Taming Arrogance (MalexMale) 《COMPLETE》

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Blake leads me back to his office. Along the way the two of us are stopped quite a few times by employees simply wanting to introduce themselves to their new, prestigious CEO. What. A. Joke. Blake has no qualms with taking his time while these people gush over their excitement to work for him. In fact, while they feed him their lines of shit, he actually smiles.

He won't have to worry about me rubbing my nose up his butt crack. Not a chance.

By the time we finally reach his office, Blake pulls out a key from his pocket and unlocks the door.

"After you," he says evenly.

I step inside. The motion-censored lights flicker to life, and I plop myself into the seat furthest away from Blake's monstrous wooden desk. He closes the door behind us and takes a seat in his plush leather chair. Then he leans back, studying me.

"Why are you working here, Mr. Greene?"

"For the stale coffee in the break room. It's free, you know."

Blake looks away from me with a sigh. He straightens his tie and then brings his fingertips together in front of his lips. There's a faint hum that I notice as silence settles throughout the office. While Blake quietly sits in his fancy chair, I crane my neck to look for the source of the sound. My eyes scan over a large filing cabinet. A book shelf as wide as it is tall sits right next to it, and that's when I notice a flat screen TV mounted onto the wall.

Wow. That's new.

I was in my old boss's office only once. I certainly would've noticed if a TV was in here. I'm about to ask him why the hell he needs a TV, but then the buzzing noise gets louder.

"What is that noise?" I ask, irritated.

Blake shifts his eyes toward me. "My humidifier."

I snort. "A humidifier? Seriously?"

Blake gestures around the vents attached to the floor of his office.

"I had the carpenters rip up a few tiles in order to attach it to the air supply. Whenever the heat or AC kicks in, the air is automatically being moistened and purified."

What a vag.

"Sounds excessive to me."

Blake pulls himself closer to his desk. He quickly types his password into the computer, turning his focus to the screen.

"What might be excessive to you is live-saving to me," he says under his breath.

"How so?"

"I had nearly debilitating asthma as a child. Luckily it's tapered off over the years, but every once in a while I have a bad attack. Being in an environment where the air is cleaner and easier to breathe prevents them."

I sink a little lower into my chair. The feeling of guilt is not one I'm used to or enjoy feeling. When a wave of this emotion moves through my senses, I grit my teeth and try all I can to get it to go away.

"And the TV?" I snap. "Is that to help prevent your asthma attacks as well?"

Blake's gaze flickers to me. His expression is stone-cold and he snatches a remote from inside his top desk drawer. His jabs his thumb into the 'On' button and nods his head to the TV.

Dozens of square images pop up everywhere on the screen. Each one displays a still camera view of a different area of the store. My eyes freeze on one of the boxes. It's near the back of the store, perfectly aligned with the rain coat rack I was working on days ago.