Princess Prick Tease Ch. 03

"It's you who have made the error in judgement this time," She held up her phone and pressed the speaker button, "Say hello to my department manager, Adam."

Three obviously male voices replied with a range of greetings most using expletives. "You see I ring my friend when I am leaving work this late because he worries about me. I always thought that was kind of silly being that the parking garage is watched by security."

The blood had drained from the manager's face, "Aren't you lucky I am a sweet, simple girl who doesn't know what she is doing or when she is being bullied?"

"This is all a misunderstanding I am sure we can work out," he said back pedalling furiously.

Grace spoke slowly in an effort to sound calm, "If I were you I would be very worried right about now because I may take whatever you dish out and not fight back because I like this job. My friends on the other hand will probably insist that I do something about being threatened at this time of night. It's late so I am leaving now unless you're willing to pay me overtime to stand here and take your threats." Ignoring his further threats she spoke over the top of him. "I won't be in tomorrow or Friday, you can see HR about that if you want to dispute it, so you will have time to ruin my name if you dare, but if you do believe me, this little mess," she said indicating her phone, "will not turn out so well for you. Have a nice evening."

She had let the three men's voices be heard clearly as she walked to the elevator on shaky legs and got in before turning the speaker off and putting her phone to her ear. "Adam?"

"I'm here," he said after a moment of fumbling with his phone. Grace broke down crying from the adrenaline and shock of what she had just done.

"Can you come and get me?" she said between sobs.

She had waited with the security guard, telling him she had just received some very bad personal news and that a friend was coming to drive her and her car home. Adam arrived in less than thirty minutes and embraced her walking her down to her car. He said nothing as they drove home disturbed by the fact that she fell apart. The Grace he knew was nerdy and shy but she had a backbone and didn't crumble under pressure normally. She was his rock when he became manic, she was the island of sanity in his madness, and he wasn't so sure what to say or do in this situation. She had always been so... so... Grace.

Grace knew it was too much to ask Adam to sympathise with her. He had never really had a real job or a real boss. She pulled herself together once she was away from the building. Her life was hurtling out of control and she felt powerless to stop it. Since agreeing to work on this project with Adam she had become someone she barely recognised anymore.

"Toughen up, Princess," she told herself not realising she said it out loud.

Adam looked at her, and burst out laughing, "It's okay to be a bit shattered after an argument like that. The ultimatum you gave him was a bit princess like though, and wishing him a good evening was classic."

Grace giggled, "Too far?"

"Not far enough in my mind but you're you and you care about stupid things like a job and paying rent," he continued to laugh.

"Oh yeah, who needs the necessities in life," she rolled her eyes at him. "Shit Adam, what have I done," she put her hands over her face.

"You did nothing. You didn't complain about him did you?" Adam looked at her briefly before pulling his eyes back to the road.

"No, but it's obviously a problem with an account I worked really hard to set up," she sighed.

"So, take the job with Val, it sounds perfect, flexible hours, being in charge of your own department. You know you want to," Adam grinned.

"I am not experienced enough to run a department, Adam, I can't take that job. Val only offered as a favour to you or Lad, seems you and Lad have been spending a bit too much time together since Saturday if you have time to talk about my employment problems," Grace turned in her seat to look at him.

"Yeah, he's fun to hang out with," Adam admitted.

"Wait until you see what I have designed for you!" he said suddenly changing the subject.

""Your costumes are the whole reason my life is so out of control at the moment," she slapped his shoulder lightly.

"You like it out of control though don't you," he smirked at her.

"Honestly, I don't know how I feel anymore, my world has gone all upside down and if I lose my job as well..." her voice trailed off, "I feel like the real me is being pushed aside and I am pretending to have this fairy tale life, with the gorgeous boyfriend, modelling career, and nonstop parties. Work at least grounds me, brings me back to reality. Reminds me I am not some sort of princess who woke up from a boring dream."

"Gorgeous boyfriend?" Adam chuckled.

"Tristan and I have a date tomorrow night, when he gets back from his trip," she said offhandedly.

"But he's so," Adam searched for the right word, "Serious."

