Chapter 5: Chapter 5

A couple of hours passed by, I had immersed myself in my work to get rid of the disgusted feeling left on me during the meeting. "Um...if you'd like, can you please help me?" Grace pulled up a chair next to me. I turned to her confused, she had been very adamant about not receiving my help before. "What's with the change of mind?" I smiled as I nodded yes. "I just got a text from my grandmother, I need to hurry home." I was curious as to what her grandmother texted her, but I don't think she would feel comfortable telling me. "I'll finish the rest for you." I said looking at her work space, which was piled with little hills of paperwork. "Are you sure? I still have quite a bit." Grace threw me a concerned look as she stood up. "No worries, I was just wrapping up my work. I don't mind at all. You should just go." I nodded my head to reassure her that it's completely fine. Grace thanked me then left in a hurry. She must need to take care of something at home. Now….how should I properly deal with the employees that abuse their power and slightly bully others? There's still 2 weeks left till the annual company party. In the meantime, I need to find out how to fix the problem nicely. If worse comes to worse these people can get fired for this. Hmm...I don't want to get rid of them because...well they do their work well. It would be bad to not find anyone who can replace them and be even better than them. Such a problem ~sigh~. Why does this happen? I walk over to Grace's desk. Her work was almost completed along with her co-workers work. She had only 2 documents left undone. Grace is very impressive to finish off a pile's worth of paper work in such a short amount of time. The last 2 documents were about the payrolls given to the employees of the fashion dep. "Now why would they give you this when the team manager is the only one who should work on it?" I said out loud as I opened the document. I flipped through the first document. It has everyone's background information and pay grade in it. I saw how some of the low positioned employees were getting a pay raise. What shocked me the most was Nathaniel's pay grade. The man is supposed to be paid $20 an hour. He was getting $30. Why are they getting a higher paid grade from what they signed? I closed the document and put it in my bag before opening the second one. In the second one I saw the details of the set of fridge cleaning items. It was missing the most important signature. Mine. "Oho! Nice! Very nice indeed." I learned something new today, my fashion dep was already working on the packaging details for the set. Before, I gave my sign of approval. This is an act of treason. I will do an investigation to see who allowed this. Looks like it was the right thing for me to help out my fellow employee. I started laughing silently. It had been a while since someone dared to go behind my back and try to run my company for me. I finally have a new game to play. Instead of fixing the documents like Grace was supposed to do, I put them both in my bag. Then I checked the rest of the 10 or more documents that were forced on her. They were normal design and materials for new clothing products and lines that were approved by me. I walked around the now empty fashion department. I looked at the name plates of everyone who plied work on Grace. One by one I took pictures and slapped their work on their desks. I knew who it was because they pre-signed the documents before handing it to Grace. However, I need to have evidence of their unjust treatment. I walked out feeling as though I could've done better. Hmm...I'll go to the security room and get a copy of today's footage. They should be getting ready to close down now. I check the time on my phone. 7:45 pm good there's still time. Maybe I was too focused on collecting proper evidence to notice when Adam was walking to the security room with me. I turned to him shocked. "When did you get here?" I asked, still bewildered. "I was walking by you since you walked out of the fashion dep. Was I that unnoticeable? Adam gives me a worried face. Wow, I must be careful not to forget that there are other people who work late, or are waiting for me. In my company I don't want my employees to close off at 8 pm. Only because I need to do a full check on the documents that need my signature and finish up work without being caught using the executive's code. So I had made a rule for everyone to leave an hour earlier. So far I got no complaints from it. "~Ahem~ stay outside the security room and wait for me. Interns are not allowed in." I walked into the security room and saw the 3 most trusted employees I personally put in charge of the fashion dep security cameras. They were old school mates of mine. They also know of my identity as the chairwoman. "Yo, you're finally here." A man by the name of Charles