BECKY'S POV
TWO MONTHS LATER...
"Becky!" I hear Monica's voice exclaim happily.
I look up from my desk and smile before standing up. Monica pulls me into a huge hug and I secretly smirk. Monica and Nate did the dirty on their holiday.
"Monica, I'm just going to ask Peter some questions." Nate says as Monica and I pull back from our hug.
"No need, sir. Peter is currently out on his lunch break." I state and Nate smiles.
"Give me a hug before we get all professional." He says and I smile before stepping forward and hugging him.
We pull back and I smile at the two, "How was your holiday?"
"It was amazing." Nate answers and Monica blushes but nods in agreement.
I wink at them before sitting back down on my seat, "Well, you've got things to catch up on, personal and business. I'll let you sort business tomorrow but personal can be sorted as soon as Peter gets back." I say.
The office phone rings and I quickly pick it up, "Becky Woods speaking."
"I won't be coming back to the office, I hope that's ok." Peter says.
"Your brother is back." I state.
"Can you tell him for me?" Peter asks.
"Alright but make sure you are here on time tomorrow. I'll skin Grey alive if you're late again." I answer.
"You wouldn't dare." Peter challenges and I laugh.
"Just ask Grey." I state.
"I will, goodbye and thank you." He says.
"Goodbye Peter." I reply before hanging up the phone.
"Has Peter been coming in late?" Nate asks.
"Coming in late, leaving early, not coming in at all." I answer and Nate frowns.
"Has all the work been getting done?" He asks and I nod.
"I have been staying two hours later than normal to make sure everything is in order." I answer and Monica's jaw drops while Nate's eyes widen.
"Everyday for the past two months?" Nate asks and I nod.
"Yea, I thought things would get easier after he got into the swing of things but I ended up doing shit loads of overtime to keep on top of everything. Liam has to come in everyday and force me to stop working to eat lunch because otherwise I would push through the hunger until I got home then collapse then come to work the next day. I am super efficient now though so no problems." I answer and Nate frowns.
"Do you know why Peter hasn't been coming to work?" He asks.
"Yes. He got a boyfriend and they spend a lot of time together." I answer.
"Peter's gay?" Monica asks.
"Yes, since two months ago when he met Grey." I answer. I see the happiness in Nate's eyes but I see it being crushed by the anger of me working to keep the company a float.
The elevator dings and Liam's scent fills my senses. Liam walks into the room with a look of thunder and Monica moves closer to Nate.
"Have you eaten today?" Liam asks me.
"No, I didn't have time." I answer, looking down.
"This is bullshit! I will not have you working like this, it's unhealthy!" Liam yells and I look up before going over and taking his hand. He calms down a little bit but he's still angry.
"She won't be working like that any more because I'm back and will resume my normal workload while Becky will go back to hers." Nate states firmly and Liam calms almost completely.
"Have you told him everything?" Liam asks me and I shake my head.
"What did you not tell me?" Nate asks me.
"She's been in hospital almost every weekend the last two months because she keeps collapsing from no food, no water and over working herself, yet she has to come to work everyday because Peter can't do the little bit he does by himself and then if he isn't here Becky has to do all the work so the company doesn't fall over." Liam answers.
"Hospital?" Monica asks and I sigh.
"I was just getting dehydrated, under feed and over worked so I collapsed a lot." I answer and she gasps.
"Nate, she needs a holiday." Monica states but I shake my head.
"I'l be fine now that you are back and the work load and hours are going back to normal." I tell Nate and he nods.
"Alright, you can continue to work but if you collapse once at home or here then you will be forced to take two weeks off." Nate states firmly and I nod.
"Yes, sir." I reply.
"Liam, take her home and get her rested, feed and hydrated. I will take over for the rest of the day." Nate says but I shake my head.
"No, I'm fine." I reply and Nate gives me a pointed look.
"At least let me go over things with you." I say with a sigh and Nate nods.
"Liam, do you wanna wait in the car or out here?" I ask, looking up at him.
"I'll wait here for you, baby. You go do your work." He answers softly before kissing my forehead.
Liam sits on the couch in the waiting room and Monica takes a seat on a different chair while I grab all the paperwork and my diaries. Nate and I go to his office and Nate frowns when he sees his messy office.
