Mind Your Own Business

“As unfortunate as the circumstances are, Mr. Kern, it seems as though we no longer have any use for you at our company.” Here we go…

The man, maybe forty or fifty years old, ran a hand through his already salt and pepper dusted hair. “I see.” He said simply, his lack of anticipated malice a bit of a surprise. “Can’t say I didn’t see this coming.”

Sydney Chase, new president and CEO of Chase Advertisement stared at him, trying hard not to let the discomfort show on his face. He cleared his throat, keeping himself poised, authoritative. He’d gotten good at that over the last few years, though doing it from behind the boss’ desk was a completely different experience. “You are allowed twenty-four hours to clear out your desk. I recommend you take that time to put your things in order and solidify the new position you have waiting for you at Morris and Shaw.” The man’s eyes widened at the name of the Law firm, Sydney smiling knowingly as he got to his feet, holding his hand out in unspoken congratulations. “You’ll make a fine lawyer, Mr. Kern. We were lucky to have you as a secretary for as long as we did. If you ever require a reference, do not hesitate to contact us.”

“Thank you, sir,” The man smiled back, shaking Sydney’s hand with relieved vigor.

“It is disappointing to have to let you go so suddenly, but the knowledge of your application to the firm left us little choice.” Sydney added once he released the man’s hand. Before the man could apologize, he added, “Nonetheless, we wish you the best of luck.”

“Thank you, Mr. Chase.” The man nodded as he turned towards the door.

“You do realize, Mr. Kern,” Sydney stopped him before he could vanish completely. “That, if this occupational switch doesn’t work out, your position here will already have been re-filled.”

Mr. Kern nodded again, more to himself this time, taking a moment to look over at Sydney with a smile both confident and sad. “I understand, sir. Thank you for your time.” And then, before escaping more completely beyond the door, he added, “Your mother has left the company in good hands.”

Sydney cringed, sinking into his chair with a sigh, hand falling onto the applications for Mr. Kern’s replacement. Mother. Again. How long will it take before the “Chase” in Chase Advertisements is in response to my name and not hers?

He wasn’t foolish. He knew Verona Chase, the woman who’d built her own advertisement agency from the ground up, had only retired a little over a year ago, leaving her only son the entirety of her multi-million dollar corporation. He had a good head on his shoulders, she’d said. She trusted him, could rest easy in Fiji knowing he was behind the wheel, but in ways, it was like she’d never left. Her presence engrained in the building’s art decorated hallways, in the too kind and enthusiastic eyes of the company’s patrons and workers, no one quite sure what to think of their new, twenty five year old boss.

Sydney rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his hands until he saw stars. Get back to work, Chase. Stop letting it bother you. You’re better than that. He brushed his fingers back through his sandy colored hair, the slightly too long curls catching at his knuckles. Now, who’ve we got? He sat up, reaching for the first application on the pile. Cassidy Williams. She sounds promising. He scanned the attached resume. Good character references, a generous list of skills, commendable past experience. Very promising.

“Mr. Chase,” a voice appeared on his intercom. His mother’s secretary of nearly four decades, an older woman who’d stuck around after Verona’s retirement probably to preserve her 401K.

“Yes, Jenna?” He replied, holding the button down. The woman’s voice crackled back to life.

“Cassidy Williams is here to see you.”

“Great,” Sydney smiled to himself. If Ms. Williams was half as good as her resume claimed, maybe he’d finally be able to get some work done. “Send her in.”

As if on cue, the door opened, Sydney getting to his feet out of reflex. “I was just looking over your-” he started to say, but the words evaded him the moment he looked up at her arrival. Or rather, his arrival. Sydney grabbed at the application, still open on the desk, and scanned the information. Nowhere did it say anything about gender. He’d just assumed. Poorly. Shit…

Cassidy Williams was not a woman in her mid thirties, like Sydney had expected. Cassidy Williams wasn’t a woman at all. In fact, quite the contrary. Not only was Cassidy Williams a man of about twenty-three, a few years out of college, but he was… Holy fuck he was…

Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit…

The man was tall, taller than Sydney at least by a few inches, hair black and soft looking, not exactly short, but well maintained. He had an angular face and broad shoulders, muscles prominent even beneath the standard uniformity of the business world. And those eyes… Smokey and grey, but still bright somehow. It was too easy to get lost in those eyes.

“May I come in?” Cassidy Williams asked suddenly, a subtle amount of indifference in his tone, voice low and rich, like sensuality incarnate. It sent chills down the back of Sydney’s neck, so he swallowed them away, clearing his throat before speaking.

“Of course. Please take a seat.” He replied, thankful that his voice was steadier than he felt. Cassidy did as told, both of them settling into their chairs in awkward silence---on Sydney’s part at least---until finally, they started the interview. Or as much of one as Sydney could focus on.

“I’m sure your references will all check out.” Sydney heard himself say at one point, not quite able to pull his gaze away from those eyes. The man smirked, just barely, the motion vanishing so quickly Sydney wondered if he’d fabricated it.

