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“Look, I don’t think it gonna fit.”
“Ugh, ok. Let’s try it sideways.”
“The legs, they are in the way. Sideways gonna do nothing.”
“You should’a put legs on after we hauled it in lad.”
Robert looked bemused, he pinched the bridge of his nose while his elbow rested in his palm. He stood a short distance behind Flambae, Malevola and Punch Up as they struggled to move a brand-new hardwood table into the boardroom. The stout strongman was holding up the far end of the table from below, and from where Robert was stood, the table appeared to be floating. The other two Z-Team members closest to Robert were gripping the opposite end of the table while they bickered.
He took a step towards and spoke up, ”You’re the heroes who took down Shroud and the Red Ring.” There was a flash of seriousness in his voice.
Flambae whipped his head around towards Robert, an indifferent expression emerged on his face.
“But you’re struggling to carry a table, through a set of doors.” He folded his arms with a smile, proud of his quip.
One side of the table dropped as Flambae released his grip. “Oh good one Robert, you a real comedian. You wanna make jokes or do some actual work like the rest of us?” He stood with tense arms down by his sides, his face now in a scowl.
Malevola feigned concern. “Hey, dude, he was making a joke. You can take it barbecue boy, you’ll live.”
A familiar oscillating whoosh caught everyone’s attention. ”This hurts to watch. You guys are seriously sucking at this.” Invisigal smirked, her back was resting against the wall with her arms folded. She stepped forwards, her hand placed on the side of her hip. “Anyone got like, a screwdriver or something?”
Mal appreciatively nodded, her portal cast the walls with a crimson glow and she reached inside. Her hand returned from the rift in space with a beat up looking multi-tool. “Do your thing dude.” She encouraged, before a well-aimed toss sent it into Invisigal’s open hand.
“Robert got a screw loose, you gonna use that to tighten it or some shit?” Flambae turned in her direction as he hoped for a reaction, only to be ignored.
Invisigal strolled over to the boardroom door on the left and assumed a crouched position, she then proceeded to remove the brackets that connected the glass door to the framed archway. The rest of the team set the table down and stepped in to assist as they caught on to what she was doing.
“You sure you not like, missed your calling being a locksmith or something?” The stifled laughter from Malevola and Punch Up gave Flambae a reason to adopt a prideful grin. He loved it when his jokes landed
Despite the simplicity of the task, it took some effort. Flambae took an accidental elbow to the face before both doors had been removed, lifted up, and then placed against the boardroom wall.
“Heh, should’a done this in the first place, let’s bring it home.”
Punch Up assumed his position beneath the table and hoisted it upwards, the rest of the crew lent their strength as they slowly brought the table inside. The heavy piece of corporate furniture found its place in the centre of the room with a commanding thunk.
Robert took a moment to observe the partially-restored boardroom. It had only been a week since the reconstruction effort began and a significant amount of work had been achieved in that short space of time. He felt proud.
“We’re getting somewhere, progress is moving pretty fast. I can see things getting back to normal pretty soon.” He paused, a warm smile appeared on his face. “Thank you, everyone. You’ve worked hard.”
Invisigal was lying on her side as she materialised on top of the boardroom table. The rest of the group had only just realised they had carried her inside with the new furniture.
“Robert’s doing a lame speech? Pretty sure that means it’s time for a party.” She caught a disapproving look from Robert. “Yeah, I overheard Blazer yapping about it.” She turned over to lie on her back with her hands placed suavely behind her head.
Robert took a few steps towards the head of the table, his palms were placed on either side of Invisigal’s confident face as he directed his attention to the room.
“Visi is… right.” A quick pause afforded him a glance at the woman below his eye-line.
Her brown eyes were now open wide, as if she had been intently studying him from below, her hair now slightly disheveled. In the same moment he returned to face the room, her gaze had snapped towards the wall in an effort to hide her embarrassment.
“It’s a no brainer, Mandy and Chase have noticed that you guys, and the rest of Z-Team, have gone above and beyond for the branch reconstruction effort.” His words were met with a prideful reaction from those opposite.
