Her Soul

Chapter 10 Misty

Brother? Misty had only been working for him for three days, but she was learning so much about Gregg Hale.

When they stepped out onto the sidewalk, Gregg started toward the big building next door. The building didn’t look obnoxious like some of the others close by. It was more like a small slice of old New York with the red brick and window boxes. The large glass doors gleamed, and a doorman smiled as Misty walked up the steps behind Gregg. “Mr. Hale,” he tipped his hat as he opened the door, “Miss.”

“Thank you,” Misty smiled. This place must cost a fortune. She couldn’t wait to get into a place like this when she saved up for it.

A young woman briskly walked up to them in the lobby filled with light and a small seating area to one side. A bay of elevator doors were to the right, and a desk stationed across from them. The floors were a bright white tile, and the walls were a tasteful light blue.

“Mr. Hale, I see you went to visit Mrs. Clark, and you didn’t bring me anything?” Her lips pouted a bit. Misty wasn’t blind, she knew flirting when she saw it.

“Cindy, how are you today?” Clearly, Gregg was oblivious to the advances.

“It is a wonderful day when you come to see us.” She shot him a big smile, and pushed her barely covered breast up a little further in her sweater dress.

He didn’t even register what she had said, Gregg turned to Misty, “This is Ms. Edwards, my assistant, and hopefully your new tenant.”

New tenant? He had said nothing about her looking at an apartment. Misty would never be able to afford a place like this in a million years. She felt her stomach drop.

Cindy finally realized Misty was standing there. She gave her an almost annoyed look as she plastered on a fake smile and looked Misty up and down like she was sizing her up.

‘She knows you don’t belong here. You will never look as good as she does. Her body is perfect, the exact body that Gregg would love to f**k. You are not worth his time. He is probably just being kind because he feels sorry for you.’

Does it matter if he wants to f**k her? Misty thought at the voice in her head, but before the voice in her head could continue, Cindy’s voice broke through the thoughts.

“It is nice to meet you Ms. Edwards,” Cindy held out her fingertips for Misty to shake her hand. Mr. Whitmore taught Misty how a lady shakes hands in a business setting, and Misty took her full hand in a firm but polite handshake.

“The pleasure is mine, Cindy.” Misty had been masking her whole life, so pretending to like Cindy wasn’t a stretch. Even if Misty thought she was disgusting for throwing herself at their boss.

Cindy turned to Gregg, “Mr. Hale, I am sorry, I thought we would have a unit available, but the one that I thought was opening up needs the updated floor plan and, with the age of the appliances, it just isn’t ready to be seen.”

“I see.” Gregg got a concerned look on his face. “Well, is the unit vacant yet?”

“The current tenants still have a week or so before the end of their contract, and after that it will take at least two weeks to get the updates done on the unit.” Suddenly, Cindy perked up, “But if you would like, you can come to my office. I have the sketches from the contractor’s company that you can look at.”

Gregg’s demeanor shifted so slightly that Misty almost didn’t catch it. “I wish you would have said something before we came to this side of the city.” He looked at Misty, “Ms. Edwards, would you be willing to look at the property in a couple of weeks,” He shot Cindy a stern look, and her bright smile faltered slightly, “I am sure Cindy can communicate with you at an appropriate time to come see the property.”

Misty almost felt bad for the other woman. When Gregg Hale didn’t get what he wanted, his presents turned almost scary.

“That will be fine, Mr. Hale.”

With a small nod to Cindy, Gregg took Misty’s elbow again and said, “Please let us know when we can come look at the unit.” He turned and ushered her out the door.

Before they could get to the car, bagels still in hand, Misty stopped. “Mr. Hale, I appreciate this, but it isn’t necessary, sir. I am fine in my current apartment.” She felt embarrassed. She knew he thought her place was trash.

‘I told you so.’ is all the voice in her head said.

“Ms. Edwards, you take three buses to the office. I need my assistant closer to the office in case something comes up and I need them there quickly, and without a car, I can’t expect you to get to the office within an hour. I pay your salary and with what I pay you, you can be on call for reasonable emergencies. Now, let's get in the car. I have been looking forward to this bagel since I woke up this morning.” Without another word, he walked over to the passenger's side door, opened it and waited for Misty to crawl into the seat. Then got in the car, started it, and took a bite out of his bagel.

Misty had to stop herself from devouring hers as he pulled onto the street and began to navigate to the office. This place really was a lot closer to the office, and the bus stop was only a half a block away. Misty pulled up the bus app on her phone and saw that the bus ran directly from this stop to the one about a half a block from the office, but there was still no way she could afford the place. It was just too good to be true. Her heart sank a little.

They drove the rest of the way to the office in silence while Misty tried to silence the voice in her head again.

When Gregg pulled into his spot in the garage, he looked at Misty, “I will take you back to your apartment this evening. Please be ready to leave at five-thirty.”

He got out of the car before Misty could even respond, and walked to the elevator that would take him to the office. Misty gathered her bag, and followed.

When they got to the correct floor, Gregg walked to his office, and Misty went to her desk. Denice had sat a donut and a scone on her desk as well as a stack of messages that must have come in while they were at the apartment building.

The day went by quickly as Misty answered emails, phone calls, and had an interesting conversation with one client’s admin, and before she knew it, Misty looked at the clock, and it was almost five-thirty. She picked up her bag and a stack of folders that she intended to review for accuracy. She would input any corrections to the reports into the system before she handed them off to Gregg.

As she walked to the door of his office, she could hear Gregg on the phone. “I know, I never get to see you sweetheart, but I do love you, and I miss you so much. You know you are my main girl, don’t you? Yes ma’am, I will see you this weekend. I cross my heart. OK, I love you too, sweetheart.” Then she heard kiss noises. Oh, he must have a girlfriend.

Of course, he did, look at him. He was beyond handsome, charming, and loaded. There was no way he wasn’t seeing someone. Misty felt like someone gripped her stomach. Then she stopped herself. Why does it matter?