Hello dear readers.
This story is fiction, created for entertainment only, and I kindly ask
you not to repost this story without my permission.
Please consider donating to nifty https://donate.nifty.org/
Part 2: Chapter 26 - Two exes in the room
.
Brandon spent the rest of the week at mine. When I told him about my training with Ben and Ross, he loved that. Then, one day he said that we should call Ross and spar some more, and he kept bothering me about it until I made the call, and we both went there to train.
Ross loved Brandon, and we spent that week in the gym or at Ross's every other morning. We pretty much just trained, spared, taunted each other, and talked shit about people that we liked, but we weren't good enough for them. It was great. I must admit it helped me a lot!
.
At one point, I called the interior designer who worked on my apartment. I asked him to come. We went through everything needed, and I handed him the keys. I hated this place now. Everything reminded me of Natasha since she has spent most of her free time redecorating everything except my study.
I didn't even need to pack as at my apartment was pretty much everything. So I took a few key things and left.
Since then, I have lived there. At first, I thought I would be free, but it kept reminding me of Thomas. Great!
It was too late now. The renovations had already started, and I wasn't willing to wait a couple of months, so everything needed to be done fast and in the best quality. Thankfully I could afford it.
.
On the 20th, I was supposed to get back to work. Everyone on my team counted on that, and the pressure felt heavy, but Brandon insisted it would do me good. I wasn't sure. How should I act toward Thomas? But deep down, I wanted to see him at least. I've missed him...
I called John, and we went to dinner and talked about the company. It looked like he would stay here for some time, but he said he wouldn't be working from the office. What a shocker! But I was okay with that. I loved this man to bits. We just don't meet as often as I would like to.
When he asked me about the wall, I said I got dumped and would not talk about it until I felt like it. He, of course, understood.
John told me about his worries about the pandemic, and since he is a bit of a freak about things like that, he was doing huge research about all coronaviruses. I told him I didn't believe it was that bad.
.
I returned to work and tried to be casual. Thomas had already returned to his desk in front of my office, and I kept bringing him signed things immediately as he emailed them to me. Those that John sent and Thomas needed my signature as well. He just left them on my desk in the mornings, and I gave them back on his desk without a word. So the rest of our communication was pretty much only about work as well.
There were glances, deep sighs, and times when we just stood still and looked into each other's eyes, but for the next week, everything went pretty much back to normal.
Or we were trying. We both could see it was killing us...
.
. . .
Friday, Jan. 31, 2020
Thomas sent me an email regarding Monday's schedule. There were three meetings called "PA interview". What the hell?
I stepped out in front of his desk and peered at him.
"My office. Now."
Thomas seemed to understand immediately what was going on. He took his notebook and walked in. I did everything I could not to grab him and kiss him when he walked past me. Thomas stared at me, and I believe he saw that and fought the same urge... My resolve was shaking, but I wanted to keep my head clear. I won't be able to stand another refusal from him... Not after I just got myself together to be able at least somehow function.
"What are those interviews?"
"What do you mean by that? You don't want to be present? It will be your assistant, not mine."
"When did you start arranging them?"
"I told you I would do that first thing when I return."
"You did that in those two weeks?" Something looked off.
"Two weeks is more than enough time if I need to do something, Matt, but no, I contacted Nina and Sydney on the third. We had the first rounds last week. These are those I deemed good enough."
"Third?! You mean two days after we slept together?"
"I told you I would look for them."
I was furious. This was too soon! What the fuck?! I was not ready for that!
"No!"
"Matt, this is not something I will let you refuse. You will attend these interviews if you don't want to be without PA."
"Will you be here until I find one?"
"Yes."
"Promise?"
Thomas looked suspiciously at me. "Will you try to hire someone?"
"I will try."
"Fine, in that case, I promise I will stay until you find someone. Again, Monday at 9 o'clock is the first and the second at eleven, and then we have one at three in the afternoon. Will you behave?" he looked at me sternly.
I crossed my arms, pissed. "Fine."
.
. . .