"With you as a friend I have enough crazy in my life. I like serious. I like Tristan," They had pulled up in front of Adam's house.

"Well as long as you're happy, I suppose," Adam said dubiously and got out of the car.

A second car pulled up behind hers and Kane stepped out. "He drove me in to pick you up," Adam explained.

"Thanks, Kane," Grace said as he moved closer to them while Adam unlocked the door.

"No problem, Maggie worked late too, she's meeting me here," he grimaced. "She doesn't trust us to look after you."

Grace laughed, "She is such a wise woman. What would I ever do without friends like you two?" She hugged Kane tightly.

"Starve probably. Maggie is bringing food," he smiled and hugged her back.

"Who was the other voice I could hear in the call?" It wasn't until they were inside and she was firmly ensconced on the big comfy couch that she thought to ask.

"Lad was here," Adam said in an off-handed manner.

"I think its love," Kane stage whispered to Grace, "He's always here lately or Adam is there."

"What happened to Gareth?" Grace asked, "You were so excited about finally getting into his chino's.

"Yeah he was all good looks and not much substance, we didn't really have much in common to talk about and you can only fuck for so long before something else has to happen, a conversation or something," he shrugged.

"And Lad has that something more?" Grace pressed him.

"Shit yeah! He's a blast to hang with even if sex wasn't on the table. We have a lot in common, including loving you. I think Gareth was a bit put out by my obsession with you and the costumes," Adam sounded thoughtful.

"He also has all the contacts with the right people and places for Adam's creativity," Kane said seriously, "It's everything Adam ever wanted in a man, money, contacts, and a deviant sex life to go with his big cock."

Grace burst out laughing, "Sounds like a dreamboat from where I am sitting."

"He'll be back soon, the public part of his club only opens over the weekends. Monday to Thursday is members only. He went to check on things and said he would be back, no drooling over my dreamboat when he gets here," he waggled a finger at her in mock seriousness.

"Why is he bi too?" When Adam winked and nodded, Grace feigned a swoon, "He just keeps getting better and better how will I ever be able to resist."

"Try and I will get you a bib to mop up your drool with," Adam grinned.

Grace fell back on the cushions laughing as Adam's phone rang and he picked it up answering it with a chuckle. "Oh yeah.... Really?..... No, no, she is fine,.... Honestly..." As he spoke he motioned to Grace to check her phone. Dragging it out of her bag she grimaced at the amount of calls she had missed. "Bad news travels fast," she thought and dialled into her message bank.

Adam was still talking on his phone, "She's been on that thing all night, first to me and then when I picked her up to someone else,... yeah she is checking her message bank now... Of course she is here I wasn't taking her to her place when she was so upset..." Adam was beginning to get frustrated. "What do you mean?... Oh shit. I thought Lad said something.... Nah she can tell you about it... I'll get her to call you tomorrow... Alright, see ya...."

Adam hung up and looked at her, "That was Lance. He was trying to call you, I thought you were going to date Tristan," he smirked, "Playing brothers off against each other and then swooning over Lad. Who knew you were such a little slut." He teased her.

"Well," she shrugged, "If you think those three are good looking you should meet Val. Maybe I should hold off making any rash decisions until I meet the last one, Wain." She let a grin change the seriousness of her face.

Kane burst out laughing, "What happened to our shy little Gracie," he appealed to Adam.

"Gracie grew up into a full blown hottie, you know?" Grace quoted a line from one of her favourite movies making Adam groan loudly. "I need to make a call," she said getting up and walking out into the cool night air of the back deck.

She rang Tristan's number and got his message bank, "Hi," she started uncertainly, "Look I just want to tell you myself before the rumour mill kicked in that I had an argument with my boss tonight and got upset, it's no big deal, I handled it and I am fine, I am at Adam's. I just don't want your brothers telling you anything dumb. Anyway I will talk to you later, looking forward to seeing you tomorrow night."

Grace hung up and rang Lance, once again it went to message bank and she rolled her eyes, "Hi sorry I missed your call, I can't make it tonight sorry but we can get together soon for a drink if you like, when Tristan is back," she put the last bit in subtly, or so she thought just to let him know where her interest lay.

