Twice Over

Chapter 103 - Objectionable

objectionable
adjective
1. arousing distaste or opposition; unpleasant or offensive.

"Did Ms Morisse get her puppy dog back?" I asked Grant as he closed the apartment door behind him.

"Yes, and she is grateful that he was found so quickly. She has asked if we'd like to puppy sit if needed. I said yes." Grant grinned.

"Yay, that's awesome! I'll have to meet her sometime soon. Please invite her to morning tea this week at the cafe before it closes down for renovations."

"Sure thing." He responded then moved towards the kitchen.

"Hang on. Let's eat lunch on campus today. I'd like to check out that coffee house on campus with all the geometric shapes on the floor tiles." I'd wanted to check it out for a while now. All exposed concrete wall slabs with highlights of warmly stained railway sleepers, it was a mix of industrial style interior design with elements of recycled materials. I especially loved the use of mirrors to extend the indoor outdoor flow.

"Sounds good to me, boss. You're paying." Grant called out before he disappeared out of the apartment door before I could turn him down.

"No way!" I called out then sighed as I knew that I had more money that him at this stage. "OK, fine." I grumbled as we followed him out the door.

In the reception area of the ground floor of Liberty Building, we bumped into Bob Blanchard my building manager. From his actions, it looked like he was directing traffic, not that the reception lobby was particularly busy just before lunchtime.

"Hey Bob!" I called my greeting out on our way past. He waved briefly with a nod and a smile, then waved and hurried towards a person behind us who had just arrived in the building. I turned around on my one crutch and found a young guy in his mid twenties. Tanned smooth skin, ruggedly handsome with two day old facial stubble, thin lips and dark peach blossom eyes. His sandy coloured hair was mostly tucked away under a knitted beanie that matched the black and red uniform he wore. Something about the no-nonsense aura that surrounded his every step felt so very familiar to me, but I couldn't for the life of me remember where I'd seen him before. He didn't look like a happy-go-lucky kind of person, almost completely opposite of Grant who had stopped beside me.

"Hi Joseph, thanks for coming." Bob Blanchard called out as he welcomed the guy into the building with a handshake. He then turned around and tried to introduce the new visitor to my team and I. "Let me introduce you to..." The guy took one look at us and interrupted my building manager.

"Let's get this started shall we? I have exactly twenty four minutes to go over your project requirements before I need to head towards my next meeting." He walked straight past us and into the lift on the other side.

"Ohh-Kaay?" I asked, wondering what had just happened. I turned to look at Bob as he stood frozen behind with an awkward look on his face. "Who is this guy, Bob?" I asked, genuinely interested in why someone so rude just waltzed into my building like he owned the place.

"Ah... Mr Joseph Anginelli. He's from the firm that refitted our fire safety systems and building compliances five years ago. New changes in legislation regarding fire risk and safety management means every company in the country is rushing to update their policy and procedures as well as inspecting building safety compliance. He's become a very busy man. Let me deal with him." Bob gave a slight bow, then quickly left to follow that Joseph guy onto the lift.

A little astonished at the attitude and still trying to figure out where I knew the guy from, it took me a long moment of thinking before Patricia tapped my shoulder to get us moving again.

"You OK?" Grant asked as we all got into the car waiting for us.

"Sure, just surprised at the attitude of the guy. I mean, it is normal to treat your clients like that?" I asked the rhetoric question. We all shook our heads in the negative.

"Kinda cute, though." Grant murmured. My mind sketched to a momentary halt before I burst out laughing at my friend. "I mean, so rugged with that five o'clock shadow, those smexy lips..." he continued.

"Grant!" I whacked him on the chest with my elbow.

"Ow, what was that for?" He asked, aggrieved.

"Your inner Boy Love is breaking through." I complained as I searched for the materials in my tote bag for my next class.

"Without that carrot stuck up his arse air of self-importance he has going on, he'd be a major catch. Come on, admit it. He had your panties in a twist too, didn't he?" He chuckled.

"Grant! Quit it!" I spoke through my laughter, but nodded, remembering those dark peach blossom eyes that seemed to gaze at the universe and see through it all. Such familiar eyes. I looked out the car window as I shivered, rubbing the goose bumps on my arms and shook my head. I'd been in a relationship 'before' and felt every inch of the betrayal that man scraped across my heart, even today. It still hurt, still ached. I wasn't planning on ever going there again.

Grant noticed the changes in my mood and tried to lighten the mood in the car, but after getting no response from me he gave up and we drove to the university in silence.

Lunch at the coffee house was postponed until after class as we managed to get stuck in down-town traffic and only had ten minutes to spare before class began. Patricia purchased snacks and a bottle of water for all three of us to eat, to tide us over until after class.

Business Analytics was interesting and I spent the two hour lecture taking notes while trying to shake out of my mind sad memories of days long gone. Patricia tapped on my desk tray a few times to get me to focus, and quietly asked me at one point if I was OK. I just smiled at her and murmured, "Thinking about life before my rebirth," then I continued to listen to the professor lecturing.

Once the lecture was over, Grant met us outside, quickly gave me a heads up that he had a clubs meeting to go to, before ditching us. I smiled at him being so happy. Although he was a few years older than most of his class mates, he seemed to get along with them all really well. He was a much happier man from the memories I had of him 'before'. Even just in the last nearly two months that we'd been at uni, he's really come out of his shell.

"I feel like our little baby Grant has started to grow up. He is truly beginning to find himself." I gave a fake sniff as I took a hold of Patricia's arm with both hands and fake cried into her shoulder. She gave me a rather sharp slap on the butt and I squealed, letting her go.

"Ow, that was too hard." I rubbed, as she quickly stepped away from my reach as I lunged towards her to slap her back. "Come back here!" I yelled as she darted further out of reach. "Hey, invalid here. At least give me a chance!" When she turned and looked at me while walking backwards, I could see the smirk on her lips. "Time for lunch, then you have swim therapy at the university gym." She turned around without breaking her stride while I hobbled after her.

"You should at least look like my assistant or something. Some bodyguard you are!" I complained but followed after her anyway.