I felt like I'd just been punched in the stomach. But I knew I shouldn't react to that name, so I tried my best to brush off his response.
"You must have me confused with someone else, my name is Nova." My heart was beating so loud I could hear it in my ears. Fuck my life, why is he here? I thought he was located in Seattle? The hell is happening!
"My apologies, your voice and eyes remind me of someone that came up missing not to long ago. I'm David Winchester, my father was over this location until his recent relocation to Seattle, so in his place, I'm here permeantly. Your recent work has been remarkable, that I wanted to give you a promotion to my be my PA. You worked harder than anyone else here in such a short amount of time, so along with the promotion, I want to give you a raise."
What the hell do I do? If I decline I'd be questioned as to why I'm giving up exactly what I wanted and worked hard for, but if I accept and he finds out that he was right, I'd don't know what I could do then.
"That sounds great, I'd love to be your PA. This company is wonderful, ever since the first day I started here I've felt appreciated. I'll be happy to accept my new position and raise, may I ask when will I'll be assigned to my new position?"
His smiled made me sick to my stomach. "Next pay period is when you'll start. You can finish out the week. Enjoy the rest of your day, Nova."
"Enjoy your day as well, Mr. Winchester."
The moment I was away from his office my hands started to tremble uncontrollably. Did he really believe my lie? He seemed content with my reply, didn't even second guess it. Maybe I was just overthinking too much, I don't look that much like I did last year. I can't help my voice, but my eyes? Why didn't I get colored contacts, dammit I almost ruined my cover. Thankfully, luck was on my side.
For the rest of the work day I stayed to myself, well, until Willow came by my cubical. "Soo, how was your first time meeting the CEO? Did you blush like crazy meeting him? He's so damn handsome."
"It was alright, he offered me to be his PA, along with a raise and I accepted it. I didn't want to be rude, besides, I needed this raise anyways. He's not really my type though." Mentally I was still shook by the fact that David was the CEO, but he seemed to have accepted my lie without a second thought. He wouldn't disgrace the name of his father's company though, so it wasn't a need to worry. Not once had their family been involved in a scandal, he took the public's opinion very seriously. David is a violent, controlling, prick; however, he isn't crazy enough to do anything to ruin what his father built from the ground up.
"Earth to Nova, I can't be that boring." Willow had the most cutest pout I've ever seen. She was like a child sometimes, it was adorable though.
"Sorry, I just space out sometimes. What were you saying?"
"What are you doing after work? I've got some free time and your the only person at this office who seems like any fun. Please, Nova, can we hang out after work today. I know a good bar to go to, but if you don't want it go to a bar, we could always go to a nice, small restaurant."
"Well, I do have some free time as well, so sure. We could go to a small restaurant. I'm not much of a drinker, alcohol isn't my thing."
She hugged me suddenly, catching me completely off guard. This woman is full of surprises, though I can handle her like this. "Give me your number so I can keep in contact with you. But we'll have to use our work emails while on the clock, I don't want them to block our phone IPs from working in the office, so what's your number?"
We quickly exchanged phone numbers and work emails. "You two are supposed to be working, why are you at her cubical?"
"I was having problems with my computer, so I was checking to see if Nova's was having the same issue. I think one of my cables might have a short in it, can you check it out for me while I use her's? She already finished her work for the day anyways. Help me out, Zachary."
"I told you to just call me Zach, and fine Willow. But you owe me."
"We'll go out for drinks tomorrow, is that fine?"
"Yes it is, just don't get caught."
"That's Zach? Everybody made him sound like some scary guy, he seems so relaxed, just stern."
"Zachary is a sweetheart, he only puts on that scary act for the guys. Kinda his way of keeping them in line. Don't worry about him though, he's laid back."
"That's good to hear, my heart nearly dropped. But you should finish your work."
"I've been done for hours, he just doesn't need to know that."
The rest of our work day was spent with me hearing office gossip from Willow. Apparently a lot has been going on without my knowledge, although others business isn't any of mine, it was still very interesting to hear regardless.
After work, we caught a cab to the restaurant, it was closer than I thought it would be, honestly, we could've walked here. What a waste of money. But complaining wasn't going to make it any better, I also didn't want to upset Willow. So I said nothing at all.
The food was delicious, and the drinks were very refreshing to me. I wish I would've known about this restaurant sooner, I'd come here everyday if I could. "Thank you for bringing me here, I'll cover the bill."
"It's no need to, it's my treat of course. Just a way of solidifying our new found friendship. All the other women in the office ignore me, your the first to actually give me a chance. I appreciate that a lot Nova. I finally feel like I finally belong at the company thanks to you!" Without any warning, Willow suddenly hugged me while giggling. I wasn't used to anybody giving me hugs or affection, besides Sayyora, Quintin and Kelsi. This was uncomfortable for me in a way, but not wanting to be rude, I hugged her back and smiled as well.
After our hug and food, we both went our separate ways. Suddenly, I remembered that I didn't tell Quintin that I was going out with Willow after work. I hope he won't be upset with me, I feel like an idiot. Paying the taxi driver a bit extra to make it there in a shorter time, I anticipated getting scowled by him.
