Chapter 35: Confession pt.i

Marcel had left before Nick could respond. He closed his eyes, alone, with the silence in the office. He was disappointed that Seven had told Marcel, but at the same time, it felt like a weight lifted off of his shoulders.

When Marcel spoke about the 'Nessa situation, it caught Nick by surprise. He had honestly forgotten about it. Nicolas couldn't even piece the puzzle together as to how it connected to the situation now.

In Junior year, Vanessa had taken Nick to the side to tell him that her father didn't want her dating him. At the time, Nicolas didn't know why she listened to her father. He didn't understand why she was so quick to decide to drop Nick.

The excuse that her parents didn't like Nick was getting dry by the time he and Vanessa separated. He ended up paranoid, going to Marcel's house and rant about it to him.

After that, Nicolas dated more people, but he was still bothered by Vanessa. Despite dating girls, he would eye her in the hallway. The urge to speak to her again was strong, and it bothered him throughout high school.

Marcel knew this. He knew that Nicolas attempted to speak to her, but it was just awkward. It was like when he tried to communicate with her, the distance between them grew. Whether it was from arguments or the sudden change of comfort between them, the distance grew.

When Marcel connected that experience to what's happening now, Nicolas shrugged it off.

Of course, the situation with Vanessa was different. It was high school. Nicolas didn't even try to connect it to the situation now. Vanessa had the option to leave.

Nicolas believed that Seven didn't.

Everything that Seven has done and said has got him to this point. Even if Nicolas married Victoria, Seven wouldn't dare leave as his assistant.

At the least, that's what Nicolas believed.

Why would someone who tried hard to get to where he is now, give it all up due to a comfort problem?

Right.

Seven.

Nicolas took out his phone, pressing on his assistant's contact.

**Nicolas**: Tomorrow is the meeting with WebBaze. Take the morning off tomorrow. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 6 pm.

...

Time flew by the next day. When Nicolas picked up his assistant, nothing was said. Seven avoided eye contact with his boss, not wanting to get scolded for telling Marcel about what had happened. Nicolas didn't even bother bringing it up. This meeting was too important to risk making his assistant uneasy.

It was 7 pm, and the two were suited up for the charity event that WebBaze hosted at an audio conference center. The moonlight complimented how well the building was structured, bushes sat against the fence, and sprinklers positioned in the middle on the fresh, green lawn.

"Is this the place?" Nicolas asked, looking out of the Corvette.

Seven nodded, rubbing his hands together, "The CEO told me that the charity presentation finished at 5."

"They didn't want us to donate?" Nicolas asked, getting out of the vehicle. The assistant followed Nicolas, getting out of the car and staring at the building, feeling tense, "She just wanted to meet with us at the afterparty."

Nick stepped on the concrete, standing next to his assistant. He eyed him, seeing the freckles on his cheeks becoming visible under the shine of the moon. Staring at him, the CEO felt his shoulders dropped, remembering what Marcel had said about acting on keeping Seven with him. He cleared his throat, shaking the thought, standing firmly on the idea that Seven will never leave the job.

The assistant sighed, turning to Nick, "Should we head in now, Mr. Anderson?"

Nicolas blinked, breaking his gaze to his assistant, nodding.

The two approached the glass door. Nick opened the door to the building, stepping inside. Small groups of people waited outside the many rooms in the hallway.

"Message the CEO," Nicolas ordered, fixing his tie, "Ask them what room they're in."

Seven nodded, grabbing his phone, "Yea, Sir."

The two walked down the hallway, looking at the paintings that hung on the maroon wallpaper. People chatted outside the dark brown doors, some dressed formally, and others dressed casually.

The two walked before Seven's phone vibrated.

"They're in room A4, Mr. Anderson."

Nicolas put his hands to his back, leading Seven down the hallway, "You nervous?" he asked.

"For the meeting?" He smiled slightly, running his fingers on the phone screen, "Not really. I'm quite excited to finally meet the CEO I've been messaging these past days."