“Tonight’s party was intended to be a surprise, but I guess Miss Eavesdrop couldn’t help herself. Do me a favour, give the rest of the team the good news, meet back here for seven o’clock. That cool?”
Robert was immediately cornered by the three clearly excited heroes as they extended hearty pats on his back and shoulders.
“All fuckin’ right lad, let’s do it.”
“Yeah dude, that’s actually just what we need right now.”
“No surprise is good for me, I need to do my hair, fucking covered in construction shit.”
They were now freshly motivated and deep in conversation as they exited the boardroom. Robert sincerely hoped they’d remember to tell the others.
That left one other in the room. He tilted his head downwards to face the woman who was lying on the table, her face was basically upside-down from where he was standing.
Invisigal was not pleased. She had not appreciated Robert’s latest nickname for her, which she evidenced through crossed arms, a flat expression and a slightly raised eyebrow.
“In my defence, I kind of thought it was one of my better names for you.”
Invisigal wondered how she would get her own back as she narrowed her eyes and forced a wry smile.
“You’re pretty forward Robert, I didn’t realise we were at the nickname phase already. What should I look forward to next? You gonna call me your little sweetheart?” She tilted her head playfully, the question was offered as a taunt.
He met her intense gaze with a smile so faint she could have missed it if their faces weren’t so close.
“I think pet names might be reserved for people who have been on way more than two dates. We’ve only had two, and that’s only if you count drinking whiskey, listening to bad karaoke and beating the shit out of some scumbag villains, as a date.”
She reached out and longingly rested her hands on his chest before she began to trace her finger up and down his torso. Invisigal wanted to take control of the situation even though she was having trouble maintaining direct eye contact.
“I’m thinking it’s all part of your master plan. On date number three you’ll decide on our pet name, then on date four you’ll take me out for dinner.” Robert’s brow raised as he inched ever so slightly forward.
She sighed wistfully, “I’m in need of a good wine and dine, and I’m betting you’ll be hungry for some dessert afterwards.” Her finger pointed towards her face as an eager smile playfully showed off her teeth, she returned his gaze.
“Am I on the money Robbie?”
Robert cracked, letting out a cute laugh. “Yeah, you know, I don’t think that’s far off.”
He observed the way his honesty and seriousness had disarmed her smug facial expression. Her cheeks were given a reason to heat up when the back of his hand caressed the side of her face and neck.
“You’re handsy Robert. Hope you can put your money where your mouth is, I won’t give you a parachute if you decide to chicken out.” As her performative front cracked, her voice had softened into a whisper.
Invisigal’s hands had slowly found their way around the back of Robert’s neck, a gentle pull drew him gradually closer as he closed his eyes.
He met her lips with a sense of unfamiliarity, caused by the upside-down nature of their kiss, but the sensation had snowballed into sudden electrical impulses that shot up his spine. The way she clung to his neck, coupled with the intensity of her facial movements, was doing something to Robert.
Several moments of pure bliss had passed far too quickly for him, which was followed by the disappointing sound of her invisibility taking effect. He felt the sensation of her breath and the grip around his neck disappear.
He looked around and waited, his hands still firmly rested on the table, for her to reappear. Nothing.
The sudden exhale against his ear made her presence known to him.
“That was nice.” Her voice was soft and vulnerable.
Robert snapped his head in the direction of the voice, his mind had turned uncharacteristically blank as he fought to find the words he wanted to say.
Invisigal stared at the floor below her. “Just… do me a favour. Wear something nice, okay?.” She smiled before looking up at him, her warm expression disappeared in the next moment.
A silence hung in the air as Robert collected himself and felt his heart steady to a normal rhythm.
“Wait…don’t these doors need to go back on?”
——————
Robert had a fairly limited wardrobe, but he had managed to piece together an outfit he thought was stylish. It composed of a practically never-worn white dress shirt, dark navy slacks, a black belt, and some brown shoes. His clothes fit him well, which accentuated his good features.