“Of course,” And then, after a slight pause, he added, voice a tad lower, “Mr. Chase.” Or did Sydney just imagine that subtle rasp, the way his eyes were smiling even though his… lips… weren’t? Sydney shook his head, hardly noticing when he rose to his feet and held out his hand for the man to take, which he did at once, grip sturdy and warm.

“Job’s yours, Mr. Williams.” Sydney said, the words leaving him practically of their own accord. “I’ll expect you here tomorrow morning at nine.” He let go of Cassidy’s hand. Too Reluctantly.

“Of course,” Cassidy smiled, the look professional but still just as intoxicating. “I’ll be here. Thank you very much, sir.”

And he left, Sydney Chase practically reeling in his absence.

Not good. Not good, not good, not good.

He practically collapsed back into his chair. Probably the most gorgeous man he’d ever seen had just walked into his office for an interview. An interview to become his personal secretary. He’d barely been able to think around him… and he’d hired him. Why the fuck had he hired him? Sydney groaned, pinching at the bridge of his nose, trying to clear his head.

Shit.

-------------

Sydney Chase didn’t usually drink. But that night was a special occasion; the beginning of the loss of his own sanity. He raised the glass to his lips, the light brown liquor sloshing against his tongue, the heat of it already spreading across his cheeks. It wasn’t a big deal, hiring Cassidy Williams on as his assistant. No. It wasn’t a big deal at all. He just had to… Ignore him and stuff. That’s right. Ignore him. Except for when he would be answering his phone calls and organizing his schedule and staying late to help him plan for the following morning’s occasional meeting. Or staying late for other reasons…

“Damnit,” Sydney groaned, taking another quick swig of the deep, spicy liquid before placing the glass down on his desk probably a little too harshly. He took a breath, thankful that he was among the last few still in the building. “This is ridiculous. I’m acting like I’m still in college.” No. More like still in high school. He frowned into his glass, watching the drink ripple with every slight twitch of his hand. Absently, he dipped a finger into the whiskey and traced the rim until a high pitch tone began to vibrate around his touch, the sound too loud against the silence of his office. But hypnotizing. Enough to let his mind wander.

He could handle Cassidy Williams being around the office, couldn’t he? He was just another person. A very good looking person, but a person nonetheless. Sydney nodded as though in his own defense. He didn’t know Cassidy from Adam. What did it matter that he was by far, without a doubt, the most attractive creature Sydney had ever seen? “Yeah,” he mumbled under his breath, the tone still ringing uninterrupted from his glass. It’s not like being around him would make him unable to function or anything! He just needed to get used to him, that’s all. And he would. He had to. It didn’t matter that his eyes were smoldering and paralyzing and that his body screamed sex god no matter how he moved. Sitting, standing, walking. Breathing. It didn’t matter that just looking at him was enough to make Sydney’s mind race with fantasies. Like pushing him against a wall, kissing up his neck to those indifferent, delicious looking lips. Like letting him suck his dick underneath the desk during an otherwise uneventful board meeting. Or---he blushed guiltily at the though---like having Cassidy bend him over his desk and fuck his brains out… on a night much like this one. Everyone gone, the room empty and quiet aside from the sounds of their-

A groan ripped Sydney from his musings, his finger stopping at the edge of the glass. It took him a second to realize the noise had escaped his own lips, his chest tight, breath leaving him in embarrassingly shaky exhales. Erection swelling uncomfortably in his suit pants. He bit his lip, one hand tightening on his glass while the other traveled down his leg, twitching when it came into contact with the over-sensitive bulge. The whimper that got caught in his throat made him flush. Then it made him angry. Why was he even doing this? He was better than this! He was. Really… Yet he still found himself unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants, hand disappearing beneath the waistband of his boxers.

As his hand wrapped tightly around his own length, he closed his eyes, unable to stray from the image of Cassidy looming over him, bucking against him. All of a sudden, it was Cassidy’s hand on his cock, working the throbbing flesh in a desperate rhythm that made Sydney moan deep in his throat, his head falling back against his chair. “F-Fuck…” he hissed, speeding up his hand, that smirk he must have imagined flashing behind his eyelids. W-What am I doing? “Nngh,” He jerked against his hand, the fantasies and whiskey and self hatred suddenly too much, Sydney tensing as he came, refusing to let his new secretary’s name leave his lips. No matter how natural it felt.

Once the glow of his orgasm subsided, Sydney sat up, zipping up his pants and running his non-come-sticky hand over his face. “Pathetic,” he mumbled as he downed the last of the amber colored liquor and tossed the glass back into the top drawer of his desk. He would make this work somehow. Surely, that had gotten it out of his system. It had to. Tomorrow morning when Cassidy Williams took his place at the desk out in front of his office, Sydney would pretend like this had never happened. No one would be the wiser. And no matter how much he wanted it---something he refused to admit aloud---nothing would ever come of this idiotic infatuation.

Repeating those words like a mantra, Sydney gathered his things and headed out, trying desperately to ignore the mess in his pants and believe himself.