I don't know why I was so anxious, Quintin didn't seem like the type of person to get upset over something like this. It's sad that I was still having doubts about trusting him, it's been a year since we've met, but anybody can change over time as well.
"I'm home!" Nobody answered, Sayyora might still be at her friends house, but Quintin should be home by now. I wonder where he could be? It's not like him to be home late.
While I waited around for him, I decided to do the laundry, clean the house, then cooked dinner. Even after I finished everything, he still wasn't home yet...
I was more worried than scared now, where is he? Frantically I started to message Quintin, what if Kyle or David got to him? I knew being around would be dangerous. If something happened to him I'm going to hate myself.
15 minutes felt like an hour to me, but finally I heard keys opening the door. A sway of emotions took over me. Should I be happy or upset? Both felt right at the moment, so until I decided how to respond I just stayed silent. Overreacting wouldn't be the best option for me anyways.
"I'm sorry, I didn't expect for my meeting to run so late. You looked panicked, did something happen while I was gone? Are you ok?"
Without any words, I buried my face into his chest while standing in complete silence, unable to find the right words to say. "Nova, what's wrong? You feel tense and seem to be trembling a bit."
"I was worried about you... I'm not use to you coming home so late, something in me panicked. I'm sorry for acting like this." It was so hard not to cry into his chest, I haven't emotionally prepared myself to actually lose him. Something in me felt disturbed by that thought. Was I too emotionally invested in him so quickly? It had only been a year, some people say that's too quick to fall for someone completely.
"I wish I called or messaged you, my phone died during the meeting, the company we're collaborating with wanted to talk to us suddenly today. You were probably worried sick about me. I'm so sorry."
Quintin held me tightly against his chest, making it so much harder for me to not break down in tears. "It's ok, I'm just overreacting. This isn't your fault, maybe I'm being too clingy to you. Well, I made dinner and some brownies."
"You didn't have to do that, I don't expect you to do that kind of stuff. Are you sure that everything is fine? This isn't like you at all."
"I was just worried about you, I figured that Sayyora was still at her friends house,"
"Yes, she'll be there for the rest of the week."
"So that means it's just us? I really wasn't expecting this. What should we do?"
"I actually wanted to have another talk, I know so much about you, yet you know so little about me. It wouldn't be fair; so after dinner, can we sit down and have a talk? Then we can have dessert later."
"Okay, I would love to learn more about you."
After dinner, we sat in the living room to have our conversation. I was always curious about what kind of life he has lived, how he grew up, and anything else. I wanted to know what made him choose his career path, I just want to know everything.
"So... I don't know really know where to start. I didn't really go through much as a child, the only thing I really remember that effected me was my father having an affair. Me and my brother didn't really get along with him for a few years, but the moment our mother forgave him, we went along with it. Though, I still have some anger towards him. The affair made my mother have a slight break down; watching her go through that made me never truly forgive him."
"That's terrible, I'm sorry you had to go through that along with your mother."
"It's okay, she doesn't talk about it, but I know it still hurts her. He has no idea how much it changed all of us, I just refuse to show my emotions towards him for her sake. Aside from that, I've gone through some very.... Difficult relationships, it's not like me to mention this to anyone, but my last relationship was very abusive. She was manipulative and even tried to destroy my business when I finally left her. Thankfully, I got away with only a few scars. Something about her just kept drawing me back; maybe it was because I wanted to help her, or that she was just a good manipulator and knew how to play with my head. She went too far though... She said and did some evil things to me."
"I'm sorry, I'm sure talking about that had to be hard. No one likes to remember that kind of stuff. If you want to stop there you can."
"No, I need to get all this off my chest finally, the only other person who knows is my therapist. Please let me tell you this, I know so much about you, let me return the favor."
Part of me felt like if he told me his story that I'd owe him the rest of mine, maybe I should tell him, but it's too risky, especially now. I'll tell him one day, today is for him to vent to me. "If you want to, I'll be happy to listen to you."
Hesitantly, he took a deep breath, this must've been heavy on his mind. From the look in his eyes I knew he was still shaken up over it. I instantly gave him all my attention, I could tell by his face that he would need my support.
"Please start whenever you're ready, I'll understand if it takes you a while to speak on it."
"I'm ready, it happened a few years ago, I was just out of college and my father had gotten me an internship at his company. Since they didn't feel like training everyone individually, all the interns got grouped together in groups of fours, it was me, a guy named Seth and two females, Penelope and Justine. Seth disliked me from the start. He always felt like I had things easier because who my father was, despite the fact that me and my father relationship was terrible at that time. I was given more work than the others as well, Seth brushed it off, assuming that I received extra work as a way of getting ahead of them in some way, instead it was payback for our constant arguing behind closed doors. The work wasn't hard for me, it actually helped a lot when I got hired, but it made me feel more out of place. While we worked, it was routine to work in different pairings just in case one of us didn't show up one day. I was paired up with Seth first, then I got paired up with Justine. She was amazing, full of knowledge, and even taught me some new things; we got close in that week of us working together, on last day she gave me her number. But when I worked with Penelope, Justine started acting weird. Honestly that should've been the first and last sign to leave her alone, but I just thought she was going through something at the time so I ignored it."