Monday, Feb. 3rd, 2020
Thomas marched in front of me, furious. He didn't even look at me as he slammed his leather notebook on his desk and sat. I leisurely walked past him with a satisfied grin.
"Well, I am sorry, it seems like we need to try some others. But good job. It was obvious you tried your best." I said in my nicest company voice.
.
Thomas refused to look at me, and the vein on his neck was about twice the size. Maybe that's an exaggeration, but it was huge and pumping! He was livid! Good, so was I when he was so efficient in finding his substitute.
I came into my office and looked at the clock. 15:23, a new record; Natasha would be proud. I learned from the best. Maybe I should feel bad... I decided against it after a little while. I now have my own problems to deal with.
I heard the door open and slam behind me. I turned around with a welcoming smile.
"Did you want something?"
Thomas launched at me and smacked me to the wall next to me. Damn! How I missed this!
"You did that on purpose!"
"No, I just thought she should now. I didn't want to waste our time."
"You've been an utter dick in there!" he let go of me.
.
"Was I?" I played innocent. The way he looked at me was terrific! I seriously think he was angrier that that morning I called him a fag.
"I am not doing this with you, bitch!"
"What you mean, boy?"
"Do not fucking call me a boy!" He grabbed my throat and slammed me back to the wall holding me there.
I pushed him away, but he wouldn't budge. I looked at him and gave him a menacing look. He will get this single warning. Somehow I felt he got it, and then he got enraged at my audacity.
"You are playing with the wrong person, Matt," he growled.
"If you don't take that hand away, I will seriously smack you on my table, Thomas."
Thomas looked at me with a look that said it all. He was the same as me, past the rage. He was horned and hungry. Fuck! I needed him so badly!
"Too late, fucker!"
.
I have been wrestling with Ross for the past weeks. I had now some idea where Thomas may have learned all that, and I was dying to try this for a while!
I turned with a sharp move and twisted his wrist. The genuine shock in his eyes was priceless! I pinned him down on my table and ravaged his mouth mercilessly. His eyes were dark, and he pulled on my hand, reached for my nape, and kicked me, smacking me on the floor.
What the fuck was that?!
"I was the one who trained Ross, baby. This was good, but you have a long way to go."
He grinned, and I did as well, watching him towering over me.
.
"We will never get back to being only the boss and PA, will we?" he said as if he didn't even expect that at this point.
"Why not? We'll just have an edge," I smirked and stood in front of him.
Thomas laughed. I loved that sound.
"Fine. You like games so much, let's play one. If you win, I will stay here for three months, and we will look together for someone suitable at your pace but not longer than those three months. I will make sure I have other commitments at that time, so you won't be able to move around it."
He couldn't help it, could he?
Thomas loved... He genuinely loved making deals with me! Thomas loved giving me the illusion of choice while he was the one deciding the possible alternatives. He fucking thrived on that! I could very well see the trap. He didn't give me any choice I was satisfied with. He will still leave.
But I couldn't refuse. His stare made me crazy with lust for him, and I always liked games!
.
"What if I lose?"
"You will let me pick your next PA, and I will leave when I fill her in about all job requirements. If you fire her, then I don't care."
"I agree with one condition."
"What?"
"We are playing for the win like back then." I just practically asked him to fuck, and he knew it well.
He straightened his back, and his eyes narrowed.
"It's a work day at the office, Matt."
"Do I seem like I care?"
"What if someone comes?"
I said slowly and clearly one more time. "I don't care."
"You are thinking with your dick, Matt."
"You are, too," I scoffed and looked greedily at his tent.
"You don't want me to do that, Matty," he warned me with a smirk.
I blinked. Only one person is calling me Matty, cos he knows I would punch any other guy for doing that back in the day. But now I genuinely loved that sound coming from his lips.
"I really do, Tommy."
He frowned. I suppose no one calls him that. Good.
"Fine, bitch, but the door stays unlocked."
I looked at them and couldn't help but worry. Thomas waited with a smirk. He was sure I would back down, was he?
"Very well, Tommy, we're on!"
. . .