stood up to address me. He had casual clothes on and had messy hair. Charles handed me a hard drive. "Here's the footage of today. We also took the liberty of marking the time slots where that poor missy accepted more work. If you want, we have 2 more hard drives with different days but the same problem." This is why I had personally hired them. I put the 3 hard drives in my bag. Charles and his crew had been very close-knit since high school and they specialize with hacking and network issues. "Could I also trouble you guys with some more overtime, triple the amount this time." Charles turned to the other 2 there just sitting. Half a minute passed by before they shook their heads yes. My guess is that they have some kind of telekinesis going on. "Alright, what's the job?" Charles crosses his arms and assumes a cocky posture. "I need you guys to look into this document." I reached into my bag and pulled out one of the two documents then handed it to Charles. "I want names of who approved and dates when they started getting this raise." Charles opened the document and flipped through the pages. "I don't think we can provide that. All there is in here is design plans for some kind of cleaning set." I snatched the document out of Charles' hand a bit embarrassed to have given him the wrong one. "Not that one, sorry. It's this one." I pull out the other document and hand it to Charles. "How long do we have?" He asked as he flipped through the document. "One week." I said and walked out. If I want anyone to deliver while making the work seem untouched and untampered, they are the guys to go to. Plus they're quick with their work. One week is honestly too much time, but I have things to prepare as well so I guess that extra time is my grace period. "All done?" Adam waves and smiles at me as I walk out the security room. I smile back briefly. "Adam, where do you plan to take me?" I relaxed myself switching over to friendly Lizzy from Chairwoman/work Elizabeth. "A night bar." Adam kept his smile, knowing damn well that I was not expecting that. A night bar? Wow okay….I guess, I mean the worse the date is the easier it would be to reject him. "Okay." With that we walked to Adam's car. He drove a 2016 black Toyota minivan. "Very impressive Adam, I don't usually get wooed like this, but um ~pfft~ very good." I tried to hold my laughter in. "Thank you, you know as a new intern this is luxury." Adam chuckles making me laugh out loud. I had forgotten for a split moment, Adam is an still intern at my company. I've been spending most of my breaks with him a lot lately so it had felt as though he was a full time employee. The drive lasted for 20 minutes. It was a surprise to me because the night bar was only 5 minutes away from my house. "This is the bar your bestie got drunk at." Adam smirked as he studied my face. I was indeed flabbergasted at this fact. "Oh...I see" I walked in to see a nice comfy decor and jazz music playing in the background. It was actually pretty calming. I liked it. "Want to sit at the bar or get a table?" Adam leaned in from behind and spoke softly in my left ear. I quickly moved back and covered my left ear. "The bar is fine." I said a little distracted on what he just did. Adam took my hand and rushed me to the bar. We sat down and the bartender walked up to us from behind the counter to ask "what'll it be?" "Yo, Joe can I get two house specials." Adam cocks his head up a bit. "Sure thing boss." Joe says and gets to working on the orders. "I need to use the bathroom real quick. Don't leave me please." I nodded off to Adam giving him the okay to relieve himself. He walked away towards the back of the building. "So Joe, does Adam come here often?" I need to know what kind of person Adam is. If he comes here all the time, it tells me that he spends his money impulsively. "First of all...my name's not Joe." The bartender corrected me. I felt embarrassed as I looked guilty calling him the wrong name. "My name is actually Adam, that guy you came with doesn't like that we got the same name. Says it confuses him." Adam shrugged and continued talking. "Also, he doesn't. I just know him from college." Adam puts one drink in front of me and another next to me. "Do you mind it when he calls you Joe?" Adam throws me a tired look that screamed "I'm tired of correcting that asshole." I couldn't help my giggles from breaking out in that moment. My Adam walked up to the bar at that moment catching my little display of joy. "Joe, stop hitting on my girl." He gives a stern look to bartender Adam. In response bartender Adam looks to me with a "I give up" expression. "Adam I don't think that's his name. Plus you can't claim what isn't yours." I tap on Adam's shoulder to get him to pay attention to me. "You will be mine in the future." Adam smiles as he makes his claim. I blush a little, startled at his