Office Politics (Chapter 3)
Summary - AU/AU Jack is a trainee architect at a company owned by Mitchell Del Mar and his cousin Ennis. A light hearted office romance - nothing too angsty or dark in this establishment.
Last chapter recap - Jack is now on Ennis' team and tried out a little 'experiment' when Mr Del Mar failed to notice Candy's revealing attire. Jack and Ennis have just started their first late night of work together...
Big thanks to hesamathgeek for the beta :)
Feedback - yes please!
Jack’s first night working late with Ennis had started out as being rather uneventful.
Candy hung around for about an hour, alternating between smiling sweetly at Ennis and shooting daggers at Jack. Ennis was barking at someone on the phone when she brought in some papers she had typed up for them. She flicked her hair and headed straight for Ennis’ desk . Unfortunately, Jack was kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room and she almost tripped over him in a very inelegant fashion.
“Jesus, Jack. What the hell are you doing down there?” she hissed.
Jack waved his hand over the piles of paper still on the floor. “Stuff.” He stood up and moved away so that Candy could pass without stepping on anything. “Careful, it’s all arranged.”
“Whatever.” She tiptoed her way carefully to the desk and dropped off her papers. Ennis gave her a quick nod and continued with his conversation. Candy smiled at him and Jack watched as she gave her hips an extra little wiggle as she picked her way back through the paper maze.
Jack muttered to himself and rolled his eyes, which Candy unfortunately caught just before she left the office. She shot him a deathly stare and Jack was sure she would’ve slammed the door, had Ennis not been on the phone. Bitch.
The sound of the phone being put down caught Jack’s attention. “You done down there?” Ennis asked abruptly.
“Uh huh, I think so,” Jack nodded.
“Good.” Ennis stood up. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
Heck, Jack’s brain went into overdrive as he followed Ennis out of the room and down the corridor. Ennis unlocked one of the boardrooms, normally out of bounds for anyone but the partners and senior management.
Jack could see the lights of the town twinkling through the floor to ceiling windows, and couldn’t help a small shiver as he glanced at the shiny teak table in the middle of the darkened room, very aware of Ennis standing close behind him. The overhead lights blinked on and Jack dragged himself away from his being bent over the boardroom table fantasy.
“Here,” Ennis beckoned Jack over to an ante-room and flicked on the lights there too. A scale model of a large apartment complex appeared out of the darkness, highly detailed with landscaped gardens and miniature people.
Jack recognized it instantly. He should, considering he’d spent the last few months of his life working on the project. “Oh, wow.” He leaned in close.
“Friday Bridge.” Ennis added, “It just got delivered today. Thought you’d like to see it.”
Jack peered in closer and crouched down to get a better look. “It’s beautiful.” It was amazing to see his first project come to life like this and Jack could only imagine how it would feel to see it full scale. “Is this real glass?” He ran a finger gently along a section of roof, marveling at how perfect it looked.
“Careful,” Ennis grasped Jack’s wrist and pulled his hand away. “Yes, it is, and it’s fragile.” He abruptly dropped Jack’s arm.
“Sorry,” Jack swallowed and circled his wrist with his other hand, trying to prolong the pressure Ennis had applied. It was the first time they had ever touched and Jack felt like he had been branded.
Ennis stood back swiftly and folded his arms across his chest. “We’re hoping Saturday Bridge will look something similar, something equally as impressive.”
“Yeah, I hope so too,” Jack replied, eyes darting up to look at Ennis. “I’ll do my best for you, I promise.”
Ennis’ expression softened for a moment and Jack could swear that he saw his lips quirk. “I know you will.”
****
Well, Jack sure had problems sleeping that night. The ante-room had now leap-frogged to the top position in his list of favorite workplace fantasies. This one had Ennis pinning him to the door under the pretense of keeping him from touching the model building, but all that bumping and grinding soon got serious in Jack’s head and things got a lot stickier in his underpants.
The following morning Jack bounded into his office in high spirits. He skidded to a halt, somewhat surprised that Scott wasn’t already there. Damn, he’d wanted to share the news about last night’s almost-grope in the boardroom. Jack knew he was kidding himself about that, but it didn’t hide the fact that he hadn’t washed his left arm since Ennis had grabbed it. Juvenile, but whatever. No one needed to know.
Jack quickly logged into his computer and checked emails and his Facebook page, typing a couple of comments and seeing what people were up to. He noticed that Scott had updated his Facebook status from his cell phone late last night, “In need of much alcohol.” Sounded serious. Perhaps the late night consumption of said alcohol explained Scott’s tardiness today. Jack was not exactly known for his punctuality and was never the first one in.
