Kingsley sighed as he looked at the clock, it was already quarter to nine, and he was running late.
After quitting his job at Salazar Tech, Kingsley spent the two weeks of his notice period working from home. It didn't come with complications, H.R. was hesitant, but Lorenzo signed off on it. Kingsley was glad that even though Lorenzo didn't want him to resign, he was still respecting his decision.
This was around a month ago. Kingsley wasn't in the mood to start looking for a job once again, but when he went to grab dinner with his father and updated him about his work life— Gianni suggested Kingsley work at the subsidiary that he had started for Kingsley.
He was unsure at first, the last thing he wanted was to work for his father. But Gianni reassured that he wouldn't be interrupting or stepping into Kingsley's work at all. That it was different from what he did, and Kingsley would definitely not be working for anyone. He left the choice to Kingsley, who took a couple of days to make up his mind before officially joining the company.
The father and son had a long discussion about what it would mean for them and their public image, especially if Gianni was to introduce him as the C.E.O. In the end, they figured it was probably best if Gianni himself called a press conference and announced that Kingsley was his son, and would now be a part of the family business. Instead of the news eventually coming out from an outside source, which would lead to a greater scandal. At least this way they could control the narrative.
This, of course, came with its fair share of trouble. Kingsley was constantly hounded by the media, something he expected. But after a couple of weeks, the hype finally died down. Now he only had a few reporters occasionally coming up to him and asking for exclusive interviews and what not. Kingsley denied them all.
He deactivated all of his social media too when the articles started to dig into finding out who his mother was. Kingsley was disgusted that his personal life was being used as spice and gossip, but a part of him also felt... accepted.
That his father had finally owned up to having a son. That he wasn't a secret anymore and no longer had to hide.
Once Kingsley started working as the boss, he finally realised why Lorenzo spent most nights in the office. There was always too much to do, and too little time. He was wishing for the day to have extra hours just so he could be done with his work before the deadlines. He hadn't even been there a month, but he was already drowning in work.
Kingsley's old colleagues obviously had a lot of questions. He quit without telling them, and the next thing they knew, he was the boss of his own company and the son of a billionaire. Kingsley did care about them and considered them friends, which was why he was supposed to meet them at a bar tonight. That is, of course, if work would let him.
"You should head home now, you stayed until midnight yesterday too," said Zeke, Kingsley's new personal assistant.
"I still need to go over—"
"The Peterson data? I'll give it a look and email you my notes. You can finish it tomorrow, then," Zeke said.
"Are you sure?" Kingsley frowned. "You've been working overtime a lot too."
"It's fine," Zeke waved his hand dismissively. "I really don't mind."
"Thank you," Kingsley said. "You're a lifesaver."
"Just doing what I get paid for, boss," Zeke flashed his signature cheeky grin.
"I told you not to call me that," Kingsley sighed as he got up from his chair. "I'll see you on Monday, Zeke."
"Have a good night."
"You too."
Kingsley put on a tech podcast as he started driving. He didn't even realise when he turned from a top 100 rock songs to a podcast sort of guy. But he had to keep up with all the latest news in the industry. Despite his reservations in the beginning, especially with taking on such a massive responsibility— he was really enjoying his work. And he wanted to do well too. Sure, he got the job through nepotism, but he wasn't going to half-ass it. He felt he had more to prove. To show that he was deserving of his title.
"—next we have Lorenzo Salazar with us for an exclusive interview about the latest developments in the—"
Kingsley turned down the volume to zero as soon as he heard Lorenzo's name. No matter where he went, it was as if Lorenzo was haunting him. It didn't help that they worked in the same industry, and since he had invested in Salazar Tech, he had to stay up to date with his former employer.
He knew that his friends would end up mentioning Lorenzo one way or the other. Which was why he was avoiding meeting them until he absolutely had to for the sake of their friendship. In addition to that, he still hadn't decided what to tell them when they ask him why he quit. He didn't want to lie anymore, but he also couldn't tell them the truth because that would only hurt Lorenzo. Something he just couldn't do.
Even though they weren't together anymore, that didn't mean Kingsley had stopped caring about him.
