Billionaire Stole My Panties (Being Edited)

CHAPTER 10.

I was in bed, listening to my neighbour argue with her boyfriend about him
cheating on her with a woman named Rebecca. They've been at it since 4 am. It's too early for this. I rolled onto my side and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. There was something beneath me. It was my phone. And it's dead. I reached for my charger and plugged it in before getting out of bed and going to the bathroom.

I got to work almost an hour late. No surprise there. I paused the moment I walked inside. I've never seen the lobby this busy before. People were marching around  the lobby angrily and a few women were crying to my right. A man I've seen a few times in the Creative department stormed past me. "What's going on?" I whispered. "I've been a away two days and all hell breaks loose—" I trailed off when I realised how much the lobby had changed. The once partially empty, lobby containing a couple of paintings on the wall and 3 black leather couches, four matching Lawsons, and a coffee table is now unrecognizable.

The patina grey oak laminated flooring made me want to dig it up and take it home with me. The walls were white with partially protruding polished grey oak trees. The left had polish pine stools along the walls forming an L in the corner and in front of them was a white squared table. The right had the same setup but the difference was the elevator in the center of the right wall and a security guard stood beside it. There were three opaque glass partitions on both sides, three feet away from the sitting area. They were set in a parallel line beside each other and equally spaced. Each partition had water running into a square hole. There was also a pine partition with Spectrum in gold letters behind the secretary's desk. The desk was polished pine, forming a semi-circle around—Parker! Parker from Starbucks. He's dressed in white with a black and gold tie. The place looks great, Joel. It really does.

I turned to ask Michael what's going on but to my surprise the man standing there wasn't Michael. He's tall and in his early fifties with blue eyes and a crooked smile. He's dress in a dark suit with a black and gold geometric tie. I smiled back. "Umm...sorry to bother you but.......what is going on? And where is Michael?"

"I have no idea. Sorry...but I do know  Michael is Mr Pereira's driver or something like that." He replied.

"Driver?." I said under my breath. "Oh...I'm Aubrey."

His smile fell. "Oh. I'm sorry my dear but Mr Pereira had instructed me to send you home until Monday." I frowned. Why didn't he tell me this last night? And here I was feeling guilty for being late..

"Why next Monday?" I asked before I broke into a coughing fit. "Sorry."

"He didn't say." He replied. "My name is Benjamin."

"Well...nice to meet you, Benjamin. I'll see you Monday." I told him as I turned on my heel. I spun around when I heard Bethany's voice. She was struggling to run in her heels. Even Beth was wearing a uniform. A black dress embroidered with golden geometric shapes.  I jogged to meet her. She looked tired. "Beth, what's going on?" I asked. She flashed her straight teeth at me nervously.

"Bre, it's best we talk elsewhere." She replied quickly, looking around.

"What? Why?"

"Just come with me." She said pulling me by my arm. "Morning again, Benny." She said as she pulled me to the elevator.

"Morning, Miss Nicholas." He replied. "Bye Miss Aubrey."

"Bye Benjamin," I told him before she pulled me to the elevator. She pressed G and in a matter of minutes we were in the underground parking lot. Her red Mini Cooper was parked on the right-hand corner. I looked over my shoulder and saw the entire left corner was reserved for Joel. Four cars could've parked there. Why does he need that much space? She unlocked her car and we got in. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and attached it to her phone holder before she dialled Joelle's number. He answered on the fifth ring.