Secrets and Things (MxM)

Chapter 9 - Is too much pride a bad thing? (yes)

POV: Leonardo

From the beginning of the introductions, my eyes kept wandering to the employee in the 7th seat. Why? Because I had no idea what he looked like. Why? Because for some odd reason, he kept up the MegCorp information put up to his face and had not let it down ever since. He got a couple of odd looks from the occupants of the seats but they easily ignored it after a while. But for some reason, I couldn't let my eyes off him. Something felt... familiar about him and I had no clue why or what. I hadn't exactly pressured him to put the paper down since eventually he had to do so during his turn. So when it was his turn, I was surprised to see he was still reluctant to get up and introduce himself. Is he that timid? I'm sure our interviewers only accepted people who could actually talk to people. A friendly reminder from Matt got the mysterious guy to release a sigh of... surrender? Just what battle did he fight before coming here? Finally, he put his paper down but kept his head down.

He stayed like that for a second before his head snapped towards Matthew to see the guy give the meanest glare possible. It was at this moment that I understood why the wanker was blocking his head the entire time. It was the bloody guy from yesterday... at the bar. I noticed my eyes widen in pleasant surprise, mouth once again agape (I've been keeping my mouth open lately... concerning) and I felt the pen that was being used as a fidget toy slip out of my hand, creating a relatively loud clank on the table in the dead silent room. I hadn't actually noticed (even though I was blatantly staring) that the closed-eyes employee had finally faced me so when he heard the pen drop, he took it as a cue to unbolt his reluctant eyes and at all long last, make eye contact. (A/N CUE DESCRIPTION MONTAGE... except with words and not photos...)

The man looked to be in his early twenties and the most defining feature was his pale skin that seemed to be consistent everywhere. This helped his already jet-black hair look Vantablack (it's styled quite nicely as well if I must say so myself). He had a lean, fit figure that made the cheap suit look pretty good on him as it hugged him in ALL the right places. Wait what? Something caught my eyes on the left of his neck (his right), popping out of his shirt's collar. It seems to be a Band-Aid and by the looks of it, a pretty large one. I wonder what happened there... Now if we moved on to the face, the first thing you'd look at was his Harry Potter glasses (I will refuse to call them anything else) that seemed to suit his face shape really well. 

The glasses were coupled with a pair ordinary looking really dark brown eyes (close to black really). They were only ordinary at first glance, however, if you look well enough, you'd find his eyes to be tinged with a red undertone, giving him a bit of an evil and mysterious gaze by default. In its own way, it was quite enchanting and captivating. Quite extraordinary indeed. Speaking of red, his lips seemed to be naturally tinged with light pink which stood out even more against his pale skin. (Wait... in the right corner of his bottom lip... is that a tiny hole? Does he have a lip piercing? I won't lie... that's kind of scorching. I really want to see it now. Should I change the rules so piercings are allowed at work?) Speaking of standing out against white, the newbie's lightly speckled freckles located on his cheeks were brought out in full bloom and it made him look cute. I wonder if those freckles disappear when he blushes red. I want to find out. I bet it'd be adorable... wait why do I think it's adorable? In conclusion, although I was a straight man (well lately I've been questioning that fact myself), the man in the 7th seat from the left was breathtaking and I couldn't help but be a little addicted his everything.

Which brought us back to the present, where there was a staring competition happening between me and Mr. Bar-guy. Well would you look at who fate had dragged in through my doors. I think that friend of his said his name. Neo? Nemo? I know my face subconsciously had settled with a very (obvious) smug smirk and equally fascinated eyes but it definitely looked more condescending than intrigue. I felt the rest of the working party staring at me and the... interaction between us. The long-time employees were staring most likely because I haven't been this complacent in work before (I think Matthew was trying to hold back I laugh. He knows something.) whereas the new employees/interns were looking with confusion (Leah on the other hand looks irritated at Nemo. Did the young man also tell her to get off her high horse?). Regardless, the man in the 7th seat from the left seemed to give no bother with all of the other looks and instead was watching me with an openly annoyed gaze and a hint of embarrassment (his ears were red again).