Chapter 7

Misfit_138

Good Evening

PR_Princess

Hello!

Thanks for swiping up

Admittedly, I almost didn't. You don't have any pictures in your profile

I have several ??

And none of them show your face ??

That's strategic

Explain

I'm looking for a match based not just on physical attraction. I want to date someone who I can easily converse with

I guess I can't fault you on that

I was hoping you would understand

I wish I could chat longer with you, but I have to go. I didn't want to not say hi after we matched

Well…hi! Lol

Hi!

I'll chat at you later ??

"Well that's new," Grace said aloud.

Men usually texted with a purpose, not just to say hi. Like the chat she started earlier in the evening with "hockeydude15," or Dimitri, whose name she had learned an hour into their chat.

Immediately, Dimitri told her that he found her pretty and hoped to take her out. They both were into the idea of meeting after some back and forth.

Grace had been waiting for Dimitri to get back to her when the mysterious misfit messaged her.

It was strange, but the exchange left her smiling. She hoped that wasn't the last she heard from him.

She was afraid, however, that Dimitri might have ghosted her. Giving up waiting for him to reply she got ready for bed. She was just plugging her phone into the charger for the night when she got a notification.

Dimitri

I'm so sorry! My cat got out of my apartment and I had to chase her down about 5 blocks

Grace

Oh no! Did you catch her?

I did. I have her locked in my bathroom right now as a punishment

It's late, isn't it? Did I wake you up?

No, but I was just getting ready for bed

Not going to lie, I thought you ghosted me

I would never

Let me make it up to you?

I'm listening

Dinner, tomorrow night?

Sure. Where do you have in mind?

I'm going to try to call in a few favours. I'll drop a pin and a time tomorrow, and if my plans don't work out, we go from there?

Too easy. Sounds like a plan

Perfect! See you tomorrow.

Goodnight, Grace ??

Goodnight

Grace was in a great mood when she arrived at her office Friday morning. It was the end of the work week and she had a date with a nice guy. She had not forgotten that she planned to speak with her boss about her and her assistant's negligent behaviour, but even that couldn't bring her down. She had woken up feeling nothing could go wrong that day.

She decided she would get the Gus situation figured out before she talked to Mr. Kennedy. She wanted to approach him with a work-related matter before she discussed her unprofessionalism .

After a frustrating call with Gus, she called Scarlett into her office.

"Yes, boss?"

"Can you reach out to Lucas and see if Mr. Kennedy has some free time for a brief conversation today? Tell him it's about the flyers."

"Sure, anything else?" Scarlett asked.

"No, that's it," Grace replied.

"Are you sure there isn't anything else you wanted to tell me?" Scarlett said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"About the flyers?" Grace asked, confused.

"About the dress bag hanging right there."

"Oh, that. No, I don't want to tell you about that," Grace admitted.

"You have a date," Scarlett exclaimed, a mischievous grin forming on her lips.

"Please, Scarlett, the message is time sensitive."

"Fine, I'll get you scheduled in, but I'm coming back, and I expect details," Scarlett warned before leaving.

A few moments later, there was a knock at her door.

"Scarlett, I told you, I'm not going to tell you about my date. The last thing I need is for you to blab the details around the office."

"She did tell Lucas that she suspected you have a date, but that's as far as she has gotten."

"Mr. Kennedy, hi," Grace said jumping up from her desk. "What brings you to my office?"

He stood casually, leaning his shoulder against the door frame with his hands in his pockets. The corners of his mouth lifted into an amused smirk.

"Scarlett said you needed to talk about Gus, so I came right over," he shrugged. "Unless this is a bad time for you? I can come back."

"No, this is perfect timing, actually. It's just that, with the last few bosses, we were alway s expected to go to them, so I wasn't expecting this," she explained.

"I don't like that. I don't want to be that kind of boss. I have an open-door policy. You don't have to run quick chats like this by my assistant. The only times I don't want to be disturbed is if my door is closed. I did explain all this on Tuesday at the beginning of my meeting. Oh, that's right, you were late," he said with a teasing grin.

She couldn't tell whether his smile meant that he was poking fun at her, or was simply continuing to play the role of asshole.

"Right, I–"

"We're also partners, so I expect you to come to me with news and information, as I'm sure you expect me to be open with you," he interrupted.

"You're right, I do," she said, motioning to the chairs in front of her desk. "Have a seat and we can discuss Gus," she offered.

"I'll stand, but you go ahead," he smiled.

Why does it always feel like he is trying to one-up me? she thought.

For a brief moment, she considered remaining standing, playing whatever game he had set forth, but then she saw the mischief in his eyes. He was baiting her, seeing if she would match his energy.

Screw that , she thought.

"Suit yourself," she replied as she sat down.

"So, I'm assuming you talked to Gus?" he asked while walking further into her office and looking around.

"I did," she said hesitantly.

"That doesn't sound promising."

"The good news is, he hasn't said no, yet, but he wants to meet you."

"That's fine, normal," Mr. Kennedy grunted .

"He wants me to bring you next week to assess you. Then he will decide if he can work with you," she said and then braced herself for an argument.

"What day does he want to meet?"

"Monday. You're fine with this?" she asked, surprised.

"Gus is not the first eccentric person I've had to work with, and I'm sure he won't be the last. We need this to work, it's fine, really," he reassured her. "And next time you need something, just pop in."

He turned to leave, and for a second Grace considered not bringing up yesterday's embarrassment, but she couldn't let it go. Addressing it was the right thing to do.

"Before you leave, I wanted to apologize for yesterday," she said as she stood behind her desk.

"It's already forgotten."

"No, it's not. Please, let me just get this out. What happened was completely unprofessional. I had a talk with Scarlett about oversharing and what is appropriate. I'm appalled by what happened with my phone. I wanted to assure you that I've never conducted myself in a meeting like that before, and I'll do my best to make sure that never happens again."

"I know you're serious about your job. I don't understand your choice of assistant, but–"

"She has her strengths, I swear," she protested.

"Right, well, I'll have to trust you on that. As for the phone thing, you only got it out because of Gus. It's fine. Honestly, it was entertaining."

"Well I'm glad you thought so, I was mortified," she mumbled.

"So is it the thumb-pic guy tonight?" he asked, nodding towards her dress bag hanging on a hook on the wall.

"Hell no. I blocked him immediately."

"Smart," he replied. He looked at the dress bag for a moment longer. "Well, have f un. Hopefully, this guy is better with a camera," he said with a wink before walking out.

Did Mr. Serious just crack a joke? she thought.

She considered that maybe she was too harsh with her first impression of him, but then the fresh memories of their first meeting just a couple of days prior snapped her out of that thought process.

Nope, he's an ass , she decided.

Her phone vibrated in her bag, breaking her out of her thoughts.

Dimitri

Hey Grace, are you still up for dinner tonight?

Grace

I am!

Great, how does 7 sound?

That works

I'm going to drop you a pin. I'll see you then. Can't wait to meet you

Looking forward to it

Dimitri sent a location pin where they were to meet. She was relieved it was only a few blocks away. She had decided to wear heels.

For the rest of the day, Grace put her boss's mood swings out of her mind and focused on how she would style her hair and makeup for her date that evening.