Conscious of the time, he headed towards the bathroom to check his appearance and apply a conservative amount of aftershave. He gathered Beef in his arms and made his way to the SDN Office.
By the time Robert had reached the now empty boardroom doorframe, the party was already in full swing.
Orange and yellow bunting, balloons and streamers covered the boardroom, only overshadowed by the immense table spread. A mountain of party food, cake, sandwiches and an impressive variety of alcohol had been pleasantly arranged for the occasion.
A mix of cheering, whooping and jeering announced Robert’s arrival to the party. He couldn’t help but grin, mostly because of the warm welcome, but also due to the effort of those that dressed up for the night.
Golem had simply fastened a black bowtie below his chin, clothes weren’t exactly an option for the sentient construct, but he had done his part. Prism had worn a fluffy, cropped coat in light grey and had swapped her usual boots out for black platforms. Waterboy had his hair clumsily slicked back and both Sonar and Phenomeman were dressed in their usual attire.
Before he could finish taking in everyone’s outfit choices, Mandy had appeared from behind him, dressed in her blue gala dress.
“Well, I’ve probably dressed too formal for the occasion. But tonight’s about them anyway.”
She turned, “You know Robert, they’ve all been saying this was my idea, you know, the party.”
Robert cast a look towards his team, “I was thinking it would work out better if they thought it was your idea. Call it a hunch.”
Mandy placed a hand on her hip, “Well, i’ve trusted your judgement so far. Certainly seems to have paid off.”
Beef, still nestled in Robert’s arms, began to sniff the air before looking towards the entrance of the boardroom.
“Everyone seems to be having fun, and I guess that’s what counts.” He turned and placed the large chihuahua in her arms. “You mind delivering this guy to Chase? I’ll be right back.”
“Oh. Sure, yeah of course.”
Robert made his way outside of the boardroom, unsure of what exact direction he should take. His ears pricked up as he heard the faintest sound of a door being opened on the other side of the unlit office.
Walking towards the noise had brought him to the entrance of the break room, the door was left slightly ajar as he approached. As he made his way inside, he saw a sight that released a wave of warmth throughout his body.
“Robbie, as much as I love your corporate desk jockey look, it’s kinda nice to see you dressed like this.”
Invisigal was kicking back on one of the wooden break room chairs, a huge grin plastered on her face. Her outfit for the evening comprised of a cropped leather jacket, paired with a casual purple dress and black platform boots. Robert was completely enamoured, doing very little to hide the fact.
“Good to see you too Courtney. Taking a break?” He pulled out the chair opposite and took a seat.
“Something like that, I always had the best times at parties when I got to go sneak off somewhere, y’know?”
Robert smiled, leaning back in his chair, “Girl with invisible powers likes to sneak around. Shocker.” Invisigal looked down at her shoes, she was wearing a smitten grin on her face.
“You’re like an hour late, fucker.”
“Couldn’t find my cufflinks. You been waiting for me?”
Invisigal’s face began to heat up in reaction to his question, she gently kicked at Robert’s leg in response.
“Dick.” She spat, before returning to a grin.
A brief silence hung in the air, an audible clock ticked in the background. Robert broke the gap in conversation.
“Looks good on you. Your outfit, it’s very you.”
“Wow, real charmer Robbie. Hope you weren’t expecting me to wear something skimpier. This is a work event you know.”
Robert mockingly feigned surprise, “You’re kidding. I thought this was a date.”
“You killed it with the first two dude, is this really how you wanna round off the third?”
Robert paused and looked up at the ceiling for a moment.
“It’s like you said, sneaking off at parties is your thing. We’ll find something nearby, do some wine and dining, be back before anyone notices, or cares.”
Invisigal let out a whispery laugh, “Shit, I think they’ll probably notice.”
“Do you really care?”
Robert tilted his head down from the ceiling, Invisigal had met his gaze with a mischievous smile.
“You had me at sneaking off. Lead the way Robbie.”