After that second of recognition, he dipped his head and said, "I apologize." Then, he turned back to the CEO, eyes still on the floor. "I'll place the order right away."

The CEO gazed at his secretary, smiling, and I could almost swear it was a look of endearment. I don't always know why people are feeling what they feel, but to compensate for that weakness, I do have a skilled eye in at least perceiving emotion. After that odd look, his expression and pose returned to how it had been when he'd come around the bend speaking of plants. He gave one more glance around the office then walked out into the hallway, and the other two trailed after.

"Back to business. Manager, shall we return to your office?"

I placed a thoughtful finger to my lips and asked Bradley. "Do you think our CEO is insane?"

Bradley's eyes grew wide. "Wh-wh..." He then hissed, "Are you trying to get fired?" Grabbing my arm, he tried pulling me in the direction of our offices.

"Do you think he's forced the secretary into some weird work-inappropriate dynamic?"

"Please, Loren. Shh!"

Was I really the only one who found him utterly disturbing? He definitely looked like he was enjoying humiliating his secretary. And it was the oddest form of humiliation.

Unless there was something odd about the secretary too. I could only wonder was this really the man running CenUMR? Did he really come here to remodel?

"We should go back to our offices," I told Bradley, heading in the opposite direction from the trio. I took out my communicator and messaged Darcy to ask if they'd heard anything about decorating or resupplying any of the Tech divisions or the CEO stopping for a visit.

Then, I turned to Bradley. "What did you mean by the secretary being the most accomplished person in CenUMR?"

Bradley spun his eyes then replied, "Secretary Grey first joined CenUMR several years ago. I heard he was a Class A RRR field worker; nobody knew how he got to that position, only that he was close to the CEO so maybe he was hand-picked. But as an RRR employee, he set records that haven't been broken since! Highest rate of successful repairs within a tenure, most completed missions in high danger level worlds, and he's the one and only ranker in achievements for solo missions!"

The excitement gleaming in Bradley's eyes dimmed. "Then after a few years, he left the RRR department and became the CEO's head secretary. Even there, he's really good at his job. He's functionally the COO, but it's not formally acknowledged with a title and no one has seen him much since he left RRR. He didn't really talk to people back in RRR and he's even more like a specter now. He's as big a mystery as the CEO, I guess."

I thought on the information then asked, "How do you know so many details about him? If he's the CEO's... right hand person, wouldn't only top level division employees have encountered him?"

Bradley alternated pushing out his cheeks.

"You even know his history in the RRR Department... His photo and name isn't even in the managerial staff records."

Both of Bradley's cheeks filled with air.

"Bradley?" I smiled.

He lifted a finger and gestured me to come closer. I reluctantly bent down and he cupped his hands to whisper. "Two years ago.... I got demoted," he said with clear shame.

I stood back straight and looked at Bradley whose head was tucked into his shoulders, neck gone like a turtle.

I placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "I'm not sure what happened, but don't let the past eat at your future. Insecurity is your only weakness. You can handle being Team Leader. I believe you've got this and you should believe in yourself too."

Bradley whimpered, though he didn't seem like he would actually cry. "Loren," he whined. "Would you like to get married?"

I inadvertently leaned away and tried to school my put off expression. "T-to whom?"

"Me."

I pushed out an effortfully gentle, "No," though my expression took on my distaste instead.

Bradley let out a short woeful groan and turned back to his team's office. I went back to my own and sat at my desk, organizing the new information with the old.

The CEO obviously piqued my curiosity, but at the end of the day, he was still an out-of-reach figure who directly had little to do with my career or plans at this point in time. Ultimately, what my mind kept coming back to was the groveling Secretary Grey versus Sweetie's combative owner. The former was slumped over in a plain suit with a soulless gaze, openly accepting a verbal beating while the latter was dressed bright and youthful with styled hair framing emotional eyes and seeking to physically beat a stranger. Why were these two very different people the same person? Situation could maybe partly account for attitude differences but for the entire appearance and personality to diverge so vastly was nothing but odd. Were the CEO and secretary really playing some sort of game? Or were there some situations that called for such intense code switching that I, after only 33 years of living in my sheltered world, wasn't yet aware of?

By the time I clocked out for work, my mind had turned to how to contact Secretary Grey now that I knew he was Sweetie's owner. It was possible that after realizing I was a CenUMR employee, Secretary Grey had unblocked my number. After all, simply being an employee of CenUMR had to give some credibility to my character. Surely he'd realized it was a misunderstanding by now. If Darcy's friends could get his number, I could possibly try again.

Using work chat or email was not an option, both because this was a personal matter and a Records Assistant didn't have access to the usernames of those in higher divisions.

While waiting for Darcy in front of the CenUMR building, I realized there was no way to catch Secretary Grey in person either since he made himself as invisible as the CEO.

Darcy approached after only a minute, waving their communicator at me. "I didn't see your message until now." Their eyes were wide. "Did the CEO come to your department?"

Darcy linked arms with me as we walked down the steps. They lowered their voice to a whisper.

"That's suspicious as hell. Do you think he's actually involved with your incident?"

I tilted my head. "I doubt it. He seems too weird to be involved."

Darcy quirked an eyebrow. "How does that make any sense? Ugh, Loren, you're really smart. I can't follow your thought patterns sometimes."

I kindly explained as we made our way to the subway, "If someone was involved in my incident, I've profiled them differently. They're someone very intelligent, thoughtful, and deliberate. They're a planner who never makes unnecessary movements or draws attention to themselves."

"So basically another version of you."

That gave me pause, whether Darcy was joking or not. Perhaps they were right, though I also sensed this person would be petty which I could not agree on for myself.

"So the CEO's not like that?"

I shook my head. "No. He's just a weirdo. Maybe he's serious about his job but he seems a little incompetent and indulgent." My mouth twisted in distaste as I added, "Whimsical and capricious."

"Okay, if you think so. Why'd he show up out of nowhere then? Nobody's seen him in forevs."

I pretended to think before covertly changing the subject. "I'd like your perspective on matters of humanity."

From my periphery, Darcy's head whipped to face me so I looked back. They were wincing as they demanded, "Who did you offend this time? What honesty did you spew?"

I blinked then flattened my mouth. "Agh, just listen. Why do you think someone would have two vastly different personas? To narrow things down, let's stage an example. We'll take Sweetie's owner to make things easy. One persona is willing to headbutt someone to the ground. But let's say elsewhere... hm... at work they're..." I paused briefly, "a groveling subordinate with no backbone?"

Darcy glanced at me, giving me a funny look for a moment before looking back front and humming in thought. "Personal gain?" After a quick moment, they added, "Or safety. Though if there's no fear kicking some stranger, it's surprising there's such fear at work. Hm, but maybe some people are more scared of losing a paycheck than losing their lives haha."

Since separating after dinner, I've been thinking over what Darcy said and have gathered a few theories considering:

1. Secretary Grey is being held hostage by the CEO at work and facing such injustices regularly has affected his psyche to the point that he overcompensates and illogically lashes out at people during his off-time.

2. The CEO and Secretary Grey are related (or their families have close relations), with the spoiled CEO having higher standing in the family (or between the families). So, around him, Secretary Grey is forced to keep a meek appearance to protect his livelihood or parents.

3. The CEO and Secretary Grey are in an intimate relationship that involves roleplay at work.

I am now at home writing this log as I cuddle my new PlushFriend. I have been waiting for Secretary Grey's call, though as it gets later and later, a sense of doubt creeps through my chest... Perhaps I should stay up a little longer than usual tonight, just in case.

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Dear reader, it is now morning. There has been no change in my call history.