"I'll clean this too. I haven't really come in here much because I was doing other wor---"
"It's not your fault, Becky. Peter will come in tomorrow and get his ass kicked as well as clean this whole room." Nate interrupts and I nod.
He sits down at his desk and cleans it up a little. I place the paperwork in front of him and then hand him a few pieces of paper with a detailed list of everything about the papers.
"The only thing I could prioritise for Peter was the signing of papers so that's what he did most of the time while I took meetings, saw clients, organised any holidays for workers, pay for all the workers, bills for the company, my normal job, I managed to keep up with all the files, typing anything up, organising papers, transferring specific data to usb's, basically anything that needed doing." I explain and I can see the anger in Nate's whole body.
Nate then picks up the phone and dials a number. Using my heightened hearing I listen in to the conversation.
"Hello Peter speaking?" I hear Peter answer.
"Get your ass to the office, right now." Nate demands.
"Good to hear from you too, bro. Can it wait till tomorrow?" Peter asks and I mentally face palm.
"No, get here now." Nate answers.
"I'm kinda busy though, bro." Peter says.
"Peter, you are supposed to be working right now so if I say get your ass here then I mean get your ass here." Nate states.
"Baby, who's calling?" I hear Grey ask.
"Nate, give me the phone." I say and he raises an eyebrow but hands me the phone.
"Peter, give the phone to Grey." I demand.
"Alright." Peter answers.
"Hey Becky, what's up?" Grey asks.
"Peter needs to come to the office now." I state.
"Um, can it wait till tomorrow?" He asks.
"Get him here now." I demand dangerously. I see Nate flinch and I mouth 'sorry' to him.
"Of course, he will be there right away." Grey says.
"Good." I reply before hanging up.
Nate raises an eyebrow at me and asks, "What's with the voice?"
"Grey knows not to mess with me but saying things through the phone don't have the same effect." I answer and he nods.
"Well, it worked so that's what matters." He says.
"Yea but I am sorry about making you flinch." I reply and he smiles.
"Becky, you have every right to be angry and if hissing through the phone at someone then so be it." He says and I nod.
Ten minutes later Peter walks through the door with Grey behind him.
"Grey, get out." I demand and he glares at me.
"No." He replies.
"You're on my turf here, Grey, if I say get out then you do as I say. Go wait in the waiting room, these are work matters." I say and he flinches before nodding and leaving.
"Stop treating him like that." Peter says.
At this statement Nate explodes, "Stop treating him like that? Do you know what you have been doing while I was gone? PUTTING BECKY IN HOSPITAL EVERY WEEKEND FOR TWO MONTHS, THAT'S WHAT! SIT YOUR ASS DOWN ON THE CHAIR AND YOU WILL LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!"
Peter flinches before quickly sitting in one of the seats in front of Nate's desk. Grey barges into the room with a furious look and my anger spikes.
"Get out." I hiss.
"No, this asshole is yelling at my baby." Grey says.
I walk over to Grey dangerously before his neck then pressing down on his pressure point, putting him to sleep. Grey's body falls to the floor and Peter yells at me.
"Peter, shut up!" Nate yells.
Liam comes down the hall and I point to Grey. Liam nods before picking Grey up, throwing him over his shoulder then taking him towards the waiting room. I close the office door before resting against it and taking deep breaths.
"Are you alright, Becky?" Nate asks and I nod.
"Just give me a second." I say.
After a couple of minutes I stand up straight then walk to the other seat in front of Nate's desk. Nate looks at me with worry but I smile reassuringly and he nods.
Nate looks at Peter and his anger flares again, "Peter, what were you supposed to do while I was away?"
"Fill in for you and do the work assigned to me by Becky." Peter answers.
"You failed to do that, Peter." Nate states.
"I did the work Becky gave me though." Peter says.
"All she could give you was things to sign because you were only ever here long enough to do that. Becky has been doing two hours over time everyday to keep this company a float as well as being in hospital every weekend because of lack of food, dehydration and over working herself." Nate replies, his anger spiking a little bit.
"I didn't stop her from having food or water, nor did I ask her to work over time." Peter says and Nate stands up.
"SHE HAD TO WORK OVER TIME TO DO THE WORK YOU WERE SUPPOSED TO DO! SHE DIDN'T HAVE TIME FOR FOOD AND WATER BECAUSE YOU WEREN'T HERE DOING YOUR JOB! THIS IS ALL ON YOU AND YOUR BOYFRIEND, PETER!" Nate booms.