We wrestled there for a while. We both knew what winning meant in this game, and we were both starving and fucking driven! I think the only luck was that I prefer clean wide open spaces with minimal clutter. Otherwise, many things would be broken now.
.
I pressed him into that wall. By this point, we were both disheveled, panting, and so horny! I could feel his dick as I pressed mine against him and licked his neck. He growled, pulled my hair, and punched me. I took his wrists and pinned them above his head as I mercilessly attacked his mouth. He kissed me back, but then he bit my lip and shoved me away. How long did we manage to stay without each other this time? A month? He was right, this was toxic, but we both must have admitted that we were lost deep in it!
I was about to answer that when someone knocked on the door and opened it. I looked in horror at the state of us! Thomas smirked. Fuck!
I turned.
"Matt, I need to spe..."
.
My CFO came in with a smile. Owen is a great guy, a wizard with numbers, and one tough guy. He is generally stubborn, assertive, and strict, but the second he stepped in and saw Thomas, his face turned stone cold. Owen turned to me and looked at the state of us as he closed the door.
I looked at Thomas, and there was no sign of that smirk. Instead, he looked angry and uncomfortable. What the fuck?!
I turned back to Owen and saw something I had never seen in ten years of working with him. Submission!
Thomas swore under his breath, and I could visibly see Owen twitch! There was no smile on his face--just confusion, sadness, and fear.
.
Yeah, I must admit Thomas was livid, and he was scary. It's arousing to me, but I can be objective enough to acknowledge that it may be frightening to other people. But Owen was never one easily scared!
There was tense silence here. As I knew Owen, he would have asked anything he needed usually, but now he was out of words, or maybe he is not allowed to speak until spoken to. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and watched them. Thomas didn't even look at him. He looked somewhere in the room, and his eyes were glazing.
.
"I am leaving," Thomas stated.
"You will stay right where you are standing, fucker."
I watched Owen as I spoke to see his reaction, and how he looked at me made me absolutely positive! He was his sub! The look Owen gave me was telling everything! The sheer horror in his eyes as I spoke to Thomas in an aggressive, dominant voice was more shocking than anything for him. But mostly, what I saw was deep hurt! He loved Thomas! There was no doubt in my mind about that! Maybe it was even worse, and he still is! He didn't act as an ex. He acted like someone whose heart was just broken to pieces!
.
"I didn't know you had a meeting, Matt. I will come later." Owen stammered and tried to compose himself. Too late, bastard.
"Do you know each other?" I looked at Owen.
"We've met."
"Is Thomas the guy you've been dating?"
Over two years ago, Owen took three months off from work and later told me that he's got a boyfriend. We've never talked much about relationships and stuff like that, so that was pretty much what I knew about that person. I could hope I was wrong, but I couldn't get over the way both seemed right now.
Owen looked at Thomas.
"I don't think that's is any business of yours, Matt." A cold, frightening tone touched my ears, but I was too enraged to care. Fuck! Dora told me he was in a relationship when she recommended him! I just believed him when he said he was single... My paranoia and rage started linking together every single doubt in my mind.
"Owen!"
"Matt, I don't understand what is going on here."
"That will depend. Are the two of you fucking?"
Owen looked down as his eyes started to water. He looked at Thomas, and Thomas was furious. Fuck! They are! Or at least had in the past, but this was nowhere near Peter! This was still present in Owen! Please no! The doubt in me was poisoning me. I needed to know!
This man had his attitude towards Thomas so deeply ingrained that even though I know him as one of the strongest, most confident people, he went submissive in a split second after seeing Thomas.
Thomas`s eyes pierced Owen with rage, and Owen looked like he was fighting the urge to kneel the second their eyes met. And the way he turned instantly to the ground was convincing me even more about that!
It would be different if I didn't know Owen that well... Fuck! No!
.
Was this the reason Thomas didn't want to be with me? Was he cheating on Owen with me? I was raging! Everything Thomas told me was playing in my mind.
I looked at Owen. Hairy, bulky, brown-eyed with a beard. Thomas seriously has a type.
