Chapter 20: Why assistant?

After a day of running errands and completing tasks away from his boss, Serene had finally reached the point of exhaustion. It was an hour before midnight and Serene had guessed that his stuff was set outside of the office, but to his surprise, it was nowhere to be found. The building was empty, and only janitors were the only people walking around at such a late hour. Though, seeing that his stuff wasn't outside the office and the fact that he heard taps from inside the office, Serene could only conclude that Nicolas hasn't left the building yet.
The assistant walked in, seeing Nicolas throwing pen taps to the wall with a marker in his mouth.

"Sir," Serene called out, closing the door, "Why are you still in the office at this hour?"

Nicolas had stopped throwing the pen taps, his attention now on Ochoa, "I have some more work that my father handed me."
Seven walked towards the CEO's desk, seeing two separate piles of papers and files that were set, but a bit unorganized.

"What type of work?" Seven asked his eyes on the files. Nicolas sighed, leaning onto the desk, also staring at the files, "I have to finish looking through the credit forms of the corporations that agreed to donating and working with us."

Seven sat down on one of the chairs in front of Nicolas' desk, grabbing a file from the right pile, opening it up, "Isn't that the chairman's job? I would suspect a job dealing with credit accounts would be something he'd do since it's an important task dealing with financial-"

"Ochoa, why do you talk so formally?" he grabbed a pen tap near his hand and threw it at Serene's hand, smiling at him, "It's after work hours. You don't have to talk so proper."

Seven frowned, keeping his gaze on the file he held in his hands, though he wasn't reading it.
"Apologies. It's a habit."

Nicolas shook his head, leaning back to his chair again, "You are right though. Usually, the chairman would handle financial work concerning other businesses, but because I was absent at the party... he handed it to me as punishment."

"Oh," Serene mumbled, setting the file on the desk again slowly. A weight of guilt fell on his shoulders as he fell back on the chair.

"Don't look so guilty, Ochoa," the CEO scoffed, "Remember It's my fault and my fault alone. Go and get some rest. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

Seven gazed up at Nicolas, who closed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair. With no sunlight, the bags under Nicolas' eyes were more defined thanks to the office lighting shining on them. The assistant frowned. It was obvious to him that the CEO was exhausted in the morning, and now he has to suffer the consequences and stay up longer

"I can stay with you," Serene spoke without hesitation. Nicolas opened his eyes, his eyebrows raised as he waited for Serene to finish, "Okay?" he examined. For a moment, he didn't know why Nicolas looked so unsure until it caught up to him of the way he worded the statement.

Serene's eyes widened, shaking his head, "To finish! I can stay with you to help finish your work!"

"That sounds better." Nicolas teased, "Sounds good to me." He tossed three files in front of Seven, "Did you finish the errands?"

"Yes, sir," he mumbled, opening a file and browsed it, "It took all day, but I got them all done."

"That's good, Mr. Ochoa."

It went silent. The only thing heard in the room were the papers being flipped. The two workers read through a couple of files before one of them finally yawned. Both were drained after a while, not being able to read sentences. Nicolas' lazy trait forced him to skip paragraphs that seemed 'unimportant' while Serene's perfectionist trait forced him to restart a paragraph if he dozed off reading it.

Finally, Seven gave out. If the bags under his eyes weren't vivid before, they sure were now. He groaned lightly, leaning his forehead onto the desk and setting it down. Nicolas snickered, not glancing at him, "You can go home if you want, Ochoa."

"And leave you here with all the work?" Seven looked up, placing his chin on the pile of files, "Sounds like I'm not doing my job as your assistant."

"You already did your job. My boss gave me this order and for me only-"

Seven closed his eyes, turning his cheek on the files, breaking his stare from Nick, "Seems kind of unfair if you ask me."

"And why is that?" Nick questioned, shaking his head as he continued to scan through the files in his hand.

"Because... this work was given to you for skipping the donation party. I skipped it, too. Shouldn't I be punished as well?"

Nicolas squinted, hearing the statement come out of the assistant, "You're such a workaholic." Nick scoffed. Seven picked up his head from the files, not staring directly at Nicolas. For a moment, he didn't know what to say. For the assistant, it was more of helping his boss out than being obsessed with working.
"Do you think so?" he asked softly, his tone a bit shakey.
Nicolas' eyes rose to Seven's, now making direct eye contact with the male in front of him. Both acknowledged each other's eye bags and exhaustion on their faces. Nicolas titled his head, setting the files on the desk and crossing his arms, "No. I was kidding. I think what I meant to say was that you're very odd compared to the people I've met."

"I don't understand if that's a compliment or-"

"Of course it is!" Nicolas grinned, "Imagine it. I meet thousands of people weekly," he exaggerated, setting his right elbow on the desk and leaning his cheek onto his palm as he gazed sleepily at Seven, "And you somehow have gotten my interest."

Seven sighed, his shoulders dropping, "I don't understand how you said 'workaholic' and meant a different thing."

Nicolas didn't respond. He kept his eyes on the assistant, a smile plastered on his face.

Ochoa kept his eyes on the CEO, expecting another answer or question, but all that was given to him was a sweet stare and a soft grin. Serene didn't realize it for a moment, but his stomach had started dancing, his cheeks burning as swallowing started becoming a problem. His heart thumped inside of him, causing the assistant to press his lips together, keeping his emerald eyes on the CEOs.

"Seven," Nicolas finally spoke, "why did you become my assistant?"

