The pair made their way through the grand arc of the structure, pushing through vast quantities of individuals seeking the same thing. The veritable tide of humans suffocated and pushed them shoulder-to-shoulder together as they dragged themselves with the current.
"God dammit, isn't this too much?! I barely have any space to breathe!" Charlie yelled as he shoved the everyone clinging to him. "Move out of the way! MOVE! OI WHO TOUCHED MY ASS!?"
The same sight, same routine; Worgen, already used to this situation, positioned himself right behind the large frame of Charlie with nary a word, utilizing his good friend's fat to propel their way through the tide. Worgen's thought process was easy going as he took light steps and smiled, relieved that not a single soul breached through his private space nor touched him the whole way through.
Whether the reason was due to his friend's rage or people purposefully avoiding him, he did not know.
However, all things good never last, a short while after Worgen's relief, he abruptly felt a tap on his behind. Startled, he immediately turned around and confronted a Mediterranean woman that stood with a height of 5'11 in a sexy wine-red workwear. She had long hazelnut hair that flowed gently beside her voluptuous hips and a fairy like beauty that could rival models.
'Why am I not surprised, of course it was the Chief…' Worgen frowned as he stared into the ruby eyes of the woman, who had a cheeky grin.
The Chief of Staff, Maribel Iglesias, was a greatly admired woman in her late thirties and a huge figure head of the company that had been pursuing Worgen for quite some time. She was an inspiration for woman and the dreams of men due to her position, leadership and, of course, beauty.
As for how such a powerful woman started to pursue Worgen? Apparently, she had seen him during an after-party after the company secured a huge deal and… fell in love at first sight.
Ever since then, she would constantly court Worgen, much to his dismay.
Although he had to admit, she is an extremely beautiful and charming woman. However, he felt nothing towards her advances, for his heart was for another. Yet, despite his rejection, she persisted.
"Hi Worgen, how are you? Getting coffee?" Maribel said with the same annoying grin plastered on her face, getting way too close for comfort. Worgen, not having any of it, turned away and continued to follow Charlie, treating her like air. "Aww are you ignoring me~~? How cruel~~!"
Not minding Worgen's attitude, the Chief quickened her pace until she was right beside him, smiling without a care as they both followed the bulldozer in front of them. Curiously, the moment she had appeared, even more space was given to the trio, akin to Moses splitting the red sea. Charlie confusedly darted his head around, wandering where everyone had gone before turning his head behind him.
Spotting Maribel and Worgen side-by-side Charlie immediately looked away with a cold sweat, distinctly feeling a large mountain of paperwork in the horizon should he so much as uttered a word in their direction. With that thought in mind, he whistled whilst inwardly chanting a prayer for his good friend, taking advantage of the path that conveniently opened up in front of them.
Maribel gazed at Worgen's face for a long time as they walked on, finally entering the Nexus into a huge hub of large metal structures that go beyond the ceiling and into the floor. Each metal tube had an opening where a specific amount of about 100 office workers entered at a time. Once the amount had been completely fulfilled, a blue light shone around them before they all disappeared into luminescent particles before vanishing completely, where 100 different workers replaced them in the exact same position. Once they left the opening, the cycle repeats once again.
Teleportation, one of the highest degrees of technological advances that humanity had mustered. It was a magical piece of tech that threw the need of distance and time, upping efficiency no matter the circumstances.
Worgen, however, was unphased. Rather than admire the sight, he instead was beginning to feel mildly annoyed by the gaze that had been eyeing him like prey. Irked, he relented and began answering the questions Maribel had asked a while ago, albeit with a hint of annoyance in his tone, "I am doing fine Chief. Indeed, Charlie and I were about to get coffee before separating into our separate ways. Why?"
Maribel, delighted in hearing his magnetically rich voice replied excitedly, "Oh nothing, I was wandering if I could possibly join you. After all, superiors should maintain a healthy relationship with their subordinates."
'Healthy relationship my ass' Worgen inwardly scoffed; he knew exactly what she was after and he was not eager to play her game. He turned his gaze towards her as they walked towards the metal tube, standing behind a large line of office workers eager to enter as well. After halting in his tracks, he said, "I am honoured that the Chief desires to have a drink with us, but I assure you it will be a quick undertaking before we go our separate ways, I have somewhere to go that requires my urgent attention."
"Heh~, I do not mind, no matter the time, every single second can be utilized to improve relations. One step at a time, no?" Marible stated with a de-facto smile, clearly ignoring the hint Worgen blatantly 'hidden' between his lines.
Inwardly sighing, Worgen turned his gaze to the metal tube, it was clear to him that she was not going to leave them alone, no matter how much he wanted her gone. Relenting, he watched as people went in and out of the teleportation device before voicing out his defeat, "As you wish, Chief."
"Yay~." Worgen glanced at her bright burst of joy before sighing once again. Her reactions reminded him of a long-lost past.
He did not know why but he felt extra-sensitive today, perhaps it's because he turned 50 recently? Was he getting too old? He just felt… tired.
Very, very tired.
Lost in his thoughts, Worgen mindlessly slowly moved up in the line, ignoring his surroundings. Eventually, without realizing, he stood at the very front with Charlie and Maribel, waiting until the next set of office workers left the teleportation device.
Charlie, seeing the state of his friend, briefly glanced at Maribel, who was still smiling brightly, before voicing out his concerns, "You okay, dude? You seem quite out of it today."
Worgen, snapping out of his thoughts, smiled in appreciation, which Maribel could not help but be attracted to, before replying to ease his concerns, "I am fine, just thinking about the past. Hey, we aged pretty quickly, didn't we? We've been friends for… what, 12 years?"
Charlie, sensing the hidden melancholy within Worgen's tone, realized something was wrong as all three of them began walking into the now empty teleport pad. He moved close to the ear of his friend, albeit with difficulty considering their height difference, before whispering "Oi, don't tell me it's today."
Worgen, flinching in surprise, turning to his friend before sporting a despondent smile and replied, "Yeah, as expected, I can't hide anything from you… Your reputation as a busybody precedes you."
"I am your good friend after all. No wonder you just wanted a coffee…" Not minding the glaring stare he was getting from Worgen's side, Charlie patted his friends back before continuing, albeit with a small voice so Maribel could not hear, "I understand, I'll take care of this."
Worgen, confused by his friend's remark, tried to voice his concern before being cut off, "Madam Chief, I could not help but be utterly inspired by your earlier remark! Indeed, a superior and a subordinate should have a very close relationship for everybody's benefit!" Charlie shouted out loud, catching the attention of every single worker in the vicinity of the teleport pad.
Maribel, frowning at the pig's outburst, opened her mouth but not before Charlie once again cut someone off, "Therefore! Everyone here should have coffee with us! In fact, the more the merrier! Let's have a party, eh? Who wants in?!"
At his words, whispers and chatter started to fill the air as each office worker started to talk to one another.
"Sounds good honestly, I always wanted to have coffee with the Chief."
"OMG, a party with the Chief, I HAVE to call Martha."
"Maybe… I can use this to get closer to the Chief… hehehe…"
Positive responses began to appear all around, much to Worgen's confusion. 'Just what is he planning.' He thought as he glanced at Martha, lamenting that her previously bright visage had vanished as a frown began taking place on her beautiful face.
However, before Worgen could try to connect the dots, he felt a huge force push him from behind, throwing him away from the teleport pad. With an amazing reaction speed for a person his age, he quickly extending his knees and landed his feet hard onto the floor, staying up right after nearly tripping. Stunned, he glanced behind him and gazed at Charlie with wide eyes as he watched him scratch his head, feigning ignorance at his otherwise clear intent, "Oops, my bad Worgen~ I seemed to have tripped. Ah, looks like the teleportation's starting, I'll catch you later~."
Maribel, understanding what had transpired, glared fiercely at the fat lard before screaming, "Wait-!"
Alas, before she could get a coherent sentence out she vanished into particles of blue with Charlie and the rest of the eager workers looking to suck up to her.
Standing up, Worgen finally clicked the dots before laughing out loud, not minding everybody in the line watching him with scrutiny. He laughed and laughed until tears began forming. Most of the crowd in the line stared at him with curiosity, though some, he noticed, stared at him with infatuation.
Finally collecting himself, Worgen brought the handkerchief that sat within the pockets of his classy blazer before cleaning the tears of joy on his face. 'When was the last time I laughed this hard.' He tried to recall as he began moving away from the teleport pad and moved into a different one altogether; much to the disappointment of the women who watched him longingly.
'Charlie… what about my coffee?' Worgen continued to chuckle inwardly, he knew Charlie tried his best to avoid getting more work from pissing Maribel off, but because of him and his circumstances, he took the bullet and saved his ass from her pestering.
Worgen was proud to have a friend like Charlie.
Eventually reminding himself to treat his best friend in the future, he stood behind a different line into a different teleporting station. Not long after, it was his turn as he moved and stood right on top a hexagonal pad that dotted the teleportation device. Once the number criteria had been fulfilled, a blue light outlined Worgen's toned visage before he completely disappeared into particles of luminescent blue, much like the group before him.
A smile was still plastered onto his face as he felt the world look a little less grey.