The tension was different now, as Hutch followed Rod to the elevator. The feeling of suspicions had left, and been replaced by something else, a feeling Hutch hadn't felt in a very long time; the respect from one soldier to another. But this did not make Rod any less intimidating.
"If you have questions," Hutch muttered cautiously as they waited for the elevator.
"I'm not paid to ask questions," Rod abruptly cut him off, making him fall silent once again.
When the elevator doors opened Hutch followed Rod inside, and made one final attempt to strike up some sort of a conversation, because he had questions of his own that he had hoped to get answered.
"Army?" he asked, a loud.
"Navy."
"Oh sweet. Did you join so you could be out on the water?"
Rod turned and glared down at him. "I joined because I wanted to learn how to swim."
Hutch sunk back, his voice sticking at the back of his throat. "Did you learn?"
Rod grinned as turned back to face the doors. "Like the most graceful fucking mammal in the sea."
Hutch took the answer, so full of genuine pride, that he knew better than to ask anything further.
This was the first time he'd heard even the slightest hint of joy in Rod's voice, and wanted to leave the conversation on a positive note, making the rest of the journey up to Celina's office quiet, but far more comfortable.
Located on the 15th floor, with the rest of the Tower's business and conference spaces, Celina's office was in the northeast corner, behind an impressive double wide door made of a walnut live-edge slab, and poured resin, tinted with blues and white, to look like a waterfall. It was hinged in a way that made it feel feather light, despite the enormity of it.
Entering the office, Hutch saw Celina behind her desk, searching through a file folder, with a scowl on her face. He'd never seen her look that serious, or worn before, but that honest glimpse into her current state of mind vanished the moment she lifted her head and her smiled appeared at the notice of their arrival.
"Oh good! You made it here in record time," she remarked, motioning for them to come further in. "Come in and sit down. I just have this one last thing to finish and I'll be with you. Rod, thank you so much for picking him up. Stop by the reception desk on your way out, there's an envelope waiting for you."
He smiled and nodded his head, replying, "Ma'am," before leaving the office and closing the door on the way out.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Hutch asked, feeling slightly useless in the moment, as he sat down on the chair in front of her desk.
"That is incredibly kind of you to ask," she replied, plopping the stack of papers she'd been holding down on her desk, and picking up the single page of the document, "but this is all I needed. For reasons, I will never understand, Legal wants the hard copy along with the digitalized version. I'll drop this off on our way by. And I know it's nothing special, but I reserved a table up in the restaurant, so we don't have to go far."
"That's perfect. Maybe this time you can explain some of the menu to me," Hutch remarked, as she walked by with the document in hand.
Grabbing up his backpack and the near empty bottle he'd been carrying around, he heard Celina giggle.
"Apology accepted," he remarked lifting the bottle in her direction, as she opened the door. "But it helped that I was really, really, thirsty."
After dropping off the document with her legal team, Celina and Hutch headed up to the restaurant, and enjoyed the comforts of one of the private tables, while swapping stories from their day over dinner.
"You know, I don't really think I'm holding up my end of our deal. I still feel like more of a guest than your butler when you do things like this."
"Oh, please," Celina scoffed over the rim of her glass. "To me, you are family first, butler second, and guest third; if ever. Besides, part of your job is to keep me comfortable, and healthy, and if you weren't here, I would have eaten alone. In my office. Dessert only. I'm not allowed to leave until the paperwork is done."
"Mind if I ask what happened?"
"Thankfully, it was something entirely out of the ordinary. We are scrupulous when vetting the -companies, we go into business with. But some allegations of misconduct came against one of the corporations who have their head offices here, back around last September, I believe. Anyways, we found out today that they are true, at least in the eyes of the law. So now, there's an entire process we have to go through to evict and cut ties. Their CEO immediately started protesting, with the expected, 'we had no idea this was happening. How can you hold the entire corporation responsible?' Oh, I don't know, it's in the contract, that it is their responsibility to know. It's going to be months of everyone trying to save their own asses while scrambling to find a scapegoat, or a loophole in the two-hundred- and fifty-nine-page contract they signed, just in an attempt to stay," Celina explained before downing the remains of her wine. "But don't worry, while I won't name-names, just yet, it's not the company Ren is scheduled to intern with."
"Ren got the internship he wanted?" Hutch responded, elated by the news.
"Of course, he did. Didn't even have to push my weight around or twist any arms either. I peeked over his application and his grades are immaculate. I confirmed his position with Iosat this morning before this chaos started. He won't be notified officially until next week at some point; the speed of bureaucracy when money isn't involved, but he'll be starting the first weekend in February, and I made certain, he was being added to the companies perks program. I thought you'd like to give him the good news yourself."
"Wow. He's going to be so stoked for this. When Casimir gave him that number and told him to call, I half expected him to chicken out. I'm so glad that he didn't. He's genuinely a good person, who didn't deserve the things that have happened to him. Most wouldn't have stayed as kind as he has. Thank you, for giving him this opportunity. I know you didn't have too."
"What's the point to having built all of this if we can't help those closest to us? Besides, it's like you said, he presented himself as a genuinely good person when I meet him. It really drove me to want to see him succeed. And getting him this opportunity costs us nothing; he still has to do all the hard work. Unlike you, slacker."
"Hey now, this was your idea," Hutch retorted as the waiter returned with a slice of decadent chocolate cake for Celina, and a slice of apple pie for Hutch.
"I'm not going to argue with that," she replied, picking up her fork, "but you have to admit it was good one."
"Oh, it was definitely a good one," Hutch stated, before digging into his pie.
After dinner was over, Hutch returned with Celina to her office, where he sat and finished his homework, as best as he was able, while she went off to deal with what remained of the paperwork for the night. It was near seven by the time she returned to her office, looking more exhausted than thrilled, carrying another file folder full of papers.
"You ready to get out of here?" she asked, as she dropped the file on her desk and retrieved her purse from the locked drawer.
"Yeah, I'm good whenever you are," Hutch replied, hurriedly folding his notebook into his textbook, and stuffing it away in backpack.
He had his coat half on, when the phone on her desk rang, and she let out an exasperated sigh.
Picking up the phone, she forced a smile as she spoke, "Yes, Michiyo?" and he watched her smile fade, the longer Michiyo spoke. Grabbing a pencil from the bin on her desk, Celina grabbed a notepad, and jotted something down. "Got it. I'll take care of it tomorrow morning. Goodnight, Michiyo." She was hasty with her farewell, and the moment the receiver was on the base, she bolted out from behind her desk and headed towards the door. Throwing it open, she began to laugh as she swung her arm, and stomped her foot. "Come on! Come on! Quick like a bunny! Let's go before she calls back!"
Hutch quickened his pace and ran out into the hallway with Celina right behind him, the door closing just as the phone began to ring again.
"You heard nothing," she warned, pointing directly at him with the sternest of look she could muster, while fast walking past him.
"Indeed," he replied, and together they marched with a purpose towards the elevator, wanting nothing more than to just go home for the night.