The Boss & The Assistant - Rewritten Edition of "The Boss"

Chapter 35 - Emerson

On Monday, following the Friday I had my little photoshoot with Lafayette, I arrived early to the office. He took a long time to reply to my text over the weekend. On Friday, I had never seen him like that before. He almost seemed scared. His expressions were well hidden, but I could see the fear or worry in his eyes. It was heartbreaking. I started to worry myself. What if he was going to fall down a dark spiral and resort to his old habits? Was this my fault?

However, Lafayette walked in wearing his workout gear and carrying a yoga mat. This was a good sign. Before he even shut the door I bounded over to him, probably invading his space a little too much based on him jerking his head back in surprise when he turned. "Are you okay? Do you need anything? Are you okay?" I asked.

Thankfully, he smiled. He gently put his hand on my arm. "Yeah, I'm alright," he said. "I just need to go and change. Have you eaten breakfast?" He walked past me to his office, but when he heard that I wasn't following, he turned back to look at me. "Are you okay?"

"I just got a little worried," I said. "I'm sorry if I upset you Friday."

He sighed, his shoulders sinking. "Come here," he said, his fingers beckoning.

I stepped up to him, trying not to frown but I couldn't help it. My frown disappeared when he put his hand on my cheek and looked at me in the eyes.

"You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for," he said, softly. "I'm sorry for worrying you, but I'm fine. Just a rough weekend, but that's okay, you know? Not everyday can be a perfect day, right?"

"I guess you're right," I said.

He brushed his thumb along the apple of my cheek. When he started to pull it away, I grabbed it. I didn't plan to, but I needed to. I just wanted his comfort and to comfort him. To my surprise, he didn't pull his hand away. I grabbed it with both hands, lifting it up and looking at his fingers. "You need hand cream," I said. "And to have your cuticles cleaned up."

He laughed, making me feel better. "Sorry for having poor hand hygiene."

"I have hand cream, and a cuticle pusher. I can give you a manicure," I said, finding myself smiling.

Once again, to my surprise, he said, "Sure. That sounds nice."

He went into his office to change while I grabbed my cosmetic bag I stored in my drawer. I always had an array of beauty supplies on me. I was a drag queen, I had to. I entered his office but saw that he was in his flat with the door open. I stood in the doorway, knocking.

"Come on in," he said as he finished buttoning his shirt. Yet another surprise, he sat down on his bed and patted the spot next to him.

"Do you have a towel first? I don't want to get your nasty dry skin all over the place."

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. He pointed at the closet by the bathroom.

I grabbed a small hand towel and sat next to him on the bed, trying to not sit too close. I placed the towel on a pillow and his hand on the towel. I rummaged through my cosmetic bag and started with nail clippers, trimming his nails down into short little moons. He played Tetris (one handed, very impressive) on his phone as I trimmed away. Then I pulled out my cuticle pusher and cuticle oil. I added oil first, just as a protection in case he had sensitive cuticles. Then I pushed at his cuticles. They came off like pencil shavings.

"That feels really good," he said. "How do you know how to do this?"

"Because I'm gay," I said without skipping a beat.

He laughed. "Fair enough." He played Tetris a little longer but then turned off his phone and leaned back against his pillows. He reached into his side table and pulled out a cigarette box, but it had one blunt in it instead. He placed it between his lips and lit up. After a few puffs and blowing the smoke out of my direction, he held it out for me. I tilted my head up and wrapped my lips around the blunt. I didn't mean to look up at him while having a phallic shaped object in my mouth, but I kind of think he liked it...