C2 2

great way to make a first impression. The call with my brother went pretty much the way I imagined it would. He was suspicious of the fact that I had to live with my new boss and the fact that said new boss was part of his favorite team didn`t do much to appease him. I`m an adult, so we both know he can`t forbid me from doing anything, but that doesn't mean he `s happy about it. I didn`t want him to worry about me, so I promised him I would tell him if something happened that I wasn`t comfortable with. My phone rings and a look at my screen tells me it`s

Hoggins. „Hello.” „Sophie, I`m so sorry, I`m stuck in traffic. There was an accident on the road, and now

everybody`s stuck here until they clear it up.” „Maybe you should call mister Kingston and let him know what`s happened. I`m sure he`ll understand.” „I`ve tried, but he`s not answering his phone. I was thinking that since you`re already there, you should go ahead and go in and introduce yourself to Max while I try to get out of this traffic jam. I already cleared you at the gate, so you should have no trouble getting in .” Oh my god, is this guy serious?!

„Um, mister Hoggins, I don`t think that`s such a good idea. We both know he doesn't want me here, and without you there to smooth things over, I`m afraid our first meeting won`t be such a success.” There`s a beat of silence from the other end before he speaks. „Ok, Sophie, I`m going to tell you a secret. Max is all bark and no bite, and the key to getting along with him is not to let him walk all over you. You`re a smart girl, and I have no doubt you will handle him just fine, but in case you have any trouble, just give me a call .” I don`t want to do this, but I don`t want to seem incompetent. Not on the first day anyway. „All right, if you think it`s for the best, then I`ll go ahead without you. I guess I`ll see you when you get here.” „Good luck, kid.” „Thanks.” I start the car and go to the gate where, after checking my ID, the security guard lets me in. I drive up the path, and I can`t help but notice the houses are all nice and big, but I guess I wouldn`t expect

Max Kingston to live in a shitty neighborhood with the amount of money he`s making. I get to number 135, which according to the information I got from Hoggins, is his house. It`s a beautiful modern two-story house with a wide driveway. I park my Minie Cooper next to an enormous Range, which I`m guessing is his. I don`t have an umbrella, and a better look at his front door tells me there`s no cover, so I`m going to get soaked by the time he opens the door. I look down at my outfit and resign myself to the fact that I`m probably going to ruin the cute blue summer dress I`m wearing. I get out of the car and run to the front door where I ring the doorbell and wait. And wait, and wait. I ring again because I`m getting soaked at this point but still no answer. „Are you kidding me right now?” The jerk is seriously going to let me stand here in the rain. „Fuck this shit,” I ring the doorbell again, but this time, I keep my finger on the button. If I`m going to be soaked to my skin, then he`s going to go deaf. After about a minute, the front door swings open, and I come face to face with my new housemate. At any other time, I would have ogled the shit out of him, he`s that hot in his tight white t-shirt and gray sweat pants, but I`m pissed, so I settled for a glare. „You are very loud” is, of all things, what he chooses to say to me first. Is this guy for real right now? „Wet is what I am, mister Kingston. Very wet.” He looks me up and down. „Yes, you are. You should be more careful, you know. You could catch a nasty cold from that.” I look

at him with rainwater dripping from my hair down on my face and somehow, some-freaking-how manage to say with a straight face „Yes, thank you. I'll consider that next time I'm waiting in the rain for someone to open the door. In the meantime, do you think that I could maybe come in so that I can avoid getting even wetter?” He has the nerve to look at me like he`s considering if he should let me in or not. Finally, he moves out of the way and gestured for me to come in. „Thank you.” I manage to say with only a bit of sarcasm in my voice. The interior of the house is lovely and looks surprisingly homey. It`s an open space concept, and it `s a lot smaller than I expected. „I`m dripping water on your floor, could you maybe bring me a towel so I can dry off.” Again he looks at me with that put-out expression, like it`s my fault he decided to be petty and leave me out in the rain so he could express his displeasure. „Wait here. I`ll be right back.” He does come right back carrying a big white towel, which he hands me, the fierce frown never leaving his face. „Where`s Hoggins? He was supposed

