All the Aches in the World

Chapter 11 : To Be the CEO

Elliot tried not to be obvious in his grip against the car door, his seatbelt across his chest, as Hunter was white knuckle driving through the morning traffic in the city. He kept seeing his eyes flit to the dashboard and the clock there, then down to his wrist for the time there, then back up to the road in front of them every few minutes. It was nearing late morning by now, and both of them were incredibly late for their days, considering everything. Elliot, though, is always known for being late, and nobody would bat an eye at such. But Hunter? He feared the vein popping in his temple was not going to end well.

His fingers flexed on the door handle, breathing deeply as his eyes stuck to the road. Hunter looked down at his watch.

Elliot assumed they'd be driving all the way to the Morningstar building, and they'd go to any meetings Hunter had together. Honestly, he didn't know what today was supposed to look like. He had no idea how a fake marriage between two CEOs was supposed to go. He had no idea of anything.

Was he supposed to have meetings set up with his assistant, with the board members, with a journalist? Was he supposed to make an announcement to the company? Did he have to prepare everyone for what was to come?

His fingers tapped and gripped against the door handle in rapid succession, leg bouncing in his seat.

"Hunter–"

They suddenly stopped, gentler than Elliot would think based on their drive through the city. But Hunter was parking, and turning dark eyes to the brunet.

"We haven't prepared much for today, I apologize for that," he was suddenly saying, arm reaching to rest against Elliot's headrest. The brunet stiffened in his seat. "But you're gonna go in there, and act like everything is fine. You're gonna set up meetings with whatever people you need to, and we'll figure things out later."

Elliot's lips parted, mind swirling, and suddenly getting very hot the closer Hunter got. "Hunter..."

"Now," his voice lowered, and he was just inches away. Elliot could see the beginnings of scruff appear along his jaw, something he had never seen on Hunter before. And the bare touch of freckles on his cheekbones. His heart throbbed in his chest. "I know this is going to be a lot today. Any unwanted questions or comments, ignore them, like you do. Don't get mad now, but there are people watching. Don't look!" Hunter hissed before Elliot could instinctively turn. But Hunter had grown so close that Elliot could now count those soft freckles, the individual eyelashes. Warm fingers brushed against the side of his neck, right beneath his ear. And Hunter was leaning forward, warm breath fanning over Elliot's ear as he whispered, "The facade starts now."

Elliot couldn't breathe. He could barely move. His finger twitched on the door handle. Eyes stuck to the curve of Hunter's ear, the blond of his hair. Hunter pulled himself away, eyes bright as they met Elliot's.

He heard a distant click and Hunter was turning away.

"You should head in now."

Elliot blinked, breath rushing into his lungs in one fell swoop. His hand tightened on the door handle and he turned. "Right. Yeah. Work." The office building loomed in front of him, disappearing behind the view of the car roof above him. This was the second time he would be in this building, in his mother's office, as the new CEO. There were a billion things he still had no idea how to do, passwords he didn't know, rules and colleagues he hadn't encountered yet. He hadn't even fully met the team that worked right beneath him. There was so much stuff still left to do, and on top of that, Elliot not only had to learn to navigate a world without his mother, but also start a life as his most renowned rival's fiancé. And act as if everything in the entire world wasn't on the brink of collapsing down around him.