"What's wrong with you?" Ryan whispered to Cole in a furious hiss as they made their way to a nearby food truck. Ryan's offer to have lunch together, just the two of them, had taken Cole by surprise. Usually, back when he still worked for Nova Tech, a new hire went and ate with the team they were assigned to. He had assumed it was that way for most workplaces. Maybe he'd gotten it wrong.

"Nothing," he assured his friend, dumbfounded by the question. "Why do you ask?" He didn't really pay attention to Ryan; instead he scanned the menu displayed in front of him.

"Nothing?" Ryan repeated and his voice sounded stretched thin. This was what made Cole look at him and Ryan's tense expression left him baffled. Something was definitely off, but what could he have possibly missed? "Then why did you feel the need to act like an asshole towards my employees this morning? Especially to my lead animator?"

Cole replayed the morning's events in his head, trying to find what had upset his new boss. Nothing stood out as far as he could tell.

"I acted like an asshole?" He tilted his head, feeling more confused than ever. "When? And what do you mean? I didn't say anything bad to your lead animator from what I can remember. What? Did she complain or something?"

He tried his best not to recall the fact that he had met the woman some time before they officially met at the office. He'd hit on her, not knowing she was to be one of his new colleagues. It had to be uncomfortable for her, he couldn't deny that. He'd need to set things straight when he met up with her again. He didn't mix his personal life with work, so while he had felt attracted to her—scratch that, still felt attracted to her, with her pretty brown eyes and enticing smile that made him want to taste her lips—it couldn't happen. He wouldn't let it, even if he had the feeling that the attraction had not been one-sided.

Ryan ran a hand through his hair and heaved a sigh, by all appearances exasperated with Cole. "No, she didn't complain, but she might as well have. I know her and she doesn't like you. Jane's fair and she'll be polite, even if she hates your guts, but you did nothing to get on her good side earlier."

"How? I didn't say anything that would be perceived as out of line," he said as he paid the cashier for his food. It was one thing to think that nothing could happen between them, but still... Jane seemed nice and he did want to get along with her. That it sounded like he had made such a bad impression on her didn't make him feel hopeful for their future time spent working together.

"Yes, you did," Ryan said as he thanked the employee at the counter and grabbed his food too. "You had to go and tell her she was unprofessional, that she didn't even know the basics of digital animation. Which, by the way, isn't true at all. She's fantastic at her job, but I'm guessing you're used to higher standards from working for so long at Nova Tech." His own words made him grimace as if they tasted bad in his mouth.

"That's not it," Cole tried to explain, still utterly confused as to what the problem was. "Don't you ever use constructive criticism in your workplace? Besides, for the record, I never said she sucked at her job or anything like that. I actually think she's pretty good, but she seemed to struggle with an aspect of the character she was working on earlier, so I thought I'd help her out, save her the trouble of figuring it out on her own. It saves time for everyone involved in the end."

"That's all well and good, but it sure didn't sound that way. When we give constructive criticism in my studio, we try to make it sound like we're there to help, not just to make the other person feel bad. If an employee feels discouraged, in the long run, it won't do us anything good."

"Sorry," Cole said, rubbing his forehead. This still didn't make a whole lot of sense. "I get what you mean. I'm not trying to turn into Gordon Ramsay to revamp your business or anything like that. But I really haven't said anything bad. You should've heard some of the criticism I've had in the past or what some of my colleagues at Nova Tech got. What I've told her? That was as gentle as it gets. Which is why I'm still not sure how my words warrant all that scolding on your part."

Ryan gave him a pitying look. "Man, you told me it was bad, but I'm just now guessing I really had no idea to what extent."

Cole felt heat fill his cheeks. He might've left the family business, but old habits died hard. He still possessed the instinctive need to defend them. "It wasn't bad, it just took some time to adjust and get used to." He stared at his burger, left untouched in its cheap plate. "Besides, that way, you made sure you didn't make the same mistake twice. That ensured your work was quality more often than not."

Ryan wrapped his arm over Cole's shoulder, a friendly gesture imbued with comfort, and squeezed it. His smile was understanding as he met Cole's eyes.

