Nicole
Mr. Lee, I mean, Jin and I exchanged numbers last night. He called this morning to let me know he was outside. I decided, since there was a possibility that'd I'd be riding with him to the charity event as well, that I might as well already be dressed.
Walking down to his car, I wondered if he would be dressed for the event or not. Jin was searching through the trunk of his car for something by the time I reached it.
"How do I look?"
He turned his head towards me, then upon attempting to stand up straight he thrashed his head against the trunk's door. Jin held his head and silently writhed in pain.
"That bad, huh?" I joked.
He regained his composure, "No, you look... good. Let's go." Jin sighed, closing the trunk.
"What were you looking for?"
"I just wanted to check and see if I left a spare tux in the back. I didn't think to bring one with me," he turned to eye me. "Or dress ahead like you did."
"Why did you think you'd have a tux in your trunk?" I almost laughed.
"I sometimes leave spare suits in the trunk, just in case."
"Sounds like you." I said, settling into the passenger seat.
Jin started the car and pulled off. "Oh, so you suppose you know me, do you?"
I smirked, "Well, I can't say that any of your actions are unpredictable, so yes. I'd say I've got a pretty good feel on your character." I lied.
There had been plenty of times that I'd seen Jin seemingly step out of character and do things I wouldn't have expected. Of course... that was only when Jasmine came around.
Jin scoffed in response, but didn't argue.
We arrived at 8, and Roy, Jin's mechanic was already waiting inside his small office building, coffee in hand. He quickly put down his coffee once we walked inside. He hugged Jin upon standing up.
So they're friends.
"Jin you're becoming more of a success everytime I see you. You know a man's reached the top of his game when he's got a beautiful woman by his side."
"Roy." Jin stopped him. "She's my employee. She happened to have some car issues as I was leaving work yesterday."
I introduced myself to Roy and he did the same.
"Did you take a look at the car?" Jin asked.
"I did. As it turns it she will have to replace her fuel filter. But these brakes are rusty, and these tires need to be rotated and aligned."
"How much will you charge to replace the fuel filter?" I asked.
"For you," Roy thought. "I'll only charge $50, and that's including parts and labor."
"And everything else you mentioned?"
Roy looked at Jin, before turning back to me. "A complete brake repair - one that includes pad, rotor and caliper replacement - typically averages between $300 and $800. For you, I'll do it for $250. The wheel alignment'll be $125 and the tire rotation, $25."
"Yeah, I'll just get the fuel filter replaced for now. Thanks though." I said pulling out my wallet and handing Roy my card.
"Gotcha." Roy said as he seated himself behind an old computer.
Once Roy was finished with my debit card, I headed to the restrooms. Since I'd been so busy getting ready this morning, I'd no time to pay much attention to my bladder.
On the way back to Roy's desk, I saw Roy handing Jin a card, Jin thanked him and said, "Its better to get everything done on it. Better safe than sorry."
"Do you treat all your employees this way?" Roy snickered. "If so I might just have to close down the shop and come work for you."
"Jin, I can't let you do that." I said, stepping closer to the two men.
Jin sighed. Roy got up to leave. "Wait Roy, reimburse him please. I dont even have time to wait for all of that to get done."
"The parts won't get here 'till Friday, so you'll have to wait anyway. Even after the parts get here on Friday, I'm not sure what time I'll be done with your car. So you might need to come Saturday to pick it up."
"Still, Jin I cannot let you pay for that! Roy please, give him his money back."
Roy gave Jin a look. Jin nodded his head, as if to excuse Roy from the conversation. Roy winked, before promptly exiting the office to go out back with the damaged cars.
"Roy-" I started, on my way to follow him out the door.
"Ms. Pearson." Jin said, stopping me with a hand wrapped around my arm. My chest felt hot.
"No! You cannot just pay a large sum of money for my personal expenses. Isn't that against some sort of company policy?"
"Nicole, you can't drive around in that heap of metal, without taking care of it, and expect to be safe."
"Since when do you care about my safety so intensely, Mr. Lee?" I asked, making sure to remind him of our relationship - employer and employee.
"I-," he stopped. "I care about the safety of all my employees."
I rolled my eyes. "Regardless, Jin, just let me take care of this."
"It's already been done Nicole. And Roy doesn't do refunds." He smiled at me.
"Don't smile at me like you're innocent. That was way too much money for you to have just... paid it! My safety and I have nothing to do with you."
"We'll be late. We should get going." Jin said on his way out the door.
I followed him, begrudgingly. Once we'd strapped ourselves into his car I asked, "You paid for all of it?"
"Just the brakes, rotation, and alignment." Jin said, pulling off onto the road.
