"Hnn... Owww... My back..." I groaned as I blinked my eyes after stretching.
I glanced upwards to find an unrecognizable ceiling and looked around to gain some semblance of where I was at. It was only then that I noticed a muscular arm draped across my waist.
Who...? Ah... Oh, right... This is Doyle's home...
I glanced at Doyle's calm expression as he groaned and snuggled closer to me. My heart hammered in my chest and I moved to get out of bed. Instead of being sneaky, I fell flat on my face while the digital clock set on the end table on my side fell right on top of my head.
"Ouucchhhh...." I said as I rubbed my head. I then glanced at the clock before my eyes widened at the time.
10:30am?! OMG! We're late! By 2 and a half hours!
"D-Doyle! Wake up!" I said as I shook his upper body.
"Nngh? Wha--- Hmmm.... Len... Is breakfast ready?"
"What? Doyle, we're late... Get up..." I said as I struggled to pull my hands out of his grasp.
When did he even...?
I fell flat on my bottom as I finally broke free from his grasp. Doyle still snuggled closer into his pillow as he wrapped himself snugly in bed. I furrowed my brows before I moved towards the living room.
I quickly scurried across the room as I grabbed my underwear, throwing it on as I looked for the shirt he lent me. I then headed to the bathroom where he said he would dry my clothes and quickly grabbed them.
I glanced around looking for an ironing board but couldn't find any. Why was everything working against me today?
"Doyle?" I nudged him again as I tried to wake him up.
"Nnn... Len..." Doyle pried his eyes slightly open and smiled before pulling me back onto the bed.
"Ah! Oi!" I gasped as I felt Doyle tightening his grip around me.
"I-idiot! Wake up already!" I said as I shoved him away from me.
"Hnngh? Why are you so violent?" Doyle pouted as he rubbed his eyes.
I sighed as I hoped he was finally up this time. "Doyle... There was this meeting with XXX company and YYY company this morning... If we miss the meeting with JJJ Corp we're screwed."
"Hnn... So realistic... ... What time is it?"
"Around 10:40am."
"Ten for---! Gimme 5 minutes! We can leave straight after!" Doyle said as he jumped out of bed.
I glanced at him while holding my clothes to my chest. "W-wait! Where's your ironing boa--"
"Shit, I forgot about that. Hand that to me." Doyle said as he extended his hand towards my clothes.
I handed it to him and he was gone in a flash, only to return with carrying me like a sack of rice.
"W-wait! What are you--"
"You get ready too. At least brush your teeth and straighten your hair. Rinse your face as well. Damn, this is the first time I overslept."
I did as he instructed and before I knew it, he was next to me styling his hair. I looked at him confused before he simply smiled at me.
I thought he was in the shower just a moment ago...
True to his words, we were out of his home and on the road in a little over 5 minutes. I blinked my eyes rapidly at how this feat was even possible.
"Len..."
"Y-yes!" I replied in shock at his sudden words.
"Whatever happens, just leave it to me. You just have a good day, alright?"
"Huh?"
***
"How could you have missed the meeting with XXX and YYY company?! Do you know how long it took to even schedule a meeting with them?! You told me to leave it to you to deal with them and what's this? You missed out on the meetings?!" our boss was yelling at Doyle.
I winced from how the boss was lashing out at him. He even threw a stack of the papers in his face. How could he even do such a thing?
Doyle... Why did you...
Doyle had told me of an entrance to get to the office undetected by the boss. He told me he would punch in my card for me but it made me ask what about him. Doyle's expression darkened before he told me to leave.
The next thing I knew... Doyle was being treated this way in the middle of the office. At the very least, the boss should have told him off in his personal office. Why publicly humiliate him?
"With all due respect sir. I had already completed all the task and compiled the necessary documents. The task of presenting the project was given to another person who as you have mentioned earlier, said the exact same words to you. It's true that I could not make it in time to overlook the presentation, but I assumed that said person had done a good job since you had paired us up to work on the project."
"~~~! Well, that is true but..."