"Look, I get it," he said, then seemed to reassess what he'd just said. "Never mind, I don't because I've never worked at Nova Tech and while I have known competitive environments, yours is on a whole other level of bad. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is, you're gonna have to adjust here too. While we do work hard to produce our games, we don't try to kill our employees in the process. At least, not actively." Cole opened his mouth to protest that statement and Ryan released him, one finger raised to stop Cole from speaking. "I know you don't think Nova Tech is bad on the whole, but that's up for debate and honestly, I don't want to argue about it with you. What matters however is that you get along with your new colleagues. That's what's important to me. Otherwise, if we don't get along, I can promise you our games are gonna be shit. And we don't want that, do we?" That made him laugh, as if he thought failure was funny. It sure wasn't to Cole.

Cole took a bite of his burger, lost in thought, and avoided meeting Ryan's eyes. "So what do you suggest I do?"

"If it were me? I'd go and apologize. Not for the comment, because you were right about the eyes. You always had a knack for spotting these things, whenever I showed you my designs." He shook his head, a fond smile on his face as he remembered. "But apologizing about your behavior can't hurt. I told you Jane's fair. If she feels you're sincere about it and that you were blunt, but not rude on purpose, then she'll forgive you. All will be well in the world."

"You're sure?" Cole asked, one eyebrow raised with skepticism. He had a feeling this Jane was headstrong and that maybe winning her over wouldn't be as easy as Ryan made it seem.

"Fine, maybe grovel a little? Should do the trick." He laughed at the disapproving grimace Cole gave him. "What? Groveling is too much for a high and mighty member of the illustrious Bradford family?"

"I wasn't going to say that," he said, but Ryan had hit the nail on the head. If his father had taught him anything, it was that they didn't grovel to anyone.

"Tough luck, buddy. You'll have to get over it. You won't get any special treatment while working for me, you get that?" Ryan's intent gaze told him that despite his easygoing manner, he meant this.

"Fine, I'll go apologize if that's what you really want."

"Perfect. Now that that's settled, let's get back to business." He swallowed the bite of pizza he'd just taken and continued. "So about the new game we're developing..."

                                                                ***

Lunch break went by in a flash. By the time Cole made his way back to his new workplace along with Ryan, he felt more motivated than ever to make the most out of this opportunity and to not disappoint his friend. And he guessed he had to get started by patching things up with Jane.

Way to go on your first day here, Cole, he thought to himself. You just had to put your foot in your mouth, huh?

He parted ways with Ryan and walked back to the area where the animation team worked. He quickly spotted Jane as soon as he stepped into the room. He'd recognize her anywhere. She was a tad short which made her colleague (Patrick, he recalled from their introduction earlier) easily taller than her, despite him not being some kind of giant. She had light brown hair that reached the middle of her neck and gleamed under the overhead lights. With her black-rimmed glasses and a hoodie that displayed some kind of meme, he found her all the more endearing.

Cole went to try and interrupt their heated discussion in order to apologize for earlier, but the mention of his name stopped him in his tracks. He quickly sneaked back where he'd come from. He should leave, he told himself. Obviously, he'd just stumbled onto a conversation that, yes, was related to him, but still, it didn't sound like they meant for him to overhear. He weighed the pros and cons for a few seconds and at last, curiosity won out. He tried to get as close as possible while remaining hidden from view. Jane's voice reached his ears, mid-conversation.

"...it just bothers me is all," she said.

"I get it," Patrick said, understanding. "It's going to be tough, y'know, working with him."

"He's just... so condescending. Like he's so much better than us. Sir, I'm so sorry I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth."

Cole heard the other man laugh and it made him seethe. Here he was, acting in good faith, ready to apologize for being too blunt with his comments. And they were mocking him behind his back because chance had made it that he was born in the Bradford family.

"You think he ever lacks oxygen from having his ego so far up, just so he can look down on others? Gosh, just the idea of working with him... It's going to be hell."

Cole had heard enough. He had felt bad, but now he didn't feel anything except an intense desire to prove himself. He may have been born at the right time in the right place, but he had worked too damn hard to get where he was and to achieve what he had to be derided like this.

Just you wait, Jane Pearson, he thought with a newfound, vindictive energy.

                                              ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Oh my God, I was sure I had updated this already yesterday, so sorry about the delay, I completely forgot! 😫

I'm sure you can guess where this is going now... ⚔️

If you've enjoyed this chapter, please like and/or leave a comment, it would mean the world to me!