to come with you .” „He got held up in traffic, and he told me to go ahead and come. He said he called you, but you didn`t answer your phone.” Incredibly enough, he manages to frown even harder, and I want to tell him to be careful because he`s going to get wrinkles, but I don`t think we `re at the point in our relationship where he would welcome advice like that. I finish drying up as best I can and offer my hand to him. „My name is Sophie Grant, and I`m your new assistant.” I smile as cheerfully as I can, considering the fact that I resemble a wet rat. He doesn't return my smile, but he does take my offered hand. „ Max Kingston.” I knew the guy was big, I`d seen pictures, but sitting next to him makes me realize just how huge he is. I`m 5ft6, so I`m not short, but next to this guy, I feel like a regular Tinkerbell, which isn`t a good thing because, for some fucked-up reason, it`s a total turn-on. „It`s very nice to meet you. I`m sure we`ll get along great.” He doesn't look like he agrees with that statement. „I`m going to be honest with you. I don`t want you here. I don`t need an assistant, and I sure as hell don`t need a babysitter. I value my privacy above all else, and I don`t appreciate being forced to let someone live in my house and follow me around like I`m some misbehaving kid. I did nothing wrong.” He sounds pissed, and I get where he`s coming from, but neither he nor I have any choice. „I agree, you did nothing wrong, and for the record, I told mister Hoggins I didn`t think you needed someone to watch you, but he told me it was non-negotiable. Listen, I don`t want to be a pest, so I`ll do my best to be as unintrusive as possible .” He snorts at that. „I don`t see how you could do that. You`ll have to follow me everywhere and live in my house for six months. Six fucking months! It`s the most fucked-up thing that`s ever happened to me, so you`ll excuse me if I`m not reassured .” „I understand, I do, but this is going to happen, so how about we make the best of it. We can be friends. I`m not so bad, and I`m told I can be pretty funny, so let`s make a truce, and I`m sure we`ll be just fine. Just think of me as a roommate, like when you were in college.” He looks at me like I`m crazy, but at least he`s not frowning anymore, so that`s a plus. „You want me to pretend like we`re in college and you`re my roommate?” That`s not exactly what I said, but ok, I`ll go with it. „Um, sure. Something like that.” „Jesus, they hired a nutcase.” „Well, that`s not very nice.” „Yeah, spoiler alert, I`m not a very nice guy. You might as well know that from the get-go.” „You could at least try. What do you have to gain by being so negative? Try to think positive. Positive thoughts attract positive things .” „Are you a hippie or something? I should have known it, with the pink hair and the hobo dress.” Oh no, he didn`t! „Excuse me?!

What are you, a fashion critic? For your information, this is a boho dress, not a hobo dress. I`m not a hobo type of girl.

And pastel-colored hair is in. And no, I am not a hippie. Not that there`s anything wrong with being a hippie.” He rolls his eyes at me, and I`m tempted to tell him the same thing I said to that woman in the elevator yesterday, but I still have hope of winning him over. A tiny, fragile hope, but still. „Fashion preferences aside, I think we could at least try to get along. Wouldn`t you rather have a nice friendly relationship with the person you`ll be spending the next six months with? I would.” He doesn't seem very convinced, but then again, he doesn't seem to be as combatative eighter, so maybe there`s a chance he would at least consider it. „If I agree to this, I want you to promise that you won`t get in my space more than strictly necessary. I understand you have to follow me around, but I don`t want you all up in my face all the damn time.” „Of course. I like to have my privacy as well, so that won`t be a problem.” I`m just about to ask him to show me where my room is when the front door bursts open and in comes to a fairy. Ok, so it isn`t an actual fairy, but she sure does look like one. To be more exact, she`s a dead ringer for Tinkerbell. She has honey-blonde hair that`s tied up in a messy bun, huge blue eyes that are tilted up at the corner, and a cute button nose. She `s a bit shorter than I am and has one of those slim bodies that most women, myself included, would kill for. She has a white umbrella with pink polka-dots on it, and when she looks up at us and smiles, two dimples appear on her cheeks. „Hello. It`s pouring outside; I thought my car was going to sink.” Mister grumpy pants goes and helps her take her raincoat off. „If you`d let me buy you a decent car, you wouldn`t have to worry about that old piece of shit dying on you.” „Maximillian, you stop insulting Rhonda right this minute. She`s my baby, and I won`t have you bad-mouth her in front of people. What will your new assistant think.” She then turns to me and gives me another huge smile. „You`ll have to excuse my brother. He`s embracing his inner grumpy old man at the tender age of twenty-seven. He was always a precocious boy.” „Yes, I`ve noticed. You, however, seem awesome. I`m

