Personal Assistant (MXM - EDITING )

Chapter 24: A rejection

Marcel left the room and Nicolas let out a quick exhale closing his eyes the moment the doors closed. His shoulders dropped as he threw his head back. The room went silent for a few minutes before Nicolas finally brought his head forward and gawked at Seven who had his back to the CEO.

"Hey," he called out, "What the hell was all that about?"

Seven didn't turn around, but he responded in a flat tone, "You spoke for me."

"Ahh- don't be so dramatic, yeah? I didn't want Marcel to think I've grown soft on you." Nicolas corrected, turning around to set his bottle of water on the desk. Seven looked up from the floor, now staring at the bland wall, "Grown soft?" he asked, turning around now, "Why would he think that?"

Nicolas' hands were set flat on the desk, staring down at the files, "I called you Serene when you went to get me a water. I don't- I've never referred to any of my co-workers by their first names. To add to it, Marcel was really trying to interrogate both of us so he can see how close our relationship was."

"How close our relationship was? I- I'm not following, Mr. Anderson. We're not really that close." Seven squinted, shaking his head lightly. Nicolas scoffed, looking up from his desk and turning around, "No? Not even after getting in bed with me?"

"Were you afraid Marcel will find out? I hardly think your friend would jump to that conclusion. If anything, I think he'd probably think we were friends if you had just let me talk."

Nicolas crossed his arms, nodding, "Well, yes. Though, I was panicked that you'd say something on accident about that night."

"To be frank, Nicolas... what happened that night didn't... it wasn't anything."

The comment broke Nicolas. His smile faded, his lips parting. Pressure grew on his chest and his shoulders felt stiff as if someone had just thrown a weight on his shoulders.

"What happened that night was nothing but an 'in-the-moment' action. Both of us weren't drunk, but I hardly believe you grew any sort of attraction towards me because of it." Seven huffed, putting his hands behind his back, "Even then, I wasn't going to say anything about your little marriage plans until you spoke for me and said I didn't have anything to say." He turned his back to the CEO who stood still, "I told you how I had a life motto that reflected on my lack of leadership. I lacked leadership because I was made fun of a lot at school. Most of the 'making fun' came from people who didn't bother to listen to me. You must understand that when you stated that I had nothing to say made me quite annoyed. I had to talk back to you."

Nicolas' grew lightheaded. Though, hearing it now, he understood why Seven made a big deal about it out of the blue. Even then, the only thing on his mind was the fact that Seven felt nothing about the night of the donation party.

"On that note, I don't think it'd matter if Marcel found out about what happened that night. It's not like it meant anything anyway."

And a bullet shot through Nick's chest, aching. He huffed, letting out a soft blow like a punch to his airway. Nicolas nodded again, chewing his lower lip.

"Why did you get so embarrassed when I got close to you and whispered if you'd like to get involved in my personal life?"

Seven chuckled, taking a seat on the couch, staring at the screen now, "Seriously? What other reaction did you expect? It was a really embarrassing way to shut me up, let me tell you."

Nicolas leaned against his desk, staring at his assistant who moved the mouse on the coffee table, "Oh, so you knew why I did it then?"

Seven stared up at Nicolas who raised an eyebrow, though the frown on his lips caught Seven's attention, "At first, no. It was embarrassing, though. When I came back to the computer, I thought about it, and man-" he smiled at Nick, tilting his head, "You're an asshole, I hope you know that."

Nicolas laughed at the remark, putting his hands in the air as if he were being held at gunpoint, "Listen! I didn't know what I said affected you so much, so my fault. But you did speak out of turn and I concluded that there was no way to keep you away from the situation. You wouldn't shut up even if I told you to go back to work. I had to do it one way or another before you said something that could probably get Marcel to start thinking."

Seven rolled his eyes, staring back down at his laptop screen, leaning in as he moved the mouse. Nicolas' smile quickly faded the moment the PA stopped looking at him. He turned around again, grabbing his water bottle and motioning it circularly. His back was to his assistant and his eyes were focused on a black pen near the edge of his desk. It was as if he were analyzing its components, but really... Nicolas was trying to figure out why he felt so bothered by what Seven said. He didn't know what he expected from Ochoa, but it definitely wasn't a comment that felt like a flat-out rejection. His throat stiffened, making it hard for him to gulp down any sort of acknowledgment of his emotions.

In reality, Nicolas has never really felt in love with anyone. Maybe a few girls back in high school, but that's a faded memory. Nicolas was so used to working so hard, he had forgotten what it felt like to be in love with someone. Not to mention, he's never felt so invested in a guy before. He would tease men and women the same, but only really went to bed with women. The night of the donation party was just an 'in-the-moment' thing, but it felt more to him. It felt like he had given everything to the PA. Remembering how vulnerable, sweaty, cute, and intense Serene looked during that night - it most definitely wasn't the alcohol, but Nicolas didn't know what else it was. After that, Nick could only conclude that Seven was someone interesting... if anything, he had completely ignored the fact that he wanted to get closer to him after that night. He was confused.

His heart thumped against his chest, his hands were sweaty and his stomach turned. Like a high school crush all over again.

"You said you were free tonight, right?" Nicolas asked, his back still to Seven.

"Of course."

Nicolas eventually was able to swallow down his confusion and nod to himself as he gripped the bottle of water in his hands, "Good. I'm going to take you out to eat tonight."

"Eat?" Seven looked up from the screen, furrowing his eyebrows, "Special occasion?"

"Well, we never really celebrated your first time inviting WebBaze, did we?" Nicolas smiled, turning around and eyeing Seven who tilted his head.

"Is that really a good thing to be celebrating after everything?" Seven chuckled awkwardly.

Nicolas shrugged, "I think it is, Ochoa." Nicolas kept his grin on Seven, seeing his freckled cheeks and defined cheekbones that made him look like a beautiful sculpture, "Get to work on emailing your favorite company, yeah?"