Their first day “Welcome to Lan Diamond Tower,” I said, greeting Alan and Norton as they walked through the revolving door. Norton stepped in while tightly clutching his laptop in both hands, his eyes carefully roaming around the place. He was wearing a sage green suit; it looked surprisingly good on him. Unlike Norton‘s, Alan‘s strides were more confident, his expression slightly carefree, but even he decided to respect some of the dress–code aspects and added an elegant jacket over his smugly casual ripped jeans and T–shirt.
I led them to our new workplace, which was directly one floor below Aren‘s office. I had no idea how they managed to prepare a place for us in one day, but my guess was that it had to be Neil‘s work. The place was filled with light, spacious, and furnished perfectly for three unconventional employees. There were desks with high–quality equipment on them and super –ergonomic office chairs to increase our work comfort, but there were also two soft couches and cocoon–like swing chairs... Quite thoughtful, considering that I had already seen Alan working with his feet on the desk and his head hanging an inch above the floor. He once said that changing positions helped him concentrate, and now, his eyes were brightly glowing as he stared at the swing, grinning like a child.
I watched the boys getting familiar with their new toys and couldn‘t help but smile. Who would have thought that all those weird things that had happened in my life recently could finally create an opportunity those two deserved. Ten minutes later, Aren knocked on our door. I hadn‘t seen him since the moment I left the company the day before to meet with Alan and Norton. He might have looked neat and fresh in the clean, tailored suit he wore, but I knew he had hardly spent any time sleeping while working another night in his office, dealing with the crisis.
My contract boyfriend came with Neil and a lawyer who brought contracts for the new super employees. As they entered, I noticed Alan and Norton taking a cautious step back. I couldn‘t ‘blame them. Watching Aren alone in his impeccable business mode was overwhelming
enough, and as he was flanked by two other fiercely looking men, their impression must have been highly intimidating. Fortunately, Aren disarmed the tension by reaching out his hand to greet my frightened geek friends. “My name is Aren Lan. I‘m glad that you will be working for my company,” he said as a courteous smile curved his lips.
Alan took his hand in a firm shake while looking his new boss up and down. “Alan Harada. Don‘t worry, we’ll keep your company safe from other cyber–freaks.”
Norton decided to limit physical contact to a brief brush–like semi–grip of Aren‘s hand.” Norton Edavane,” he muttered before stepping back
The lawyer gave the boys their contracts. Once they started to read them, it became clear that Aren wasn‘t kidding when he said that he would give them a fair salary to cover the restrictions of the clause of confidentiality. “One question.” Alan raised his hand.
“Yes, Aren‘s eyes widened in curiosity
“Do you collaborate with the Triads, Russians, or Italian malia?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest
I laughed nervously and prodded his elbow. “Alan!”
my hand away and smirked before his eyes shifted back to clearly amused Aren.” Don‘t get me wrong. Those conditions in the clause are like red flags that someone‘s trying to protect his not so very legal business. Besides,
his lips painting a cold smile, “Our business is one hundred percent legal, but we collide with those you mentioned quite often. Sometimes getting your hands dirty is unavoidable to keep the whole business clean, Is my answer satisfying enough for you, Mr. Harada?” I swallowed hard while fearfully
left Alan‘s throat. “All I wanted to hear.”
expect him to be so calm in acknowledging Aren‘s words. While Alan placed the documents on
anything happens?” he asked, his
life,” Aren replied without a
heart into a wild race. My eyes widened as I stared at Aren, finding nothing but honesty
your life a living hell, and we will use those abilities if you ever dare to hurt her,” he
him and Alan, saying that he would treat me like a queen, they finally signed their
their contracts. “Welcome to
*****
were left alone, I introduced the boys to the whole plan to catch the hacker. As I predicted, they were more than eager to participate in it. Then I showed them the security software I created and explained how I would like to improve it, adding the elements they‘d written. We were
and that was the less bothersome part. It certainly would
learning about the new type
my program when I
“Have you eaten?”
time I swallowed something was twelve hours ago, and it was coffee... I even brought dinner for Alan and Norton, but I was too immersed in my work to eat anything myself. “No.” I
“Come upstairs.”
to pound. I couldn‘t fully comprehend my body‘s ridiculous reaction. He wasn‘t asking me out on a romantic date, but to quickly consume pizza or salad in his office. What was
pointing at the blush
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