Incompetent (phan)

✔️Chapter 04 - S

Phil's POV

"Level two, doors opening." A young blonde woman in a bright red dress and heels walked in. Her eyes skimmed over Tyler and I, quickly giving us a disapproving look before she walked to the far corner of the spacious lift and pulled out a sleek black phone. "Doors closing."

Making eye contact with Tyler, I mouthed, should've worn a suit.

Rolling his eyes, he too pulled out his phone.

Of course, I had forgotten to charge my phone last night. I was stuck in an awkward silence watching the orange numbers flash on the small screen above the door. The elevator stopped at floor 24 and the lady got off.

Finally, we reached floor 79. Tyler gave me an excited smile as the doors opened, and excited smile that I definitely did not return.

As we walked into the familiar waiting room I felt butterflies flood into my stomach, for the first time in my life I couldn't tell if they were the good ones or the bad ones.

A different lady than yesterday stood at the desk. I wondered where the one from yesterday had gone, I had grown a liking for her. The new lady was young and blonde. Her name tag read 'Linda', she was also wearing a red dress and heels. Was that the dress code here?

"Phil Lester?" She asked after typing a few details into her computer. I nodded in response.

"I'll take you right through."

She led us down the golden hallway that I had run through in a panic yesterday. Images of Dan towering over me as he pushed me against the door flashed through my mind.

Linda's small hand knocked delicately on the golden door.

"Come in," Dan's annoyingly nice voice came from inside.

She then pushed open the heavy door and held it open for us. Tyler walked through first, and I followed behind.

Of course, being Phil Lester, my entrance was not as smooth as I had hoped. I tripped over Linda's foot and landed face-first in the middle of the room. Tyler had been lucky enough to move out the way, leaving me in full view of the Howell brothers and everyone's centre of attention.

I heard Linda gasp, before the door closed again, signalling that she had left the room. In the corner of my mind I hoped I hadn't hurt her too much.

Suddenly Tyler disrupted the awkward silence with his big booming laugh. "Oh God," he screeched, "Jesus Christ." Seemingly he had forgotten that we were in the company of two of the most powerful businessmen in the world.

Tyler then bent over, continuing to laugh, slapping his hands on his thighs. Matt was looking down at his desk, so I couldn't see his expression, but I'd like to think it was an expression of worry and concern, rather than one of amusement. But I could clearly see Dan's face, and it definitely showed every sign of amusement. His hands were covering his mouth, he probably didn't want to look unprofessional or something. But I could still see his laugh in the crinkle at the corners of his eyes and the overall glow of his face.

The beauty of his laugh was off the scale. I'd imagined seeing his laugh for a while, but in my fantasies, I never imagined my embarrassment as the cause of his amusement.

I finally pulled myself together, getting up against the screaming agony of my palms and knees. Upon making eye contact with me, Dan stopped snickering and removed his hand from over his mouth.

Matt came forward to greet us, while Dan sat at the desk, watching. It unnerved me, to say the least.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I am Matthew Howell, you can call me Matt," he introduced himself to Tyler, shaking his hand.