She hung up the phone and walked back inside. Maggie had arrived with Italian food and immediately went to hug her, "How are you doing, Gracie? That man is a bloody bully, trying to intimidate you like that." She pulled back and took the food to the kitchen dragging Grace along with her. "Come on I brought pasta, the best comfort food in the world."

They were about halfway through dinner when Lad arrived with ice-cream. "I didn't know what you liked, so I brought a few different sorts," he unloaded a bag of small tubs of ice-cream, gelato, sorbet, frozen yogurt and chocolate mousse.

"Just a few," Grace laughed.

"Well you were crying, isn't this what you do when girls cry?" He looked perplexed.

"Well in the absence of expensive jewellery we'll have to make do," Maggie said generously and winked at Grace.

Lad joined them at the table and the conversation kept them all laughing right through to dessert. Her phone buzzed and she walked away from the noisy chatter at the table to answer it.

"Hey," Tristan's deep rumble greeted her, "You okay?"

"Oh yeah, I'm great really. Not looking forward to going back into work Monday but nothing I can't handle. It was all just a bit of a shock you know, arguing with the boss is not something I would have ever contemplated before but he didn't give me much choice. It will be fine," she said lightly.

"What happened exactly?" he asked trying to keep his voice lighter than the dark mood that had come over him.

She recounted the exchange in detail, thinking that if he spoke to Lad he would hear it anyway. He stopped her every so often as he had the night before when she spoke about work to ask questions but really he just let her talk. She finished her recount by telling him it would be alright either way as she had a job offer at lunch today. He had seemed genuinely surprise and asked about it.

"You mean you really didn't know?" It was her turn to be surprised. "Val offered me a job in his new company."

"Are you sleeping with another one of my brothers," he laughed but there was no humour behind it.

"Not yet," she quipped, "Lad introduced us today. He gave me a prospectus to look over. It's still in my bag I had forgotten about it until now. I don't think I have the experience for it, I thought you made him do it after my whining last night about my job."

"Well it's not a bad idea," Tristan rumbled.

"I feel like since I met you I am surrounded by your brothers, every time I go somewhere I am expecting one more to pop out of the woodwork," she laughed.

"It's possible," he sounded amused, "In addition to four brothers and a sister I also have countless cousins who all live in the same town."

"Oh gosh, I am going to be exhausted trying to sleep with them all," she giggled at his growl. "Lucky I have a couple of days off."

"I'll be back tomorrow and we'll talk about your much needed attitude adjustment then," she could hear that arrogant smirk in his voice as it floated in her mind and she laughed.

"I'm looking forward to seeing you again," she said softly and smiled as he wished her sweet dreams.

Grace went in to join the revelry once again but Tristan stayed on her mind. She had never been so wholly taken over by another person before and even though they hadn't had their first official date yet, she wondered if this was what love felt like. She searched through her bag and pulled out the packet of information Val had given her and began to look through it, once dinner was over and Maggie had roped Kane into helping clean up.

She sat on the floor in the living room spreading the information out around her as Adam and Lad disappeared into the studio again to talk art and costumes. "Surprise me on Friday," Grace had smiled when Adam attempted to put her to work, "I am so not up for that right now."

Kane stood over her looking down on the paper mosaic she had created around her. "What's all that?"

"A job offer," she laughed, "It's a new company, and the owner wants to have me on-board. I was going to say no but after tonight I thought I would have a look," she shrugged. "I may not have many options soon," she tried to laugh but it came out as a sad hiccupping sound.

"Want some help sorting out the legal jargon?" Kane offered sitting on the floor cross legged beside her.

"Sure it looks too good to be true, and I don't really know if I am qualified, so I am looking for the catch, if there is one hidden in here somewhere," Grace frowned at the glossy sheets and papers as she spoke.

They sat close together and talked quietly over various points and arguments in the offer being made to her. Maggie came in and seeing them working on something she had no idea about she switched on the television, grateful she wouldn't miss her daily dose of reality TV. Much to her husband's disgust she was a reality TV junkie and it was about halfway through the latest Big Brother series. She curled up on the couch and let the other people take care of themselves for an hour.