Nicolas let out a slight chuckle, passing rooms that were under the B category.

"By the way, Sir. How did catching up with Mr. Adams go?" Seven asked, his voice soft. He was hesitating on asking the question, but it bothered him like a fly in his head.

"Cocky to ask something like that after outing me to my best friend," Nicolas teased. He sighed, "We got in an argument. Nothing out of the ordinary."

Seven frowned at the response, putting his phone inside the pockets of his blazer.

Nicolas's eyebrows raised, turning to Seven, "Oh, I almost forgot. Victoria's father rescheduled the wedding to next Tuesday."

And at the news, Seven's heart dropped. His stomach turned like someone had punched him. He eyed the grey carpet that the two walked on, dazed out - blocking everything around him as his brain processed what was said to him. Though, before he could say anything else, he saw that Nicolas had stopped walking, turning to a door.

"Here we are," the CEO called out, smiling. He opened the wooden door that had the sign 'A4'.

The two entered the room, and the volume of the chatter increased. Nicolas gazed around, seeing ten chairs sitting around a large, round table. Pulled down was a projection screen in-between two flat-screen TVs.

A blonde woman walked up to them, her light blue eyes reflecting the light above them. A smile appeared as she crossed her arms, "Well, glad to see you two here."

Nicolas raised an eyebrow, "Are we late?" he smiled, putting out his hand. The lady slightly laughed, shaking her head, "Of course not." She let out her hand to Nick, shaking it, "I'm Sandra Venn. I'm the Chairman of WebBaze." She turned to Serene, who kept his eyes on the floor, "Seven, right?"

Seven looked up at her, seeing her hand put out to him. He couldn't swallow. A lump grew on his throat, the words of the marriage reschedule playing in his head. His breathing shortened, and it wasn't until Nicolas said his name when Seven held his hand up to her, "Yes. I'm Seven Ochoa."

She smiled, shaking his hand, "My CEO has forwarded me your messages once you contacted us again. May I say that you have an interesting way of conveying your proposals to us."

Seven smiled slightly, nodding, "Th-thank you," he choked up.

Nicolas sighed, eyeing the chairman, "Sorry about not seeing you at our donation party. I had other events going on."

Sandra chuckled, shaking her head, "So it seemed. You should praise your assistant. If anything, he was the one that convinced me to meet up with your company again."

Nicolas smiled softly, putting his hands behind his back again, "May we discuss business, then?"

Sandra's eyebrows raised, staring at the assistant who's smile faded, "So quick to get on track, are we? You have somewhere better to be?" she laughed slightly.

"No, ma'am. I just-"

"I'm joking around, Mr. Anderson." She sighed, crossing her arms, wrinkling her black line dress, "Let's start with quick personal questions before we get into deals."

Seven gazed at the woman who kept her eyes on him. Though, he blocked everything out. His heart still ached, and his throat swelled as if he wanted to throw up. The floor moved beneath him even though he stood firmly with his hands behind his back. He couldn't even focus. The fact that the marriage was moved to next week peeved him. It bothered him. When his friends said that Nick might have an attraction towards him, it brought his hopes up. It brought a clear idea to his mind that he might be able to talk Nick out of something that he didn't want to do. Though, being told that Nicolas was one step ahead of him, his entire reality broke down in front of him. Like he had lost something that was at the tip of his fingers.

"Seven," Sandra spoke, "My CEO has asked you this many times, but I've been urging to hear it clearly from you in person," She cleared her throat and tilted his head, "Do you think GamerCave is a good company to work with?"

Seven nodded.

"Do you think Joseph Anderson is a good chairman?"

Seven nodded.

Sandra raised an eyebrow, not hearing his voice, "Do you think Nicolas Anderson is a good CEO?"

Seven nodded.

His eyes weren't even on the chairman in front of him. He was dazed out. Staring at the ground like he were in his world.

"Do you think I'm making a good decision as to working with the GamerCave company? WebBaze is an open-minded organization with goals to please customers and partners. I've met with Joseph in the past years, and I fear he and I have different goals when it comes to running a business," she narrowed her eyes at him, seeing him still dazed out, "What do you think?"