From the way Owen was acting, this was fucking fresh! I saw the heartbreak in him when he looked at Thomas. No matter how tough this guy usually is, this was too fresh or too deep for him to be able to suppress all the hurt on his face!
.
"Right. I will make this easier. Owen Simmons meet Thomas Birns, the famous ghost PA we were joking about."
Owen looked at Thomas. "Personal assistant?"
Thomas looked fed up, but I just started talking.
"You know, Thomas, Owen was already making fun of me as every time he comes here, your desk is empty, and now that I think about it, it's a bit weird that you two are meeting only now since we've had a few meetings before. But if I recall correctly, my assistant was not present on those." My hurt psyche started to put together pieces as I was trying to remember them all... "That's actually fascinating. Isn't it Thomas?"
"Can you stop, Matt? This is not necessary."
"I seriously hope he doesn't get punished for this since this is your fuck up."
My voice was cold. I was beyond brokenhearted. I lost every hope.
"Shut up, Matt."
.
"Look, I think there is a slight misunderstanding here," Owen spoke timidly.
Fuck! This guy is never timid! I own this company, and he screamed at me a couple of times when he thought that necessary!
"Owen, I will make a genuinely bad, rushed decision right now if you won't tell me this second how long you two have been fucking!"
"Over two years, but..."
Fuck!!! So it's him!
.
I snapped. I took a glass from my desk, and his words were cut short by the sound of it shattering on the wall behind me.
"You got this wrong, Matt, wait..."
"I suppose I should be the one apologizing then, Owen," I said that looking at Thomas, my eyes were red, and I tried not to cry.
"Matt, shut up. It ended before we met."
I looked at Owen, and he nodded. "That's what I tried to say before you broke that glass."
"When?"
Owen didn't look at Thomas as an ex. So if they really were broken up, it had to be recently...
"It's. None. Of. Your. Fucking. Business!" Thomas growled in a menacing tone.
"Owen. When did he break up with you?"
"Last summer," Thomas spoke. "That's why I didn't want him to know that I work here, and every time I saw him coming, I ditched. Sure, it's not a mature way to act, but it would make things unnecessarily uncomfortable. Not everything revolves around you, Matt."
Owen looked at Thomas, absolutely destroyed. His eyes looked like he was about to cry. I never in my years I knew this guy saw him so vulnerable and exposed.
Now I felt terrible for him... Summer? For fuck's sake! It's not even eight to ten months; they've been together for over two years! What the fuck! Not to mention that Thomas started here in September. And he told me he had liked me since that first day. Yeah right... sure...
.
"Thomas, what are you doing here?" Owen said softly.
How many broken hearts this man left somewhere just to rot?!
"Dora called out one old favor I couldn't refuse her."
Owen nodded. "With all respect, Thomas, that's not what I am asking right now."
Thomas frowned. "I don't think that's your business anymore, either."
We cornered him. Two exes in one room must be hard... But now I haven't pitied him a little bit.
"What about Natasha?" Owen turned me.
"Broke up."
"When? Just two months ago, I saw her at lunch with Nina talking about wedding dresses."
"New years."
Owen stood there speechless for a moment.
.
"You two are together?"
"No," I stated, piercing Thomas with my eyes.
"Okay... I am sorry, I need to leave." Owen was about to turn.
"Why did you come?" I asked him.
Owen looked at me. "Nothing, it can wait."
"Tell me now."
"I... I just wanted to know, if you don't know, what is that meeting John organized? But it doesn't matter."
"John wants to discuss the issue of remote work, and I was against it initially, so he wanted support from other people. But that doesn't matter now. I decided to support his decision." I said, absolutely devastated. "You won, Thomas. We will have as much time apart as you need."
.
Owen snapped and looked at me. "What? Matt, why? Do you know how many meaningless issues that will create? There are only like seven known cases now!"
"I don't give a fuck, Owen. We will make it work."
"Matt, let's not make this decision rushed like this."
I was past that point. I came to the door, opened them, and grabbed Thomas's notebook and pen. I returned and handed them to Thomas.
"Thomas, contact John and make the meeting with everyone needed for the whole company going on home-office asap. I will give them a month. But by the first of March, no one will be in the office."
