Personal Assistant (Ryden)

Chapter six

"Coffee, check. Bag, check. Jacket, check. Check, check..." Ryan looks through everything on the list, then stops and look around outside. "Metal water bottle?" He grabs his wallet again and gets out of the car, walking over to a store that seems to be a sports store.

He looks around for a water bottle, eventually finding a dark blue one. It's snowing again outside, nice and warm in the store. There's a man and his probably wife, the store clerk, and a man outside smoking a cigarette. 

Ryan puts the bottle on the counter and the clerk scans it. Ryan hands him the card and soon walks out with that and the bottle. 

"Hey," the cigarette guy says. Ryan turns and look at him. 

"Um, hey," he says shyly. 

"You're real cute, where you off too?" He asks, checking Ryan out.

"Um, work," Ryan says, turning and continuing to walk. Suddenly, the man grabs Ryan's shoulder, nails digging into his skin, then turns him and punches him. 

"Don't fucking leave when I'm complimenting you, fag," the man says. Ryan pushes himself up but is immediately pinned against what is probably the man's car, his hand on Ryan's crotch and one having a death grip on his right wrist. He kisses Ryan and he feels gross and dirty already. His nails are digging into Ryan's skin, and he's never felt something that painful.

The man kisses Ryan and feels him and touches him and hurts him and Ryan just stands there, letting it happen. He tries to push him off but it doesn't work. The man's grip tightens and kisses Ryan more harshly. Tears start to sting Ryan's eyes and his heart is hurting with fear.

"Please stop," Ryan tells him, so he does, and he opens the door and pushes Ryan inside. Ryan falls back onto the seats, trying to scoot away, but that just lets him get in and corner Ryan. He tries to kick him away, but he grabs his leg and pulls him closer. Please no, no, no, no. 

Ryan continues to try and to push the man away, telling him repeatedly 'no' or 'stop', but nothing works. He's not strong enough. He's not particularly a violent person. Anyone who knows him knows that, that he'd never stand up for himself. He wishes he could, but every time he tries to, he panics and backs down. He doesn't have enough courage.

He feel the man's hard-on pressing against his leg when he grinds against Ryan in an ungraceful manner. The man's hand covers Ryan's mouth, muffling all of his desperate protests, until it all just stops. Someone pulls him out and the door behind Ryan opens. Someone pulls Ryan out and rushes him into another car, and he lets it happen because he feels weak. It takes him a while to realize that it's Josh and Tyler, and he only does when they're driving away and Josh is driving Brendon's car.

"Are you alright?" Tyler finally asks Ryan halfway through the drive. Ryan nods.

"Yeah, I..." He stops when he notices his slightly swollen and now bleeding wrist. 

"We can help that when we get back," he informs Ryan. Ryan nods again. He feels like he's choking. The rest of the drive is silent. They don't speak and blood slowly fills Ryan's palms. Once they arrive, Ryan gets out and the blood drips into the snow.

People are walking around, talking and doing their jobs. Tyler leads Ryan off to the bathroom hurriedly, him quickly bandaging Ryan's wrist, rolling up his sleeve slightly to clean the blood. Tyler notices his scars and looks at Ryan, but Ryan looks down. Tyler looks down and soon finishes. Ryan stands leave before he can say anything, and Josh hands him his stuff. They both leave the building as Ryan tugs his sleeve down.

"There you are!" Brendon yells and Ryan jumps, turning and looking at him. "Seriously, I told you to not take an unnecessarily long time doing something, and look at you now! Late!" He goes on and on about how Ryan's late and that he has already failed to follow a simple rule, and Ryan just let him, trying not to let himself panic. After a long time of him ranting, he stops.

"Why were you even late?" He asks. Ryan opens his mouth, but doesn't speak. He wouldn't care, anyway. 

"Couldn't find a water bottle," Ryan lies quietly. He rolls his eyes and Ryan hands him his coffee. He takes a sip and half of Ryan expects Brendon to just spit it out and continue to yell. Now he understands why his last assistant left. You never know how he will react and it catches you off guard when he doesn't have any sort of disliking. Funny how much Ryan wants quit despite only being within the first two hours. 

"At least you got this right," he mutters and takes another drink, but Ryan still hears it. Maybe that was the point, to make sure he heard it. "What's your number? It'll be easier to know what you're doing," he says, still annoyed. Ryan hands him his phone after unlocking it. 

He types a few things then gives it back. His phone buzzes, he pulls it out, and Ryan watches Brendon change his contact.

"Your name again?"

"Um, R-Ryan Ross," Ryan says nervously, and Brendon puts it in his phone.

"The bag is for you. I'll text you when I need you, Ross."

And with that, Brendon walks off with everything except the bag Ryan is holding. The fear in his chest hits his stomach, so he hurries down the hall and to the bathroom and falls to his knees, throwing up into the toilet. The door opens more and soon Sarah is comforting him, telling him it's okay. She hands him a tissue. He spits into the toilet, wipes his mouth, throws the tissue away, then flushes the toilet. He can hear Brendon calling his name down the hall, but Sarah doesn't.

"Babe, what happened to your wrist?" Sarah asks, and Ryan lets it crash again. He starts sobbing, body shaking. She pulls him close, holding him and gently petting his soft hair and rubbing his back. Once he calms down, Brendon's yelling gets a bit louder, but it eventually stops.

"What's happening?" Brendon asks.

"Don't worry about it, it's gonna be okay," Sarah says softly. 

Ryan pulls away and his eyes meet Brendon's. For a split second he thinks he can see him looking worried, but now he isn't and Ryan has concluded that his mind was playing tricks on him. He looks down and wipes his tears before pushing himself up. There's no way he's gonna let his boss see him crying.

So, he walks past Brendon and down the hall, taking a deep breath and going back to what he's supposed to be doing.