Trouble At Work

Evans was stirring sugar into his coffee, it was only after a few minutes he realized he was still stirring and his coffee had gone cold. He had been lost in thought all morning, his concentration weaving between the work he had to do and his encounter with Bryan Holding, whoever he was that morning, the information he got from Ben wasn't enough for him to understand the situation. He kept replaying the scene from earlier trying to make sense of the whole thing, and the only conclusion he came to was that Mason was losing his mind or being blackmailed into hiring what looked and sounded like a scandal in a leather jacket. He checked his wristwatch, about 4 hours had passed since he left Mason's office and he still hadn't heard a word from his friend. What if the Bryan guy was still there? What if Mason was actually in trouble?. It puzzled him that Mason kept him in the dark about this issue, they were best friends after all and never hid anything from each other. He decided that if Mason wasn't going to talk then he would have to drag the truth out of him just like all best friends do. He looked at his coffee and shrugged before downing it in two gulps, he straightened and walked out of his office towards the familiar direction of the CEO's office.

He was so absent minded that he didn't notice the employees he met on his way greeting him, this was new territory to him. He had never thought a day would come where he would be a stranger to what was going on in his best friend's life. He kept wondering how to begin the conversation and didn't notice he was already in Mason's office until he bumped into Ben who was just stepping out for his lunch break "Oh I'm sorry Mr Evans, I didn't mean to bump into you" the secretary said respectfully "That's fine Ben, it's more my fault than yours". The two men were obviously a little uncomfortable because of the incidence that had happened that morning, no employee would have dared to speak to Evans like that without risking a query or even being fired for insubordination. It was a little embarrassing that his friend's secretary had witnessed that incident.

Ben bowed slightly and was about to walk past Evans when he was called back "Hey Ben, that guy isn't still in there is he?" Ben shook his head before speaking "He left quite a while ago sir, Mr Mason is in there alone" Evans thanked Ben and told him to have a good lunch. He walked to his friend's door and hesitated, if Bryan Holding had left a while ago like Ben said then why didn't Mason inform him on what was going on, at least his friend had said they would talk later. He raised his hand to knock before shaking his head at his own silliness, he and Mason never needed to knock on each other's doors and more often than not Mason had caught him in embarrassing moments. He pushed the door open and stepped into his office.

Mason was seated at his desk, staring intently at his laptop while punching repeatedly on his keyboard. Evans strode in and sat down in front of his friend, Mason's glance shifted from the screen to his friend. He was wondering why Ben didn't call him to tell him Evans was around before he checked the time and noticed it was already lunch break, he made a mental note to send a message to Ben to bring him back a snack. He shut his laptop and leaned back on his chair as he nodded at his friend "Hey man, how's it going" he said casually "How's it going? Um let me see, I've been waiting for an explanation on a crazy scene I saw this morning and I haven't gotten any answers" Evans replied just as casually.

Mason sighed and rubbed his eyes before closing his laptop, he faced his friend and said "Look I'm sorry about this morning okay, it's a long story but I promise it doesn't concern you in any way and it's nothing to worry about" Evans started to laugh until he realized that Mason was dead serious, his friend really had no intention to tell him what was going on with Bryan Holding, that fact alone made Evans even more worried, it seemed Mason had started to keep secrets from him"Nothing to worry about? I think you personally interviewing someone I don't know for a position I don't know is something to worry about…. I know you Mason and you don't get mixed up with the likes of that Bryan guy so why don't you just cut the crap and tell me what's actually going on. You're not actually hiring him are you?" Mason was starting to get irritated, Bryan had annoyed him all morning and he wasn't in the mood to be grilled by his friend"I already hired him Evans, Bryan Holding is my new personal assistant and I didn't tell you about it because I didn't think it was any of your business so can you please drop the issue?" Evans was stunned, Mason had never acted this way before. What did he mean by none of his business? He pulled himself together as best as he could and said calmly "Okay Mason, I get if you think it's none of my business but I'm your best friend and I think that makes your business my business. I just want to know what is going on with you, who exactly is Bryan Holding and why did you make the decision to hire him on your own when you know fully well that there are protocols to be followed. You don't even need a personal assistant, you've gotten this far just fine by yourself. There's something fishy going on and I'd like to know what it is, if you're in some sort of trouble trust me I'll help you out"

Mason gritted his teeth, he wished Evans would just leave him alone instead of pointing out some of the less than smart decisions he's recently made "I am the CEO Evans and if I decide to hire a bloody personal assistant then that is what I will do. Now if you will excuse me I have a lot to do" He could see his best friend didn't really expect how the conversation was going, a part of him wished he hadn't pulled the boss card on Evans but it was too late to take his words back now. He swallowed the guilt he felt at the hurt in his friend's eyes. The statement was uncalled for and he knew he was unnecessarily being a jerk, however he also knew that Evans wouldn't back down easily, a quality which had always served them both well but was now a source of inconvenience. He forced himself to hold Evans' gaze desperately wishing that his friend could understand that he just wasn't ready to talk about Bryan yet. Evans nodded once and stood "Fine, I won't take anymore of your time. Just keep in mind that I was only trying to be a good friend, a good brother" he said in an emotionless voice and walked out without a backward glance. He almost couldn't believe Mason had said that to him, he had always made Evans feel like an equal, treated him like a brother which was how Evans felt about him and now it seems that was starting to fall apart just by the singular appearance of Bryan. Evans didn't know who the guy was but he was sure of one thing now, Bryan Holding was trouble.