"Matt, I have to agree with Owen..."
"Thomas, John is my best friend, and I trust him with my life. I wanted to be here to see you, but now..." I stopped myself and looked at him gentler. "I need you to trust me."
Thomas nodded. "I will make that happen."
.
"Owen? Would you like to have dinner with me tonight?"
He looked at me, absolutely devastated.
"Sure."
With that, Owen just left.
.
We stayed there like that. The anger slowly vanished, but deep hurt stayed as if it was engraved now on my soul...
"You should have told me you fucked my CFO." I couldn't even look at him.
"It's my ex, my business, not yours. I don't have to disclose anything to you!"
"That guy is not out of the closet till this day, you coward!"
Thomas frowned. "What do you mean? You didn't seem that surprised."
"I've known him for ten years, you bastard. Yes, I knew that, but there are about three people who know about it, and maybe Dora and his assistant!"
"Really?" He seemed to scoff more for himself than for me. "You have no idea what happened between us. You have no right to judge me!"
"Like the fuck I don't. Did you see the way he looked!"
"Did you see the way I looked when I found out he was lying to me for years?!" Thomas snapped, and his eyes were watery. I was muted. He was hurt...
"What happened?"
"That's between him and me."
"Did he hurt you?"
"It's none of your goddamn business."
"Talk to me, damn it!"
"I don't need a shoulder to cry on, Matt!"
"We all do, Thomas," I said now gently.
"Well, I don't."
.
I looked at him, and I felt terrible. For some reason, he never seemed manipulative... I genuinely don't believe that he is. Everything I felt was going through me at once.
"Did you find out about Sam?"
Thomas blinked and breathed in sharply.
"Sam is married, Thomas. He has a kid who's about ten now. Straight, and they had known each other since childhood. Owen could never be with him."
Thomas turned away. "Yes, I know."
There was more to it all, was there?
I just snapped at him, hurt, making him the villain as it was much easier than asking... Now I could see that. I do that all the time. I saw Natasha as a gold digger and Thomas as someone throwing his exes away like old rags... Everybody that loves me takes the blame for all my doubts, and I never care to ask more. It's easier to assume... What kind of person am I?
.
"Did you love him?" I asked softly.
"I did."
"Did he lie about anything else?"
"Yes, many things, apparently."
"Like what?"
"What are you trying to accomplish, Matt?!"
"Give you all the information you may need, so you can understand and move on." I put my hands lightly on his shoulders. He turned to me, stunned.
"The way he looked at you, you know he still loves you, right?"
"He betrayed me, Matt. People shouldn't betray the person they supposedly love."
"People make mistakes."
"Like breaking a glass against the wall out of jealousy?"
"I love Owen as a dear friend, Thomas. I knew he was in a long-term relationship, but he never told me it had ended. So when I saw the hurt on his face, I thought you were cheating on him with me."
"It's good to know how you see me," he said, hurt.
"I am sorry."
"I don't care."
"Thomas..."
"I'm leaving. I need to organize this meeting so we can finally get some space between us."
.
What had everything just happened? I sat on my chair, utterly lost, trying to figure out what was happening. I felt overwhelmed and lost! My head was spinning.
"You are right," I said as he opened the door to leave. "I think we both had enough. Have interviews without me from now on. I don't care what person will replace you. No one could replace you anyway, so why even bother? Just hire anyone."
I was too tired to try anymore. When I saw the way Owen looked at Thomas, I realized how fucking deep I am. And the relief when they told me they were not together was like a stone fell off my chest. And I don't need to obsess like this over someone who doesn't even want me. I don't want to be this interested in him anyway.
.
.
Chapter 27 -- Thomas's point of view- https://www.patreon.com/posts/78494321 -----------------------
As you surely know by now, I have a Patreon page - https://www.patreon.com/i_dusk/about
Feel free to check out my other stories as well.
If you would like to have access to more chapters and content, consider becoming my patron or follower. Thank you for reading and supporting me. I hope you will enjoy my work and more will come in time.