He was beginning to feel a little nervous when Candy popped her head around the door. “Where’s your little friend?” Her long nails drummed on the polished wood.
Jack scowled. “Don’t call him that.”
Candy arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “What? Little? Well, he is kinda short, isn’t he?”
“That’s not the point,” Jack retorted. “There are plenty of factually correct things I could call you, but none of them would be polite.”
“Yeah, whatever, Jack.” Candy said his name like it was a dirty word. She opened her mouth to continue, but the sound of footsteps running up the corridor stopped her. A harassed looking Scott dashed into the room. “Nice of you to join us. Finally,” she said dryly. “Mitchell wants you, Scott, if you can spare a minute,” and she stalked back to her desk at the reception. How that girl got a job dealing with clients was a mystery Jack had yet to solve.
Once Candy was safely out of the way, Scott dropped his bag and sat down hard in his chair.
“You ok, man?” Jack asked in concern. Stupid question really since Scott looked positively haggard.
Scott sighed and ran his fingers through his copper-colored hair. “No, not entirely.” He glanced around at the people walking up and down past their office. “Look, we can’t really talk here. Let’s hit a bar at lunch?”
“Sure,” Jack nodded, figuring that any gossip on Ennis could wait until then, too. He did have work to do, after all.
****
“So, spill.” Jack leaned back into the plushly furnished booth and sipped his soda.
Scott leaned forward with his elbows on the table and scrubbed his face with he palms. “Ella proposed.”
“What?!” Jack slammed his drink down in surprise, sloshing a few drops over the side. “Why would she do that?”
“Ah, heck, I dunno. We’ve been going out for over three years and I guess she thought it was time.”
“But you’re only twenty-two. Isn’t that a bit young?”
Scott sighed. “Well, yeah, I think so, but a couple of her friends are engaged and she was feeling left out. She said it was time we got more serious.”
“Don’t you want that? You guys already live together, right?”
“Sure, in some place her dad rented, but I don’t want to settle down just yet. Once she gets married then she’ll want kids. I know how it works. Damn, Jack, I’m not ready for any of that, I’m still a kid myself.”
“Sorry, man,” Jack reached across the table and patted Scott’s arm. “What did you say to her?”
Scott laughed humorlessly. “I was so shocked. I said ‘hell no’ or something. I thought she was joking at first.” He paused for a moment. “When she started crying, I realized it wasn’t a joke.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what happened next?”
“Well the shit hit the fan as you might have guessed. She accused me of not loving her and if I wasn’t serious about us then I could move out. Tonight.”
“She threw you out?”
“Basically, yeah.”
Jack looked at his friend in disbelief. Scott and Ella were so good together. “What’re you gonna do now?”
“The fuck if I know.” Scott lowered his voice a little. “I do love her, I really do, Jack. I just don’t wanna get married yet.”
“She won’t wait?”
“No, she says we’ve waited long enough. Apparently three years is enough to know if you want to marry someone.”
“Shit, man.” Jack took a gulp of his drink. “Look, I’ve got a decent couch, you’re welcome to crash at my place for as long as you like. Maybe you can talk her around?”
Scott looked into his glass dejectedly. “Maybe. Guess I’ll try. Thanks, man, couch sounds good.”
“No problem.”
Scott looked up at him with a weak smile. “So, enough doom and gloom from me. How did your late night in the office work out?”
Jack bit his lip and grinned impishly. “Well, Ennis did show me a rather impressive erection.”
Scott spat his drink all over the table.
Jack widened his eyes innocently. “The model of the Friday Bridge project, Scott. What did you think I meant?”
****
That night, Scott moved onto Jack’s couch.
They had spent the last hour or so loading several bags from Scott’s place while Ella was out, and were carrying them back up the street to Jack’s.
Waiting to cross a busy junction, Jack happened to look behind him just in time to catch two t-shirt clad figures lingering outside a gym in the semi-darkness. Jack didn’t know the bald man facing him, although he had lots of tattoos that Jack thought were kind of sexy. However, he would bet money on the other guy being Ennis. He’d recognize those shoulders and arms anywhere. He stared in amazement as the bald guy leaned in and gently kissed Ennis on the cheek, his hand lingering low on Ennis’ waist. Ennis stroked him on the shoulder affectionately. Jack gulped, jealousy and shock washing over him. No way was that a 'we’re just friends' gesture. No way. No fucking way. Mr. Lucky-as-fuck No-hair wandered off and Ennis reached into his pocket to pull out what looked like a pack of cigarettes. Oh, my god. Had Jack just scored the biggest scoop on Ennis Del Mar that the office had ever seen? Holy shit. Jack didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Jack. JACK!” Scott’s voice penetrated the fog. “You drop something?”
