Chapter 5
Elijah
I stood in the shower, the water tried its hardest to wash away the effects of the hangover I felt, but no matter how much it tried, it still pounded. I had a vague recollection of what went on earlier in the night, but how I ended up in bed somehow.
I had a party and not for any particular reason, I could, so I did, and plenty of women always flocked here when I threw one. It just made it easier and more convenient to get laid, for me anyway.
I got dressed and headed downstairs. The smell of strong coffee beckoned me. I needed to wake up before I headed to the office. I switched on the coffee machine and grabbed a couple of pills to ease my headache. I hoped they would do something to help with the pounding I still had in my poor head.
I took my cup and walked to the lounge. I wondered what carnage would await me. I was surprised when I could see two chicks still huddled together on the couch. They left nothing to the imagination. I could see they were butt naked, sprawled and asleep.
“Rise and shine,” I shouted. “Time to get going you two.”
“Ten more minutes,” the brunette mumbled.
I hated that, someone who didn’t do as I told them to, there is no such thing as a free lunch here and these two should understand that for fuck's sake.
“Move it. Come on,” I grumbled as my head pounded.
“Okay, already. Chill,” the blonde mumbled as she closed her eyes again.
I could see red. I grabbed all of their things and threw them out of the door and onto the long driveway.
“Move your asses. You've got about 10 seconds,” I was pissed at their non-conformity.
The girls sat up and rubbed their eyes, they tried to look for their clothes and turned to me looking puzzled.
“Your stuff's outside. See ya, and thanks for playing,” I said sarcastically waving to them, as they headed out of the door.
The brunette grabbed her clothes, turned and flipped me the finger. "What a dick," she mumbled under her breath.
The place was trashed. The party had been full of hangers on and leeches, and I wasn’t bothered. I could afford it, and it served my purpose. I grabbed my cell and called the maid service.
“Good Morning Mr. Hanson,” the lady said. “How may we help you today?”
“I want my house cleaned today,” I replied abruptly as my head throbbing.
“I’m sorry, but we are fully booked today Sir,” she answered. “Is tomorrow morning okay?”
“Did you not understand me? I said I want it done today,” I barked into the phone. “I give you good business, and if it’s not done by this afternoon, you can forget me using your services again. Is that clear?”
“Sorry Mr. Hanson, I’ll get it sorted,” she said sheepishly before I hung up on the bitch.
I arrived at the office and made my way through the customer service department. Work was the last place I wanted to be and what made it worse was the comments I heard from the staff as I walked past. Most days I ignored it, and I couldn’t give a fuck what they said, but today would be someone’s unlucky day.
“Kendall, what’s on for today?” I asked as I walked past her desk.
“A meeting at 12 with the shipping department, and another at three o’clock with your lawyer,” she replied as she flicked through her calendar.
“Cancel the three o’clock till tomorrow. I’m not in the mood today." I felt sick.
“Okay, I’ll do it now Sir,” she replied as she headed out of the office to run an errand or something.
“Grab me a coffee and a couple of pills will ya? Be a good girl,” I shouted as I closed my door.
Kendall returned with my coffee and pills. I looked out of the office and watched the staff in the call center section. Who would put their foot in it today I wondered? Maybe, Jefferson? I had heard he always voiced his opinions, he had been here for around eight months and seemed a likely candidate. He had been absent a few times and had not given any good reasons. Hmm, he didn’t look the sickly type to have sick days, he looked quite fit, hell he cycled to work so he should be fit. Maybe there were other reasons, like looking for another job, or another bullshit excuse.
I cast my gaze to another desk, Archie maybe, he had been here for a few years but was getting a bit old and made mistakes, he did have a family, but that wouldn’t be my problem. He needed to lift his fucking game.
“It’s nearly 12, Sir,” Kendall said as she popped her head around the door. “The meeting is due to start.”
“Anything I need before we go in?” I asked as I approached her desk.
“No, not really, shipments are up, but we did have one customer complaint about a missed collection,” Kendall said.
“Okay, noted. I’ll deal with that,” I said. “You ready?”
“Coming now Sir. Right behind you,” she replied in a mess of papers and fumbling.
We entered the meeting room and found the whole shipping department present. Their eyes were fixed on me, yet I sensed their thoughts were somewhere else. I went around the table one by one and listened to their statistics, I then informed them of a new customer who was coming on board who would be looking for very large consignments of sea freight. A slight groan rose from the far end of the table, but I ignored it.
“One final thing, I heard there was a customer complaint about a missed collection, who was this for?” I asked the room.
Hayley raised her hand to provide the information. “It was Smythson, Sir,” she said nervously.
I found Hayley cute. She was worth keeping, she was good to look at, a 30-year-old, single mother, her ex-prick of a boyfriend was a real douche.
“Hayley, was the complaint about you?” I asked her.