"So everything then."
"No," Jin interrupted, wagging his finger in the air. "You paid for the fuel filter."
"So now I owe you, $400."
"You don't owe me anything."
"Yes! I do. And I hate being in debt to anyone for any reason. The exact reason why I worked to pay my way through college."
"Stop it. I didn't do this to have you indebted to me." Jin sighed.
"Then why did you do it?"
"Because you need to be safe! And frankly I'm surprised you're not more concerned for your safety."
"The car has lasted me this long, it can wait to get a few more repairs. So now yes, I do owe you $400, and I will pay you $400."
"Fine."
"Fine!"
We sat in silence for a while before I had another 2 cents to add. "And who does that?! Just takes it upon themselves to pay for something so expensive. What are you my sugar daddy?" I rolled my eyes.
"Don't be ridiculous."
"Me?! You're the one who's being ridiculous!"
Jin rolled his eyes, "It's already been done! There's no sense in arguing over it now."
Now he looked irritated, when I was the one who should be irritated. Once we arrived to work, after a silent ride through the elevator, we went our separate ways. I headed to my cubicle and he to his office.
I sighed after putting my bag down. I hadn't expected for the morning to turn out like this. I was going to offer to treat him to breakfast, for helping me out last night... and for picking me up this morning. My stomach growled as I imagined having stopped at a nice little breakfast spot for eggs, grits, and bacon. I picked my bag up again and headed downstairs for a bagel and coffee from the cafe on the first floor.
Standing in line I recognized the woman in front of me. It was the same woman who I sat next to at the conference we held in The Guinevere Hotel. She was dressed in a formal, strapless, knee-length dress. It was silver, but not shiny. It was a subtle color, that matched her vibe.
"I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who dressed up early for the charity ball." I said, leaning in a bit, to let her know that I was talking to her.
She turned around, eyed me, and then smiled. "Oh, hey." She said, seeming to recognize me. "Yeah, might as well. What are you getting?" She said, nodding toward the menu overhead the cashier.
"I usually get a chocolate croissant, but just a plain bagel and coffee for me today."
"Oh, if you're going for a bagel, always have Trina warm it up for you. If not she'll just give you one of these out here."
"What's wrong with that?" I laughed.
"They sit out all night, they're stale as can be. They only put new ones in the front when the supply is really low, but if you ask for a warmed one, she'll go to the back where the toaster is and get a fresh one out of the bag, toast it and bring it out to you."
I laughed, "Wow, you must know everything about this cafe. I come for coffee and sometimes a croissant, but that's about all I've ever tried. My name's Nicole." I said, holding my hand out to shake hers.
"Tiana." She said, reaching out to shake my hand. She turned around to order, as she was next in line and I racked my brain thinking of where I had seen or met her before.
I ordered my toasted bagel and coffee, before heading back to my cubicle.
At the work day's end, I was feeling hungry again. I hadn't gotten a chance to leave for lunch. So, I headed back down to the little cafe in our building and saw Tiana in the sitting area.
Quickly I ordered a BLT sandwich and headed in the direction of the small table she sat at. "You mind?" I said pointing in the direction of the empty seat at her table. She held out her hand towards the seat, permitting me to take it.
"I ended up skipping lunch."
"Me too." Tiana sighed. "Sometimes I think I love this job more than I love myself. I practically slave for it."
I laughed. "I get that. I love your outfit, by the way." I smiled.
"Thanks," she smiled back, "I like yours too."
Before I could ask where she got it from, a familiar face and scent was abruptly before us. "Well, well, well. If it isn't the intern who's always with the Chairman. I'm surprised you're not with him now." The woman said, flipping her bright blonde curls over her shoulder.
"What do you want Iris?" Tiana sighed.
Iris.
"I wasn't talking to you."
My eyes almost popped out of my head. If the air wasn't tense before, it certainly was now.
I heard a sigh from behind me and turned to find Jin avoiding Iris' gaze and Hugh shaking his head.
"Nicole," Jin said, "Let's go I need to go get dressed before the event, so we should leave now."
Iris let out a huff, her mouth slightly ajar from disbelief.
"If you need to get dressed, I can take her. I'm heading there straight from work." Hugh said.
Jin said nothing. I wasn't so sure I wanted to ride with Jin anyway. He still looked like he was in an unpleasant mood and I wasn't going to be the one to apologize, when he was clearly in the wrong here.
"Thanks Hugh," I smiled.
Jin sighed. "Fine. I'll see you there." He said to no one in particular, and walked off.
I was kind of looking forward to seeing how the boss-man lived, but riding with Hugh, would spare me Jin's attitude.