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It was evident that karma was playing a trick on her.
Nami stared down at her skirt soaked with coffee and became even more convinced that in a previous life she must have been a no-good, perhaps a murderer or a child trafficker. Otherwise, she could not explain the reason behind all that bad luck.
For once she was doing Luffy a favor (without getting compensation for it!) by getting him an internship in the company where she worked, vouching for him at the interview, and proving to be a very good, if not mind-blowing, friend, that was her reward.
"Come on, Nami! I already told you I'm sorry!"
"And I already told you I don't want you to talk to me for the next 20 years."
"But it's my first day and I don't know anyone!"
Nami looked at him blearily but met only a big smile.
"Sure you don't want some hot chocolate?" asked Luffy, handing her his still-full paper cup.
"No, thank you. I've had enough of what you poured on me," she replied sourly.
"Ugh, I didn't do it on purpose! I tripped!"
"I'll cut your tongue out if you don’t stop talking to me."
Luffy's reply was silenced by the sound of the elevator doors opening in front of them, and Nami thanked that, at least at that moment, there was something to silence his friend.
They both entered, Nami pressed the button for the twenty-third floor, and stood in a corner, letting other people choose their destination.
"Look you can't avoid me all day!"
"Wanna bet?"
Luffy gave a false sigh and brought a hand to his heart. "I wonder what Vivi would think knowing that you dared to abandon me on the first day of work..."
Nami gave thought to becoming a murderer in this life as well.
Her insult was covered by the sound of the doors closing, but Luffy's laughter still reached her ears.
Strangely enough, his friend remained silent for the first ten floors, during which the elevator stopped several times to allow its passengers to get up and down. When the doors of the tenth floor closed, Nami and Luffy remained alone with the head of the company's sales department, who was also headed to the twenty-third floor and busy talking on his cell phone. There were no offices between the tenth and twenty-third floors, so the elevator continued straight on without a stop to the apex of the skyscraper.
It was exactly at that moment that Nami noticed how Luffy was staring at the man, who had his back on them. Unfortunately, she was familiar with that look, but what she did not expect was Luffy's question.
"Nami, who is this hottie?"
Nami almost choked on her saliva. She elbowed him and cast a glance in the direction of the third person present. "What the hell got into you?" she whispered, glaring at him.
"Why are you murmuring? He doesn't understand us anyway."
Nami raised an eyebrow: she could not believe his friend had said that.
"Come on, don't look at me like that," Luffy chuckled. "You can hear him talking in a strange language on the phone, too."
"He's talking in German."
"Whatever, but there's something exotic about his features. My guess is he doesn't speak our language. Is he some foreign client?"
Nami had two options in front of her: be a good friend and explain to Luffy that " that hottie " was none other than Trafalgar Law, one of the most important people in the company, who could speak fluent their language and at least three other idioms, or take revenge for the fact that Luffy had showered her with coffee that morning.
It took her less than a second to decide.
"Yes, he is one of our foreign customers. I don't think he understands our language."
A grin appeared on Luffy's face. "I told you so. So he's my boss?"
"Everyone here is your boss, even me. You're just an unpaid trainee on your trial period. Slaves by comparison were treated better than you."
"He's my superior, so... that's even more arousing," he sighed and stared at the man, who had just stopped talking on the phone. "Damn, he's so hot, like have you seen his tattoos? I wonder if he has them even under that suit."
Nami forced herself to swallow to keep from bursting out laughing.
"I think he does, by the way, they give him such a kinky look," Luffy continued, without taking his eyes off the other elevator occupant for even a moment. "I'm not usually crazy about men with that gloomy and dark look, but… did you see those shoulders? And that body? Such tight suits should be illegal, I tell you."
"I guess," Nami rolled her eyes, hoping her tone of voice wasn't too amused.
"You have no idea what I would let him do to me. Or what I would do to him," Luffy continued, licking his lips. "I swear, you have no idea."
"And I'd rather keep on not having it, thank you very much."
Before Luffy could continue to comment indecently on their executive, the doors finally swung open on the twenty-third floor and the elevator came to a halt, giving them a chance to separate and head for their desks.
Perhaps that Monday had not started in the best of ways, yet Nami was sure that she would be quite entertained in the coming days.
*
On Tuesday morning Luffy arrived oddly on time and, fortunately, without a latte in his hands. At least for that day, no unwanted caffeine shower.
They stood in line to take the elevator talking about this and that, poking and prodding each other, and goofing around as usual.
When they entered, Nami noticed that among all the people going up, there was also Trafalgar Law. She grinned and almost missed what his friend was telling her.
"Anyway… I'm coming over for dinner tonight."
Nami turned her attention to him and arched an eyebrow. "Huh? Why would you come over for dinner?"
"Because Vivi invited me," Luffy murmured as if he had just said the most obvious thing in the world, letting people pass by as they had to exit the elevator.
"I don't know anything. And my girlfriend always warns me whenever she invites runaways like you over for dinner."
Luffy sighed. "All right… I invited myself, but I have an empty fridge! You don't want me to starve!"
Nami gave him a dirty look, but could not respond because the doors of the tenth floor closed and, like the previous day, only the two of them and Law remained in the elevator.
Luffy immediately elbowed her. "Nami, have you seen who's with us? The hottie from yesterday!"
"Luffy..."
"My goodness, what a nice ass he has! I'd take a bite out of it."
Nami masked a laugh with a cough, but nothing could have prepared her for what would happen next. Law slipped his suit jacket off his shoulders and, in doing so, his pen fell out of his breast pocket. It ended up on the floor of the elevator, thus forcing him to bend down to pick it up.
