She has honey-blonde hair that`s tied up in a messy bun, huge blue eyes that are tilted up at the corner, and a cute button nose. She `s a bit shorter than I am and has one of those slim bodies that most women, myself included, would kill for. She has a white umbrella with pink polka-dots on it, and when she looks up at us and smiles, two dimples appear on her cheeks.
„Hello. It`s pouring outside; I thought my car was going to sink.”
Mister grumpy pants goes and helps her take her raincoat off.
„If you`d let me buy you a decent car, you wouldn`t have to worry about that old piece of shit dying on you.”
„Maximillian, you stop insulting Rhonda right this minute. She`s my baby, and I won`t have you bad-mouth her in front of people. What will your new assistant think.” She then turns to me and gives me another huge smile.
„You`ll have to excuse my brother. He`s embracing his inner grumpy old man at the tender age of twenty-seven. He was always a precocious boy.”
„Yes, I`ve noticed. You, however, seem awesome. I`m Sophie Grant, and I`m delighted to meet you.”
„I`m Ema, grumpy`s little sister. May I just say I love, love, love your hair.”
I can`t help but give Max a smug look; I told him pastel hair was in, but then my brain starts connecting the dots, and I freak out.
„Ema Kingston? As in the author?”
She lights up at my words.
„Yeah, you know my work?”
„Oh my god, are you kidding. I`m a huge fan. I`ve read all your books. You are like my favorite indie author. I can`t believe this is happening.”
Ema Kingston writes some of the most kick-ass romance novels I have ever read, and that`s saying something since I read a lot of romance. She`s written eight novels so far, and I`ve read them all at least three times.
„Did you hear that, Max? She likes my books.”
I almost faint when I see him smile to his sister because the man is hot when he`s scowling, but when he smiles, it`s a whole other level. Thank god he doesn't seem to be the type to smile often.
„Of course she likes them, you`re a fantastic writer .”
She beams at his praise, and I don`t blame her. I`d be just as thrilled if he gave me that look.
„You`re getting a free mocha-roast for that, big brother.” She looks towards me and explains, „I work as a barista at The Coffee Fairy, it`s in the 16th Street area. Have you ever been?”
„Nope, but I`m always happy to find a good coffee shop. Do you enjoy it?”
„I do, actually. I get to talk to a lot of people, which is a good thing when you`re a writer, and it gives me enough time to write .”
„What are you doing here, anyway? Why aren`t you at work?”
Ah, yes, proud big brother is gone, and the grump is back.
„I took the day off. I wanted to meet your new assistant. It`s not every day someone is permitted access to your lair, so I was curious. Besides, I wanted to make sure she wasn`t some weirdo, but I`m happy to report she gets the stamp of approval.”
„You don`t even know her, she might be a total psycho, and besides, we all know I didn`t permit anything. I wasn`t given a choice.”
Ok, so his sister knew why I was here. Good to know since Hoggins told me I was to talk to nobody about this particular matter.
„I`m not a psycho, I`m the most normal person I know,” I say to him with a small frown of my own.
That gets me an incredulous stare from grumpy who ,apparently, does not agree.
„That says a lot about the kind of people you know, hobo.”
„Boho, it`s boho, not hobo. They are two very different styles, grumpy.”
„Grumpy? Did you seriously call me grumpy?”
„What, I thought we were giving each other cute nicknames. Besides, it suits you.”
„Wow, they did a great job choosing you, hobo, they did. I mean, you scream mature, responsible adult fit for keeping me in check. You were born for this job.”
The sarcasm is great with this one.
„Thank you, I think so too,” I say as bright and bubbly as possible just to piss him off. He starts to say something, but he stops when he sees his sister with her phone in her hand, filming us.
„What the hell are you doing?”
„I`m recording this for later. I`m for sure using this in my book. Keep going; this is gold, pure gold.”
He shakes his head and scowls at his sister. Seriously, this guy is going to get the worst wrinkles in the history of wrinkles if he keeps this up. I really have tried to keep my mouth shut, but I can`t take it anymore.
„Would you stop frowning and scowling all the time. You`re going to have more wrinkles than my eighty-year-old grandma by the time you`re thirty if you keep this up.”
Does he listen? Of course not. If anything, he scowls even harder as his sister is going back and forth with her phone between us. She is eating this shit up.
„Do you have a mute button somewhere? Seriously, if we`re going to be living together, I need to know how to turn your sound off because if not, I might start drinking. What the fuck was Hoggins thinking of hiring you.”
„Hey, I`m a constant fricking delight if you must know. It`s not me; it`s you. You are the problem here, grumpy. Luckily for you, I don`t hold grudges, so I`ll forgive your less than welcoming attitude and just put it down to you being bio sensitive. Some people are very out of sorts when it`s rainy outside.”
His eyes bug out at that, and for a moment, he looks stunned.
„Is this for real right now? This can`t be for real. I`m being punked, right?”
„They`re not filming Punked anymore, unfortunately, so you can rest easy. I`m real, and I`m all
