{ #3 } Twisted Moon (MxM || 18+)

Chapter 12 - Authority

Although I took my time driving downtown and even got stuck into some traffic jams on the way, I am still half an hour early when I take the ramp to the underground parking lot beneath the Pierce building and park my car in one of the spots reserved for visitors. It is only my third or fourth time here - well, I usually don't visit Josh in his office, right? - but once again, I truly appreciate the elegance of the construction and its beautiful hall as I walk out of the elevator and to the reception desk to announce myself.

"Good morning, I'm Camden Hall. I'm here to see Mr. Pierce, but I'm a bit early," I state to the young receptionist.

"Good morning, Sir. I'll inform his assistant," she replies politely as she picks up her phone. "Hi Ally! Mr. Hall is here to meet Mr. Pierce..."

".........."

"I will let him know, thank you!" she then says, hanging up the phone. "Mr. Pierce will be available in a few minutes. You can take the elevator to your right, using this code, and go to the twenty-first floor, Sir," she then tells me kindly, putting a little note on the counter.

I thank her and make my way to the lifts, calling what I know to be Joshua's private elevator. My friend, being a freaking billionaire, could live a much more extravagant life than he actually does. He certainly has a beautiful mansion, nice cars, a housekeeper and a chauffeur, but he is not one of those haughty wealthy people who think the sun shines out of their asses; probably the result of hanging out with middle class people like Mark, Aaron or me. However, the man doesn't like to waste his time, so this is not surprising that he has his own elevator that takes him directly to the right floor without having to stop at all of them. When I reach the 21st, I am met with a blushing Liam who is just about to step into another lift. I know that Liam doesn't work on that floor anymore and as we briefly greet each other before the doors slide shut, I wonder what he was doing here. Well, I can easily guess by the discreet smirk on Joshua's face. Shaking my head, I ignore my friend who is waiting for me by the entrance of his office and first stop by his personal assistant's desk to greet her.

"Hi Ally! How are you doing?"

"Hi Mr. Hall, I'm doing good, thank you! How are you doing?" she says warmly. I sometimes get to talk to her on the phone when Josh needs some appointments with me or when I can't reach him on his mobile phone, but it has been a long time since I last saw her and I can tell that maternity has made her look even more glowing and beaming.

"I'm all good. How's your son doing?"

"Oh, he's doing wonderfully well! He's growing like a green bean and you wouldn't tell that he had such serious issues when he was born..." she says with a chuckle.

"Good to hear!" I reply with a warm smile.

"I don't have all day, Mr. Hall..." Joshua says with mock irritation.

"I'm early, so don't act like we're running late..." I reply, rolling my eyes at him.

"You could have made an effort and worn a suit..." he then teases me, looking at my casual clothes and taking a step back to let me in before he shuts the door. "But you trimmed your beard, that's a nice effort!"

"Screw you, Josh, I'm not your employee and I'm going to work afterward. I'd love to see you manipulate some patients all tied up in one of your beautiful business suits!" I reply and we both laugh. "By the way, what was the elegant Liam doing here?" I then ask as we take a seat at a round table. The smirk instantly gets back on his face.

"We're having lunch out together in about an hour, and I won't have much time to prepare him for a quickie in the restrooms, so... the plug will do it for me," he replies with a grin of satisfaction.