Luffy's comment came immediately and also in a very loud voice.
"Nami... if this is not an invitation, I don't know what else it can be."
"You don't know what self-love is, do you?"
Luffy looked at her almost shocked. "Are you kidding? I love myself so much! And it's mainly because I love myself so much that I would let someone like that fuck me to death. Or the opposite, I’m not picky, especially with an ass like that."
Nami could not contain herself and snickered. "You are terrible."
Luffy sighed, almost dreamily. "And you're in the way. If you weren't here, I would have already done something."
Nami crossed her arms over her chest. "Oh, really?"
"Sure!" announced Luffy, exuding confidence. "I would have already stopped the elevator and pressed him against the wall."
"Even though he's your boss?"
"Of course! Power figures like it when subordinates take the initiative, don't they?"
"As long as you're convinced," Nami shrugged.
"What I wouldn't do to him, dammit..."
The rest of Luffy's thoughts were cut short by the doors opening and the sound indicating they had arrived at their destination. Just before leaving, Nami swore she saw a mischievous smile painted on Law's lips.
*
On Wednesday morning Nami arrived early at the office, exactly as she had planned. As she waited for the elevator, she pulled out her cell phone and opened the chat with Luffy, laughing with amusement.
I'm already in the office, waiting for you upstairs.
*
Luffy was scrolling through his Facebook home page when he heard the sound of the elevator doors opening. He lazily entered and settled in a corner, bored that he was alone and could not talk to Nami.
He sighed, but his breath caught in his throat as soon as he set his eyes on the last person who had entered the elevator, that hottie front the previous days. Namely, the famous foreign client Law, who also met his eyes and stared at him so piercingly that Luffy almost blushed.
Luffy looked away and it was only at that moment that he realized how hard his heart was beating in his chest. Holy hell, what a crush he had.
He watched the toe of his shoes until the elevator reached the tenth floor and noticed that everyone was getting off the elevator. Everyone except him and Law.
The doors closed and immediately a strange tension spread through the air, even though Law had his back to him and they had never even exchanged a single word. Luffy swallowed hard, not knowing precisely whether he wanted those remaining thirteen floors to pass quickly or slowly.
They were just on the fourteenth floor when Law walked over to the control panel and pressed the button that allowed the elevator to stop going up and down.
The machine stopped with a resounding clunk and a jolt, catching Luffy absolutely by surprise, who had to cling to the wall to keep from falling.
"Hey! What-"
The insults and swear words he wanted to yell at him died on his lips as soon as Law turned and looked him straight in the eye.
"I'm really curious," he said in a firm, determined voice. "How idiotic can you be to think that someone like me, who practically runs this company, can't speak your language?"
Luffy knew he was too young to have a heart attack, yet that was the only thing he could think of as his heart froze in his chest.
"You know ... You ..."
He flushed violently, bringing his hands up to cover his face in shame.
Law, in response, took a step toward him.
"What did you say you wanted to do to my ass? Take a bite out of it? Right now, I don’t remember it quite well."
Luffy was sure he was a breath away from death because of the deep embarrassment he was feeling. He could not utter a word with those piercing eyes staring at him.
Law leaned further in his direction, bringing one hand to loosen the knot of his tie until he let the two strips of cloth dangle on either side of his neck. "What is it that you said about my suits? That they're illegal? And that thing about my tattoos?"
Luffy grew redder and redder.
Law seemed to ignore the color of his cheeks as he took one last stride toward him until there was only an inch of distance between their bodies, forcing the boy to spread himself against the elevator wall behind him. Luffy had never felt so subdued by a man with such a stare. Nor was he so attracted. Even his voice was sensual and deep.
"I'm a little disappointed, though," Law commented with a sigh. "You seemed so resourceful yesterday with your friend in telling her all the things you were going to do to me if only we were alone."
Luffy swallowed the moment Law came dangerously close to his face.
"Or are you just someone who talks a lot and is unable to keep his promises?"
It took Luffy a moment to fully comprehend that mischievous smile, that untied tie, and that ravenous look.
He sneered because, after all, he was someone who kept his word.
*
Nami was working on her never-ending Excel document when she heard her phone vibrate in her pocket. Thinking it was Luffy warning her that he would be late, she opened the message overthinking, frowning as she read it.
It was an unfamiliar number and the text said only " I owe you one. "
She was about to ask that contact for an explanation when, out of the corner of his eye, she caught a glimpse of someone approaching her desk.
She couldn't help stretching her lips into a mischievous smile when she realized that it was Luffy and that he had a look that made it very clear what he had just finished doing.
His messy dark hair, usually at least disciplined somehow, was disheveled and shaggy. His lips were red and his shirt was in dire condition, all wrinkled and even badly buttoned.
"Luffy!" she greeted him cordially. "Is everything all right?"
"Sure," he replied, trying to smooth the shirt over himself, but to no avail. "Why do you ask?"
In adjusting his garment, Nami noticed that he also had a conspicuous purple hickey on his neck.
"Your zipper's open," she pointed out the detail as she shrugged and held back a grin at Luffy, who buttoned his pants a moment before sitting down.
"Oh, and Luffy..." she called him to attention by pointing to her chin. "You're dirty here."
The boy immediately brought a hand up to graze the spot Nami indicated, looking at her angrily and blushing when he realized he had nothing.
"Fuck you," he murmured in a low voice.
Nami smiled amiably at him and grabbed her cell phone to type a reply to the message from just before, casting one last glance at his friend.
You're welcome, Mr. Trafalgar.