TORN!

DAY IN OFFICE

Cerian.
There were a few mornings when I woke up before Denver. Two times,he had a cold,and one time,he had a really bad hangover then there's this time he was sore from a good beating from his aunt and sought refuge in my room. Good thing my dad wasn't home.

The morning after he was drunk last night,counts as the fifth time. He was snoring softly,eyebrows knotted in a tight scowl. Even in deep slumber he looked tired. Was he working too much ? I let him sleep and decided to call Bexley informing her that I would be filling in for Denver.

Before leaving ,I made him brunch and stuck a note on the fridge "Thought I'd let you sleep in,there's food in the fridge. Good day. I love you,"
The last thing I got was his laptop then I was off, eager to make it to the office before 8:30am.

I got in thirty minutes late thanks to the Monday LA traffic. I had hardly settled in my office when Bexley came in carrying a stack of files in her hands. "These files belong to candidates who applied for the job vacancy,"  She said,placing the files on my desk.

There was a job vacancy?

"Since you look a bit confused,I'll explain, We needed three music producers and a procurement officer. Denver fired Denzel two weeks ago."

Wow..a lot goes on here.

"Blue files are for music producers and the green ones for procurement, "She further explained.

"Isn't this the HR's job?" I argued,my head hurt just from looking at the files. Bexley huffed in annoyance, "Philip already went through the applications,interviewed the candidates and shortlisted them. All you have to do is just go through each one,pick the ones that seem qualified for the job so Philip can start calling them in for a final interview."

"Fine,"

"Oh and before I forget,Spectrum will be coming in for a meeting in two hours. " I quirked an eyebrow for her to give me more information, "Spectrum is a band,mostly do you tube covers. Dynasty should sign them. At 12 you'll have a studio session with Leith."

I palmed my face in frustration,already thinking of dropping everything and going back home. I seriously wasn't meant to manage a company, my work is to entertain masses, not to sit behind huge desks and sign papers. As Bexley turned to leave, I called her back to make a request.

"Could you please,get me some coffee and ask Philip to come over."

~
My coffee came in five minutes later and a few seconds later there was a knock on the door then a short plump thin haired guy in a grey suit walked in ,a natural permanent smile plastered on his face. "Good morning Philip,"  I greeted with a smile then pointed over at the chair in front of me, "Please have a seat."

"Thanks, to be honest,I'm surprised to see you behind that desk, Is boss man okay? It's unlike him to not show up to work especially on a Monday,"

"He's a bit under the weather," I answered, "He'll be fine. The thing is,I sort'a need your help. Bexley gave me these," I tapped on the files, "They're candidates you shortlisted," Philip hummed in agreement,  "Since Denver and I both trust your judgement ,why don't you help me decide on who best qualifies. You know them better than I do."

Since Philip was so kind,we stayed in for almost an hour ,going through the files deciding on which fresh blood we wanted in the company. Someone young, experienced, good academic qualifications and plenty of skills.

The next thing I accomplished was signing  Spectrum to Dynasty. It was an interesting band of talented young musicians. Miguel,Caro's ,Juanita and Ricardo  and their manager Simeon the four of them determined to take on the world stage. After they left,I couldn't get their song  regatton Out of my mind.

I endured studio session with Leith ,its not that she's a bad singer because she sings like Mariah Carey it's just that,I was tired and Zachary was also in the studio. He might have apologized but that doesn't mean,I forgave him. Am I a bad person?

The only time I got to relax was during lunch break,I decided to have mine in the office while face timing Corey about my day. Actually I was just ranting about how it sucks to sit in the office for almost the whole day. I don't get how others manage. When I finally decided to focus on work,I  did some planning on my album release,approved some merchandize emailed to me by both Richie and Carlos. Last,I went through the listening party guest list and added Corey's name.

Exhausted, I turned to my guilty pleasure Davidoff in my front pocket along with a lighter and light up a cigarette. Minutes later,I could feel myself calm down with every puff I took. I would smile dreamily as I exhaled little rings of smoke from my mouth. In my head I already pictured the scowl on Dean's face but lucky me,my best friend wasn't in today.

As I was emptying some of the ash from my sixth cigarette on the  ashtray, the door opened. At first I was a bit pissed off at the stranger who thought it was okay to just open the door to my office but when I finally got to see who it was, I slightly forgot to speak.

Denver was standing at my door in a black polo shirt ,a pair of denim skinny jeans that went perfectly well with his black vans sneakers. Was he really that hangover ? It's Monday, Denver dresses in his custom made Armani suits on Mondays to Fridays. More surprise was the box he was holding in his hand. It had an ugly purple wrapping as if done by a kid. Denver sucks at wrapping presents anyways.

"Hi," I greeted,slipping the cigarette back between my lips, "Still hangover?"

He shook his head and walked further into the room. Denver just like Dean hated when I smoked around him,so I took my last drag,disposing what was left on the ashtray. "How's your day in the office?" He placed the ugly box on the table and sat down. I had the sudden urge to ask why he was walking around with it.

"Sucks, I don't know how you manage. What's with the box?" I asked.

"It's for you," My jaw dropped and I excitedly reached out for the ugly box. Sue me for my excitement. I love gifts. I briskly tore away the wrapper and opened the lid of the box. Underneath the bubble wrap was a..er..a piggy bank.

Actually,it was a round figure,painted green at the bottom ,blue at the top with little white dots made of clay and had a little slot at the top.

Denver got me a piggy bank.

"It's... Umm..interesting," Denver's face turned red as I spoke. "What's in it? Money?" There was some rattle as I shook the box.

"Fuck, I could have given you something better instead of that joke," He cursed and I immediately felt bad, " I'll get you something better I swear. I just thought you loved simple things...so I started attending a pottery class and made that,"

"Wait what? You made this...you took pottery classes for me?"

"Yeah," He replied while scratching the back of his head, "Do you like it? "

"Yeah. I'm sorry my reaction came out that way,its just that, you hardly give such gifts to me. Whats in here though?"

" Letters about all the reasons why I love you. " My eyes went wide, I wanted to break the damn piggy bank and read each letter but Denver said, " Only break it when you doubt my love for you. Promise me,"

This was one of those moments when I didn't doubt his love for me. I won't break the bank,I'll save it for later.

"Promise," We shook pinkies.

"I also came to get you so we could go out for dinner. There's this new dinner across the street . I hear the bugger there is finger licking good."

"Okay..."