"You're here on time," Jackie commented the next day, smiling her toothpaste commercial smile at me.

 "I like to be on time," I said, toying with the straps of my bag. "I don't want to start off badly."

 "That's good. Mr. Keating likes his employees to be on time." She leaned closer to me in a conspiratorial manner. "Trust me—I learned that the hard way."

 I grinned. "I see." I winked at her. "I'll keep a note of that, then."

"I don't think you have to," she said. "You already have a good track record going for yourself, Adrienne."

 "Thank you," I held the elevator door for her. "And you can just call me Adri. Adrienne sounds too formal."

 "Okay," she beamed at me, shuffling closer to my side when the elevator stopped. A group of men in pressed, grey business suits stalked into the boxed compartment, walking almost like they were programmed to do so in a straight line. 

 "Do they work for Mr. Keating?" I hissed, lowering my voice so that only Jackie heard me. Hopefully.

 "No. They work for a different company," she said, wrinkling her nose when a chauvinistic looking man sidled up to her. "Mr. Keating shares the building with other smaller companies to help pay the rent. I'm not sure which company these guys are from, though."

"They look like they're from different branches," I murmured. Clipped on each man's lapel was a pin. Some had an olive branch. Others had a small Olympic building. I think one even had a barbell. 

 "That explains the smell," she grumbled. I covered my mouth with my palm to hide my snicker. 

 "Ladies," the man who had slid closer to Jackie acknowledged us for the first time in that lengthy elevator ride. "Which floor are ya heading to?"

 "Fifteenth," Jackie replied, a hard edge in her voice. Her posture stiffened and her eyes grew cold, just like Lazareth's did when he was on the phone in the coffee shop. Something told me she had spoken to this man before.

 "Oh, so am I!" He grinned. "I have a meeting with Mr. Keating...or, the junior Keating, I guess."

 "You do?" I peered around Jackie's shoulder to gauge the arrogant, sharp-jawed, blue-eyed man. 

 "Yeah." He grinned, his front tooth slightly crooked. "It was supposed to be with the senior Keating, but I heard that his son is taking over the fifteenth-floor office. Good riddance, I say."

 "Why do you say that?" I asked. 

 The crooked-toothed guy shrugged, his lapels fanning. "His son needs to get his ass into gear and get his life started. Daddy's not always going to be there for him."

 "Hypocrite," Jackie growled, crossing her arms over her chest. Yep, she definitely knew this guy. Either that or she just wasn't afraid of calling bullshit, bullshit.

 His jaw clenched. "You're one to talk, Jack," he spat. One of the men who stood behind him shoved his shoulder just as the elevator doors dinged open. He glared at Jackie for one quick moment before following his friend out of the lift. We waited a few seconds before following.

 "I...take it that you don't like him?" I drawled, eyeing Jackie out of the corner of my eye.

 She sighed, dropping at her desk. Her blonde hair formed a canopy over her bent head. 

 "Laf's just a pain in my ass," she finally said. "He and I have always been like this—ever since he changed his job from Clancy Clinics to Keating Enterprises."

 "Laf?"

 "Lafayette," she clarified, flipping through the heavy blue binder she kept underneath her desk. "He's from Haiti, originally. We were classmates in school."

 "Oh." I patted her shoulder, squeezing gently. "At least he'll only be here for a few moments. Then he'll go to his desk and hopefully not bother you."

 "That's the keyword," she grumbled, although a faint smile graced her lips. "Hopefully."

 "Positivity," I chuckled. "Who is Mr. Keating's son, anyway?"

 "Some shitty flamboyant, philandering brat, that's who," Jackie scowled. "You don't need to worry about him, Adri. He's not worth your time."

 "You're certainly one to talk, Jack," an all too familiar nasal voice rasped. My stomach clenched.

 Fucking goddamned shit, I cursed, using as many profane words as I possibly could. My hands balled into tight fists and once the warm, tireless hand dropped onto my shoulder, I batted it away, leveling a hard glare at him. 

"Mike," I managed through gritted teeth.

