Six

“Grrrrrr!!!” An alarm clock rang violently at the ungodly hour of 5:00 AM, vibrating through a high nightstand and falling heavily on a forehead.

“Fuck…” Nico groaned, startled at both the sudden sound of the clock and the pain that shot through the front of his head.

Nico sat up, heaving. He was angry, really angry. He was never a morning person and this was just going to intensify his crankiness.

5:00 AM, to Nico, was a really bad time to get up from bed. It was a time that the brain was still processing all the information it received the previous day. It was definitely not a time to start any form of activity.

Nico picked the alarm clock that had now slipped unto his grey-cased pillow and glared at it.

To vent out his frustrations on his newly found enemy, he swung the clock across the room with so much velocity that from the sound of its shattering, he was sure it broke to pieces.

He felt solaced by the sound of that.

“If only I could do this to the thought of her” Nico mummured and frowned deeply, recollecting his memories from the previous day.

“Sir Nico?” A maid rushed into his room without knocking. To him, she was utterly uninvited.

“What?” He snapped venomously, glaring at the maid from top to bottom.

She wasn't wearing her usual maid uniform which was really odd.

“Uh, sir? Are you alright?” She asked, worry lacing her light voice.

“Do I not look okay?” He asked. His voice was heavily  laced with irritation as he studied her outfit. He was not lusting after the maid, he was just wondering the reason she was not wearing her uniform.

“I- You-” The maid stuttered, completely uncomfortable under his stare. She pressrd her lips together and stopped talking altogether.

“Why aren't you in your uniform?” Nico asked coldly. He was more mad than he was when she dashed into his room. Who had the guts to not wear their uniform?

“It got burnt at the fire accident yesterday.” The maid said in a voice that was solemn and low. She sounded terrified.

“What fire…?” Nico was confused. He sat upright on his bed and fixed his gaze more on her.

“The one at the kitchen…” The maid trailed, feeling more uncomfortable and even more terrified.

“You burnt my kitchen?” Nico raised an eyebrow.

“No, sir, it was Ma'am Miranda. She was baking cookies and forgot them…”

“What the…Is she okay?” Nico rushed out of his bed and dashed out of his room. He flew down the flight of stairs and stopped when he reached her room.

“Grandma?” He called, pounding heavily on the door.

He had no reply. “Are you okay?” He knocked more, determined to break the door if possible.

Nico stopped when he heard a click on the door. It was after ten minutes.

“What is it now?” Miranda asked. “It's five AM,” She yawned, looking really exhausted.

Nico sighed running his hands through his already messy curls. “Are you alright? I heard there was a fire yesterday. Why didn't you tell me?” He asked, his voice tense but quiet. He spoke to no one else in this manner. It would definitely be unnerving for people at his office to see him speaking in a manner that was not conveying a threat of aggression.

Miranda raised her brows, looking at Nico like he had lost it.

“What are you talking about?” She asked, tilting her small head and displaying a little of her wrinkles.

“A maid said…” Nico trailed and frowned when he noticed his Miranda's expression.

She was laughing. “I just wanted you to get up early!” She laughed more, bending over.

Nico scoffed and stormed off, determined to get rid of the maid who had the guts to plan against him. The problem was, he didn't remember her face.

Nico was terribly confused at the morning occurrence. He was sure Miranda put the clock there, but did she tell the maid to lie to him?

He shrugged the thought off and put on his joggers. He left his room, walked to the kitchen to get a glass of water and then exited his house.

“Reschedule all my meetings to tomorrow”, Nico said over the phone, ten minutes into his morning exercise.

“But sir, Ryan Roberto's proposal is supposed to come in today. Are you cancelling that too?” Nico’s secretary, Amy, asked. She didn't even want to begin to complain about how her day's plan was going to be completely destroyed by this man's single decision. All he had to do was wave his hand and her personal schedule would be ruined.

“Get it and give it to Jordan. Tell him to review it, if not, I'll have his head. And yours”. Nico stopped to drink some water and take a leak. He sighed off his tiredness in one breath and proceeded to his journey home.

“Alright sir” Amy said, the least threatened by Nico's words. She drew a heavy breath, ready to end the call before Nico spoke again.

“Take the day off. Tell Pete to work in your place today, give him all the instructions… I shouldn't tell you your job.” Nico paused. “I'll stop by the office this evening. If Pete messes anything up, I'll have your head for sure.”

Amy smiled, excited and yet worried at his choice of words. She didn't in the least fancy her boss, he had more horrible moods wings than a woman on her menopause.

“Have a good-” Nico cut Amy off by ending the call. He felt movement directly in front of him, and before he could look up from his phone, he had bumped into something.

It was a dog.

The dog hopped onto his jogger pants, and fell back to the ground, leaving a dirty paw print behind.

“What the hell?” Nico growled under his breath. He was pissed once more.  

“Ugly mouse?” Nico recognized that voice and choice of words. It was Camille.

“Are you stalking me?” Camille asked with sass, her face scrunched up in a displeased frown.