comeback. How am I supposed to respond to that? "Well cheers! To our first official date." Adam picks his glass up and clinks it against mine. It made me feel like this was something to celebrate. However, the word date clung on to my skin like on old sticky wet cloth. I wasn't comfortable. Am I really ready to date again? Should I just roll with it? I found myself torn between my feelings of new found comfort with Adam and disgust with the idea of dating. I stayed with Adam throughout the whole date, because I felt like I owed it to him...and I was having a bit of fun. Throughout the date we drank some more drinks, and even sang a bit to some old songs that played. Maybe dating Adam is not so bad, I thought to myself. Adam dropped me off home. When we reached my house he got out of the car too. "Adam, what are you doing?" I question him. Surely he doesn't think he's getting lucky tonight? "I'm being a gentleman and am going to walk you to your door. Did you think I was gonna do something else?" He gives me one of those irritable smirks that make people want to punch whoever it is in the face. "Just needed to ask." I walked faster to my door. Adam pulled on my arm, stopping my fast pace. "Slow down, you're gonna bump into something." I looked to Adam with confusion on my face. Why don't I feel disgusted when he smiles at me? Why do I feel comfort around him? I never let guys touch me, yet with Adam….he does it and it feels normal. I wonder, if I kiss him would it feel normal too? We reach my door without me noticing. Should I test my theory out? Fuck it! I pull Adam close to me and gently kiss him on the lips. At first it was just a peck, but then things escalated quickly. Adam wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight and closer. He then chose to stick his tongue in my mouth. Sliding his right hand up to my head to lock me in. The feeling was overwhelmingly sensational. I let my instincts take over as I kiss back and wrap my arms around his neck. We were making out. We stop for a moment to catch our breath. That's when I was able to sort out the situation. I KISSED HIM! HE KISSED BACK! I didn't feel disgusted, I just felt lust. I wanted him and now he knows that. "Okay, goodnight. Drive safe." I said unwrapping my arms from him. "So we're gonna pretend like you didn't kiss me and just awkwardly walk away from all this chemistry we created?" Adam didn't let go of my waist. "Yes, yes we are. Because I have alcohol in my system and if we do anything more then it would spell trouble." I tapped him on his chest indicating for him to let go of me. "Alright, but I'm taking this as it's okay to take you on another date." Adam let go of me and ran to his car before I got the chance to say anything. I watched him leave and even waved goodbye. I walked into my house, closed the door behind me, and dropped to my knees. OH MY FUCKING GOD! That just happened. Okay….I felt my heart pound louder and louder with each passing second. Calm down me, it was just a kiss. You've shared kisses before, it's not your first. Think about it, there's no need to act all crazy….I remember this feeling. It was like this too with my ex. At first it was beautiful, then it all went down south. I don't want this feeling. I'll just get hurt again! Please dear God, don't let me be so foolish as to fall in love again. I felt a sharp and sudden pain come across my chest. It covered me completely. I remember now. All love does is give, so it can hurt when it takes. I place my hand on the lower part of my stomach. Love knows how to take too. I pick myself up, wipe my tears, and go to my room. Too many emotions today, I'm so tired. I kick my shoes off as I plop my body on my bed. Do I need to go to work tomorrow? I check my schedule. Lucky for me I don't. I rather not think about things such as love when I wake. It'll just be a problem. Oh right! The document! I can work on that. I sit up and search my room with my eyes for my bag. It wasn't there, oh that's right I must've left it in the living room. I got up and began searching for my bag again. It was not in my living room. A sense of panic washed over me as I desperately search my entire house. I check the bathroom, the kitchen, the guest rooms, I even go down stairs to the basement floor. It used to be a game room from the previous owners. I never saw a reason to go down there until today. There was nothing down there. No furniture, and/or games, NOTHING! It was safe to say I was panicking. Where, JUST WHERE DID I LEAVE MY BAG? I walk back upstairs worried and sober. Where could it be? I retraced my steps. If it's not here then I should check my room again. I walked to my room and did a proper search for my bag. I couldn't find it. I went back out to the living room and walked to my front door. Sat down on the floor and that's when I remembered….I left it in Adam's car!