Seven.

It was completely unprofessional for the boss to call their assistant by their first name... nevermind first name, but their preferred name! Nicolas had referred to his name before, but this time Serene heard it loud and clear and it fits Nicolas' deep voice perfectly.

"Seven?" Nicolas called out, making Serene clench his hands onto the files he held and blinking out of his emotional state.

"W-what?" his voice broke, almost sounding like he was about to cry.

"Why assistant?" Nicolas sighed, dropping his hand and picking up a file again, going through it, "Was it the money? The benefits and lifestyle?"

Seven rolled his eyes at the assumptions. Of course, thinking about it now, most of the people who were here at the interview were probably looking for those benefits from this job. Serene blinked a few times before answering, "When I was younger, my aunt told me something that stuck by me all my life," he chuckled lightly, "It's almost my life motto now."

Nicolas didn't share a gaze at the assistant but nodded as he heard Ochoa speak.

"I didn't understand at the time what she meant at first, but it started making sense as time passed." Serene stopped for a moment, smiling a bit, remembering the time he had spent with his aunt, "She told me that sidekicks will need heroes. For example, nurses will need doctors, teachers will need principals, a pet will need an owner, and so on."

Nicolas' eyebrows raised, hearing every word that came out from the mouth of the male. It was an interesting way to look at things. Like something off a child's tale.
"Isn't that obvious? Every little person needs someone bigger." Nicolas stated.

"Right. However, what she told me came up again around my middle school years and I asked myself 'so wouldn't heroes need sidekicks?' Wouldn't doctors need nurses to make their work easier? Wouldn't owners need pets to ease their emotional problems? And wouldn't a principal need a teacher to spread education?" Serene chuckled softly, catching Nicolas' attention. Nicolas' entire gaze was now on Seven who opened the file in his hands, continuing the answer, "My aunt wanted a different result from me. She wanted me to be the bigger man and be some kind of doctor or leader." Seven let out a loud sigh, turning the paper, "Though, I knew I wasn't meant to lead. With my anxiety, I doubt I'd get anything through if I were a CEO. But... I am smart, I'll admit that, so I wanted to help the hero out." he gazed up at Nicolas, seeing his expression completely in shock. His dark eyebrows raised and his lips parted a bit.
Seven smiled softly, "I'm not good at leading a crowd, but I am surprisingly good at advising those in charge."

Nicolas didn't respond. He was lost in Seven's green eyes and a soft smile that wrinkled the skin beneath his freckled cheeks and defined jawline. His light brown hair had strands in front of the assistant's face. The CEO's heart dropped warming his stomach like an oven.
Breathless. Weak. Warmed. Touched. This isn't how he pictured the night to go. This isn't how he felt last night or in the morning. It was a completely different feeling.
Of course, he felt something last night. Who doesn't during sex?
And of course, he felt something this morning. Who doesn't after seeing the person you slept with?
But right now...
All Seven did was explain his reasoning as to why he wanted to be an assistant. What his life motto was. What he wanted to aim for as an assistant.
It was supposed to be easy: talking with your assistant that you had slept with. He's never done it before, but Anderson hoped it'd be like any other one-night-stand. Comparable to lulling to sleep.
And it was.
In the morning it was.
But now?
Nicolas' entire view on the male sitting in front of him shifted in just a few minutes and all from what? From something he said.
What Ochoa had said, Nicolas had gotten a good understanding of the assistant's personality more than he did of the boy's body that night.
He didn't want to know this madness: the chaos in his chest and the angel on his shoulder telling him to give in and admit it. Nicolas felt something he's never felt before and it was something indescribable.
He did think Serene was attractive before, but now it's like he's never seen anything more beautiful.

"I'm not a leader. I say things, but I end up doubting myself." Serene started again, "But once I hear the first idea from the hero, I know how to defend that statement."

Nicolas' eyes flickered shut, looking away from his assistant. His body warmed for a long minute, not wanting to stare at Serene anymore.

It pained Nicolas, physically and emotionally, "That's good for you, Ochoa." he managed to cough up, still avoiding eye contact.

"Are you okay, Mr.Anderson?"

"Yes, fine. Are you almost done with your files?" Nicolas responded, standing up from his seat quickly. Distress rushed through his head, his eyes playing tricks on him, seeing the scene around him move around. Nicolas closed his eyes, shaking his head a bit.

"Yes, I did finish the files-"

"Then you better be off, Ochoa. I want my coffee early in the morning tomorrow." Nicolas demanded, sitting back down on his chair, snatching the files away from Serene's hand.

Nicolas directed his eyes with the pile of files, seeing Serene stand up lazily, "Yes, Mr. Anderson."

Watching Serene exit the room, holding his belongings, Nicolas' body softened, throwing the files onto the table. He threw his head onto the table, hurting his forehead. Not only was the naked image of Serene in his mind... but the idea of being with him made his heart race. On a date, on the bed, in the theatre... just listening to the assistant's soft voice and ideology of life. It was interesting to the CEO and it completely made his body feel warm all over.
How does this even happen?
Nicolas had never met someone who wanted to be a sidekick to a hero. Even so, remembering how Seven stepped in for him when the chairman was yelling at him, it all made sense now. He'd only step in if the hero was in trouble.
Before, Nicolas was only attracted to the assistant's figure, but now he's never wanted to listen to someone talk all day than he did now with Seven.

*Interesting. *