My lovely driver

2. The funeral

"But he's really weird, Prem!", the driver whined as he sat at the end of his boss's assistant's desk as he waited for the man to finish a phone meeting to drive him to another appointment.

"Fluke, be careful! He might hear you!", the assistant scolded.

"It's a good thing that he listens! Maybe then stop being this dry and cold guy that nobody can stand!", Fluke said, sticking his tongue in the direction of the CEO's office door as if the wood were the direct representative of the man locked inside.

"Fluke, I know he can seem a little cold. But believe me! I've worked for him for years and I have nothing to complain about! He's very fair and helpful. If you do the job right, he'll never have a reason to complain! And he has already given you the immense opportunity to work for him even without having at least one of the qualifications he was looking for!"

"I know, I know! I'm grateful to him for that!" the driver explained "The point is that he can complain about everything, even when I'm doing my job right! You needed to see this guy the other day! He was reading some papers in the car and got annoyed when I tried to turn on the radio to pass the time. In fact, I'm pretty sure he growled when I did that…", Fluke commented, narrowing his eyes searching for the exact memory in his mind.

"Fluke, you shouldn't turn the ra--", but the assistant didn't have time to complete his sentence because the man they were talking about left his office at that moment.

"I need to go to the address I just texted you. As soon as possible!" Ohm didn't wait for a reply or for the driver to accompany him, which was already quite difficult with his long legs and long strides, and it became more complicated when he was in such a hurry.

Fluke hurried to the car before the man and opened the door as he had been instructed during his training. When he read the message the CEO had sent, he didn't recognize the address, but when they got there, he realized it was a hospital.

The man had barely waited for the driver to park the car properly and had run out of the vehicle to enter the hospital. Fluke tried to follow shortly thereafter, but was stopped at the gatehouse for not being related to anyone hospitalized there. So he thought about calling Prem and asking for advice on what to do, but ended up giving up.

The assistant was right, Fluke had been lucky to get that job that had so many good advantages, it was no place for him to complain if his boss had some bad manners. He wasn't the loveliest person in the world himself, so he understood well that each person have their moments.

The problem was, Ohm had taken too long inside the building.

Fluke was checking his watch for the umpteenth time and had just found out that the CEO had entered the hospital more than 4 hours ago and had not returned yet. The driver was beginning to feel his bladder tightening and his stomach complaining of hunger. They had left before lunchtime and now it was almost mid-afternoon. He gave up waiting and decided to call Prem for a clue.

"Go out to eat and go to the bathroom and come back right away. If you need to go out after that, send a message to the boss's phone first and come back as soon as possible.", Prem limited himself to saying.

The assistant's answer didn't clarify much, but it did allow Fluke the slack he needed to relieve himself. So he accepted without thinking twice. However, as he ate at a nearby restaurant, the driver kept thinking about the man who looked distressed as he left the office. And considering the amount of time he spent at the hospital, it had to be serious. He then did his best to use as little time as possible on his break so that he could return to his post soon and wait for the boss.

It was another 10 hours after that before Fluke caught sight of Ohm leaving the hospital. In fact, he was slow to recognize his own boss because he looked more like a low-production zombie movie extra with messy hair and dark smudges under his eyes. The big problem was that it didn't look like cheap makeup, leaving the driver totally at a loss for how to act.