 Michael Keating, son of Keating Enterprises CEO, grinned toothily at me. It reminded me somewhat of whenever Lazareth would get that malicious smirk on his lips, except the only difference between the two was that, while Lazareth could pull off the sexy billionaire look, Michael certainly couldn't. 

"Adrienne," He returned, the foolishly elated grin still plastered on his lips. Looking more like the Joker than a businessman, Mike nodded towards Jackie.

 "Get to work, Jack, and watch your dirty mouth," he sneered, attempting to wrap his arms around my shoulder. Carelessly, I pushed them away.

 "What do you want, Mike?" I snapped once we were a good distance away from Jackie. She was still eyeing us every now and then, but more and more workers had begun to clock in for their jobs. She couldn't always keep an eye on me. 

 Mike only smiled at me, dropping into a crouch so he could be eye-level with my seated height. 

 "If I said that I wanted you, Adrienne, you wouldn't agree," He murmured, capturing my chin between his oily fingers. 

 "Shove off," I growled, slapping his hand away. "I'm not some damsel in distress that you can just claim, Mike."

 "You're a submissive," he commented breezily. "You should be."

 The audacity! I had a few good words to spit back at him, my stomach boiling. How dare he call me a submissive? And in the workplace? That was far from being professional! At least Lazareth flirted outside of work. Even then, he was a gentleman with his words, unlike Mike. 

 "Do you have anything you want me to do?" I asked, gripping my bag underneath the desk. I wanted him to leave. " If you don't, I'd like to get back to work."

 "Why work here, when you could be at a club with other men?" Mike continued, pushing the boundaries by leaning into my face. His dry breath puffed onto my face. "With those lovely curves, you have, Adrienne..."

 I felt his hand on my thigh, crawling up my leg underneath the table. My anger was practically begging me to open my mouth and let it give Mike a piece of its mind, but I couldn't risk my new job, even if it meant having to put up with Mike's utter lack of respect for boundaries. 

 Smiling sweetly, I pinched his fingers. He yelped, jerking his hand back. His eyes glared into me, yet I continued to smile at him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Jackie giggling. 

 "I have some work to do, Mr. Keating," I spoke like I was speaking to a child, smirking. "And I'm sure you do as well...?"

 "Quite," he growled, glowering at me. He shot a dirty look at Jackie, who mirrored it comically, before stomping into his office like he was about to have a temper tantrum. 

Here we go...

~********~

"How was work?" Kath asked me later in the night, fooling around with her chopsticks. 

 "It was...barely tolerable," I said, snatching the sticks from her and handing her a fork. She pouted at me, and I shrugged. "I met my new boss."

 "Sexier than Noir?" 

 "Hardly," I scoffed. "It's Mike."

 "Mike?" The fork clattered on the table. I turned, and Kath's eyes immediately captured mine, inquisitive. "As in, Michael Keating? Our jerk classmate, Michael?"

 "Yep," I popped, sighing into my food. "He's making my life a living hell."

 "That's Mike," She grumbled. "But, damn, I knew the names were the same—I guess I didn't expect him to be the son of a fucking CEO."

"Explains the attitude," I jeered, dropping onto my seat. "He's probably a Daddy's boy." 

"Probably," she agreed. "Did he say anything to you?"

 "He called me a submissive," I spat, grinding my jaw. "Me? A submissive? The audacity he had, Kath! I swear, I wanted to slap that shitty grin off his face then and there!"

 "You should have," she sneered. "That would have been amusing to see."

 "Yeah, well I had my job on the line," I groaned. "I'm literally walking on nails right now with Mike."

 "Then quit," Kath said through a mouthful of noodles. 

I frowned. "What? I can't just quit, Kath. This is a new job."

 "So?" She quirked her eyebrow. "You still have Noir's application. Just apply there. He doesn't know about your job with Keating, right?"

 "Well...no..."

 "So?" She shook my arm. "Unless you wanna stay with perverted Michael for the rest of your life, it's up to you, Adri."

 "I'll think about it," I decided, hoping it would keep her quiet about Lazareth. I still didn't understand his behavior the night before over the phone. He wasn't usually like that with me. Were all CEO's that snappy with their employees?