Kingsley walked inside the bar which was packed with the Friday night rush. He looked around to find his friends, and did when he saw Anwar enthusiastically waving at him. Kingsley walked over to them with a smile on his face, he had worked with them for well over a year and a half, and he kinda missed them. All of them made office even more fun.
It was different now, with all of his employees calling him sir and walking on eggshells around him, no matter how much he tried to act casual in order to make them more comfortable. So far, Zeke was the only one that wasn't uneasy or timid around Kingsley, and actually treated him like a normal human. Not someone to be afraid of.
"Finally!" Anwar exclaimed. "I thought you were gonna cancel again like last week."
"Sorry about that," Kingsley said apologetically. "Some urgent work came up and I couldn't—"
"It's fine," Nina interrupted. "It must be tough at the new place. All the responsibilities..."
"It's alright, I like it," Kingsley shrugged. "What are we drinking?"
"Just beer until now. We were waiting for you before getting started on the hard liquor," Nina said.
"Awesome," Kingsley grinned. "Drinks on me tonight."
"I suppose congratulations are in order, huh?" Anwar said as he patted Kingsley's shoulder with a grin on his face.
They all sat at the table, catching up for the next hour. Nobody had mentioned anything about Kingsley quitting or the sudden revelation about his family background, much to Kingsley's surprise. He had already mentally prepared himself to be bombarded with questions, but it seemed like everyone was choosing to ignore the elephant in the room.
Once enough alcohol was consumed, Anwar pulled Miles with him to the dance floor. Neither of them were good dancers, which made watching them all the more fun. Kingsley munched on fries as he laughed at his friends making a fool out of themselves. Nina, too, was enjoying the show that involved her boyfriend.
"I'm so glad they don't throw out people for being bad dancers," Nina muttered.
"I think everyone's too drunk to care anyway," Kingsley replied.
"You don't seem drunk," Nina pointed out. Kingsley was only on his third drink, he was taking it slow.
"I have a lot of work to finish this weekend," Kingsley sighed. "Can't afford a hangover."
"How is it going? Working at the new place and everything," Nina finally asked.
"Hectic. There's so much to do and I haven't even gotten the time to get to know everyone at the office that well yet. Half the time I don't even know what I'm doing," Kingsley answered truthfully.
"You'll get the hang of it," Nina said. "It's not easy being the boss."
"Right," Kingsley said. "I'm surprised none of you brought it up."
"We already asked you before and you changed the topic," Nina shrugged. "We figured it was a sensitive topic or else you would've told us yourself. It's not like you're dumb and would quit your job without there being a solid reason so... we decided not to bother you with questions until you yourself feel like you can tell us."
"Oh," Kingsley blinked. He was surprised at the reasoning behind them avoiding the topic. But also grateful that they were being so considerate. "I don't know what to say. That's so... nice of you?"
"Bare minimum, really," Nina tried to be dismissive. "Friends don't pressure friends."
"Tell that to Anwar trying to get Miles to slowdance with him," Kingsley retorted, making Nina chuckle.
"Yeah, I better go save my boyfriend now." Nina was about to get up, when Kingsley stopped her.
"Hey," Kingsley called out, making Nina glance at him. "I was serious. Thank you, really. It's not like I don't trust you guys or anything, it's just... things are very complicated, and I can't—"
"Kingsley, it's okay," Nina interrupted him, her voice sincere. "You don't owe us any answers. Especially not when you're not comfortable talking about them. But if you do ever want to... then I'm here for you. All of us are."
"Thank you," Kingsley repeated, his voice soft. Nina just gave him a small smile and a nod, before getting up and walking towards the two men that were still dancing with their two left feet.
Kingsley couldn't help but smile at the sight in front of him too. Even though his life had turned upside down in the last few weeks, there were still a few things which were the same, and for that he was more thankful than he could express.
Anwar glanced at Kinsgley, before motioning at him to come to them as well. Kingsley chuckled, even though he wasn't one to dance, his feet had a mind of their own as he joined them, finally feeling some semblance of happiness after a long time.
***
reminder that it's the last 3 days to finish King's Guard on Patreon as well as all the bonus chapters before I take them down from there! chapter two of my new Patreon exclusive book, My Girlfriend's Other Boyfriend is also up! link in bio.