After lunch, the two traveled back to Seven's apartment. The sun had gone down and the wind had gotten cooler. Nicolas sat on the couch and Seven strolled towards him with two coffee mugs in his hands.
"You have a lot of silent films on your recommended," Nicolas noted, going through the streaming service on Seven's television screen. The assistant sat down, setting the two coffees on the table, "I don't have time to start a new series and I'm usually too busy to pay attention to dialogue since I'm working at home."
Nick scoffed, keeping his eyes on the screen, his shoulders holding his weight on his knees, "Come on, I know I don't give you that much work, Seven."
"Well, no, but I do like to be organized and make sure I do every assignment you give me correctly." Seven crossed his legs on the couch, grabbed a pillow, and set it on his abdomen. He watched the CEO go through the films, noticing now the lack of variety.
"Do you like silent films or are they just background noise for you?" Nicolas asked.
"Usually they're background noise. I don't always finish them anyways," Seven leaned in a bit, grabbing his warm coffee, "Though, there is this one film that I liked called Luna-ticks."
Nicolas gazed at the screen, hearing Seven.
"It's the only silent film that I actually gave attention to. A psychological horror about a girl named Luna who... I think suffered from multiple personalities." Seven tapped on the mug he held, seeing Nicolas go to the search bar and typing in the title of the film, "Anyways, she's kind of portrayed as this perfect, rich actress, but behind the scenes... well more like her at home, she's like this criminal. She keeps body parts in her basement and kills men that she lures. It's really quite gory, but... well, I can't say much if we're going to watch it."
Nicolas scoffed, already hovering over the film title, "Do you want to watch it? I don't mind. It sounds interesting."
The assistant nodded, seeing the opening sequence of the film. Nicolas set the remote on the table, leaning back and getting himself comfortable.
The two sat next to each other quietly for the first part of the film, and it was only a matter of time before Seven started ranting about the plot of the film.
"Okay, so even though I've watched this film like four times, I still never understood this scene... Like, why does she not kill that guy? She's killed every other character she came across, but she literally slept with Micah and let him go." Seven ranted, tilting his head slightly, seeing the characters interact.
Nicolas narrowed his eyes at the screen, "Maybe she loves him?"
"I don't think so. He doesn't even come back on the set after this scene, believes it or not. He just disappears." Seven added. Nicolas hummed softly, seeing the text cut-ins appear on the screen, "Maybe it's the director's way of saying she's slowly gaining her sanity? Does she kill anyone else after him?"
Seven raised an eyebrow, leaning forward and then turning to Nick with a surprised expression, "Wait, you might be right. She doesn't kill anyone after that guy, but that means something triggered her sanity. I mean, if Micah was so important, wouldn't they add him in more scenes?" Seven continued.
Nicolas smiled softly, seeing the sheer happiness on the assistant's face. His face warmed as his eyes wandered on the male's exhausted face.
Seven snapped his fingers and then grinned, "We probably missed something important that probably triggered her sanity to come back! We should skip back a few minutes, maybe we'll catch it!" He hurried to the remote, grabbing it from the table, but quickly stopped himself, "Eh- if you don't mind, of course..." Seven stared down at the remote, waiting for Nick to answer.
Though, after a few seconds of silence, the assistant turned his head to the CEO, seeing his azure-colored eyes staring back at him with a soft smile. The assistant swallowed harshly, tilting his head, "Nick?" he softly called out, breaking his gaze.
Nicolas cleared his throat, turning away from him, "Huh? Oh, sorry... lost in thought. Go ahead if you want to rewind it."
Seven nodded, turning back to the remote that he grasped in his hands, caressing the rewind button. He pressed his lips together, his stomach turning at the thought of Nicolas daydreaming about him. He inhaled, looking up at the screen and rewinding the film.
...
The two spent the rest of the night watching the film silently. Seven was the first to fall asleep and Nicolas had finished the film before realizing Seven was fast asleep, lying down on the couch with his head beside the CEO.
Nick stared at him for a while, cupping the assistants freckled and cold cheek, his thumb stroking the little dots on his cheekbones. Nick's stomach flipped, seeing the relaxed PA beside him. He thought for a while about the moment he was in. If he had woken up before Seven the morning after the donation party, he could have seen the same peaceful face that he's witnessing now. His heart hammered at his chest, dropping his hands away from the cheek of his assistants, let out a faint sigh, fell back onto the couch, and glanced up at the ceiling.
He thought for a second about what he should do now. Thinking about the marriage that was going to occur in two days frightened him. He felt ill even thinking of marrying someone he didn't admire as much as he did Seven.
...
Sunday morning came and Seven felt his body warm underneath a blanket, and his head on a pillow. He groaned tiredly, stretching his legs before opening his eyes, and hearing the birds chirping outside his window. He opened his eyes slowly, glancing at the ceiling of his bedroom being shined by the sunlight beaming outside his bedroom window.
Seven turned to his shoulder, not wanting to be bothered by the light in the room. Turning around he noticed a post-it note hanging on his wall. He squinted, hoping he wouldn't have to get up to read it, but unfortunately, with his tired eyes, it was nothing but a blur. He sat up, dragging himself out of bed, and walked slowly toward the piece of paper:
I'm going to a meeting this morning. Take the day off today and tomorrow to read a book or watch a new series :) Oh, by the way, it was an amazing film. Go to 1:24:03. That's the scene where the girl found her sanity. - Nick
Seven scoffed softly, grabbing the post-it note and his phone that was set on the counter beside his bed. He went down the stairs, his feet making thud sounds with every rushed step he took. His eyes were still heavy, but his heart raced, wanting to see what Nick saw at the timestamp that he wrote. The assistant grabbed the remote, hurrying to the streaming service and to the film that the two watched last night. Skipping through the scenes felt like ages, seeing how long the film was. He stopped at 1:24:03, focused on everything that was set in front of him.
His eyes widened at the scene, wondering how he could miss something so important. How the actress regained her sanity was when she was confronted by her director that has given her roles ever since she was little. He had asked her if she was well and if she needed a break to ask for it.
It was a casual conversation, Seven couldn't have picked up on its importance. The scene itself was supposed to showcase how Luna was never asked if she was well... and the second that she was asked about her wellbeing, her entire mindset shifts, and she goes down a path of sanity and turns herself into the police at the end of the film. Watching it now, Seven didn't see much psychological horror, but rather a normal murder film with the main character being unreliable.
And he thought about it.
Having someone ask about your well-being is one thing, but Luna had the choice to keep her sanity in the drain or get it out and find salvation.
All she needed was a little push to allow her to realize who she was and what she needed to do.
This thought flowed in the assistant's head for a while, pausing the film and grabbing his phone from the pocket of his sweatpants. His fingers hovered the number keypad, typing in Joseph Anderson's number.
Serene Ochoa: Morning, Mr. Anderson. I would like to set up an important meeting tomorrow. It's urgent.
YOU ARE READING
Personal Assistant (MXM - EDITING )
Romance"Hello. My name is Serene Ochoa. I want to try out for the position of your assistant. I earned my Masters's degree in literature and-" "Did you read the requirements needed to become my assistant, Ms. Serene?" Nicolas interrupted. Serene cleared hi...