Despite me not knowing his father, he was a grade A asshole, I'm sure he knew the extra work would make stuff harder for him, but I didn't want to interrupt him, so I kept my comments to myself while still showing that I was listening to him.
"The longer we worked together the more Justine and I got aquatinted, at times we'd hang out after work to go out to eat or to the movies. After the internship was over, we found out that our group and a few others got hired, my father seemed to purposely place us within feet of each other-- as if it was some sort of game he was enjoying. Within months, Justine and I were dating seriously, she was acting normal and seemed like the most kind hearted person at the office, aside from Penelope of course. The office party that year is where everything about her changed, she seen me talking to Penelope then suddenly exploded in a jealous rage, calling her names, and even threatened to cause her harm, I had to force her to leave and take her home. That's probably the night she got into my head, she apologized, and I stupidly forgave her. It was like a cycle, she'll do or say something, then apologize and makes it up to me in some way pretending she did nothing wrong. The longer we lasted, the worse she got. 2 years in, is where she got physical, hitting me, scratching, scratching, biting, etc. She cut me once, luckily it was a flesh wound, despite everything telling me to leave her, part of me felt like I could change her, obviously I was stupid and blind."
"You don't have to continue.... Please don't force yourself to tell me more, you aren't obligated to do so just because I told you mine," my voice was shakey, nothing prepared me to hear this kind of story from him.
"It's ok, I want to continue. You told me your story which gave me the strength to do the same. I hope I'm not triggering you,"
"I'm a bit triggered, but I can handle it, thank you for asking though. Please continue,"
"We stayed together despite it all, she was deep in my head, gaslighting me, leaving without telling me if she was safe or avoiding me for days. Justine knew I was worried about her safety at all times, but that was her leverage. Months later we were constantly arguing, she threw low blows about my relationship with my father and my struggle of being my own man while also pursuing my own brance of the company I was assigned to work from. When I refused to buy her something, she'd go ballistic, like some type of spoiled child. The final straw was when I found out she was leaking all my business plans to Seth and also sleeping with him. I came home one day to them... In my bed... All she did was smile at me then continued fucking him. A week later she told me she was pregnant and didn't know if the baby was his or mine; when she found out it was mine, she met up with me one day after work, we talked, but before I went home, she whispered in my ear that she had an abortion and that the moment she found out it was mine she made the appointment. After that she gave me the picture of the ultrasound she got the week before she had it done. It wasn't upset because she made her choice, it was just the fact that she told me she wouldn't have done it if I would've kept her happy and stayed her good boy. The smile on her face was sick, like she just done the greatest thing ever. Stupidly after that, I gave her one more chance which ultimately lead up to her cutting and burning me with her cigarette in a drunken fit, immediately I got a restraining order against her, then moved here. Sayyora didn't live with me at the time, I'm thankful for that, it would've hurt my heart if she would've witnessed our relationship."
I've never felt so infuriatied in my life until now, the lows that woman took was sickening and evil, the whole relationship sounded torturous. "I'm sorry you had to suffer through that Quintin, I know it had to be hard for you to talk about that kind of abuse. Has she tried contacting you since then?"
"Every few months she would find my number and call me, so I don't answer any numbers that aren't saved in my phone already, I'm sure she has tried, but I wouldn't know. Honestly, I feel better after telling you that, it's like a weight lifted from my shoulders. Thank you,"
"It's no problem, I'm just happy that you got that off your chest. How are you feeling? Do you need a drink?"
"No, I'm fine, I don't need one right now. You make me feel things I never felt with anybody else, I can honestly say, I love you and never want to lose you."
"I love you too,"
The looked we shared made me breathless, it was so loving, yet so intense. I don't know if I can process it, I'm not use to this kind of look, this kind of love or getting of safety. "I think I might need that drink, are you sure you don't want one?"
"I'm sure, I have something on my mind right now."
Pouring myself a glass of white wine and grabbing a piece of brownie I baked. Curious about what he had on his mind, but not wanting to upset him if he's getting in his normal headset from telling me about his abusive relationship, so I said nothing and kept quiet.
We sat in silence for an extended amount of time until he spoke up. "Can I ask you something?"
"Of course, ask me anything."
"This may not be the best time, nor do I know how to properly bring this up. But I want to protect you, help you heal as much as I can,"
"What are you trying to ask me?"
"I want to know if you'll give me the honor of being my Submissive, I promise you, it's not anything like FSG. If you say no, I'll respect that and never bring it up ever again, but if you say yes, I'll allow you to do some research for yourself instead of trying to teach you myself. We'll move at your pace, whenever you want to try or do something we can talk about it. I just want to show you something different, yet loving."
I was stunned, I never thought he'd be the type to be into that kind of stuff; what would I say? What should I do? I'm so confused.