"The relationship I have with Grey is complicated and it takes up a lot of our time which meant I couldn't always be here doing work." Peter says.
Nate turns to me and asks, "Was Peter paid for this yet?"
"I haven't got around to it yet." I answer.
"Don't bother, he doesn't need to get paid." Nate says and Peter glares.
"I put time into this job therefore I should get paid." Peter states and Nate slams his hand on his desk.
"BECKY DID ALL OF YOUR WORK MINUS PAPER SIGNING BECAUSE SHE ISN'T ALLOWED TO, YOU ARE NOT GETTING PAID!" Nate booms.
Peter looks at me before asking, "Are you wearing make up?"
"Um, yea." I answer.
"Why?" Nate asks.
"Because I don't look very nice without it." I answer.
"Go wipe it off, I want Peter to see what he's done to you." Nate says and I nod before going to the bathroom.
I wet a couple of paper hand towel before wiping all my make up off. I look in the mirror and sigh. I have huge purple bags under my eyes, my skin is paler than it usually is, I'm skinnier from under eating, I look like a zombie. I lift up my blouse and cringe at the skinny, unhealthy look of my body. My ribs are very clear, my skin has a purple tinge to it and I look deflated.
I tuck my shirt back in before going to the office. I walk in and Peter gasps while Nate sucks in a breath.
"Look at what you have done to your supposed friend, Peter." Nate says and Peter tears up.
Peter stands up and comes over to me before wrapping his arms around me in a hug. I hug him back but don't put to much into otherwise he will feel the enormous weight loss.
Peter pulls back with a frown, "I'm so sorry for doing this to you and I really hope you can forgive me."
Liam knocks on the door before walking into the room. He walks over to me and hands me my drink bottle with blood, nutrition supplement and liquid medicine.
"What's that?" Nate asks.
"My supplement." I answer.
"Lift up your top." Nate demands and Liam's eyes darken.
I put a hand on Liam and he looks at me sadly. Liam grabs my top and pulls it up. I hold onto him for support as I feel my energy start to drain from me. Liam puts an arm around my waist while the other holds my top up.
"Drink, baby." Liam says and I nod before lifting the bottle to my mouth.
I start drinking from the bottle and I feel myself get some more energy but not heaps. I rest my head on Liam's shoulder and he sighs sadly.
Nate comes over and looks at Liam for permission to which he receives a nod. Nate takes the bottom of my shirt from Liam before lifting it up fully to examine my stomach and ribs properly. Nate and Peter suck in their breaths and Liam sighs sadly.
"Is that from everything over the last two months?" Peter asks and I nod.
"I never have time to eat or drink until I get home but once I'm home I'm too tired to eat or drink anything anyway. The over working, not eating and not drinking has taken a toll on my body." I answer.
Nate lets my top go and it covers my ugly body again.
"You are taking two weeks off, I don't care about the work load. You are clearly not well and I want you to get better, the only way I see that happening is if you take some time off. Becky, you have a lot of holiday to make up but two weeks paid holiday to get better will not effect that. You will also be getting paid for all the over time you did and three quarters of what Peter was supposed to be getting paid." Nate says.
"Thank you, Nate. I would argue because I love my job but I know that I would be better off taking a couple of weeks off then coming back to work healthy. You don't really have to worry about the money though." I reply but he shakes his head.
"You will take the holiday and all the money that I said I would pay, that's my final word." Nate states firmly and I nod.
Liam takes my drink bottle from me then carefully let's go of my waist. I remove my hand from his shoulder but collapse instantly. Liam drops my drink bottle and quickly catches me before I can hit the ground. I rest my head on his shoulder and start crying.
I'm sick of being weak, I'm used to being strong but now I can't even stand by myself.
Peter picks up my drink bottle and hands it to me as Liam stands up with me in his arms bridal style. I give him a small nod but don't speak.
"Come on, baby, let's get you home." Liam says gently before thanking Nate and carrying me to my desk.
Liam collects all my things with help from Monica. Monica puts my coat over me like a blanket before kissing my forehead. Liam then carries me down to my car. He places me in the passenger seat, buckles me in then fixes my coat so it's definitely covering me before closing the door and going to the driver's seat.
"Thank you, Liam." I whisper.
"You're welcome, beautiful." He replies before starting the car and driving us to his castle.