Is this person my neighbor? Grace wondered as she realized that her companion was also heading to the 21st floor.
The elevator started moving and she was very aware of the gaze that was fixed on her. The person standing behind her was giving a very weird vibe, yet, she felt no fear.
She was merely five when she was forced to learn martial arts and physical defense. When she turned fourteen, she took over the Balckwood House and Blackwood Business Empire where she defended herself against all those who wanted to remove her.
After spending years in the underground world and also in apocalypse, she had learned to protect herself against any sort of enemy. Even if by chance the person in the elevator turned out to be bad, she could handle that.
But no such thing happened. Other than staring at her, the person did nothing else. Moments later, the lift stopped on 21st floor and Grace stepped out, noticing the person following behind her.
She headed toward her apartment and took out the key to unlock the heavy metal door. Just as she was about to enter, something stopped her in her tracks.
"So you are one of the neighbors with the weird taste."
A deep male voice suddenly spoke and Grace found the voice sounding familiar. She quickly turned toward the direction of the voice and found herself looking at the same person who was with her in the elevator. That person was now standing in front of the unit next to hers.
"Who?" She asked when she failed to recall exactly where she had heard that voice.
In response, the person removed the cap, followed by the sunglasses and finally the mask. All of a sudden, Grace found herself staring at the very familiar handsome face of the young man she bumped her car into over a week ago in the Capital city.
She was so surprised to see him that it took her a while to collect herself together. As she recalled his statement from earlier, she glanced at her door and realized why he might have said that.
"Are you talking about my door?" She asked and watched as he tilted his head slightly to the left, causing some of his silky hair strands to fall over his forehead.
Gosh! He’s too handsome... and hot... and strong...
Grace immediately looked away and inhaled deeply. Even she wasn’t ready for the thoughts that were taking place in her head at that moment. She returned her attention toward the man and spoke. "Maybe I have a different taste. See you later."
She didn’t wait to hear if he had anything to say and quickly entered her apartment. She closed the door behind her and inhaled deeply.
She immediately discrded all her thoughts about him and headed to take a shower. She put on a pair of silk pajamas for comfort and then then picked up her phone to send a message in the group, asking her team to come to her apartment.
Once she was done, she took out several boxes of the food she bought from the restaurant and heated them up in the microwave before setting them up on the dining table that was big enough for all eight of them.
She was done taking out several cans of beer when she heard her doorbell ringing. She quickly opened the door and let the group inside.
"It seems like we will be having a party!" Ryan announced with excitement once he got a look at the dining table that was set with food and alcohol.
"Thank you, Boss." Kevin said gratefully, followed by others who all seemed happy with the amount of food that was filling the table.
"You all have worked so hard during the past two weeks." Grace said as she took her seat at the table. "Without having any clear idea of what was going to happen and whether I was speaking the truth or not, you all followed each of my order without any suspicion. We all have worked hard and deserve to relax a little."
She picked up a can of beer and opened it before raising it up for a toast. The others quickly followed suit and waited for her to speak.
With a smile on her lips, she added, "The coming days are only going to be filled with more hardships and hardwork. Let’s stay united and trust each other no matter what will come our way. I promise that I will do my best to protect you all."
"Damn it! No one told me you can be this sentimental too. How come I never heard you speaking this sweetly to us in the fifteen long years of my service to you?" Maven asked as he looked at her with a comical teary faced expression.
Grace just sighed and shook her head while the others chuckled.
"I like this version of Boss though. She’s both sweet and psycho." Valeska commented as she gave Grace a bright smile. Soon enough the others were adding their statements of agreement.
"I will let you all know just how much sweet and psycho I am tomorrow morning during combat practice." Grace announced and heard almost everyone groaning. They hated training with her because they never succeeding in winning against her in combat. It was always them getting their asses kicked.
They finally toasted and took their first sips of the chilled beers before settling down in their seats. There were some requests for Grace to cancel the training, but she didn’t budge. Eventually, the team just accepted their fate and shifted their focus on enjoying the food instead.
"I heard that someone had rented the entire 22nd floor of this apartment. There were several trucks moving in the belongings this evening." Aleena revealed what she found out about the newest resident of their building.
"You noticed something weird about this person?" Seth asked.
Aleena’s gaze turned to Grace as she answered, "Other than the fact that someone has rented the entire floor? Yes. I noticed a very familiar face stepping into the elevator and heading to 22nd floor about half an hour ago."