The Troublemaker's Return

Chapter No. 5

Noah

"All the apartments in the world and you had to find this one." I called Dean as soon as Sophia went to her room.

"What's wrong with this apartment now?" his annoyed voice boomed from the other side of the phone.

"Wrong? I have had a one night stand with my roommate." I groaned in response and finished the last bite of my breakfast.

His sour voice changed into a loud laughter at hearing this and I wondered what part of my misery sounded funny to him. "You have banged half the female population of USA. There is bound to be at least one wherever you go."

"Anyone but her, Dean. She is," I paused to think the most appropriate word as I washed the dishes. "Too familiar."

"Wait. Is she her?" he suddenly turned serious.

"No, but she is her best friend." I told him and ambled towards my room to change into some fresh clothes for my first day at work.

"Wait, so you're saying that you had sex with the best friend of your crush." his voice was judgmental, as if he was a saint who never slept with a wrong person.

"It isn't like that." I groaned, shuffling inside the cupboard to find an outfit for me.

"Then what is it like? She forced herself over you?" he demanded in a sneering tone.

"Exactly." I confessed and instead of understanding, he once again erupted in laughter. I wasn't lying; that's exactly what happened that night.

"Wow, poor you. A girl forced you to screw her." he said in between struggling to breathe.

"Fuck off." I said brusquely and cut the call, but not before hearing him make weird sexual sounds.

I took a warm bath and changed into a grey suit that fitted me perfectly, which reminded me to buy some new outfits for work. Drying my hair with a towel, I set them back casually and sprayed some cologne on me, more like dumped it on my suit.

Hoping that I looked mature and professional which I wasn't, I made my way to my Chevrolet standing in all her magnificent glory in the parking lot, my baby who has stood by me through thick and thin for five years.

The drive to Clayton Group from the apartment was about 15 minutes long. Once I parked the car in the parking lot, my eyes raked over the colossal building towering over me. It's modern architecture evident from the light grey exterior of the building, most of which was made from glass.

Bracing myself, I walked into the building and met with the swarm of people going left and right. The cute receptionist assisted me in finding my floor after I passed her my signature smile which made reddish hue creep up her slender neck.

Once I reached the designated floor through the elevator, I looked around. There was a narrow hallway which led into a spacious room, ten cabins lined up at both sides. This place was bustling, men and women engrossed in their work, heedless of their surroundings.

I asked the woman sitting inside the first cabin who told me that I was supposed to wait outside Emma Bennett's office. After fifteen minutes of searching around, I finally located her office and found a man already sitting there. He was almost the same age as mine, his brown hair gelled back in style and his demeanor much more self-assured than mine.

"Noah Brown." I introduced myself as I sat down beside him and pulled my hand out for a shake.

"James Fisher." he gripped my hand and shook it sturdily. "New associate?" he asked.

"Yep. You?"

"Same." he nodded.

We sat there awkwardly, waiting for a woman named Emma Bennett whose trace was nowhere to be found. James wasn't a loquacious person and it irked me because I wasn't used to sit quietly. Everytime I tried to talk to him, he would reply in one word and it would annoy me more.

After almost half an hour, the woman finally decided to grace us with her presence and to say that she was pretty would be an understatement. Her short, brown hair was framing her thin, angular face. She had almond eyes, a straight royal nose, thin lips and a petite built accentuated by a peach dress.

"New associates?" she inquired and both of us nodded. "Follow me." she ordered without casting us another glance and swayed her way to the opposite side of the hallway.

I raised my eyebrow at her poised gait and stood up to follow her, so did James. She led us inside her office which was decorated with minimal items and the dark red theme matched her assertive persona.

"I'm Emma Bennett, senior associate and your trainee for the next six months." she voiced, plopping on her desk and assessed us from head to toe with her calculative gaze. "You are answerable to me and I don't tolerate tardiness. So if you're not serious about this job, you may as well resign and spare me the burden of humiliating you."

She stopped to check our reactions. While James was standing like an obliging statue, my mouth was curved into a smile at the fiery woman sitting in front of me.

"Go to your respective cabins in the associate lounge. I'll give you your first assignment after the lunch break." she dismissed and shifted her attention to her laptop screen.

Once James left, she noticed me still standing. "Anything, Mr."

"Noah." I corrected her and something told me I was going to regret it later.

A smirk made its way to her tinted lips as she stared at me passively. "Mr. Brown, do you need a stamped letter or something before starting the work?"

For some reason, my signature smirk didn't falter her confidence as it should so I decided to use my talented mouth instead. "Well, I thought a beautiful lady like you deserved a proper introduction from your new associate."

"You thought wrong. Everything I need to know, it's in your file." she motioned towards the folder in her book shelf which was labelled FIRST YEAR ASSOCIATES. "Now if you're done, please." she pointed towards the door and once again shifted her attention to her laptop.

Embarassed, I passed her a weak smile and made my way out of her office.

..........

All the excitement of starting this new job was in the dustbin by now. By the time I finished, it was already 8 pm and my stomach was growling with hunger. I wasn't used to starving this much, although I had devoured a cheeseburger during the lunch break but still, six hours were more than I have every stayed hungry.

To add to my misery, my colleague James who was supposed to be my new best friend by the end of first day was still aloof.

Once I entered the apartment building, I let out a sigh of relief but the sigh proved to be fruitless when I encountered the scene going on in the living room of my apartment.

"Fuck." I cursed under my breath as I found Sophia bent down in a yoga pose, her hands supporting her up on the yoga mat and her ass jutted out and facing me.

She angled her neck to look at me, not caring about my pained expressions. "There is leftover pasta in the pan. Heat it up and feast yourself." she said and shifted to plank position, her thin waist accentuated by her fitted black T-shirt. "And don't stare at me like a creep. I can see your drool." she added tauntingly.

"Get off the high horse, Prom Queen. I have already seen you naked so you're here on the attractiveness scale right now." I raised my hand above my head and then gradually lowered it to the level of my chest.

She rolled her eyes and continued doing whatever pose she was doing. It was a lie because first, I don't remember much of that night and second, she was really easy on the eyes. Her caramel skin tone made her look exotic and all the years spent in cheer and sports made her body toned at all the right places. But that doesn't change the fact that she is Alicia's friend and after so many years, I still regret hooking up with her.

Shaking my head, I went into my room and decided to take a long, refreshing shower in order to wash the exhaustion of my first day.

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Sorry for late updates. My schedule is really tight these days.

Besides, in this story, there won't be any instant love so don't expect them to feel something right in the beginning. Slow and steady :p