Stained Ego I

 Grey's POV 

It was my first day working as a courier in my own company. I could barely wrap my head around the absurdity of it all. Me, Grey Wang, reduced to handling mail and making copies. Ridiculous. I stood in front of the photocopy machine, frustrated beyond belief. The thing was jamming, making weird noises, and I had no idea how to fix it. I pressed buttons, pulled levers, but nothing worked. The machine seemed to mock me, spitting out half-printed pages, and my frustration grew.I'd never had to deal with this; someone always did it for me.

"Why won't you just work?" I muttered angrily, smacking the side of the machine, as if that would somehow magically solve the problem. 

I was about to lose it when a guy approached, smiling like I was some helpless newbie.

"Hey, missy, calm down. Let me help you with that," he said, smoothly taking the file from my hands. "You need to handle it with care," he added, throwing me a quick glance.

Missy? I glared at him, barely able to control my rage. Who the hell are you calling missy? I wanted to tell him off but swallowed my pride. Instead, I muttered, "Good," because saying 'thank you' wasn't in my DNA

As he efficiently fixed the machine, I went back to pretending he didn't exist. I didn't need him or his help.

"May I get your name?" he asked, trying to strike up a conversation. Really? Wasn't it enough he just called me missy?

I almost said 'Grey' but caught myself just in time. "Gre... Lisa," I mumbled. How hard could it be to remember my fake name?

"Grelisa?" he asked with a stupid smirk, flashing a set of annoyingly perfect teeth. He thought he was so clever.

"No, just Lisa," I corrected quickly, waving my hands like I was shooing a fly.

"You're so funny and cute," he chuckled, tapping me on the head as if I was some kind of puppy. And just like that, he walked away.

Funny? Cute? Was this guy serious? I clenched my fists, watching him leave. I was his boss, or at least I used to be. Now I was stuck in this ridiculous situation, and people thought they could tap me on the head like a puppy?

As I was fuming, a girl came stomping up to me with attitude. Arms crossed, eyes narrowed. She looked ready to start a fight.

"Hmmm, you there, why are you trying to flirt with him?" she snapped, rolling her eyes at me.

Flirt? Me? I turned to her, my face twisting in confusion. "Who's flirting with him?" I demanded, not in the mood for whatever drama she was trying to stir up.

She raised her voice, clearly enjoying the attention. "What's with your oversized suit? The new courier really lacks fashion sense," she sneered, and suddenly the room erupted in laughter. 

I could feel my face burning with embarrassment, but I held my ground. The girl wasn't finished though. She leaned in closer, her voice now a venomous whisper. "I don't want you to ever go near Riley again. Or else."

Or else? My frustration bubbled over, and I couldn't stop myself. "Or else what? What are you going to do?" I shot back, my voice low but filled with challenge.

Her response was quick and brutal. She "accidentally" spilled her coffee all over my suit. "Oops," she said with a fake smile, dabbing at the stain like she was doing me a favor. "This cheap, oversized suit needed to be changed anyway."

I stood there, frozen in shock as the hot coffee soaked into my clothes. People around us snickered, and I felt utterly humiliated. Tears threatened to spill over, but I swallowed them back and bolted, fleeing to the restroom to clean up the mess.

I slammed into the first bathroom I found, frantically scrubbing at the stain on my suit, furious at everything and everyone,when the door to one of the stalls creaked open. 

That's when I heard a cough behind me.

I turned,and to my horror,there he was again—the photocopy guy—his zipper still down, clearly just finished using the restroom. Oh, God. I froze.

"Oh, shit!" he yelped, his face turning red as he quickly zipped up. He turned around, trying to avoid eye contact. "What are you doing here? The women's restroom is the other way,across the hall!" he pointed out, half laughing.

I felt my stomach drop.I was in the men's room*. I had been so rattled I'd completely forgotten I wasn't... well,me. I mumbled an apology and dashed out of there as fast as I could.

My suit was ruined, my ego even more so, and I needed to get out of this nightmare. I headed to the my fashion store, desperately needing something—anything—that wasn't stained with coffee and shame.