Yes. I'd love that. Date night it is. Love you! 3
And though the day could very well be a disappointment from the work side of things, Wade could hold high hopes that the night could make up for it.
"Date night. Yes! Oh... she said yes!" he thought.
Alas, his joy needed to be saved up for the evening's activities. For now, he was on the job.
. . .
Following a while of walking on foot given his coworkers took all the company cars - to be expected - Wade found himself at the location Mutrick blasely sent him to.
He looked about the neighborhood just before walking in; this part of town was nice. A bit too nice. The streets had older folk slowly strolling along admiring life. The air felt fresher, more spring-like - more serene. This felt a bit more like Wade's stream of pace.
Regardless, he took a deep breath awaiting some kind of cruel Mutrick-esque twist, slicking his hair back.
"Okay. Breath took, and..." he began.
He confidently pushed through the entrance door with his body. Lo and behold...
"...it's an op shop." he finished.
To his genuine curiosity, he found himself in the complete opposite of Bar Elementus Ashenwood; a quiet, friendly op shop with old folk calmly shopping about. Wade's jaw fell to the floor like a waterfall. This was nothing like he expected. He gently began walking through the aisles, looking from side to side with a face of mystification.
"What did I just stumble into?" he questioned himself.
He gently sloshed from side to side as he walked through, noticing the cashier's desk at the back of the shop. Slowly strolling along to it made him think no cashier was present, prompting him to ring a bell on the desk in wait.
"Down here," a voice said.
Looks like he thought wrong. A cashier was present after all. He looked about trying to find the voice, peering down over the desk. To his shock, a little old rock lady not 2 feet tall stood with a welcoming smile.
"How can I help you, deary?" she asked.
Wade's eyes shot open in surprise, causing him to raise an eyebrow.
"Nothing like I expected." he refrained.
Clearly a bit hard of hearing, the old lady put a hand on her ear.
"What's that, deary?" she asked politely.
Wade let down a heaping gulp, bobbing his head forward as he did. That was when it hit him; he was there to do one of the worst parts of his job; shut the place down. This really was a Mutrick job. As he realized, a tinge of regret overcame him.
Hesitantly, he slowly reached over and down the desk as he handed her the foreclosure paper.
"I'm Mr. Ripple, from the Elementopia-City Building Inspection Division. We've been made aware that you're operating despite multiple foreclosure warnings and citations," he said regretfully.
The old lady merely looked down at the paper, before blankly handing it back.
"Oh. You must have the wrong store." she notified.
Knowing that this could be a lot more difficult than he thought, Wade bit his lip hard, sweating.
"Oh- no-no. That's not how this works." Wade advised, pushing it back.
"No-no, son. I'm telling you, it's not us." the lady assured.
"And I'm telling you, miss; denying it is a federal offense." Wade regretfully pressed.
A bit scared, the old lady shakily took it back, a look of worry abroad her face.
"Okay- well... I'll have to give it to management." she complied.
Wade nodded a few too many times, filled to the brim with regret.
"Yes. Y- you will," he told.
"Yes." the old lady assured.
With an air of awkwardness now filling the room, Wade charged himself with getting the heck out before it could become any more so. He straightly turned around, walking with knees straight like a soldier. As he went to leave the shop, looks from shoppers made the whole thing worse.
"'Til next time, dear!" the old lady cashier wished.
The wish only sent Wade spiraling into discomfort. He began to gently weep as he left the shop, his teeth chattering in nerves.
As he closed the door behind him and walked onto the street, he took a long breath, wiping his sweat with an arm. He held out his hands in an attempt to calm himself.
"Whew... okay, Wade. It's over. You've done your job. It's okay." he assured himself.
Wearing discomfort on his sleeve, he raced over to an alleyway just to the side of the shop in a panic. Hiding behind a dumpster, he slammed both hands onto his mouth, screaming as loud as he could in venting stress. Thankfully, his hands muffled the majority of the sound, but to him, it still shook him to his core. He quickly ran back out to the roadside, panting and exhaling.
"Ugh... oh... mighty Poseidon... what did I just do?!" he questioned himself.
Still a bit frazzled, he looked either way of the street in intrigue. Quickly, he got a sharp notification from his phone, wiggling about his stomach. He took it out of his satchel, opened it up, and looked at it. To his dismay, a message from Mutrick displayed.
"Back to HQ, Ripple. Groucho wants to have a word with you." it read.
He took an exasperated sigh, shaking his head in stress. He took a sharp breath, straightening himself up with an air of frustration.
Later, back at EBID HQ...
"You gave him what?"
"A sham op. I'm telling you. He couldn't say no."
Just as Wade arrived back at the EBID HQ, he aimed to the staff room to put his satchel away. In passing, however, he heard a voice or two in Mutrick's office. Curious, he stopped himself and hid behind the door, leaning an ear against it.
As he did, three loud cackles sounded, chilling him to the core.
"Oh, man. Wait 'til he gets back!" a voice bellowed.
It looked to him like his suspicions rang true. There was a high likelihood that those in Mutrick's office were not only talking about him but had set him up. With such suspicion growing, Wade silently grimaced to himself. However, unwanting to burst in and cause a scene, he took a deep breath, composing himself and putting on a fake smile.
With his satchel across his body, he opened the door wide open, maintaining his feigned demeanor. To his lack of surprise, Mutrick, Rocky, Dusty, and Boulder sat with very suspicious smirks abroad their faces. Still, Wade kept cool.
"Got that job down in Sanda Monica done. They worked with me and took it really well," he announced confidently.
Rocky let out a guilty snigger, covering his mouth. Dusty and Boulder silently leaned over, mouthing at him to shut up. The whole thing unfolded how Wade expected, maintaining his demeanor without fault.
