Don't Love Me, I'm Straight

Chapter 10

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Up's POV

I was impressed by how smoothly and expertly Joss weaved in and out through the busiest street and main thoroughfare of Bangkok.

"How long have you been driving?" I asked him.

"Since I was fifteen," he replied.

I masked my surprise with a simple "Oh"

This poor guy must come from a really poor family to have to start working at the tender age of fifteen.

"And who did you work for at that time?" I asked out of idle curiosity.

"No one," he replied. "My dad gifted me with an inexpensive car when I celebrated my fifteenth birthday."

"Oh,"was all I could say while kicking myself mentally for assuming that he came from a poor family.

After a few seconds of silence, I asked, "And have you kept that car since then?"

"Heavens no," he chuckled. "When I graduated from university, my mother gifted me with a Camaro. My father did not even bother to attend my graduation because he was not happy that I took up a course that was not related to business."

So the red sports car that was parked just beside my gate did not belong to one of my neighbors or a neighbor's visitor.

"What business is your father in?" I was getting curious now. What if his father's business was a competitor to my business.

"Shipping," he replied. "He ships goods all over the globe."

"So what are you doing, working as an all around personal assistant to me?" I raised an eyebrow at him.

He took an an offended look.

"You think this job is a lowly job?" he asked.

"No, no, no, don't get me wrong," I hastened to redeem myself. "What I wanted to know was why you are not involved in your father's business"

"Because I am not a business oriented person," he replied simply and seemed to clam up after that so I did not pursue the topic.

He continued to expertly weave in and out of traffic in silence.

I watched fascinated at how his chest muscles and arm muscles rippled as he maneuvered the steering wheel. He must be a regular customer at some gym.

When we reached the entrance of my building, before I could tell him that there was no need to open my car door, he had sprinted quickly to my side and opened the door for me.

I tried not to stare at his physique but I could see that his bulges were all in the right places.

"Do you want me to stick around until the end of your work hours?" he asked as he held the passenger door.

"No," I replied. "Your time is yours, but I need you to be available at any time that I need you to pick up something for me or to drive me to a meeting outside my office."

"Do you want me to park your car in the basement?" he asked.

"You can drive it to where you want to go, but like I said, be available at any given time for me," I replied.

"Very well, sir," he bowed.

"Up," I corrected him.

"Up," he repeated after me.

There was a millisecond pause before he added, "Will it be alright with you if I used your car to take me to the gym that's not too far from here?"

Just as I suspected, he was a regular at some gym somewhere.

"No problem," I replied and started walking towards the entrance of the lobby of my building.

At lunch hour while I was in the middle of munching on my cheeseburger that I had ordered to be delivered to my office, my phone rang.

It was Poom. I had forgotten to ask Mek this morning how Poom was doing, whether he was getting better or worse.

"Are you alright?" I asked right after I swiped my phone.

"Yes, I'm getting better," he replied but his voice sounded hoarse and weak. "In fact I feel strong enough to pick you up from work this afternoon."

"You don't sound completely well to me yet," I said firmly. "I suggest that you rest through the rest of the week. Then maybe this weekend you could start working again."

I did not want to tell him yet that I was planning to keep Joss on a permanent basis from Monday to Friday and he and Joss could split duties except for Saturday and Sunday when I would need him to work those two whole days while Joss took the weekend off.