A “Warm” Welcome?

The uber ride to his office was a fucking hellscape. We had to drive around three different detours, my driver had absolutely no idea where he was going, and I am pretty sure I saw two different naked homeless men walking on the sidewalk… now that could be a good use for X-Change… might help the sight seeing.

“Is this the place, sir?” The man asked, and as I glanced out the window I couldn’t help but sigh at the towering monolith that I was staring at. It was one of the newest buildings in New York whenever Ramon bought it… and even I had to admit it was beautiful.

“Yeah… that’s it.” I sigh before pulling out my phone and rehearsing all of the meeting notes. It shouldn’t be too bad, without any evidence from either party being presented this really was nothing more than a courtesy call between us. But knowing Ramon he is always trying to bust my balls whenever he gets the chance.

I thanked the uber, gave him a 20% tip even though it pained me to do so, and then headed inside the building. The place was absolutely huge full of modern art, an open floor plan, even a fucking water feature standing in the foot of the lobby. And behind the front desk, like always, another beautiful secretary that I’m pretty sure Ramon scheduled today just to spite me. She wasn’t as scantily clad as the X-Change girl, but she was still showing off way more than what is typically office appropriate.

“Name and business?” She asks, raising an eyebrow to me slightly as she starts to type on the computer, looking up no doubt was Ramon’s busy schedule. I just roll my eyes a bit and sigh.

“Benjamin Lee.” I say, my voice slightly cold as she acts like this is the first time we had ever met each other. “I have an appointment with Ramon Namor at 9am.” I say, as she starts clicking on her computer, humming to herself as I stand there awkwardly.

“Naomi! Please! Don’t do that to him.” I hear behind me, and I roll my eyes slightly before turning around to meet Ramon with a pleasant smile. “He’s here, I’m here, let’s get this over with, yes?” He says as he approaches me and reaches his hand out, an almost jovial smile to his face.

“Um… yeah. Thank you.” I say, hesitantly shaking his hand. He was way too happy to see me… he is never this happy to see me. And as he claps his hand on my back and leads me towards the elevator it felt like he was rushing me into the meeting room. “Are you in a hurry, Mr. Namor?” I ask, raising an eyebrow slightly as we get into the elevator.

“Just in a hurry to get this started, Mr. Lee.” He says with a quick wink, and I just watch him awkwardly as the door closes and we head up to his office.