What If?

Chapter 12 - Chill Guy

Glenn folded his arms across his chest, watching three office facilities staff members sweating buckets inside his brand-new office. Two of them looked like they were struggling to heave a leather sofa just to make room for a 65-inch LED TV, while the third was busy hooking up the cables of a PlayStation 5 to the wall outlet.

Right in the center of the room, a mini billiard table with mahogany wood legs stood solid. Glenn smiled with satisfaction. His new bedroom... oh, scratch that, his new Head of Internal Audit office was officially good to go.

Brak!

The double doors of the office were shoved open violently from the outside. Glenn instinctively turned around and found a middle-aged man in a sharp, tailored suit standing at the threshold, catching his breath. His face, which usually commanded authority, was now flushed bright red, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets at the scene inside the room.

It was his father, the CEO of the Ellsworth Group.

Glenn merely glanced over for a second, then flashed an innocent smile. "Oh, hey, Dad. How was the board meeting earlier? Went smoothly?" Glenn asked, breaking the ice with the most painfully stale small talk.

The middle-aged man stood frozen in his tracks, lost for words for a few seconds. With a trembling hand, he pointed at the billiard table, then shifted to the TV and the PS5 in the corner.

"G-Glenn... what... what the f**k is going on?! Why is there a pool table and a PlayStation in an office?! This is the audit division, not a gaming lounge!" his father barked, completely speechless and utterly shocked.

When on earth did his troublemaker of a son even find the time to set all this up? It was some next-level preparation, like someone moving into a new house.

Glenn only let out a casual snort, brushing off the outburst. "I mean, what else? If I get bored during work hours, I can just play, Dad. Keep my mind sharp," Glenn cracked lightheartedly.

Glenn strolled over to the plush new sofa, took off his oversized wool coat, and tossed it carelessly over the back of the seat. In one smooth motion, he popped open a bag of potato chips on the table, grabbed a chip, and made himself comfortable, lounging on the couch right in front of the widescreen TV.

Glenn patted the empty spot next to him, giving his father a teasing look. "Come on, Dad. Take a seat. Don't just stand there. Laughing at the board of directors earlier must've been exhausting, right?"

"Glenn Ellsworth! Watch your attitude—"

Before his father could unleash the lecture that was already at the tip of his tongue, the door opened once again. Jerry strolled in cheerfully, carrying three large tote bags packed with fast food and snacks.

"Glenn! Our food order and the snacks you wanted are her—oh, sir?" Jerry’s sentence cut off instantly.

His smile vanished, replaced by an incredibly stiff, awkward grin the moment he picked up on the deathly atmosphere in the room. Jerry slowly took a step back, suddenly wishing he could just vanish from the face of the earth.

Glenn’s father instinctively slapped his own forehead hard, letting out a heavy, deeply frustrated sigh.

"Absolutely not! There is no universe where an office room looks like this! Clean all of this up right now. Get everything out, Glenn!" his father commanded authoritatively, the veins in his neck bulging.

Glenn, who was busy munching on his potato chips, only shot his father a lazy glance, having absolutely no intention of getting up.

"I’m not going to," Glenn replied flatly, refusing without a single shred of fear. "My only job is to make sure there are no budget leaks in this division. If my work is done and I’m taking a breather, I’m going to use my downtime as creatively as possible. Besides, who’s actually going to fire me? You, Dad?" Glenn c****d a single eyebrow, intentionally fueling the fire. "Just remember, Dad, the majority share of this building is still under Mom's name."

Hearing his wife’s name brought up as Glenn’s trump card, the CEO went completely dead silent, suppressing an immense wave of resentment in his chest, while Glenn went right back to chewing his chips with a super annoying, victorious smirk.

"Just put it over there, Jer," Glenn directed carelessly, nodding his chin toward the coffee table near the TV. "Come on, take a seat," he invited next.

However, before obeying his boss’s orders, Jerry stole a glance at Simon. Once again, Jerry nodded his head slightly with a super stiff smile, feeling incredibly awkward about being trapped in the middle of this father-son cold war.