 "It's a lazy night tonight," Kath commented after a while. "We both don't have any work tomorrow. Wanna hit the club?"

 I rolled my eyes. "The club? Now?"

"Yeah!" She grinned. "Loosen up? Have fun? We haven't been to a club ever since we started college, Adrienne."

 "I don't know..." I played with my slimy noodles. "What about Gryffin?"

 "What about me?" Gryffin poked his head from around the hallway, drops of water dripping from his wet hair. Half of his face was shaved, the other half still patchy with his stubble. A white towel was wrapped around his waist, his chest exposed.

 "Geez, get a shirt first before you talk!" I shouted over his laughter. Kath stayed quiet, focused on her bowl. 

 "Relax, sis. We've both seen each other naked before," Gryffin commented dryly.

 "Really?" Kath's eyes darted between Gryffin and me, her mouth ajar. He stared at her, gaping. 

"Uh...not sexually," he flushed, fumbling with his words. "When we were little, I meant." He continued to stare at her. "Um...you look good, Kathryn. You guys going out?"

 Kath blushed, and again, I rolled my eyes at the tense atmosphere between them. 

 "Kath wants to go to a club with me. Will you be okay at home?" I asked, tossing him a bag of salt and vinegar chips."

 "I should be fine," he said, taking a couple of seconds to meet my eyes as if he didn't want to stop looking at Kath. "Have fun, okay, sis?"

 "Sure." I stood from my chair, aware of how Kath ogled my brother on his way back to the room he and Vincent shared. I smirked. Beat that, Matthew.

 "Kath?" I tapped her shoulder. "You ready?"

 "Huh?" She blinked, swallowing before forcing a smile towards me. "Of course, I'm ready! Let's go!"

~********~

 Dressed in a short, lacy black dress and dark black flats with my hair plaited in a thick braid, Kath and I danced our way around the flashy club, managing to secure a couple of seats by the bar. Kath immediately ordered a shot (well, it was really more than one) and I just munched on some little snacks here and there. I wasn't ready to get a hangover just yet.

 The smell of damp whiskey and sex drowned in the air. Different colored lights flashed from the ceiling and music pumped around the room and especially by the DJ booth. Couples and groups of friends danced with each other on the dance floor, shouting over the music to communicate. 

 "Good music, right?" Kath asked, referring to the sultry electronic music playing in the background.

 "Yeah. I just wish it was more lively," I yelled. 

 "I believe that can be arranged if you'd like," a cool, spine-tingling voice breathed hotly in my ear like I was swimming in the pools of hell and heaven at the same time. 

I spun in my seat, hardly able to see Lazareth's charcoal, hellish eyes in the darkness of the club. His hands were pressing gently on my waist like he was pulling me closer to his body. 

 "Wasn't expecting to see you here, Mr. Noir," I giggled, although having not drunk anything.

 Lazareth smirked his toothpaste smirk, helping me stand from the stool. "It is my club, Miss. Walker. I believe I can do and go wherever I like, don't you?"

 "It's your club?" I asked, appalled. When he nodded, I shook my head, grabbing the drink Kath was going to take and drinking it. "Damn, just how many things do you own?"

 " A lot," he replied smoothly. He wasn't wearing his suit, at least, not like when I usually see him. Instead, he wore a tight, button-up shirt and a pair of clingy jeans, just like a regular person would. 

 As if on cue, a much more sultry music burst from the speakers, and Lazareth's warm hand enveloped mine, pulling me towards the dancefloor. 

 "A dance, Miss. Walker?" He questioned, his hands tightening on my hips. 

 "Of course, Mr. Noir," I giggled, pressing closer to him to sway to the music. At that moment, I forgot the fighting my brain and my heart had constantly been doing. I forgot about Kath and Gryffin's warnings. I forgot about the devilish scowl on Lazareth's lips as he practically yelled at the woman yesterday. All I could think about was Lazareth and the way his eyes melted with mine. Heat curled around my body and into my toes at our proximity, and I would have stayed like that forever, dancing with Lazareth—

—if a camera shutter didn't go off in my face.