Nothing But Hate

Chapter Four

He walked over to the receptionist, who he was somewhat familiar with. He didn't come to Paige's office often, but he did know a few people around. He raised the paper bags he was holding, made small talk with the receptionist, and eventually got into the elevator.

"Hey Matt." Tucker greeted a random coworker that he had met at Paige's birthday party last year.

"Oh, hey Tuck! How's the job?" Matt smiled.

"All good!" Tucker replied, not stopping. He waved bye and Matt did the same, going back to staring at the screen in front of him.

Paige's secretary, Harry, saw Tucker coming and immediately buzzed Paige to let her know. He smiled at Tucker, giving a small wave. Tucker smiled back, dropping one of the paper bags on his table with a wink before entering his sister's office. Paige looked up from her laptop for a second when Tucker walked in.

She was furiously typing something, and Tucker sat down, waiting patiently for her to be done with whatever it was that she was doing. He looked at the photoframes on her table, and picked up a random one.

He smiled at the picture, it was of the two of them with Dan when they went on a camping trip a couple of years back. The photograph was taken by Tucker's then boyfriend, it wasn't serious and they broke up a month later, but the dude was fun nonetheless.

Paige sighed, shutting her laptop screen down. Tucker kept the paper bags on the table, sliding them towards his sister. She took out the containers from the bags, smiling when she saw the food was from her favourite restaurant.

"Sushi?" Paige grinned.

"Dumplings too." Tucker replied, making Paige look at him with an amused expression.

"Okay, out with it," She opened the boxes, "What do you want?"

"Why would I want anything?" Tucker frowned, pulling one of the boxes towards himself.

"Because you've brought me lunch a total of six times and the last time that you did, you told me you crashed my car and broke the headlights," Paige narrowed her eyes, "So either you want something, or you did something. What is it?"

"You wound me, sis," Tucker sighed dramatically, "What if I just want to have a nice lunch with my favourite sister?"

"I'm your only sister," Paige deadpanned, "So, are you going to tell me or do I need to poke you with these chopsticks?"

"Fine," Tucker rolled his eyes, "There's a case against your—"

"Fred? The Accountant? Yeah, I heard. What about it?" Paige raised a brow, before realisation hit her, "Don't tell me that you're going to be the one prosecuting the case!"

"So what if I was?" Tucker asked.

"You know that's not going to look good for me, Tuck." Paige sighed.

"I'm not going to fight you on this. Which is why I came to ask for permission." Tucker said truthfully.

"You don't have it." Paige huffed.

"Dan warned me you're in your bridezilla mode." Tucker muttered, stuffing his face with sushi.

"That idiot said what?" Paige snapped.

Tucker grinned in response, not saying anything further. The topic of conversation changed after that. They talked a little about the stock market, and a lot about the wedding. Tucker told Paige about his recent date with Divij, and that he's unsure about inviting him to the wedding as his date or not.

Tucker knew he was going to be busy during the wedding. It was his sister and his best friend, so of course. He has known Dan's family for almost as long as he has known Dan, and they absolutely adored him. He always considered them as his extended family and now they really were going to be that.

Once they were done, the two cleaned up together. Paige reminded Tucker of the family dinner they were having Friday night, and Tucker made a note to tell his secretary to make a note. Tucker bid his sister goodbye, and left her office. Once again, Harry shyly waved as Tucker walked past his desk, and Tucker just chuckled in response.

Tucker waited by the elevator, he cursed internally when it opened to reveal none other than Callum Kaufman. He was dressed sharp, as always, and was typing on his phone as Tucker got into the elevator. He looked up from his phone for a second, before looking back down.

"Mr. Conway." Callum greeted.

"Kaufman." Tucker replied. None of them said anything for a few seconds, and the air was tense. The silence was awkward and uncomfortable, making Tucker frown slightly.

The two times that Tucker had spoken to Callum, the man was always up for a conversion and it was Tucker that had to cut them short. But this time, Callum paid him no mind. The only reason Tucker could think of was Callum seeing Tucker on his date. Was the man homophobic? Tucker scoffed at the thought.

"What was that for?" Callum asked.

"You see me out with a man and suddenly you can't even look at me." Tucker pointed. He knew he was jumping the gun, but the man frustrated him and he wasn't in the mood to hide it.

"You think I'm bothered by your sexuality?" Callum raised a brow, "You think I'm homophobic?"

"Who knows?" Tucker shrugged.

"You must. Why would you imply it otherwise?" Callum said, making Tucker turn away and walk a step forward, facing the elevator doors.

He looked at the display. They were at floor 16, Callum had pressed 7, just nine more floors. The two stayed quiet, and Tucker kept his eyes glued to the screen, watching the number go down. There were only three floors left, when Tucker felt Callum walk up right behind him, way too close for his liking.

"I hope you realise how wrong you are about me." Callum whispered. He was so close, Tucker could feel his breath on him, making his hair stand on his neck. Callum must've noticed his goosebumps, because the man chuckled and took a step back.

Right on cue, the elevator doors opened, and Callum walked out. As the doors were closing, Callum turned slightly, looking back at Tucker from over his shoulder. Tucker was staring right back, and he wasn't looking happy. Callum smirked, making Tucker grit his teeth even harder.

Tucker went back to his office.

He was going to take the case.

***