Chapter 75: Inspection at his workplace.
After Augustine’s words, he leaned in, pressing a lingering kiss to Charles’s forehead. "Let’s meet tonight, okay?" he murmured, his voice softer now, a stark contrast to the heat in his previous words.
Then, without another glance, he leaned away from Charles.
With that, Augustine turned on his heel, making his way to the door.
The moment he stepped out, he closed the door shit behind him, leaving Charles standing there, heart pounding, mind reeling.
’Why does that kiss feel so comforting?’ Charles wondered, his thoughts swirling as he absentmindedly touched his forehead.
The brief press of Augustine’s lips had left behind an unexpected warmth, a strange sense of ease, as if in that fleeting moment, all his worries had been lifted.
Sigh!
Charles sighed loudly, turned around as he made his way towards the staircase.
He climbed a few steps when all of a sudden his vision began to blur and his legs began to feel weak.
Charles let a loud hiss roll out of his mouth as he forced himself to keep on climbing the steps, despite the dizzy sensation that he was feeling.
Finally, as he made his way inside the bedroom, he locked the entrance door behind him and tossed the entire blanket onto the bed, before proceeding to make his way down to the bathroom.
There, Charles turned on the shower faucet.
As the steam filled the bathroom, Charles let the warm water cascade down his body, washing away the tension of the morning.
Just as he closed his eyes to enjoy the soothing sensation, he felt something trickle down from his nose.
Furrowing his brows, he turned off the shower and wiped his eyes with the back of his hands as before proceeding to stare at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.
Although Charles vision felt a bit blurry, he blinked several times, his eyes struggling to focus as he caught a glimpse of his reflection.
He squinted hard, trying to make out his features through the fog of his lust-addled brain, before his vision finally cleared.
Charles gasped in disbelief as he stared at his very one reflection.
Thick blood was rolling down from his nose.
’Wha... What the hell’ Charles inwardly exclaimed within himself as he held his breath for a moment.
He wiped the blood stain with the back of his hand, but as he did so, more blood flowed down.
’Isn’t this a sign of death?’ Charles mused an inner question to himself.
He gulped his saliva and with a swift motion, he once more turned on the shower faucet and began to bathe, ignoring the blood from his nose.
Minutes later, he turned off the shower, wrapped a towel around his waist before stepping out of the bathroom.
Charles’s legs felt unsteady, struggling to fully support his weight as he swayed from one side to the other.
In an instant, a wave of goosebumps prickled his skin as an unexpected chill washed over him, almost as if he was standing naked in the middle of a snowfall.
’Exhale!’
Forcefully, Charles forced himself to exhale loudly as his breath began to come in a small rasped gasp.
With a determined sigh, he forced himself to get dressed, slipping into a black long-sleeve shirt before layering it with a white hoodie.
He then put on a pair of green joggers and, without hesitation, grabbed his backpack.
Charles also grabbed his medicated glasses from the bedside table. "Lately, I haven’t been using my medicated glasses as often," Charles stated within himself.
Ever since the incident with Augustine’s mother, he had struggled to wear them, and oddly enough, his eyesight wasn’t troubling him as much as before.
’Or could it be that the beating I received that day had fixed my eyesight in a correct order?’ Charles questioned himself as he let a dry mockery scoff out of his mouth.
He ran the white towel through his damp hair, drying it as much as possible.
Once satisfied, he tossed the towel into the laundry bag.
Exhaling!
’I don’t think I can go to work today.’ Charles mused to himself.
No matter how hard he tried to force himself to be strong, he still felt weak and exhausted.
Charles shut his eyes to draw in a deep breath and following that, he lay on the bed, deciding that it was best he rest for the entire day.
As Charles’s head touched the pillow on the bed, his phone immediately began to ring.
With a tired hiss, he stretched his arm toward the bedside table as his fingers lazily fumbling until they wrapped around his phone.
Without sparing a glance at the caller ID, he brought it to his ear, his voice laced with exhaustion as he answered.
"Charles, where the hell are you?" The voice of Freda rang out from the other end of the phone.
Charles hissed in pain, swallowing hard before responding to Freda. "I’m at home."
"What?!" Freda’s voice shot through the speaker, urgency dripping from every syllable. "You need to get here early today, Charles! CEO Augustine’s parents are coming to the company for an inspection, and they’ll be evaluating everything about the cleaning staff. You have to be here before they arrive."
Charles frowned as he slowly opened his eyes. "Where did you get such information from?"
"I heard it from CEO Augustine’s secretary," Freda explained, a blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I told you, Charles—CEO Augustine totally has a crush on me."
Her voice carried a mix of excitement and certainty as she continued, "His secretary just walked up to me, gave me the information, and then walked away."
A giddy smile spread across Freda’s lips as she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, her mind already weaving romantic possibilities.
"Did he mention which department would be inspected?" Charles asked, his brows furrowing slightly.
"Yes," Freda replied, her voice tinged with curiosity. "He said only the cleaning department, which sounds a bit strange."
She paused, tapping her fingers against her phone. "I mean, why just us? Doesn’t that seem... odd to you?"
"Yes, it does," Charles muttered, rubbing his temple. "Can’t they inspect another department instead?"
Freda scoffed. "I think it’s weird too, but I have a feeling they’re looking to replace any cleaner who slacks off today." She paused before adding, "Besides, with the company launching an event soon, we have a lot on our plate. If we mess up, it’ll reflect badly on everyone."
"Ohh," Charles mumbled with his mouth slightly curved into a circle. "But I’m feeling sick and exhausted. I was actually thinking about skipping work today." Charles explain.
"When did your sickness start?"
Charles swallow hard before responding. "It started like an hour ago."
"Have you called in for a sick leave from our head staff cleaner? Also have you taken any medication?" Freda questioned with a concerned tone.
Her caring nature made Charles smile warmly within himself. "I haven’t called in for sick leave, and I haven’t taken any medication," he mumbled, letting out a heavy breath. "I just wanted to rest for a bit and see if my body would feel better within the next hour."
From the other end of the phone, Freda shook her head sideways while pressing the phone more closer to her ears.
"You have to force yourself to come to work, Charles," Freda urged. "Besides, you didn’t take a sick leave, and the inspection from CEO Augustine’s parents won’t take too long, so just try your best."
She paused for a moment before adding, "After the inspection, I’ll take you to a pharmacy so you can get some medicine for your health."
Charles smiled warmly. "Umm, thanks a lot Freda. I’ll be there as soon as I can." Charles mumbled and with that hung up the phone call.
Deep down, he didn’t want to go to work, but knowing that Mrs. Wales would draw her own conclusions if she didn’t see him, he realized that forcing himself to go was the only viable option.
’Besides, Augustine’s parents are inspecting only the cleaning staff because they want to find fault in me,’ Charles thought, clenching his jaw.
His body still felt weak but as a sigh rolled out of his mouth, he stepped down from the bed, wore his bag pack and stepped out of the room.
’I just hope I won’t end up going to the hospital.’ Charles mumbled within himself.
Charles hurried over to the refrigerator, grabbed a bottle of water and after drinking the entire context in one gulp, he proceeded to step out of the mansion building.
As Charles made his way toward the gate of Augustine’s mansion, he pulled out his phone from his pocket and began typing a message.
"I’m already on my way to work, Augustine. I also heard your parents are coming over for an inspection. I hope everything goes smoothly."
After typing his words, he sent it to Augustine when all of a sudden, he missed his steps and...