Jack swung around quickly and put a hand on Scott’s back to stop his friend from looking in the direction of the gym. “Nah, sorry. Just thinking about stuff. Come on, let’s get your shit back to my place.”
****
“We’re out of beer,” Scott’s voice drifted out of the fridge just ten minutes later.
“Fuck it.” Jack collapsed on the couch, his brain whirring, head lolling on the cushions. “Shop or bar?”
“Bar,” said Scott, standing up and slamming the fridge door closed, “need to get out and drown my sorrows.”
You and me both, bud, Jack thought.
They went to a dive of a place just a couple of blocks away. This was definitely a perk of living in town as far as Jack was concerned. He loved being able to leave his home and within minutes he could be in a bar, club, restaurant or hitting the shops. A far cry from his childhood home, where it took over half an hour to drive to the nearest grocery store.
While ordering drinks at the bar, Jack couldn’t help but muse over what he had seen. He was pretty damn sure that Ennis was gay. Had to be. It all fit together. The way no one knew about his private life, the occasional lingering glances he had been giving Jack, the complete lack of interest in an over obvious Candy, the affectionate exchange with the bald tattooed guy. Had that been his boyfriend? He wondered if Mitchell knew about Ennis and his lifestyle. Jack figured that he must; the cousins were pretty close and had to trust each other in order to run such a successful business together. They were both totally professional and discreet about it either way. Damn. Jack felt depressed. Typical that he should find someone who rocked his world, but that person seemed to be in a relationship, and on top of that he was also Jack’s boss. Totally unobtainable. Double damn.
So lost he was in his melancholy thoughts, Jack failed to notice the cute blond twink of a bartender giving him the eye.
Jack carried the two beers back to where Scott was sitting. He took in the slump of Scott’s shoulders and gave himself a mental shake. Tonight wasn’t about him. Scott had far bigger issues, real issues, to deal with and so Jack shut away his feelings for Ennis and tried to concentrate on being a good friend instead.
TBC
Last chapter recap - Jack is now on Ennis' team and tried out a little 'experiment' when Mr Del Mar failed to notice Candy's revealing attire. Jack and Ennis have just started their first late night of work together...
Big thanks to hesamathgeek for the beta :)
Feedback - yes please!
Jack’s first night working late with Ennis had started out as being rather uneventful.
Candy hung around for about an hour, alternating between smiling sweetly at Ennis and shooting daggers at Jack. Ennis was barking at someone on the phone when she brought in some papers she had typed up for them. She flicked her hair and headed straight for Ennis’ desk . Unfortunately, Jack was kneeling on the floor in the middle of the room and she almost tripped over him in a very inelegant fashion.
“Jesus, Jack. What the hell are you doing down there?” she hissed.
Jack waved his hand over the piles of paper still on the floor. “Stuff.” He stood up and moved away so that Candy could pass without stepping on anything. “Careful, it’s all arranged.”
“Whatever.” She tiptoed her way carefully to the desk and dropped off her papers. Ennis gave her a quick nod and continued with his conversation. Candy smiled at him and Jack watched as she gave her hips an extra little wiggle as she picked her way back through the paper maze.
Jack muttered to himself and rolled his eyes, which Candy unfortunately caught just before she left the office. She shot him a deathly stare and Jack was sure she would’ve slammed the door, had Ennis not been on the phone. Bitch.
The sound of the phone being put down caught Jack’s attention. “You done down there?” Ennis asked abruptly.
“Uh huh, I think so,” Jack nodded.
“Good.” Ennis stood up. “Come with me. I want to show you something.”
Heck, Jack’s brain went into overdrive as he followed Ennis out of the room and down the corridor. Ennis unlocked one of the boardrooms, normally out of bounds for anyone but the partners and senior management.
Jack could see the lights of the town twinkling through the floor to ceiling windows, and couldn’t help a small shiver as he glanced at the shiny teak table in the middle of the darkened room, very aware of Ennis standing close behind him. The overhead lights blinked on and Jack dragged himself away from his being bent over the boardroom table fantasy.
“Here,” Ennis beckoned Jack over to an ante-room and flicked on the lights there too. A scale model of a large apartment complex appeared out of the darkness, highly detailed with landscaped gardens and miniature people.
