The first person that came in was a skinny short man with ginger hair.

I quickly shook my head at Mr. Reid signaling it wasn't him.

"Can you please call the next person and then wait there?" Mr. Reid said in a dominating voice.

"Yes sir" he walked to the door and called the next person in.

"Why aren't we letting him go out?"

"Because people might ask him what we did, better safe than sorry"

I nodded and looked to the next person who came in looking at us weirdly.

"Sir?"

This is going to take a while...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"That was last of the cleaners, ten came in today and the rest are home so the next ones are the guards"

"How many are there on duty today?" I asked.

"Five, shouldn't be too difficult"

"How are we gonna know who did it?"

He looked at me and gave me a mischievous smile.

Oh boy, I don't know if should swoon or be worried.

I was again dragged out of my thoughts by Mr. Reid's smooth voice.

"I'll know when I see it"

Before I can ask what he meant by that, the door opened, and in walked a nervous and fidgety guard.

"S-Sir"

I instantly recognized the voice as the high-pitched voice that answered the last intercom call Mr. Reid made.

"So how much did Jarred pay you?"

Mr. Reid's voice boomed and dominated through the room, my eyes widened at Mr. Reid's sudden accusation.

"I needed the money! I have a family! I needed to do something somehow!" Talk about honest.

I was about to say something to Mr. Reid about not coming to conclusions but he stopped me.

"Next time you lie make sure the person you're lying to hasn't done a background check"

He paced closer to the man like a predator circling his prey, ready to pounce.

A dangerous look in his eyes.

I was waiting for him to say he'll fire him and send him to prison but he did the opposite.

"I'll pay you double the amount Jarred paid you if you come to court and admit to working for him, if not you'll be sent to prison"

"W-Won't I b-be sent either way?" He asked, more like stuttered.

"If you agree I'll prevent it" he replied simply as though helping a traitor was an everyday routine.

With Mr. Reid, you never really know though.

He realized he was given an ultimatum and would soon have hell to pay if he rejected.

"I'll help"

"You're not helping, you are merely paying off your debt"

The man gulped audibly and nodded.

"Pleasure doing business with you" Mr. Reid smirked.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

After the guy left the room leaving me speechless, Mr. Reid told me to go home and pack.

By the time I reached home, it was around 2:18 PM and I haven't gotten much work done today but I still felt hungry and exhausted.

"I'm home" I yelled hoping Kate would answer with a 'welcome back' but of course that didn't happen.

Kate still works for that asshole of a boss I had back in Wyatt Corporation.

A scowl made its way onto my face just thinking about that bastard Richard Wyatt.

If I could I wouldn't have just slapped his face but I would've also kicked him where the sun doesn't shine.

And no I'm not bluffing, he better think twice before making a move on a lion, or in his case a lioness, I did get the pleasure to see my palm imprinted on his face.

My stomach grumbled telling me to at least put a piece of bread in my mouth but decided on a more luxurious setting...

Mac'n cheese.

Have you ever felt the satisfaction of making the most delicious mac'n cheese in the history of mac'n cheese? Because I felt that at this exact moment.

I had a savoring amount of lunch and hurried my way to start packing for a three-day-long trip.

I finished pretty quickly, packing four work outfits one formal wear, and the rest was filled with casual clothes, pajamas, and undergarments.

Not to mention the small bag filled with other necessities; toothpaste, toothbrush, hairbrush, hair clips you get the drift.

I heard my phone buzz and it was a text from Mr. Reid.

Come out.

Could you put it more bluntly?

I sighed and grabbed my suitcase and locked my apartment door turning around I was startled to see Mr. Reid in front of me.

"Sir?"

"Where's your suitcase, Ms. Downs?"

"Um here, what's wrong with it?"

"I'm here to collect your suitcase"

That shocked me, Mr. Reid is doing something nice? Yeah, I'm not buying it.

"Why? You don't need to"

"Ms. Downs my mother raised me to be a gentleman and I don't go against my mothers wishes"

I said it once and I'll say it again...

What a mammas boy!

Then again that's actually pretty cute.

He brushed past my look of surprise and picked up my suitcase with much ease and turned to me with an eyebrow raised.

"Aren't you coming?"

I couldn't focus on his question with his muscles bulging in my face like that.

The familiar heat spread across my cheek.

Why am I shy? The guy practically sleeps with a different woman every week.

The only difference between him and Richard was that Richard would bring his women to work and I'd have to put on earplugs to block all the sound out.

But I knew Mr. Reid was as big as a playboy Richard was considering I see him in celebrity news shows with different women all the time (I watch those, don't judge).

Before I knew it, we had reached his limousine, how long had I been thinking? I guess my body and mind were in two different places at once.

How was I able to stay quiet for so long is beyond me.

He put my suitcase in the trunk and we both sat in the limousine in silence, the only noise was Mr. Reid's phone, he was most definitely replying to emails since we both didn't get any work done today.

It's a two-hour flight from New York to Chicago, it was currently 3:40 PM so we'll be there around five or six.

I plugged in my headphones and started lip-syncing to Titanium by David Guetta ft. Sia.

I was in the middle of a wonderful daydream when Mr. Reid spoke up.

"What are you listening to?"

"Huh?" I asked stupidly.

"Song, what song are you listening to?"

I regained my senses and said

"Um, Titanium by Sia"

"It actually belongs to David Guetta"

"True but it was Sia's beautiful voice that sang the song"

"Well if it wasn't for David's genius DJ-ing then it wouldn't have the rhythm it already did"

I was about to tell him that that's not true but we came to a stop.

The door to my side opened and I got out before I caused some annoyance.

I walked to the back of the car ready to grab my suitcase but the driver, that I still didn't know the name of, stopped me.