Mutrick leaned back on his chair, arms folded.
"I'm impressed, Ripple." he admired.
With his fake smirk persisting, a feeling of vengeance overcame him ever so slightly.
Mutrick slowly looked over to his other three far-more-favored employees with a chuckle.
"Go see Groucho in his office," Mutrick told.
Wade's fake smile dripped off his face. A worried look of recollection became apparent, causing his infuriating coworkers to snigger to themselves.
Mutrick smirked at them, gesturing to Wade to depart the room. Wade straightened his posture professionally, looking over at a cocky Dusty staring. He shot him a disdain-filled look in retaliation, marching out of the room.
Wade shut the door sharply behind him with a revolting look upon his face. He clenched his fists in growing vengeance, at a breaking point of sorts.
"Ripple." a superior voice bellowed.
Wade's attention completely flipped. A towering, authoritative Mr. Groucho stood not a meter away in front.
"AHH! Mr. Groucho!" Wade panicked.
Him being easily a head taller, Groucho leaned down to meet Wade's eye level.
"My office, please," he told.
With an air of guilt, Wade gently followed Groucho to his office with a petrified look.
Arriving and walking in, Groucho's office was a far cry from Mutrick's - nice flora and fauna decorated the room like a jungle, smelling of natural perfume. Wade's look of guilt soon shifted to wonder, looking about in intrigue. Groucho sat at his hardened soil desk, gesturing for Wade.
"Sit." he prompted.
Gently going over to sit across from Groucho, he planted himself down with his satchel on his lap. As he sat, he continued to admire the room around him.
"Any idea why I called you in today?" Groucho said sternly.
Wade slowly looked back over to him with a blank face, slipping back into his inferiority complex.
"Umm... n- no, sir," he responded.
Groucho leaned forward to him, causing a synchronized Wade to lean back in discomfort.
"About yesterday's Elementus case. Your coworkers handed in their notepads, yet yours was mysteriously absent," he advised.
With a feeling of incoming vindication, Wade spoke not a word as he ruffled through his satchel. He slid out his notebook over to Groucho without hesitation. He took it, looking between it and him in intrigue.
"If it was that easy, why didn't you do it with the others?" he queried.
Wade's eyes bulged out of his head. He came to a difficult decision; come up with a feigned, riskless response, or tell the truth and throw Mutrick under the bus.
"Whew...
. . ."
Struggling to come to a decision, he began to sweat profusely. He shook, looking side to side.
"Would you care to answer, Mr-"
"I gave it to Mutrick and he hid it!"
Taken aback by his unexpected response, Groucho leaned back in his seat. Wade let down a huge gulp as his superior slowly opened and flicked through his notebook. He looked back and forth between it and Wade; making the poor water guy sweat even more. Groucho gently placed the notebook face down, leaning inward slowly. Wade's entire body began to shake with nerves.
. . .
"Interesting."
As if he wasn't already, Wade kept sweating profusely in his spot, trembling in fear.
"There's a whole lot in here that your coworkers missed, but align with reports we've been getting from the community," Groucho advised.
Like a home run swung, Wade's anxieties were smashed out of his body. Its language turned, stopping his sweating and raising an eyelid.
"Huh?" he sounded in confusion.
"The hanging sign, the lack of abiding by laws, the paraphernalia. It's all there." Groucho recognized.
Wade's nerves fell off his body like the watery being he was. He began to laugh in relief, wiping his sweat and shaking his head.
Groucho leaned forward to him in a slow, authoritative manner, looking up at him. Wade feigned a smile, holding his satchel at his chest in discomfort.
"Mutrick sent you to this one?" Groucho pressed.
Wade nodded in compliance, hiding face with his satchel.
Groucho leaned back, arms folded, yet a welcoming manner about him.
"Not surprised," he said.
Wade slumped in exasperated confusion and relief, taking a heavy breath.
"The fact Mutrick got you - our shortest-tenured worker -to go to one of the most dangerous parts of town just confirms suspicions I've had of him, and if we're being honest here; it's not his first time. He's had a history of antagonizing employees he finds inferior." Groucho reckoned.
Wade slid a hand down his face in shock.
"However... he is one of the longest-tenured we've had. Simply getting rid of him and training someone new will disrupt the EBID workflow for weeks. Trust me, it's something we don't need." Groucho advised.
Wade looked down to the ground, eyes wide in thought. He stroked his index finger and thumb on his chin, raising an eyelid.
Groucho leaned forward once again in emphasis...
"I need to trust that what you're saying is the truth." he pressed.
Wade nodded speedily like an obedient little work.
"Yes- yes. A thousand percent." he sharply assured.
Groucho, still an intimidating presence to Wade, began to chuckle a bit with a smirk.
"Very well." he allowed.
Wade began to laugh again from nerves, wearing a big dumb smirk and wiping sweat again.
"So I'm not in trouble?" Wade asked.
Groucho watched as he unfurled, returning a more friendly smirk in admiration. He looked down at the clock to his right.
"Knock off early. Consider it a reward for your work and an arrival gift to Elementopia." he allowed.
Wade's uncontrollable laughing of relief continued. He slicked his hair back and caressed his stomach in tandem.
"Thank you, Mr. Groucho! I- I really appreciate you taking the time." he thanked him.
Groucho slowly nodded his head with a smirk.
Wade hesitantly departed the room backward, stumbling about as he did.
"Ripple," Groucho said.
Wade sharply stopped in his spot, arms to his sides like a soldier.
"Don't let them get to you. Your worth is far more important than your work." Groucho comforted.
Wade gave him a gentle, appreciative smirk, silently leaving with it in tow. He shut the door, taking a long, deep breath in persisting relief.