Jack recognized it instantly. He should, considering he’d spent the last few months of his life working on the project. “Oh, wow.” He leaned in close.
“Friday Bridge.” Ennis added, “It just got delivered today. Thought you’d like to see it.”
Jack peered in closer and crouched down to get a better look. “It’s beautiful.” It was amazing to see his first project come to life like this and Jack could only imagine how it would feel to see it full scale. “Is this real glass?” He ran a finger gently along a section of roof, marveling at how perfect it looked.
“Careful,” Ennis grasped Jack’s wrist and pulled his hand away. “Yes, it is, and it’s fragile.” He abruptly dropped Jack’s arm.
“Sorry,” Jack swallowed and circled his wrist with his other hand, trying to prolong the pressure Ennis had applied. It was the first time they had ever touched and Jack felt like he had been branded.
Ennis stood back swiftly and folded his arms across his chest. “We’re hoping Saturday Bridge will look something similar, something equally as impressive.”
“Yeah, I hope so too,” Jack replied, eyes darting up to look at Ennis. “I’ll do my best for you, I promise.”
Ennis’ expression softened for a moment and Jack could swear that he saw his lips quirk. “I know you will.”
****
Well, Jack sure had problems sleeping that night. The ante-room had now leap-frogged to the top position in his list of favorite workplace fantasies. This one had Ennis pinning him to the door under the pretense of keeping him from touching the model building, but all that bumping and grinding soon got serious in Jack’s head and things got a lot stickier in his underpants.
The following morning Jack bounded into his office in high spirits. He skidded to a halt, somewhat surprised that Scott wasn’t already there. Damn, he’d wanted to share the news about last night’s almost-grope in the boardroom. Jack knew he was kidding himself about that, but it didn’t hide the fact that he hadn’t washed his left arm since Ennis had grabbed it. Juvenile, but whatever. No one needed to know.
Jack quickly logged into his computer and checked emails and his Facebook page, typing a couple of comments and seeing what people were up to. He noticed that Scott had updated his Facebook status from his cell phone late last night, “In need of much alcohol.” Sounded serious. Perhaps the late night consumption of said alcohol explained Scott’s tardiness today. Jack was not exactly known for his punctuality and was never the first one in.
He was beginning to feel a little nervous when Candy popped her head around the door. “Where’s your little friend?” Her long nails drummed on the polished wood.
Jack scowled. “Don’t call him that.”
Candy arched a perfectly groomed eyebrow. “What? Little? Well, he is kinda short, isn’t he?”
“That’s not the point,” Jack retorted. “There are plenty of factually correct things I could call you, but none of them would be polite.”
“Yeah, whatever, Jack.” Candy said his name like it was a dirty word. She opened her mouth to continue, but the sound of footsteps running up the corridor stopped her. A harassed looking Scott dashed into the room. “Nice of you to join us. Finally,” she said dryly. “Mitchell wants you, Scott, if you can spare a minute,” and she stalked back to her desk at the reception. How that girl got a job dealing with clients was a mystery Jack had yet to solve.
Once Candy was safely out of the way, Scott dropped his bag and sat down hard in his chair.
“You ok, man?” Jack asked in concern. Stupid question really since Scott looked positively haggard.
Scott sighed and ran his fingers through his copper-colored hair. “No, not entirely.” He glanced around at the people walking up and down past their office. “Look, we can’t really talk here. Let’s hit a bar at lunch?”
“Sure,” Jack nodded, figuring that any gossip on Ennis could wait until then, too. He did have work to do, after all.
****
“So, spill.” Jack leaned back into the plushly furnished booth and sipped his soda.
Scott leaned forward with his elbows on the table and scrubbed his face with he palms. “Ella proposed.”
“What?!” Jack slammed his drink down in surprise, sloshing a few drops over the side. “Why would she do that?”
“Ah, heck, I dunno. We’ve been going out for over three years and I guess she thought it was time.”
“But you’re only twenty-two. Isn’t that a bit young?”
Scott sighed. “Well, yeah, I think so, but a couple of her friends are engaged and she was feeling left out. She said it was time we got more serious.”
“Don’t you want that? You guys already live together, right?”
“Sure, in some place her dad rented, but I don’t want to settle down just yet. Once she gets married then she’ll want kids. I know how it works. Damn, Jack, I’m not ready for any of that, I’m still a kid myself.”
“Sorry, man,” Jack reached across the table and patted Scott’s arm. “What did you say to her?”
