Raine (Gods of the Fifth Floor #2) - M.V. Ellis Page 0,24
shucking my jacket on when Raine’s door opened.
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?”
“Umm, home. It’s after five. I was just about to knock on your door to say goodbye.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.”
“Why? Is English not your first language all of a sudden? Because you’ve had no trouble understanding me all day. That being the case, I’m willing to bet that you one hundred percent understood when I told everyone to cancel everything and forget seeing the insides of their homes until we crack this thing.”
“I understood, but I didn’t think...”
“You didn’t think what?”
“Well, I’m not in the Creative Department, and I’m only a temp. My contracted hours are 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., so I just assumed that.”
“Well, people who assume are asses, or whatever the stupid saying is. You had no business assuming anything. You heard what I said to the others. The kitchen refrigerators are stocked with booze—now that it’s after five, feel free to crack whatever you want when you grab my beer, which I needed like yesterday, hence coming out of my office when I did. Dinner is on us too—order from wherever you like, and we’ll cover it.”
“Oh, no, that’s all fine. I just. I’m only paid until 5 p.m. And I have plans tonight, so...”
“Correction. You had plans. Now you have work. We’ll also cover a taxi home, so you won’t have to catch the subway late.”
“But—”
“Why are you still standing here? That beer isn’t going to get itself.” He crossed his arms firmly and leaned against the door jamb of his office. He was insane, he had to be. What the fuck kind of person kept a member of temp staff hostage that way? I could see that I wasn’t going to be able to reason with him, so I decided to play along, for a moment, anyway.
“Okay sure. Um… I’ll just go grab that beer.”
He was standing in the same spot when I returned, regarding me, gaze hooded and with his head tilted back, resting against the door frame. I found it confronting and disconcerting, or something. And sexy. I definitely found it sexy.
“Thanks. Where’s yours?”
“Oh, I don’t need... I’m good, thanks.”
“You don’t need what? You don’t drink?”
“No, I do, but not really during the week, and not generally at work. I prefer to keep my wits about me.” God knew I was going to need them for dealing with Raine.
“Hmpf.” With that, he backed into his room and slammed the door as though it had done something to him.
Once I was sure he was safely ensconced, I grabbed my phone and headed to the ladies bathroom, lining up a call to the agency as I walked.
“Hello, this is Personnel Matters. Carla speaking. How may I help you?”
“Oh, hi Carla, it’s Noa Hale again. I’m so glad you’re still there. I kind of need some urgent help.”
“Oh really, that doesn’t sound so good.” That was an understatement. “What is it?” She listened in silence as I explained the problem.
“That does sound like a tricky situation. Let me make a few calls, and get right back to you, okay?
“Okay, sure. Thank you.”
“No problem.”
I decided to stay in the bathroom and wait for her to return my call instead of going back and forth, which I felt seemed kind of suspicious. Carla called back in around ten minutes, which I though was within the bounds of a reasonable toilet break.
“Hi, Noa. So as Mr. Davies mentioned before...” Raine, I corrected in my mind. “...he would like you to stay on and work beyond your normal contracted hours. I’m sorry you have been blindsided with this request, as it wasn’t part of the original arrangement we had, so I was as in the dark about it as you were until I received your call.
“You’re free to say no, though we are hoping you won’t, and if it will help sway your decision any, Mr. Davies would like to offer you four times your normal rate for the extra hours.” What? Who the fuck did shit like that? Was he richer than God? “That’s in addition to the extra month’s pay he offered initially.”
Maybe he wasn’t only richer than God, but also had a God-complex. Actually, thinking about everything that had happened that day, there was no maybe about it. He one hundred percent thought he was JC himself. Or at least, a god. Either way, he was out of his mind.