Calls

After Evans left his office, Mason threw himself into his work trying to keep his mind off the disastrous conversation he had with his friend. Evans was only trying to help, if roles were reversed, he would do the same and more for his friend but things were a bit messy right now and he needed a little time to straighten things out, he sighed and forced himself to concentrate on the work ahead. He succeeded for most part but the memory of what had happened didn't totally stay hidden, at a point he almost left his office for Evans to apologize and explain the situation but he felt for now, it was best to leave things as they are. He was pretty sure that Evans would not approve of Bryan nor would he approve of Mason's decision to hire him as well as the reason behind it so it was best to leave things be until they settled, then he would have a nice long conversation with Evans over a bottle of wine. "I'll be leaving now sir" Ben's voice cut into his thoughts and he looked up shocked to see it had become dark. How engrossed was I? He thought "That's quite alright Ben, I'll be leaving soon myself." Ben bowed and left Mason's office having closed for the day. Mason quickly tidied his desk, picked his laptop and headed out too. He passed by Evans' office and he could see that there was no light on, he sighed and headed towards the garage where his car was parked.

The drive home felt longer than usual, he had started to feel fatigued from overworking today and the events from earlier were still running through his mind. Bryan Holding would be starting work the next day "Oh yay" he muttered sarcastically to himself as he pulled into his mansion nodding a greeting to the young man who took his key before heading into his house.He hardly noticed the maid taking his bag and headed straight up to his room for a shower. He was in the shower for a while letting the water run over his aching muscles and thinking of the various ways he could exercise authority over his new employee who already gave him a tough time without even starting the main job yet, he knew within himself that Bryan wasn't the type of person to follow rules just because they were there, he had barely managed to stay in control during the interview earlier today. "I hope I'm not forced to fire him in a week" he said to himself as he got out of the shower drying himself up. He laid on his bed, facing the ceiling, and thinking about what the consequences of his latest decision might be, he wondered what his sister would think of him hiring Bryan, she would definitely think he was being meddlesome and he could already imagine her face scrunched up in anger as she yelled at him. He smiled at the image, what Lisa doesn't know won't kill her he thought. Not that he could keep it from her forever but hopefully he could keep it long enough to find a way to break the news without causing a world war. A while later when a maid was sent up to call him down for dinner, she found out that he was already fast asleep.

Lisa was getting ready to leave home for college when a maid came in "Breakfast is ready miss, would you like it to be brought up here or you'd come down for it". She thought about it for a moment before deciding that it was best to go down for a quick breakfast and leave immediately.

"I'll be down for breakfast in two minutes tops. Thank you" she replied the maid flashing a smile at her before the other lady retreated from the room. She guessed her brother would either be in the gym or would have already left for work, the idiot worked so much that Lisa doubted he knew what fun or relax means. She briefly considered tricking her brother to go on a vacation, it would do him a lot of good. She picked her bag, checked her appearance in the mirror before leaving her room. She was almost at the dining room when the home phone rang, they rarely got calls on the home phone so it was a bit of a surprise. "No I'll get it" she said to the maid that was scurrying to the phone sitting beside the entrance to the living room. The maid smiled her thanks and turned while Lisa walked over and picked the phone up. As she held it to her ear, she heard a familiar voice say "Yo boss what's your schedule for today?" Lisa shook her head at Bryan's statement, did he actually think he could play a prank on her? Well two can play at that game. She cleared her throat and deepened her voice to a perfect imitation of her brother when he was irritated "What are you talking about?" Bryan chuckled at the other end of the line "No need to get your CEO panties in a twist, I didn't feel like calling Ben for the schedule. Just give it to me and we can start the day like a good boss and assistant" he said teasingly. Lisa was confused and for the first time she realized that she hadn't given him her home phone number, how did he get the number and what was Bryan talking about? How did he know what the name of Mason's secretary was and what did he mean by start the day like a good boss and assistant? She had so many questions, something within her told her that she wasn't going to like what she'll hear from him. "Bryan what do you mean?" She said dropping all charade, at the other end, Bryan was silent for a while before speaking "Lisa is that you?"

"Of course it's me, what the hell is going on?" She snapped in reply. Bryan gave a low whistle as he realized what was going on, this should be fun he thought

"Aw Lisa, big brother didn't tell you? I bet he's scared of what you would do to him"

"Tell me what?" She asked suspiciously, what had her brother done now.

"Well darling Lisa, I landed a dream job yesterday, maybe not my dream job but a lot of people's dream job. I now work with your brother" he said clearly enjoying himself from the sound of his voice

"What?!" Lisa said gritting her teeth "My brother hired you? Why?"

"Hey don't be like that, your brother might be a nightmare but the pay is really good. Anyways he did it because of you so I guess I have you to thank for securing the post of a personal assistant with having to go back to college "he replied her laughing silently.

Lisa was so angry that she thought she might explode, why did Mason keep messing with her life? Did he really think she was some silly little girl that can't take care of herself? She forced herself to sound calm "Okay Bryan, how did this happen, when did you apply? I mean you barely know each other "

"I didn't apply, your brother hunted me down and basically ordered me to come work for him. I mean I tried to resist but no man can say no to that much money. Heyy, maybe you can talk to him for me about changing my style of clothes, my style is part of who I am as we both know" Bryan finished.

Lisa clutched the phone so hard it felt like it might snap in her hand. Mason really had gone too far this time around, she wondered how she was unlucky enough to be stuck with the most annoying and controlling jackass for a brother. She took a few deep breaths to pull herself together and then put on a false cheery voice before she replied Bryan "Hey if the money is that good, then you shouldn't complain right. Now if you happen to see my brother before I do, kindly tell him his loving sister is plotting his gruesome and painful death, by the way I'd suggest you call Ben for the schedule if you don't want Mason to go into full beast boss mode"

Bryan laughed at Lisa's statement, a little surprised that Lisa wasn't freaking out more "I can't argue with that logic ma'am and listen if you're going to kill him wait a few months at least, I should be able to afford a new bike and up my amazing style by then. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some personal assisting and official whatnot to do" and with a click the line went silent.

Lisa bit into her bag and screamed into it. She knew Mason was protective of her and she knew he loved her, afterall they only had each other since the demise of their parents but he had crossed a boundary, what exactly was his motive for hiring Bryan, to spy on her or to be sure her life was still in his control? She wondered bitterly if he would always find a way to be involved in every aspect of her life,if he would ever trust her enough to let her be on her own and if she would ever be free.

She thought of various ways she could deal with this, yelling at Mason would probably not faze him, she had yelled at him several times and he still wouldn't stop meddling in her life. Besides he kinda had the right to hire whomever he wanted even if he wasn't doing it out of the goodness of his heart, she also considered moving out but Mason would probably track her down and buy the building she lived in. A smile suddenly flashed across her face as she decided what to do. She started to punch a series of numbers on the phone, she hit dial and heard the phone ring on the other end of the line. After two rings, she heard a familiar voice say "Hello?"

Lisa took a deep breath and said "He has started again"