50 Shades of Drake 3 and 4

Chapter Thirty-Two

    Destiny smothered a yawn with her arm, then resumed typing. It had taken a lot of effort, but now that most people were out of the office, she was starting to get into the groove of working. After the news of Aubrey's questioning broke out, everyone wanted to talk about it. They all targeted Destiny as the number one source for any information pertaining to Aubrey. More people knew about her and Aubrey than she'd expected. Their questions didn't end until she forced them to. She locked herself away in her office, away from all of the curiosity and scrutiny. Several of them sent her instant messages on her computer, asking more questions. She ignored them.

    Beyond her office door, she heard the different employees that left at the end of their shifts. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes, thankful for the peace and quiet. I wonder how Aubrey is doing, how his questioning went. Has he left town? How come he hasn't contacted Brian? Or maybe he has and Brian just hasn't told me yet?

    A short knock sounded on her office door.

    She sat up straighter in her chair. "Yes? Come in."

    The door cracked open and Brian poked his head in. "Hey."

    "Hi," she returned.

    "I thought I was going to be able to leave out at normal time, but it's going to be a late night for me. You can go home, if you want."

    She shook her head. "I just started working, for real, like an hour ago. My head has been all over the place. If you're pulling a late night, I can, too."

    He smiled. "All right, then...how about I order some food for us? I can pick it up." 

    Her stomach grumbled in response.

    Laughing, he said, "I guess that's a yes?"

    She grabbed her stomach, frowning. "You heard that?"

    "I think everyone in the next office building heard that," he joked. "I thought you brought lunch with you today."

    "I didn't eat it. Everyone was going crazy over the Aubrey thing. I didn't want to leave my office. People kept asking questions."

    He rolled his eyes. "Tell me about it. I've gotten it from all sides today." He opened the door a little wider. "What do you feel like eating? I was thinking Thai."

    "Pad Thai would be perfect right now."

    He flashed a grin at her. "Perfect. I'll put the order in and let you know when I'm going to pick it up."

    "Okay. Thank you, Brian."

    "Sure thing." He closed the door.

    She returned to working, and decided to put some music on since the employees who would have complained about it were gone for the day. She tuned into an R&B radio station's website and clicked the option to stream the radio station's live feed.

    Twenty-five minutes later, a dinging sound came from her computer's speakers.

BRIAN DAVIES: The food will be ready in about ten minutes, so I'm leaving out now. Did you need me to grab anything else? Something to drink?

DESTINY RICHARDS: No, I'm good with water. But thank you.

BRIAN DAVIES: All right...I'll be back in a bit.

DESTINY RICHARDS: Maybe I should ride with you.

BRIAN DAVIES: Aw...are you going to miss me?

DESTINY RICHARDS: You wish. No, but...I don't know. With everything that's going on...

BRIAN DAVIES: You're safe within Graham Enterprises. Everyone needs a badge to get in, and I'm only going to be gone for like...twenty minutes or so. Max.

    Destiny mulled over his typed words.

BRIAN DAVIES: I mean...if you want to come with me, then be my guest.

DESTINY RICHARDS: No, it's okay. You're right. I should just...try to get more work done.

BRIAN DAVIES: All right, I'll bring the food to you once it's here.

DESTINY RICHARDS: Thank you again, Bri.

BRIAN DAVIES: Sure thing.

    She minimized the chat window, and went back to working.

    Five minutes later...Knock, knock. 

    Her hands stilled on her computer keyboard, and she shifted her gaze over to her office door.

    Knock, knock.

    It's too early for him to have gotten the food already, isn't it? But maybe he hasn't left yet and he needed to check with me about something else. She stood up from her desk and walked over to the door. Then she opened it. No one was there. Confused, she stepped outside of her office, turning her head left and right. No one. With a frown, she went back into her office and closed the door. She stood next to the door for a moment, just in case someone knocked again. No one didn't, so she returned to her desk.

    Two minutes later...Knock, knock.

    "Who is it?" Destiny called out.

    No response.

    "Come in!" she told whoever was on the other side of the door.

    Nothing. Quiet. 

    She scratched her head. What the hell is going on?

    Knock, knock.

    Growling in frustration, she leapt out of her chair and ran over to the door. She yanked it open with wide eyes.

    Jeremiah held his hands up. "Hey - is everything okay?"

    She blew out a puff of air in relief. "I'm sorry...someone was playing games with me, knocking on my door and then disappearing."

    He looked around the office. "It looks like it's just you and me here."

    "Yeah." She wiped at her brow. "So what can I help you with? What's up?"

    "The damned copier's jammed again," he said sheepishly. "I always try to fix it, but...I don't have the same magic touch you do."

    She smiled and shook her head. "It's so easy. I'm going to teach you, just watch."

    "Please do," he encouraged softly.

    She walked past him and crooked a finger at him. "Come with me, grasshopper." Most of the lights in the office were turned off. Before she could even think to wonder why, she realized that the copier was making strange sounds. "I've never heard it make that noise before," she mused.

    The top of the copier was open and its laser lights flashed up to the ceiling, creating elaborate shadows across the dark office.

    "Do you think you can fix it?" Jeremiah asked her.

    She glanced at him. "Umm...I think so. I hope so." She turned back to the copier and took another step closer to it.

    Jeremiah came up behind her and peered over her shoulder.

    She jumped when she felt him brush against her.

    Sensing her discomfort, he apologized quickly, "I'm sorry...I'm just trying to see what you do. So I know how to fix it the next time."

    She nodded. "Right," she said. "It's okay. Can you...back up just a little, though? I need to pull out each tray to see if the jam started in any of them."

    "Yeah, yeah." He obediently took a step back.

    I really wish I'd taken that ride with Brian, she thought as she bent at the waist to pull out the first drawer.