Dozzy walked in before me, and I followed suit.
The meeting room is taking place on the same floor the devil's incarnate works on, and that's why it took us more than a minute to arrive.
Entering the meeting room, my eyes locked with that of the devil's incarnate, whom I've not seen for weeks now.
It seems he's been avoiding me ever since the incident of last the two weeks.
"And you decide to grace us with your awesome presence, your highness." The boss mocked bowed when I came in, his eyes that seem to take a predatory stance whenever am close to him, levelled me with a glare.
"I was…." I point at Dozzy who's already seated among the other workers.
Traitor!
"You decided to arrive late, didn't you?" He checked the time on his wristwatch, "I can see you don't take your job as serious as you want others to believe." He frowned, "Is this the type of example you'll set for your juniors?"
"That's not it sir. I arrived late since I had to call Dozzy for the meeting." I glance at Dozzy who's looking around with a scared expression.
You might think am a snitch for pointing things out, but I'm not.
I only called out his name based on the fact he did nothing to help me escape from the devil's incarnate. If anything, he pretended not to be aware of the fact I have a fire breathing animal in front of me.
"You're trying to make use of Dozzy as an excuse. Bravo Mr Osy. Bravo." He points to the other workers, whose focus has been on us ever since I came in. "Tell me, Mr Osy, what's wrong with coming to a meeting at the set time?"
"Sir…."
"Well, that's not surprising at all. Being tardy to work isn't a new thing to you, I guess it's the same when it comes to attending an office meeting."
" Mr Mar…"
" You can go ahead and sit on your chair, we're about to start the meeting. Had to wait for someone to finally make an appearance."
Giving the boss a long glaring look, I walk to my chair, which happened to be near Dozzy.
" Am sorry." He whispered.
" It's no problem."
Currently, I'm not angry with Dozzy as I'm aware of the fact that Mar is trying to get a rise from me. If not that, why will he pick on me when I wasn't the only one who arrived late?
"Dozzy don't be late next time. I know balancing between your school and work is taking a toll on you, but try to always be at a meeting on time."
And that were Dozzy's cautioning words. Does that word sound as if they're pleading more than scolding?
"I won't."
*
*
The meeting commenced.
The boss talked about the new office policy, and its implementation, before he started on the new project we have coming up next month.
A project that will require teamwork between us.
"This project will be done in groups of three, I inclusive."
" But, sir, we're sixteen and should we add you to the list, it'll be seventeen. Three par group won't be enough, neither will two per group." BB spoke up.
" That's not a problem. We all have to pick numbers, and those who picked the same numbers will be in the same group." With those words said, he brought out something that looked more like a box and dropped it on the table.
I watch them all with disinterest.
I don't care which group I fell in, provided the devil's incarnate isn't in the group.
He's the only one I won't willingly work with.
" That's superb!" Dozzy fist pumped.
Among all of us, the one who loved the idea of a group more is Dozzy. He's the one who's too lazy to work alone and prefers a team that can cover his laziness.
"It'll be more than superb to be in the same group as you." He placed his head on my shoulder, "I'll love it."
"I know. Your lazy arse is probably looking for someone to help cover you up." I lightly pinch his cheeks.
" As if you're not ecstatic to have someone as cute as I am, in your group." He pouts.
"Cute? You call yourself cute, stupid boy." I pinch his cheeks once more.
"This is a meeting place and not your private domain," The boss narrowed a look at us, his eyes trained on Dozzy's head which is on my shoulder.
"Sorry about that, boss," Dozzy said, but still kept his head on my shoulder, his eyes trained on the box that's yet to be open.
I didn't bother saying anything to the boss, all I did was relax on the chair, and gaze at the box as if I can put myself in the same group with BB and Dozzy.
Not only are they the ones being more than familiar with right now, but they happen to be the ones with the less hostile faces.
Working with them can never be boring. It'll be one filled with lots of food * Dozzy's job* and enough juicy gossip of the day * BB's fort*
"Remove your head from his shoulder!" The boss growled, terrifying all of us. His eyes took a brighter yellow colour as he continued to glare at Dozzy as if there was a great crime he committed.
I tilt my head, confused as I tried to think about the reason for his odd actions.
Why's he acting this way?
I asked no one in particular as I train my eyes on the boss, who has his trained on poor Dozzy.
Dozzy hastily removed his head from my shoulder, "let's start with the picking, shall we?" He nervously looked up at the boss.
"Of course!" BB clapped in Glee. "Let's start!"
"What!" I shout a few minutes later when we all had picked our papers, and the numbers of groups called out.
Dozzy and BB luckily got the same number as Buka, making them a team.
While I got...
Paired with the boss...