Scott laughed humorlessly. “I was so shocked. I said ‘hell no’ or something. I thought she was joking at first.” He paused for a moment. “When she started crying, I realized it wasn’t a joke.”
“Oh, fuck.”
“Yeah.”
“So, what happened next?”
“Well the shit hit the fan as you might have guessed. She accused me of not loving her and if I wasn’t serious about us then I could move out. Tonight.”
“She threw you out?”
“Basically, yeah.”
Jack looked at his friend in disbelief. Scott and Ella were so good together. “What’re you gonna do now?”
“The fuck if I know.” Scott lowered his voice a little. “I do love her, I really do, Jack. I just don’t wanna get married yet.”
“She won’t wait?”
“No, she says we’ve waited long enough. Apparently three years is enough to know if you want to marry someone.”
“Shit, man.” Jack took a gulp of his drink. “Look, I’ve got a decent couch, you’re welcome to crash at my place for as long as you like. Maybe you can talk her around?”
Scott looked into his glass dejectedly. “Maybe. Guess I’ll try. Thanks, man, couch sounds good.”
“No problem.”
Scott looked up at him with a weak smile. “So, enough doom and gloom from me. How did your late night in the office work out?”
Jack bit his lip and grinned impishly. “Well, Ennis did show me a rather impressive erection.”
Scott spat his drink all over the table.
Jack widened his eyes innocently. “The model of the Friday Bridge project, Scott. What did you think I meant?”
****
That night, Scott moved onto Jack’s couch.
They had spent the last hour or so loading several bags from Scott’s place while Ella was out, and were carrying them back up the street to Jack’s.
Waiting to cross a busy junction, Jack happened to look behind him just in time to catch two t-shirt clad figures lingering outside a gym in the semi-darkness. Jack didn’t know the bald man facing him, although he had lots of tattoos that Jack thought were kind of sexy. However, he would bet money on the other guy being Ennis. He’d recognize those shoulders and arms anywhere. He stared in amazement as the bald guy leaned in and gently kissed Ennis on the cheek, his hand lingering low on Ennis’ waist. Ennis stroked him on the shoulder affectionately. Jack gulped, jealousy and shock washing over him. No way was that a 'we’re just friends' gesture. No way. No fucking way. Mr. Lucky-as-fuck No-hair wandered off and Ennis reached into his pocket to pull out what looked like a pack of cigarettes. Oh, my god. Had Jack just scored the biggest scoop on Ennis Del Mar that the office had ever seen? Holy shit. Jack didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Jack. JACK!” Scott’s voice penetrated the fog. “You drop something?”
Jack swung around quickly and put a hand on Scott’s back to stop his friend from looking in the direction of the gym. “Nah, sorry. Just thinking about stuff. Come on, let’s get your shit back to my place.”
****
“We’re out of beer,” Scott’s voice drifted out of the fridge just ten minutes later.
“Fuck it.” Jack collapsed on the couch, his brain whirring, head lolling on the cushions. “Shop or bar?”
“Bar,” said Scott, standing up and slamming the fridge door closed, “need to get out and drown my sorrows.”
You and me both, bud, Jack thought.
They went to a dive of a place just a couple of blocks away. This was definitely a perk of living in town as far as Jack was concerned. He loved being able to leave his home and within minutes he could be in a bar, club, restaurant or hitting the shops. A far cry from his childhood home, where it took over half an hour to drive to the nearest grocery store.
While ordering drinks at the bar, Jack couldn’t help but muse over what he had seen. He was pretty damn sure that Ennis was gay. Had to be. It all fit together. The way no one knew about his private life, the occasional lingering glances he had been giving Jack, the complete lack of interest in an over obvious Candy, the affectionate exchange with the bald tattooed guy. Had that been his boyfriend? He wondered if Mitchell knew about Ennis and his lifestyle. Jack figured that he must; the cousins were pretty close and had to trust each other in order to run such a successful business together. They were both totally professional and discreet about it either way. Damn. Jack felt depressed. Typical that he should find someone who rocked his world, but that person seemed to be in a relationship, and on top of that he was also Jack’s boss. Totally unobtainable. Double damn.
So lost he was in his melancholy thoughts, Jack failed to notice the cute blond twink of a bartender giving him the eye.
Jack carried the two beers back to where Scott was sitting. He took in the slump of Scott’s shoulders and gave himself a mental shake. Tonight wasn’t about him. Scott had far bigger issues, real issues, to deal with and so Jack shut away his feelings for Ennis and tried to concentrate on being a good friend instead.
TBC