Revenge is Best Served After Reborn (James)

Julian and Booker were familiar faces to Odie, but this Reece character? He was a mystery. Reece, aware of Odie's curious gaze, flashed a polite smile his way. That was like trying to punch a pillow-it just made Odie even more frustrated. Julian chimed in, "We heard S Corporation was having a rough patch, so we thought we'd drop by and see if we could lend a hand." He glanced around the room, taking in the mountain of paperwork. "Looks like you've got your hands full." Even Julian hadn't seen such an overwhelming stack of documents before. Booker jumped in, "Ms. Sophie, Julian's got a knack for handling this kind of thing. If you're okay with it, we'd love to pitch in and get through these files before the day's over." "Thanks a bunch, Booker and Mr. Julian," Sophie said, clearly grateful.

Reece added, "I can help too. I've got a few days off from overseas, so it's no trouble."

Sophie gave Reece a playful pat on the arm, "Much appreciated, superstar."

"We're all in this together. It'd be weird to get all formal," Reece replied.

Odie, standing off to the side, was frowning deeply. Comrades? Where did that come from?

Noticing Sophie wasn't planning to introduce Reece, Odie cleared his throat.

Sophie, seemingly oblivious to his cough, turned to Julian, "Hey Julian, there's something I need to chat with you about. Can we step outside for a sec?"

"Sure thing," Julian agreed, following Sophie out.

Once they were gone, Reece approached Odie with a friendly hand extended, "Mr. Odie, I've heard a lot about you."

Odie didn't even bother to meet his gaze. Reece continued, "I've been with Sophie.from the start, so her friends are my friends. I'm not looking to make things awkward for her. If you're not a fan of mine, I'll do my best to stay out of your way."

"Superstar, huh? Your words are lost on me," Odie muttered, eyes still on his work. "Sophie and I are just acquaintances, not friends, definitely not comrades. Whether she's uncomfortable or not isn't my concern."

He tossed aside the file he was working on and reached for the next one.

Realizing Odie wasn't in the mood to cooperate, Reece didn't push it. He just smiled and whispered, so only Odie could hear, "It's fine if you don't like me, Mr. Odie. But Sophie's got a lot of good people around her, not just me. If you're planning on staying mad, you might find it's a bit of a long haul."

Odie felt like Reece could see right through him, and his expression turned even darker.

Reece stood up with that same easy smile, "Looks like you've got plenty to do, Mr. Odie, so I'll let you get to it. Hopefully, we can get along down the road." With that, Reece headed over to the couch.

"Pretty boy..." Odie almost growled the words through clenched teeth.