Sophie Grant, and I`m delighted to meet you.” „I`m Ema, grumpy`s little sister. May I just say I love, love, love your hair.” I can`t help but give Max a smug look; I told him pastel hair was in, but then my brain starts connecting the dots, and I freak out. „Ema Kingston? As in the author?” She lights up at my words. „Yeah, you know my work?” „Oh my god, are you kidding. I`m a huge fan. I`ve read all your books. You are like my favorite indie author. I can`t believe this is happening.” Ema Kingston writes some of the most kick-ass romance novels I have ever read, and that`s saying something since I read a lot of romance. She`s written eight novels so far, and I`ve read them all at least three times. „Did you hear that, Max? She likes my books.” I almost faint when I see him smile to his sister because the man is hot when he`s scowling, but when he smiles, it`s a whole other level. Thank god he doesn't seem to be the type to smile often. „Of course she likes them, you`re a fantastic writer .” She beams at his praise, and I don`t blame her. I`d be just as thrilled if he gave me that look. „You`re getting a free mocha-roast

for that, big brother.” She looks towards me and explains, „I work as a barista at The Coffee Fairy, it`s in the 16th Street area. Have you ever been?” „Nope, but I`m always happy to find a good coffee shop. Do you enjoy it?” „I do, actually. I get to talk to a lot of people, which is a good thing when you`re a writer, and it gives me enough time to write .” „What are you doing here, anyway? Why aren`t you at work?” Ah, yes, proud big brother is gone, and the grump is back. „I took the day off. I wanted to meet your new assistant. It`s not every day someone is permitted access to your lair, so I was curious. Besides, I wanted to make sure she wasn`t some weirdo, but I`m happy to report she gets the stamp of approval.” „You don`t even know her, she might be a total psycho, and besides, we all know I didn`t permit anything. I wasn`t given a choice.” Ok, so his sister knew why I was here. Good to know since Hoggins told me I was to talk to nobody about this particular matter. „I`m not a psycho, I`m the most normal person I know,” I say to him with a small frown of my own. That gets me an incredulous stare from grumpy who ,apparently, does not agree. „That says a lot about the kind of people you know, hobo.” „Boho, it`s boho, not hobo. They are two very different styles, grumpy.” „Grumpy? Did you seriously call me grumpy?” „What, I thought we were giving each other cute nicknames. Besides, it suits you.” „Wow, they did a great job choosing you, hobo, they did. I mean, you scream mature, responsible adult fit for keeping me in check. You were born for

this job.” The sarcasm is great with this one.

„Thank you, I think so too,” I say as bright and bubbly as possible just to piss him off. He starts to say something, but he stops when he sees his sister with her phone in her hand, filming us. „What the hell are you doing?” „I`m recording this for later. I`m for sure using this in my book. Keep going; this is gold, pure gold.” He shakes his head and scowls at his sister. Seriously, this guy is going to get the worst wrinkles in the history of wrinkles if he keeps this up. I really have tried to keep my mouth shut, but I can`t take it anymore. „Would you stop frowning and scowling all the time. You`re going to have more wrinkles than my eighty-year-old grandma by the time you`re thirty if you keep this up.” Does he listen? Of course not. If anything, he scowls even harder as his sister is going back and forth with her phone between us. She is eating this shit up. „Do you have a mute button somewhere? Seriously, if we`re going to be living together, I need to know how to turn your sound off because if not, I might start drinking. What the fuck was Hoggins thinking of hiring you.” „Hey, I`m a constant fricking delight if you must know. It`s not me; it`s you. You are the problem here, grumpy. Luckily for you, I don`t hold grudges, so I`ll forgive your less than welcoming attitude and just put it down to you being bio sensitive. Some people are very out of sorts when it`s rainy outside.” His eyes bug out at that, and for a moment, he looks stunned. „Is this for real right now? This can`t be for real. I`m being punked, right?” „They`re not filming Punked anymore, unfortunately, so you can rest easy. I`m real, and I`m all yours for the next six months. Rejoice!”