This guy is out of his mind. His dad is practically growing horns from anger, and he’s still here breathing easy, Jerry thought, mentally shaking his head at Glenn’s sheer audacity.

"Wait, why is everyone so quiet? Are you guys seriously having a staring contest right now?" Glenn chimed in out of nowhere, pointing back and forth between Jerry and his father with the remaining chip in his hand.

"What? Pouring your hearts out telepathically? Can you actually hear each other?" Glenn asked mockingly.

The luxurious room was a complete meltdown of absurd comedy and high-stakes tension. Simon’s face was flushed bright red, the veins in his temples throbbing violently as he held back his temper as best as he could. The middle-aged man was genuinely at a loss. Glenn turned out to be far more stubborn and thick-skinned than he ever was. He had absolutely no idea what had possessed his son to make him act this bizarrely.

"Glenn," Simon called out again, forcing himself to keep his voice down in an attempt to sound authoritative and suppress the rage that was already hitting the ceiling.

"Hmm?" Glenn replied nonchalantly, his mouth stuffed with potato chips.

"I have al—"

Buzz... buzz...

Before Simon could finish his stern sentence, the phone inside Glenn’s pants pocket suddenly vibrated like crazy.

Glenn blinked, then instantly shot a hand up in the air, brushing off his father's words completely. "Oh, hang on. Hold that thought, Daddy dearest. I've got a call," Glenn interrupted, entirely guilt-free.

"Yeah, hello?" Glenn’s voice shifted drastically, turning deep and deadly serious from the casual, mocking tone he had just been using.

Simon immediately shot a glance at Luther, his loyal personal assistant. Without a single word, Simon gave a sharp nod of his head. Luther nodded in understanding and promptly stepped out of the room.

To Glenn, Luther was a bizarre creature. he possessed the ability to speak, yet he acted exactly like a mute who was completely subservient to his father. Glenn had even told him once, 'If I were you, I’d rather resign than have my old man boss me around every single second.'

Simon didn't yell at Glenn anymore. He walked slowly over to the small wet bar in the corner of the room and poured himself a glass of water. Leaning against the edge of the counter, he carefully observed the expression on Glenn’s face. Something had shifted.

That troublemaker aura was gone, replaced by a dark side that Simon rarely witnessed.

Click.

Glenn cut the call. Without saying a word, he stood up in one swift motion. He grabbed his cropped leather jacket, threw it on with a sharp tug, and fixed his collar.

"Where do you think you're going now, GLENN?" Simon demanded, setting his glass down with a sharp clink on the counter.

"I have business," Glenn replied flatly, without looking back.

He locked eyes with Jerry, giving him a single, firm nod that carried a silent command. Jerry returned the nod with an equally serious expression, as if they had just shared a high-level mission code.

Glenn strolled right past his father, treating Simon as if he were nothing more than a piece of office furniture.

"GLENN! Where are you going?! I'm not fin—"

"I have somewhere much more important to be," Glenn cut him off coldly, just as his hand wrapped around the doorknob.

Jerry quickly gave Simon a polite bow. "Excuse me, sir." He then rushed out to catch up with Glenn.

"GLENN ELLSWORTH! So you're saying this company isn't important to you?!" Simon roared in frustration.

However, the heavy office doors had already slammed shut before his sentence could even finish.

The exact moment the door opened, someone was already standing there. Gwen. A wide smile instantly broke out on her face as she reached out to link her arm with Glenn’s. "Oh, my baby Glen—"

Slap!

Glenn roughly brushed Gwen's hand away. Without sparing her a single glance, he walked right past her, his long strides fueled by a tightly suppressed rage.

"Wait, what? Ugh!!" Gwen froze in her tracks, her face flushing bright red from a mix of embarrassment and sheer frustration at being completely ignored.

Jerry, who was running to catch up with Glenn, passed by Gwen. He glanced back slightly, whispering in a rush, "Don't mess with him right now, he’s in beast mode," before sprinting off again to catch up with his boss.

"Ugh!!!!!!!! Men are all the same!"

*****