Beyond The Night (MxM)

Alex (1)

Chapter 6: Alex (1)

Ever since he was young he would always do his best in everything he does. Never giving up no matter what obsticles he would face. However now that he has to stand infront of so many high position people and give a presentation Alex wasn't feeling too well. In fact he was feeling so nevous that people would probably notice as soon as they see him. He was in the men's bathroom to wash his face and stare at the mirror dramatically to calm his nerves.

"It's a huge opportunity for me to do this... why am I so nervous?" he said quietly to himself, then heard a voice from behind him speak "You are nervous exactly because it's important." Vincent was standing behind Alex with crossed arms. 

"I guess you're right. It's just... I don't want to screw up." Alex vented his worries, at this point there was no use in hiding.

"You didn't seem to care if you would screwed up while sucking me off that day. So why care now?" Vincent said with a grin on his face.

"That, that's!." Alex blushed "W-why are you comparing your d**k to a deal worth millions?!" he said flustered.

"It's a big deal, but what's down there is worth even more." Vincent couldn't help himself and teased the man in front of him.

"You're really narcisistic you know that?" Alex said as he finally calmed down.

"That may be true. Well then as you've calmed down, I think it's time to get going." Vincent urged him to move foward. 

"I don't really think I can do it, sir could you-" Vincent grabbed Alex's head with his right arm and pulled him in for a kiss with his left hand around the man's waist. When they finally broke off the kiss, Alex was left panting and unable to catch his breath. While Vincent was simply grinning "As I've said before, you are the most qualified person for the job. Do you doubt my discerning eyes?"

"When you say it like that it makes me wonder if you are trying to encourage me or simply complementing yourself." Alex responded finally calming down from the kiss.

"A little bit of both I guess." He responded unashamedly.

But his words did help. In itself the amount of confidence Vincent has in him reassures Alex.

"I have the worst boss ever." Alex said jockingly.

"Really? I personally think I am the best thought." Vincent responded in the same jocking manner.

They laughed it off and went into the meeting.

*

The meeting went great. Alex managed to present everything in the best possible way and also answer all the qestions concerning the project. The only issue being Aaron's persistent gaze at Alex. It really unnerved Vincent. Most people would think he was simply looking at him because of the presentation but that wasn't it, Aaron knew that this would mess with Vincent, so he did it.

But regardless of that everything was well and good. It was the only good thing that happened that day.

The rest of the day was a total disaster...

**

"Mr. Raycarlton! It's Elizabeth from accounting, she's saying that the company's funds have been used by a non authorized person." The Secretary spoke with great worry in her voice.

"Sir, there has been a security issue and-" The monitoring personel came with more bad news. 

"Sorry to disturb you Mr. Raycarlton but I have recieved e-mails from Tech.Of.Tommorow to say they'd like to cancell their contract.-" Lilian from the legal department arrived with even more bad news for the CEO's ears.

"I don't know how it happened sir!" Amanda from the Research and Development department finally came with tears in her eyes to appologize. It turns out the deal they just made with Aaron Williams is going south. "Because Mr. Williams seems to be mixed in shady business, the police are investigating him and everyone involved with company matters. I am at fault for not doing proper reasearch before we concluded the contract! Please forgive me!" She was the most disstressed of all. Her tears continued to fall down and no one could calm her down.

Vincent's ears were already ringing. He heard enough bad news to last him a decade. But it was his responsibility to make everything right. "Amanda, it's disgracefull to cry here, let's make things right okay?" He spoke calmly with no anger in his voice. "I need detailed reports on all the issues. As much information as you could possibly find in the next 24 hours. Understood everyone?" 

"Yes sir!" All of the employees gathered up in his office exited one after another. Vincent wasn't about to loose his composure over a trivial matter, but by the looks of it, this might be something bigger than what he assumed.

"I need a smoke..." He decided to go outside and indulge in a cigar. Usually he would never smoke at the company but at times like these he feels like doing it.

*As he is smoking outside, Alex unexpectedly arrives as well.

"Are there any more bad news?" Vincent said in a serious voice.

"No sir, for now at least not." Alex approached carefully, as if in front of him was a beast not his boss.

"Then are there any good news instead?" He smiles as he asks, as if it was a stupid question.

"I'm afraid not." Alex answered in a professional tone of voice.

"Can I tell you a boring story?" Vincent asked as he seemed to be in a rather foul mood he felt like sharing something from his past.

"Of course sir." Alex answered without thinking.

"A long time ago. When I was fiftheen years old I ran away from home for the first time. It was one of the greatest days in my life and also one of the saddest. My parents didn't bother searching for me, they probably thought 'he doesn't really have anywhere to go so he will be back' but I never went back. It's been 13 years since then..." Vincent spoke with a complicated expression on his face.

Alex was listening to the story with great interest, until this point he didn't know much about the man infron of him. They've only had several date like encounters and everything else was strictly work between them. So he never truly had the opportunity to get to know the person infront of him.

"Untill this day I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't ran away. Would my life be any different right now or would I inevitably fall on the same path. And... would I have ever met you." Vincent's mind worked faster than the average person's. He would make connections to topics that seemed completely unrelated. It was truly difficult to figure out what exactly was on his mind while telling this story.

"Do you keep in touch with them?" Alex asked without thinking.

"With my parents? No, I don't really care to know anything. I think they would feel the same." Vincent said as he threw his cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

"Well, I think they might have something to say..." Alex spoke his voice treambling. "If, if you don't talk with them you won't ever know what they feel."

"Hah... Sometimes you don't need to talk to know what the outcome will be. It's been like this for a long-"

"No! You can't just make up your own story in your head! Your parents might have had a reason how the way they acted and maybe they looked for you as well! Parents would never do something like that to their child!" Alex was red to his ears, he stood in the same place unmoving but continued to speak.

"Alex, reality isn't that nice. In this world everyday children get abadndoned by their parents and children also betray their parents and loved ones. It's always been like that. Please don't compare me to your own loving family." Vincent went quiet, but you could feel the sadness in his voice.

"I..." Alex was at a loss for words. Why were they even talking about this now? Isn't the company in danger? Do they have so much leisure time to debate about the rights and wrongs of the world?

"Lastly... The name of my company "LIBERATED" Do you know what the word means?" Vincent spoke ever so calmly and didn't wait for an answer so he simply continued "Liberated means 'to be freed from conventional social or traditional ideas' Creating my company with this name I wanted it to be my escape. Here I wouldn't need to answer to anyone, I'd simply do things as I see fit. But we got in this mess because I didn't stay true to my own beliefs. As I went to make the deal with Williams, I didn't think for myself and I judged based on the monetary value of it all."

"Vincent..." Alex mumbled under his breath. How could a 28 year old man take on so much responsibility on his sholders? Untill now Alex always thought of Vincent as a very fortunate man, but now he realises that nothing was ever given to Vincent in his lifetime. 

"I hope you're not pitying me. I just felt like talking to someone. Thank you for listening to me." Vincent said and went back inside the building to deal with the damanges best he can.

Alex was left outside alone, he was mad at himself for not being able to say anything at that moment. He could only think to himself: 

'Is everything meant to be so complicated in this life?'