"You'd have to be crazy not to take it," Kane said finally after going through all the pros and cons with her.

"Okay well here's the real sticking point, aside from the stuff you just read through and everything else," She swallowed. "I like this guy, it's new and exciting but I don't know where it's going or how it could end. It's been a bit of a rocky start," Grace grimaced

"And this affects the job how?" Kane asked puzzled.

"It's this guy's brothers company! His brother offered me the job. What if it doesn't work out, What if I end up in a worse situation than I am now," Grace grimaced again.

"Did the guy force his brother to offer the job to you?" Kane asked seriously.

"No he said he didn't even know. They both did actually, it came through a third party, namely Adam who thinks I am an accountant for goodness sakes," Grace laughed. Kane joined her laughter shaking his head in agreement.

Sitting back he thought about it. "So Adam had a whinge to Lad that you were scared to take the day off and Lad found this Val who was looking to hire someone of your talents and then, where does the guy you like come in? Is it Lance or Tristan?"

"Tristan," she admitted. "They're all brothers though."

"You slept with brothers and yet you used that excuse not to date me before Maggie came along? I am not sure whether to be hurt or grateful," he looked over at his wonderful wife, "You're lucky Maggie makes me err on the side of grateful."

"Well I didn't mean to and who knew there were so many of them," Grace covered her face and groaned as Kane laughed.

"Look, work is work and home is home, keep the two distinct and nothing will be so bad that you can't deal with it," Kane gave her an encouraging smile. "I say take it. Better money, better conditions, better hours. Shit if you don't I might put in a bid for it," he laughed, "Talk to this Tristan guy tomorrow, he seems like an alright bloke if you like taciturn and grumpy, then make your decision, but this," he pointed to the pool of papers, "All seems legit to me."

"Thanks Kane, you're the best," Grace smiled and hugged him.

"He's pretty good but I dunno about the best," Maggie laughed from where she sat on the couch, showing that she was listening even though she was watching her show. Kane and Maggie got up to leave shortly after and Grace decided she should go home too. She hugged and thanked everyone for everything they did and got in her car for the shot ride home. She had a lot to think about and she needed the time alone.

*****

Grace woke up early as usual and rather than lying in bed reading a book she got up and got dressed. She had reasoned last night as she thought about everything that a bit of a clean-up around the place this morning would probably be the only chance she got before the busy weekend and she wanted the place to look nice just in case Tristan came over again after their date.

By lunchtime she had cleaned her apartment from top to bottom and need only wait for her washing to dry that she finally sat down and looked around with that certain satisfaction one got when they knew everything was done. She wasn't really sure what time Tristan would call to say he was back and pick her up but she was sure she had hours yet. Ringing Anna, Grace was able to get a quick appointment for a facial and body scrub and she smiled. So much for any savings this month and she had already bitten into a huge chuck of her nest egg.

If everything went pear shaped at work, and she decided not to take this new job she would be in a bad place but she guessed she had options at least. She gathered her bag and phone walking out the door feeling good and relegating thoughts of work to the back of her mind for the princess to banish into exile.

Grace arrived back home feeling relaxed and amazing. Anna had done her make-up once she had decided she would wear the sunset dress Adam had given her. It was casual enough to cope with most situations and dressy enough to be able to go out and party in.

She went and took her laundry off the line folding it and putting it all away before pouring a glass of white wine and sitting down with a book to wait for his call. By the time she had finished the first glass of wine she had become restless and sent him a text, "Hi, What time should I be ready for you to pick me up?"

Realising she had skipped lunch she went to the small kitchenette to grab something to munch on with a second glass of wine. She wished she had have brought home the left over pasta from the night before but settled for some chips and nuts in case they went to dinner.

There was a light tap on her door and Grace got up thinking it was Tristan and hurried to the door. Opening it wide she stopped stunned as a stylish couple stood in the doorway. "Oh," Grace said disappointment colouring her voice. "I was expecting someone else."

"Yes we know," the tall woman brushed past her walking into the small apartment.

"Hi," the man said with a smile holding out his hand, "I'm Wain, I believe you have been wanting to meet me?"