“No, Sir,” she replied as she bowed her head and glanced at everyone as they looked at her.
“Shit, I made the mistake. I would leave right now if I had another job,” Archie muttered to Charlie.
“Archie, you have something of interest for everyone to hear?” I asked in a commanding voice.
“Er, not really,” Archie replied nervously. Fucking little prick.
“I beg to differ. What did you just whisper,” I said. “Don’t make me out to be a liar.”
“I just said that it was my mistake,” he replied as he pushed his glasses up on his nose.
“And the second part? What was the second part?” I returned the question to him. “You mentioned a job, am I not correct?” I had him now.
The color drained from Archie’s face. “Yes sir,” he mumbled.
“And what did you say about a job exactly?” I asked as I started to have some fun at Archie’s expense.
“I just said, if I had another job I would leave today,” Archie answered as he bowed his head.
“I can help you with that. Grab your stuff and go now,” I yelled across the table. “Kendall, call security and have Archie escorted off the premises, and get his severance pay sorted.” I leaned back toward Kendall who looked shocked.
“Anyone else wishing to go? Do it now. It’s not a problem with me. Your money will be on the table if you decide to go. Jefferson, you may have been thinking about it for all your absent days, you want to go?” I said as I looked at each of them individually.
“I’m okay here, Sir. It’s just that I have a personal problem with my boyfriend,” he replied.
I sat in mild shock for a moment. Damn, I never realized he was gay, not that I cared. Good for him. Men were easier to deal with than women any day of the week.
“Okay then, back to work. All of you,” I said as everyone left, muttering to each other.
I had no problem firing someone. It was part of being a boss. They were just employees, and their personal life wasn’t anything to do with me. I was just glad I had no problems like they did. I thought back to how Dad had taught me to stand firm and be tough, it was the only way a business could go forward, and it was true that weak people never survived.
I returned to the office after lunch and was just about to tell Kendall I was going home. She knocked on the door and entered my office before me.
“Can I have a quick word please,” Kendall asked as she clasped her hands in front of her.
“What do you want?” I asked. I guessed she wanted something. It wasn’t very often she came into the office and asked to speak to me.
“Is it possible to be absent tomorrow?” she asked quiet and unsure.
“What you want a day off for? Fuck, you have an interview somewhere else?”
“No, it’s my dog, he’s sick,” she answered. “I need to take him to the vet, please.”
“For fuck's sake, Kendall. I just got rid of one person, and nearly got rid of another for being absent,” I said in a demeaning tone. “How do you think that will make me look to have you taking a day off? I’ll tell you. I’d look like a fucking hypocrite. Don’t you think?"
I had always hated pets and known they were a complete waste of time. All you have to do is take care of them, where is the joy in that?
“I know, but, it’s, it’s ah, it doesn’t matter,” she replied with a tear in her eye.
“As much as I think you are a good employee, don’t think that sob story will change my mind, a simple tear from you will make me look like a weak fuck to rest of the staff,” I said sternly.
“What stands for one stands for everyone, I don’t want everyone crying just to get a day off or to save being dismissed. Take Jefferson for example. You want him to come in here crying, saying he has a boyfriend problem, sob, sob and I put my arm around him and go, 'there, there, there, everything will be all right, of course, he loves you.' It just isn’t gonna happen, sweetheart."
Her face went pale, and another tear fell.
“Just find another way around it and get back to your desk. I feel like shit today and don’t want to ever hear about your stupid fucking dog again,” I said. “Is that clear?”
“Yes, Sir. I’ll try and sort something else out if possible,” she replied.
“I’m sure you can manage to think of something. You have a decent brain between your ears, not bad for a blonde,” I added as she walked toward the door with her shoulders hunched.
I turned on the TV and flicked through the channels. My cell phone rang. Peter. What the fuck did he want now? The phone stopped ringing, and the message came up.
"You have one voicemail." I turned my attention back to the TV, but the cable sucked. It was all repeats.
Peter called again on the cell, and I ignored it. I had nothing to say to him, and I had no idea what he wanted from me. It was definitely time he sorted his own problems out for once.
“Kendall,” I called.
“Yes, what can I get you?” she replied through my open door.
“Just, if Peter calls, tell him you haven’t seen me today? You have no idea where I am." A migraine was coming on fast.
“Okay, no problem. Any message for him?” she asked as she waited for my reply.
“Nah, just tell him I have probably gone on a bender again,” I chuckled.
“You really want me to tell him that?” she replied as she smiled a fake smile.
“Don’t be dumb. You may be blonde, but you’re not all stupid,” I said raising my eyebrows.
I turned off the TV and grabbed my jacket, ignoring the hurt look on her pretty face. I’d had enough of the day and had decided to go and see if the house had been cleaned yet.
Kendall was on the phone as I approached her desk, she mouthed the word “Peter” to me. With note, I headed toward the elevator.
Fuck today. It was already fucking me.