Chapter 15: Impromptu Visit
'How many times do I have to repeat myself that Nate is not my lover?' That was what was on Keira's mind. Drunken as it was. Her mouth, however, decided a more crucial matter to be voiced first. "You're calling his hotel's number?!"
She didn't even know why there was a slight flutter in her stomach at the thought of seeing that annoying yet charming patron tonight.
"Yes!"
Keira merely gapped at the dumbass of a coworker she had sitting beside her. She was about to snatch the phone and throw it away like garbage, but someone's voice came through the loudspeaker.
'Good evening. Thank you for calling Leinster Banoufield Hotel. My name is Sandy. How may I help you?'
Hyde, grinning still in excitement, answered right away. "Can you get Nate to us?"
'Mister Wolfe?' The hotel staff asked, a little bit unsure. Probably because Hyde casually said his name as if they had been friends for a long time, instead of library staff and patrons who saw for no more than five times. 'May I know who I am speaking to, sir?'
"Oh, yeah. It's Hyde. I'm with Nate's girlfriend–"
Keira stomped on his toes.
"–I mean, Keira. Tell him Keira Hawkins is calling."
The hotel staff took a little more time before her voice went through the loudspeaker again. 'Please wait a moment.'
They did. And Keira didn't know what to expect from this.
On the one hand, she wanted to drown Hyde in a drum of Everclear – the drink said to have the highest alcohol percentage that she didn't even dare to order. On the other, she was waiting for the hotel staff to get back to them with bated breath.
Finally, after what felt like five hundred years – it was only a minute or two, but her drunken mind liked to exaggerate things just to make it a bit dramatic – Hyde's loudspeaker phone reverberated. 'Mr Wolfe is expecting you here at the hotel, sir, along with Miss Hawkins.'
"Great, we'll be there in ten," Hyde said without thinking about it first and ended the call.
"Are you out of your mind?"
"Pfft! Come on, it'll be fun," he began to slur.
She frowned, didn't want to believe it, but she also wondered if that would indeed be fun.
Hyde unceremoniously tugged on her hand, leading her out of the cop bar they drink at to celebrate their coworker Sam who had just won a lottery. He had a bottle of cheap whiskey in his other hand. She didn't know when he got that, but he said it was better than empty air.
It was a miracle that she managed to grab her satchel and drag it along. Keira didn't have the energy to resist the demoted library assistants urging pull. Almost stumbling to the floor, she didn't even have time to pay a quick glance to the table where their coworker – and her boss slash Hyde's mistress – were drinking and chatting together.
They hopped in the taxi that stopped before them, giggling in the back seats like high school lovers on their first date. The taxi driver didn't even look phased by their actions, which should speak volumes if Keira was in her right mind.
However, she was too busy imagining what he would say if she showed her imperfect face right in front of him.
Tonight's traffic was a pretty rare sight. Considering the bar was nearing downtown, the drive to Nate's hotel was quick. Perhaps, it was also because Nate's hotel was located in the upper town of Banoufield, just like any other high profile office in the state. In thirty minutes – or perhaps forty, she wasn't sure, but it was longer than the 'ten minutes' Hyde had told the hotel receptionist on the phone – they had arrived at their goal.
Paying the taxi service with her money – fine, 70% of it came out of Hyde's pocket – they soon ambled their way to the main entrance of a twenty-something-story building standing tall before their twinkling eyes. Both drunk coworkers shared a short giggle before they stepped inside the brightly lit lobby.
According to the huge and silently ticking clock on the wall behind the receptionist counter, it was nearing nine. However, some people were still milling about aside from the security guards.
Hyde scratched his head, mouth hanging open like a dumbass as his eyes roamed around the modern and posh-looking interior design. Keira wasn't sure if she mirrored his awe, but she sure as heck stopped in her tracks when she spotted a familiar figure coming out of the elevator.
The one and only Nathaniel Wolfe smirked wolfishly as he spotted her standing still in his own office building's lobby.
"Well, well, well." Even his voice sent a shiver down her spine. "Look who's coming to me."
Keira narrowed her hazy eyes while slowly ambling with her wobbly legs towards the man dressed in a fancy suit. "You!"
"Yes, My Lady?" Nate grinned and bowed, also bending his body as if he were a prince greeting the crown princess.
She didn't want any of that. She had a new goal in mind. Fueled with her anger and dislike for what Nate did days ago and the free drinks she had been gulping down all night, Keira marched to the charming yet annoying man.
"I don't care, hic! I don't, whatever you're doing with that– that pretty, high-functioning photocopier!" she jabbed her index finger at the fancy dressed man to emphasize, "You, hic! I hate you, Nate!"
Said man, however, merely raised his eyebrow at her displayed anger. He found it funny.
It was, on the other hand, so much different from the way several people in the lobby appeared. Eyes wide that they almost popped out. Mouth hanging open in apparent shock. And in a matter of seconds, they looked as if they were standing directly before the Devil himself.
One of the men – also dressed in a black suit and green tie, but less fancy looking than what Nate was wearing – stepped closer to Keira. He was bald, and the sweat on his forehead only made his head look shinier than before. Almost in a whisper, he told Keira, "Miss, I suggest you take a deep breath and come with me for a moment."
It was said simultaneously as another bald man – this one was wearing a blue tie – approached Nate and bent himself a little. "Sir, we're sorry for this disturbance. We will escort her away from here."
"No need," Nate dismissed them with a wave of his hand. "I'll sort it out myself."
"It?" Keira, clouded by the booze she gulped down earlier, was not pleased.
And another slap grazed his handsome face.
Much to the horror of the men in black suits following behind Nate.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone