"Do you know the CEO well? I heard he was pretty hidden, even in his own company headquarters." I started going to pick up my cup but something about her drew my eyes in her every direction. The way she elegantly walked toward the CEO's chair, the c...
There had to be a limit to how much one individual could shock another and yet while looking at this room that looked to be made for a King, it didn't seem I had reached that limit yet.
The room was spacious with a modern matt black theme. There was, like in her office, a whole wall of glass which led to a garden. I looked up to see the chandelier which matched the aesthetic of the room perfectly. Not to mention the bed that laid in the middle of it all, bigger than any I've owned myself.
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"You sure I'm not intruding? You don't have other people living here with you?" I asked. She had toured me around the whole house earlier and surely, it was huge but I couldn't imagine living here on my own. It would-
"Nope, it's just me,"
-suffocate me.
When she answered me, she was looking away and her voice seemed distant but she was quick to snap out of it, turning back to me with a smile on her face.
"There are a couple of rules though," She started and I turned to pay attention. I expected her to ask me to pay a percentage of the rent while I lived here, cook and clean for her but instead, the rules were,
"First, you clean up after yourself, if you're going to invite people over, tell me at least an hour before they arrive and lastly, there's a room next to your own- don't go into it. Anything else we can talk about if the issue arises."
She said it so casually that it took me a second to register it. "That's it?" She raised an eyebrow at my question so I continued, "you're not going to make me pay for living with you?"
"You work for me, Zain. You're going to pay me with my own money?" She smirked in amusement at my probably dumbfounded face and started walking off. "Make yourself at home!" I hear her call and I couldn't help but grin back.
I started unpacking before I sat on the bed, looking on at the garden before me. I breathed in and felt very..very relaxed. A feeling I hadn't really felt in a long time. For someone who lost a pretty decent apartment filled with expensive items I had bought over my career, you'd think I'd be more upset but I wasn't.
The greenery in front of me made me feel a sort of empty. I wasn't sure if it was something I'd like for a long time but right now, it seemed heavenly. There was no stress. No worry.
After what seemed like a five-minute meditation session, I got up and walked out of my room. I noticed the door to the room Carla told me not to go in. I restrained any curiosity I might have had and just assumed it was something like a sex room that was cliche for a lot of rich people to have. I wouldn't judge her if it was that and it made my mind wander a little but before it got too far, I stopped and walked away.
I noticed that the design of the whole place was simplistic. Mostly black and white or flashes of colour in some places. It wasn't until I got to the common area which was wide and held a conversation pit in the middle of it all, a unique design that I really liked.
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But after turning to look at something I saw on one of the walls from the corner of my eye, I couldn't help but chuckle. "'Not addicted' did you say?" I asked out loud, knowing Carla was in the kitchen not too far from where I was standing.
She popped her head around and looked at what I was looking at. The wall stacked with Monster energy drink cans from top to bottom. She walked next to me and looked as if she was caught with a crime which made me smirk down at her when she wasn't looking at me.
"As I said," she began, facing me now, "strong love," she then made her way back into the kitchen.
"Strong love..." I mumbled, looking back at the wall. I wonder what that felt like.
"Do you want anything to eat?" Carla's voice then came in. For some reason when she asked the question it was as if I'd been living here for years already, it felt natural.
"Sure,"
-
The day moved forward. I got used to the layout of the house, I learnt where everything in the kitchen was and Carla and I started acting a lot more comfortably than how it is at work. It was as if she was a different person but I guess that was to be expected. Being a business person required you to be a different character and I respected her for being able to do it so well.
It was 4 pm and I walked out into the garden. The time in between the light of day and the darkness of the night. The grey. My least favourite part of the day. I put a hand in my trouser pocket and pulled out a box of my nicotine snus, a habit that I've never been able to fight off.
I sat down on one of the chairs that were there and put a pack in my mouth before looking at the greenery around me. A greenery that was nicer when it wasn't grey.
"You have an addiction yourself hmm?" I look round at Carla who starts walking out into the garden herself with an energy drink in hand, this time it was her own brand.
I smiled back at her although right now it was a little forced. "A love, if that's what we're calling addiction," I answered and she nodded, seemingly understanding which I didn't doubt.
"Can I see?" She then asked, extending a hand. I nodded and handed her my box which she inspected for a bit. "120mg? Isn't the legal limit 20?"
"You gonna turn me in?" I teased and she gave me the box back.
"Energy drinks have an average of 180mg of caffeine in a 500ml can. If they're legal, I don't see why that isn't."
"Maybe it's because these are a stronger stimulant,"
"Nicotine is no worse than caffeine."
"You know your facts." I complimented and she shrugged.
"I care about my health," I gave her a look that made herself cringe slightly, "Okay fine, but I destroy my health to my own standards," she answers and I smile.
"The best."
"Exactly."
The company motto. It was almost humorous and yet she lived by it respectively.
"The house is very simplistic, I don't see have expensive portraits or furniture or anything of the sort. The only expensive thing here seems to be the house itself." I begin, "why's that? When I know you can afford much more."
"Typically we are consumers, the byproduct of lifestyle obsession but at some point, one has to realise that the things you own end up owning you." I froze after she said that, something about it hit me deeply. "Money will come and go so stop worrying about the materialistic and just," she turned to look at me with sparkling eyes,