Seven nodded.

It was at this moment that Sandra stood firmly, smiling, "You're nodding excessively, especially to a free-response question. Have you lost interest in the conversation?"

Nicolas turned to Seven quickly, seeing his assistant's attention shift gears, "W-what? No, ma'am. Not at all-"

The CEO gripped Seven's arm tightly, making Serene groan at the sudden pressure on his arm, "Excuse my assistant. His cousin had just passed away. Give us a moment."

Before Sandra could respond, Nicolas opened the door, shoving Serene out of the room. The assistant backed up against the wall, his eyes widened at what had just happened, rubbing his arm that Nicolas gripped.

Nicolas closed the door and looked at him, "Okay, I understand you have an anxiety issue, but seriously? I can't babysit you every time we're at a meeting, Ochoa!"

Seven felt his throat stiffen, slowly feeling the pain on his arms fade. He kept his eyes down at the floor, hearing Nicolas scold him.

"Look at me!" He softly shouted, stepping towards him, trying not to cause attention towards them, "The first meeting was fucked up, are you really willing to mess up this one as well?"

Sevens eyebrows furrowed, hearing the 'as well' being said. His breathing slowed, the sense of blame thrown at him.

*Was he blaming me?*

"Nicolas," he softly said.

"Mr. Anderson," he corrected.

Seven formed his hands into a fist, looking at the CEO, "You slept with me that night!" Seven glared at him, disbelief at the sudden contradiction from his boss, "I- I didn't initiate it. You told me I didn't," his breathing started becoming heavy with every word he said, "You slept with me. You kissed me..."

Nicolas tilted his head, looking down the hallway, making sure the two weren't causing a scene, "Alright, stop. You're going to have another attack-" he stepped towards him, but Seven shoved him away.

"Mr. Anderson... are you really..." he stared at the CEO's eyes, seeing the confusion in them, "Are you really going to go through with the wedding?"

Nicolas dropped his shoulders, stepping back at the comment. He pulled his head back, seeing the beige ceiling, feeling the tension build up inside of him, "Are you really thinking about that now?"

No response was given to him. For a while. Nicolas thought that Seven had stopped being dramatic until he heard his voice crack at his next sentence.

"At first, I didn't think you sleeping with me meant anything," he softly spoke. Nicolas looked back down at him, seeing the teary-eyed assistant, "I really came into this job wanting to help you out with anything and everything... When we slept with each other, I didn't think much about it because I honestly thought you slept with anyone near you." A tear rolled down his pale, freckled cheeks, eyeing the ground, "But then you kissed me again... and again... and then you continued to make me feel like I was some kind of special person to..." he sniffled, hiccuping as he gazed up slowly at the CEO who was wide-eyed, "... to you."

Nicolas titled his head, "What are you talking about?" he asked. The CEO let out a soft sigh, "Ochoa, is this really the right place to be talking about this? You're being unprofessional-"

"And you leading me on wasn't?" he shouted, causing Nicolas to step back at the sudden outburst.

Seven's hands wiped his cheeks, causing his face to go pink, "You... made me believe that you were attracted to me... and I..."

"Seven..."

"And I grew attracted to you." he softly coughed up.

Nicolas's eyes widened at the comment. His heart stopped, feeling his head go light. His lips parted, wanting to say something, but his mind couldn't make out words now.

"You-" the CEO softly responded, still not able to formulate a sentence.

"I like you, Nick," the assistant said again, "I knew I fell for you when you comforted me for the second time in the bathroom... But if you're going..." Seven's eyelids swelled up, staring sadly at the boss in front of him.

*Don't say it.*

*Please don't say it.*

Seven's lips shivered, "If you're going to ignore the fact that I like you and go along with the marriage..." he sighed, "I'm going to leave for the night."

Seven and Nick shared one last gaze before it broke. The assistant left towards the entrance, leaving Nicolas in a state of shock; surprised.