"I'll take care of it Miss"

I didn't argue and turned my gaze to be bombarded by the black jet in front of my face.

Damn.

We got into the jet and I was more shocked with the interior than the exterior.

The grey leather seats looked comfortable enough to sleep on and I know that I will, there were also two seats facing each other with a table in the middle.

Too bad I'm full, until next time, first-class private jet dining.

"Hello Ms. Downs, I'm Garry I will be your pilot for the next two hours, nice to meet you" a friendly voice cried from behind me, startling me.

Why am I so jumpy lately?

"Gracias" (thank you)

"You're welcome" he smiled.

I took a seat and plugged my headphones in again and started shuffling through my playlist.

I eventually fell asleep and the next two hours passed by in a blur.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ms. Downs, wake up, Ms. Downs! Wake up already!"

I woke up to Mr. Reid rapidly shaking and shouting at me.

"Ms. Dow-"

"I'm up already!" I interrupted him almost making his eyes go wide, almost.

"I'm your boss, Ms. Downs, we just landed, unless you're so fond of my jet you'd rather stay here than do your job, be my guest"

I sighed and looked at my phone which had just run out of battery.

Great.

No battery and an angry Reid...

Nothing new...

I got up and got out to see the limo already there, not worrying about my suitcase because I know someone has already taken care of it, I took my seat after Mr. Reid had opened the door and I thanked him, it's not every day a billionaire opens the door for you.

After a ten to fifteen minute drive, we stopped in front of an obviously expensive hotel, I mean I'm not paying so I'm not gonna show much concern...

Wait a sec, who's paying?

"Um Mr. Reid, mind if ask but who's paying?"

"Is that even a question Ms. Downs? the company is paying and by company I mean me," he whisper-yelled, as though I asked a really dumb question.

Okay, no need to bark out everything.

A bellhop came, taking our suitcases, he walked with us to the reception where a man in his early twenties, stood in front of us.

"Hello, how may I help you?" he said to Mr. Reid but had his eyes on me and was so openly raking his eyes on my body.

I felt really uncomfortable.

"Yes I'd like you to look at me while I'm talking to you if you still want this month's salary," He said with a cold tone all the while glaring at the idiot.

"Y-Yes, name?"

"Derick Reid"

The guy's eyes widened and he audibly gulped, that's the second time a man has gulped in front of Mr. Reid today.

I guess Mr. Reid is a pretty intimidating guy so who can blame them.

He handed Mr. Reid a key and I already know it's to the penthouse.

We got into the elevator the bellhop trailing behind us.

Mr. Reid punched in a code to the hotel suite and a few minutes later the elevator door opened and an old couple walked in.

They looked strangely familiar...

"Juliana?" The old woman asked with a thick accent.

"Sorry? Do I know you?"

She smiled.

"Oh my girl, it's me, aunt Dalea, how are you? How's your mom? I miss her so much" By the time she finished talking, I had a big grin on my face and immediately engulfed her in a hug.

I started talking in my mother tongue, completely ignoring Mr. Reid's existence.

"Oh my God! Aunt Dalea! Uncle Mateo! What are you both doing here?! Me and mom are good, how have the two of you been?"

"You've gotten so beautiful from the last time I saw you and who's this? your boyfriend?" She said with a smirk.

I blushed and backed away when I accidentally bumped into Mr. Reid who had curiosity shining in his eyes.

"No no, he's my boss, nothing more I laughed awkwardly"

"Mhm, hello there, you are Julie's boss?"

"Yes I am, Mr. Reid" he put his hand out for a shake.

"I'm Mateo and this is my wife Dalea" uncle Mateo replied, shaking his hand.

"Nice to meet you, I'm sorry we don't have much time for pleasantries it's late and both I and Ms. Downs have an early morning tomorrow"

"Oh no, don't mind us we'll get out on the next stop, we're leaving to Wisconsin the next day"

We both nodded and turned to the elevator, it stopped and the doors opened to the lobby, my aunt and uncle quickly left, leaving us to again ride the elevator back to the last floor.

We reached the penthouse floor with no interruptions this time and Mr. Reid opened the door revealing a lush-looking room fit for a prince.

Oh, who am I kidding? Mr. Reid is no different from a prince.

The suite expanded to two bedrooms, I knew because the doors were open, and from what I can tell they each had a bathroom.

The clock on top of the plasma TV read 6:23 PM and I was dead beat tired.

The living room was connected to the kitchen and they were both in a royal cream color.

"Your bedroom is to the left Ms. Downs, mine's on the right, if you need me, you know where to find me, and good night, we have a busy day ahead of us"

"Good night Mr. Reid"

I walked into my bedroom and the suite stayed true to its word, it was also a royal cream color, with a king-sized bed in the middle.

I decided on wearing comfortable clothes before I left, so I'm just gonna sleep in those, but before that, I stripped out of those and took a quick body shower because I had a fair amount of sweat covering my body and brushed my teeth.

Getting out I saw my suitcase and decided to start unpacking tomorrow when I get home from work.

I lied down on the overly comfortable bed and I remembered I need to charge my phone, quickly getting up I took my phone out of the small bag I had packed to keep with me on the flight here.

Putting it on charge and waiting a minute or two, the screen turned on the second it turned 2% and I was listening to the sound of many, many notifications and by many I mean just missed calls and messages, mostly from Kate and my mom.

I looked at the clock to see if it wasn't too late to call and it was only 7 PM, I called Kate first because she had called more than mom had.

After four rings and no answer, I closed my phone and promised myself I will call her and mom tomorrow.

I closed my eyes and the sleep I felt at that second took over me, making me forget today's abnormal occurrences.

⭐️💬

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