire’s fingers were flying across the keyboard, but she wasn’t paying attention to the words on the screen, so she was pretty sure she had spelled a few words incorrectly. Even basic words like “the” seemed to be making her job a whole lot harder. Darren had noticed this. He jumped out of his seat and settled his bum quite comfortably on the opposite end of her desk. Her desk might as well be Darren’s official seat, and she wouldn’t be surprised if his ass imprinted the spot sooner or later.
“What’s up, Sleeping Beauty? Still recovering from Monday night?” he asked, fiddling with the highlighter on her desk.
She rolled her eyes.
Darren smirked. “So I think me and Jonas are really getting further to the nitty and gritty—you know, serious? Real serious shit. Like, I know I told you this before, but everything just seems to be moving fast for us.”
“Yeah?”
“Yes, like I’m pretty sure Jonas is thinking of moving in with me,” Darren said, with a sporting smile devouring his lips. “I know, it’s kinda funny considering he literally lives only a couple doors down, but it would half our rents.”
“Wow, that’s—”
“Quick? I know! But I think we just get on so well together—but it’s not been decided aloud yet.”
“Wait,” Claire began. “So you haven’t spoken about it yet?”
Darren shook his head. “No. Well—”
“Trust you. Typical Darren,” Claire said, rolling her eyes playfully.
Darren pursed his lips, shaking his head with utter disbelief at Claire’s dismay with him. “Oh, honey. He’s already adding a little bit of him in my apartment. My bathroom has a shelf full of his stuff, so I assure you that he’s thinking of it. Even if he hasn’t said so.”
Claire chuckled lightly. “Whatever you say.”
“Hmpf. Come to think of it, Missy, we haven’t really touched on your roommate in a long time. How’s that going? You two fucked like rabbits yet? Or are you really telling me that you’ve kept distant?”
Claire’s cheeks blushed a little before shortly returning to their normal colour as she denied, “No. W-We have not. And yes, it has been distant between us like I expected. He does his own thing.”
Darren’s brows rose. “So what do you do when you’re home together? Be fucking prunes? You sit around like Virgin Mary, crossing your legs to any potential—”
“Shut up, Darren!” Claire gasped. “Gosh, just because he’s…good-looking,” she whispered before raising her tone slightly, “does not mean I need to or, for that matter, want to—”
“Honey, I’m just saying. You and Jason aren’t really compatible, and you know it, so I was assuming you and that hunk of a man would,” he interrupted once again, a habit of Darren’s. Claire shook her head, not even bothering to answer her friend, who smirked before returning back to his seat just as Jason headed over. She hadn’t seen the man all day, and now here he was in the flesh, with a dazzling smile and his usual calm, collected manner packed in his suitcase. Shit.
“Claire,” he began, taking a seat that was pushed up against the wall behind her. Oh, great. Even Darren’s eyes poked above her screen with a bit of humour. Although what did she expect? She hadn’t let the guy off, nor did she ignore his text messages like the ones she’d received the previous days before. For one thing, Jason loved using emojis; his whole face resembled the blowing kisses emoji, considering the amount of times she’d seen that after every sentence. “Feeling better?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you,” Claire replied, awkwardly wrapping her hands in the sleeves of her jumper.
“You look a whole lot better,” Jason said, which followed with a snort coming from the other opposite side of the cubicle. Darren. Who else?
Claire’s eyes narrowed briefly at the figurative Darren sitting over the opposite side of the short wall before returning to the naïve Jason, who sat with eagerness. She waited for him to speak but earned nothing but silence and a sitting smile lingering on his lips. Her mouth opened to say something but soon shut when Jason finally approached her with a question. “So I was wondering if you’d like to join me again for a bite to eat at lunch.” Okay, this was the time to do it. Break him off.
“Sure,” Claire agreed, feeling hopelessly pushed again towards the idea of keeping romantic relations with this guy. Oh, you stupid woman! You promised Zack! Jason smiled with glee before pushing off the chair and heading back towards his work station. How many times would it take to just keep her big mouth shut?
“You still haven’t done it, have you? At this point, it’s a world record,” Darren said, shock ravelling his tone as he poked his head over the wall.
“Oh, shut up you,” Claire grumbled.
***
Monica praised the sight of Zack’s broad shoulders going to work as he clocked up on the car’s radiator. Zack’s refusal at first was very reasonable, but with Monica’s series of threats, he was left rolling up his sleeves and cranking a bolt or two to check out the matter. Thankfully, he had some clue what he was looking at. He and Kyle used to tinker on his father’s old cars in the garage. It didn’t mean he was liking the fact he was doing her dirty work while she stood stripping his clothes off with her eyes. Grabbing another tool from the box that Monica so conveniently had in her car boot, Zack tightened up the final bolt.
“There’s nothing wrong with it. I can’t see any leak, and there is no damage,” Zack expressed with annoyance as he wiped his arm across his partially sweaty forehead.
“Oh, is there not?” Monica replied in a high-pitched tone, deliberately playing oblivious to the non-existent problem. “I guess there was none after all.”
