Restart (A Billionaire Story)

21: Return The Favor

When I walked in, I was surprised to see Mr. Greenfield sitting at his desk and looking at me. There was something different about his eyes but I couldn't quite point out what it was yet. "Steffi....what brings you to the office on suuuuuch a fine Monday evening" he said, his voice shaking a little. I noticed that one of the bottles of whiskey he kept in his room for special business partners, was pretty much empty and he was holding a glass in his hands. "Uhm I forgot my phone" I told him, unsure about this whole situation. Mr. Greenfield didn't seem like the type of guy who would just get drunk in his office after work. "Heeere have a glass with me" he then slurred as he got up to get another one and poured the rest of the whiskey into it. "No thanks. I'm good" I told him with a small smile.

"Want something else? Wine?" he asked me and gestured towards a few bottles of other beverages, accidentally knocking over the glass of whiskey in the process of doing so. "Oops" he mumbled and laughed at himself as he went to pick up the broken pieces, not being careful at all. "Let me help you" I said as I quickly rushed over to him and carefully picked up the bigger pieces of the broken glass.

"It's kinda funnnny, isn't it?" he then said as he looked at me and I raised my eyebrows at him. "What's funny?" I asked him a little confused. "The...the fact that I'm here, preeeetty much shit-faced at work, and a few days ago I yelled at you for having a tiiiiiiny glass of champ...champagne at a work event" he explained and shook his head at himself. I didn't know what to respond and just shrugged as I threw the broken pieces into the bin. "S-Steffi you must know that I am sorry. I reeeeally am. I sweaaaar." Mr. Greenfield then added and I bit my lip. "It's fine" I told him, since he was too drunk to realise that I was still hurt anyways.

He then grabbed the other glass of whiskey and took a big sip of it, spilling quite a bit all over his computer as he put it back down. "Why don't you go home, sir? Call it a day and get some sleep?" I suggested. "Yeah maaaaybe...maybe I should" he mumbled as he nodded and got up, stumbling as he made his way towards me. He then grabbed his phone and closed his laptop, which I was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to use any more anyways but he didn't seem to care or notice. "Uhm sir, I think your laptop might be no use any more. You spilt a bit of your drink on it" I told him and he just looked at me for a moment, before shrugging. "What-whatever. I'll just buy a new one. Money doesn't matterrr" he slurred. "You probably think that's soooo awesome, don't youu? But I can tell you one thing..." he said as he raised his finger. "..it's not all butterflies and...and what is it again?" He asked, trying to remember the saying. "Butterflies and roses?" I helped him and he nodded. "Yesss. Yes that was it. Let me tell you, it's not all butterflies and roses to be rich and well known" Mr. Greenfield explained drunkenly and I just nodded, not knowing how else to react.

"I'm gonna head back home as well" I then told him as we both headed for the elevator. Mr. Greenfiled immediately leaned against the wall, once we had gotten inside. "Uhm do you want me to call your driver for you?" I asked him but he shook his head in response. "I gave Jeff off for todaaaay...I don't wanna bother him." He mumbled and I nodded. "How did you get here then? Did you drive yourself?" I asked him and he just nodded, all of a sudden seeming to have gotten a bit sleepy. "I'll call a cab for you then" I said as I took out my phone when we reached the bottom floor. "Nooo. The cab driver might recognise me....bad publicity you know..." Mr. Greenfield mumbled and I sighed. "Well you can definitely not drive your car" I told him, shaking my head. He seemed to think for a moment, as he stared at the floor but then looked back up at me again. "Youuu can though" he said, looking at me with big eyes and reaching into his pocket and pulling out a key a few seconds later. He then handed it to me and I shook my head at him once more. "I'm not gonna drive you home" I said but he pulled a face at me, a three year old would make to get a new toy or candy. "Pleeeeeeease. I drove you home too that one time... you can return the favor now..." he pouted and almost stumbled over his own feet as he took a step forward, giving me puppy eyes. I instantly thought back to that night where it was pretty much the same but I was the one who needed help. I sighed as I looked at Mr. Greenfield standing in front of me, so different than how he usually looks.

"For fuck's sake" I muttered under my breath, angry at myself for giving in so easily. He treated me like shit, he really didn't deserve this. "Where's your car?" I mumbled as I watched his face light up as if it was Christmas. He then lead the way to the parking lot and his brand new, dark grey Audi R8, holding onto me a little for support. After he had pretty much fallen into the passenger's seat, I got into the drivers side, kinda nervous. I had never driven such an expensive and nice car in my life. It was always something that I wanted to do but definitely not in a situation like this. Plus, I had never driven on the left side of the road before either, since we drive on the right side in Austria, so this was gonna be interesting.

"If I wreck your car it's not my fault, okay? You wanted me to drive" I said as I put my seatbelt on and started the engine. "You're gonna be fiiiine" Mr. Greenfield said drunkenly as he looked over at me. "If you say so.." I mumbled and started to drive. I wasn't used to a car having this much HP, so we took off quite abruptly and fast. "Oops sorry" I said as I kept both hands tightly on the steering wheel. "I'm gonnnna be sick if you keep driving like that" Mr. Greenfield said after a while of me still not driving really smoothly. I could tell that he was joking though, since he had a grin on his face and laughed to himself. "Oh shut up, would you?" I scolded him and rolled my eyes as I glanced over at him for a second.

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet. Mr. Greenfield directed me to his place which luckily was only about 15 minutes away from the office. I stopped at his gates and he told me the code to unlock it. When the gates opened, I drove up his driveway and parked the car in front of his house. It was only then, that I could take a better view of it, my eyes widening. His house was huge and looked super expensive but then again, what else was I expecting? This was still Alexander Greenfield after all.
"Uhm so... we're here....good night" I mumbled as I looked over at Mr. Greenfield. He opened the car door and then looked at me. "Welllll are you gonna drive my car back to your place now orrrr...?" he asked me amused, also seeming to have sobered up a tiny bit through the cold and fresh air.

I felt stupid, since I hadn't even thought about how I was gonna get back to my own place, after dropping him off. I guess I was gonna have to call myself a cab.
"Obviously not.." I said and rolled my eyes at him for the second time tonight as I got out of his car as well. "I'm just gonna get an uber" I told him as I took my phone out of my bag. "Don't be sillyyy... You can stay the night. I have 3 empty guest rooms..." Mr. Greenfield told me as he took his keys from my hand.

There was no way that I was gonna sleep at my boss' house. I did not want to create the same awkwardness there was between us, after he had brought me home. Those days at work after that night were horrible and I had no intents of the same thing happening again. I was about to tell him that I was definitely not staying the night, when I remembered that I didn't have any money on me and I was for sure not gonna ask him to pay a cab for me.  Plus, it was already half past 10 and it would probably take over an hour until I'd be back at my flat. 'Things are already pretty awkward between us at the moment anyways..' I told myself and sighed.

"Okay" I mumbled as I looked at him and followed him up to his door, which he unlocked. "Make yourself at home, Steffiiiii. I mean, Ms. Bauer" he said and chuckled as he kicked off his shoes and dropped his coat to the floor.
'Why do I always end up in situations like this?' I asked myself as I took off my shoes and jacket as well.

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Well this could be an interesting night...

I also wanted to say a quick thanks to all the new readers. And thank you for voting as well!! It means a lot!

xx Steffi