Unknown: Hello. This is Jude. 

Unknown: Jude Bex. 

Rory let out a sigh as he took in the new text messages at eleven fucking o'clock at night. He had a rough day at work and wasn't in the mood for any more social interaction. 

Rory: Congratulations. You know your name. 

That Man: There is no need to be rude.

Rory: You do realize what time it is? 

That Man: ...

That Man: It's the perfect time to converse. 

That Man: The night is young. 

Rory let out a groan of frustration. He had to be up at four-thirty in order to help make a few of the deliveries going out the next day. 

Rory: Seriously? I'm going to sleep. Bye. 

That Man: Goodnight. 

Rory stared at his phone in shock. He was expecting it to be more difficult than that to get the annoying CEO to stop bugging him. Heaving a sigh, he turned on his side and fell into a deep sleep. 

                                                                       ***

Ping.

Ping. 

Ping. 

Ping. 

"OH MY GOD!" Rory shouted as he glared at his phone seeing that it was only two in the morning. 

That Man: Why do people like warm coffee? 

That Man: I'm thinking about doing a study on it to enhance a branch of my business. 

That Man: Do you think you could ask your boss if she could get in touch with my secretary? 

That Man: What kind of coffee do you prefer? 

Irrational anger flooded into Rory as he glared daggers at the messages he received. Letting out a growl of frustration, he picked up his phone and dialed Jude's number. 

He picked up on the second ring. 

"Oh good, you call—”

“GO TO BED, ASSWIPE!" Rory screamed before hitting the end button and turning it off completely. "Jesus!" 

                                                                    *** 

Two and a half hours later, with barely any sleep, Rory forced himself to get out of bed after hearing his annoying alarm clock scream at him. 

He turned on his phone and frowned when he saw three missed calls and eleven unread text messages...all from that man. And none of them were apologies for harassing him while trying to get some sleep. 

They were all just pointless continuations of his stupid coffee research idea. 

Letting out another fucking sigh, Rory ran a comb through his hair, brushed his teeth, and changed into his work uniform before slipping on a rain jacket. He wasn't about to get rained on since he had a ten minute walk to work. 

Public transportation sucked.

It was getting closer to the end of October and the harsh autumn wind was extremely harsh this early in the morning as Rory did he best to stay warm. 

He refrained from sighing when he realized that he would have to buy a new winter coat this year. Winter was exhausting. He didn't mind the fall...but winter was perhaps the worst season for him to deal with simply because he didn't earn enough money to take care of small things like woolen socks or thick blankets. 

Ping. 

Rory let out a groan as he dug his phone out of his pocket and made the screen light up. 

That Man: Why aren't you wearing a coat?

"THE FUCK?!" Rory exclaimed. He was past the point of feeling fear for this dumbass. 

That Man: Said in passing. My driver didn't stop. 

"You better hope you aren't stalking me." Rory muttered as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket and wrapped his jacket tighter around his body. 

By the time he arrived at work, he was irritated and snappy. It took all of his self-control to not bitch Nix out for making him come to work so early in the morning. Besides, it wasn't her fault that he got so little sleep the night before...or morning before. However the fuck you wanted to look at it. 

After twenty minutes of brewing coffee and cooking food, Nix slammed her spatula down on the table and narrowed her green eyes at Rory. "You have TWO seconds to tell me what's up your ass, Thompson." 

Rory swallowed a sigh while he continued to mix a batch of cookies. "I didn't get enough sleep, Nix. You had me work until 10:45 last night and I didn't get home until eleven and one of my...friends decided it was the perfect time to message me at two in the morning. It was hard to get back to sleep." 

"That's a shit ass excuse, Rory." Nix rebuffed in a huff. 

Holding back another sigh, Rory's shoulders slumped forward in exhaustion. "Sorry. Just give me until seven to wake up. It won't happen again." 

"It better not." Nix snapped, picking her spatula back up. 

Shaking his head, Rory started rolling the cookie dough into balls to be squished into sugar cookies. He really enjoyed having Nix for a boss...except for the ridiculous expectations she had of him. 

He was a single twenty-three year old living alone. 

Why would he ever need a life outside of work?

Not that he had one, but it would be nice to have a bit more freedom in his schedule. And sleep. You couldn't go wrong with sleep.