"Now, now... Boss, don't you think you should give Doyle a little break? He still has to go over the presentation for JJJ Corp." Rayson said as he calmed our boss down.
"... Sigh... Alright. Doyle, I expect you to do a good job with the presentation with JJJ Corp. ... What are you all looking at?! Get back to work!"
I quickly turned to look at the documents stacked on my desk before turning to glance at Doyle. We made eye contact but he glared at me and immediately broke it.
I found myself at a loss of word and couldn't concentrate after that.
***
"-and with our goal to place the community as the centre of... with that said..." Doyle's voice went on as he introduced our company's project.
"-en! Len!" a voice called out to me, snapping me back to attention.
"Ah, yes?!"
"Hand out the documents."
"Oh, yes... My apologies." I said as I stood and distributed the documents for our company project.
"Building... the perfect staycation?" someone read the name out loud making me flinch.
"M-my goodness! S-sorry about that! That's the wrong documents... Let me just swap that out!" I said flusteredly as I swapped the documents with the correct documents I had printed earlier.
Oh my gosh... I hope I didn't ruin it...
I glanced at Doyle apologetically but noticed that he wasn't looking at me. My heart sank before I sat back down in the corner of the room.
***
"That was a wonderful presentation, we're looking to working together with you in the future." a woman said as she shook hands with Doyle and touched his arm a tad longer than necessary.
I bit my lower lip as I furrowed my brows. Why do I feel so irritated?
"Not a problem at all. I hope to work with you again in the future as well, miss." Doyle replied as he returned the gesture. My eyes widened before I turned my gaze to the ground to stop watching the scene.
"Lenford Ruthard." a voice called out to me as heavy footsteps grew closer.
It was Doyle. I didn't have to look up to know who it was. He sounded upset and disappointed at the same time... What... did I do...?
"Lenford. Look at your superior when they're talking to you."
"... S-sorry..." I said as I kept my head down.
"Sigh... Your work today was disappointing. You weren't focus and you were clearly showing your unchecked emotions in the room. This is seriously unprofessional on your part."
"I... I'm sorry..." I said as tears pricked my eyes. Why is he speaking like this? It's scary...
"You should learn to keep your personal life and work life separate from one another. That's all. Come out when you've calmed down." Doyle said as he left the room.
I stood in silence as I glanced upwards at the closing door. What he said was right, but... what emotions... did I possibly show to get him riled up? Right now... he felt so distant compared to the man I knew last night...
I hit my chest a few times to calm the clenching feeling in my chest. Instead of calming down, it hurt even more, making the tears stream down my face. I cried for quite some time as I found myself so frustrated at the scene from earlier.
It seems like his action where he affectionately touched the woman affected me more than the words of advice he gave me.
Just as I finally calmed down, the door of the room opened and I flinched. I quickly wiped off the remaining tears on my cheeks and bowed, averting eye contact.
I hurried to leave the room but bumped into the person by accident. Oh, God... How could today get any worse?
"I'm so sorry! Let me pick that up for you!" I said in a panic as I fumbled about to grab the papers nearest to me.
My eyes caught the title of the header and widened. This... It can't be...
"Thank you for your help, Lenford." Rayson smiled at me as I felt my heart nearly jump out of my chest.
"N-n-n-no problem!" My voice immediately trembled as it increased in pitch by several semitones.
I then hurriedly compiled the papers in my hands and sorted them by page numbers before handing them back to Rayson. He smiled as he accepted them when the sound of the door opening caught my attention.
I glanced towards the door to find Doyle standing there with a dark mood. His expression looked calm but I saw a flash of anger cross his face. I gulped before I hesitantly stood up. Why do I feel as if I did something wrong?
"Thank you for helping me, Lenford. I'll take it from here. It seems like Doyle is in need of your services." Rayson smiled as he touched my forearm. I felt my legs go wobbly before nodding and heading towards the door with my head held down, the smile on my face instantly pulling to a neutral deadpan expression.
"Rayson, sorry if he messed up. I'll handle things now." Doyle said as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I bit my lips as I prayed he wouldn't hit me.