Christian
I glanced back at Brad. He had the same stoic expression he usually had when we had to talk about this.
Behind that stone cold front, Brad harbored a literal sea of emotions. He wasn't the best at expressing or confronting all those emotions. He never liked to discuss his past... not with me, or even mother. That's how I knew that this was difficult for him.
Unfortunately, the main issue still remained: whoever accessed our files, had accessed this one.
This was quite possibly the worse case scenario I had done so well at trying to dismiss.
Alex and Joan were completely speechless at this point. A series of different emotions passed through each of their faces before they landed on one: sadness.
"So what now?" Brad asked quietly. He was starting to get fidgety. The topic was always a difficult one, and I'm sure he would excuse himself soon to go get some fresh air. We never spoke much about it, but he'd taken up smoking cigarettes. He was always so self conscious about whether or not he seemed anxious to others. Cigarettes, in his words, helped him keep his cool.
Little did he know he know looked like a goddamn robot all the time.
I massaged the cramping that had started in my neck. I really needed to get some sleep soon. The second our plane touched had down, Brad beelined me to the office. I hadn't even has the chance to change or taken a shower yet, but as soon as I saw what Brad was concerned about, I understood the urgency.
"Now we tell mother." I replied simply.
This was a difficult yet inescapable fate. We had no choice.
"...Shit." Brad sighed. I felt that sigh so heavily.
Our mother was going to go on full blown lockdown mode once we told her, but I really couldn't think of a better option at this point.
This would be a very emotionally heavy conversation that we were going to have to have with her. Something Brad and I didn't want to have to deal with at the moment. The only unfortunate thing was that Brad and I knew close to nothing about the past. If anyone could clean this mess up, it would be mum.
"Brad I-" Alex started to say something, but caught himself.
He looked conflicted with his words, like he was trying to choose them correctly.
"Don't worry about it. The past is the past. No point in dwelling on something you can't change. We'll figure all this out, I'm sure of it... Maybe we should call it a night? Start fresh tomorrow morning?" Brad asked. We all gave him a nod.
"That sounds good." Joan replied. Both her and Brad had gotten up first. "Derek was my ride tonight, so I'm just going to call an Uber real quick."
"Don't be ridiculous. Brad would be more than happy to take you home tonight." I wiggled my eyebrows at Brad, and he just rolled his eyes at me.
"I don't want to inconvenience you." Joan spoke as she turned to Brad.
"No inconvenience at all. It would be my pleasure." He replied. Joan gave him a flirtatious smile. They both started to collect their things.
"Goodnight, Brad. Take care, Joan." I gave them a polite nod as they exited the office. Once they were out of earshot, however, I collapsed back on Alex's desk. "We're so insanely fucked." I whispered.
"I'm sorry about Brad... and your mother." Alex started. "I know an apology doesn't come close to fixing this but, I'm sorry." When I sat back up, I noticed just how sad he looked.
"Hey hey hey, it's okay. Come here."
I beaconed for him to scoot closer until he was sitting in his chair between my legs. That gave me a direct view of his gorgeous face. He glanced up at me from my position on his desk, and my legs linked around his chair, pulling him closer. "Like Brad said, we can't change what happened. Don't let that crazy mind of yours spiral, okay?"
Alex gave me a small nod. My hand reached out and my fingers gently grazed the side of his face. He leant into my touch, slowly closing his eyes.
"Would you like to go home with me tonight?" I asked him.
His eyes opened up again at my words. He bit the inside of his cheek, almost as if he was contemplating intensely on his decision. If it wasn't for how tired he seemed, I'm sure his entire face would've gone red from my words.
"Does this mean I don't have to drive?" He mumbled. I chuckled at his words.
"We can take my car."
He gave me a nod.
Alex
There were a few emotions running through right now.
One portion of myself was undeniably devoted towards hunting down whoever hurt Anna like that, and stabbing a ice pick straight through their fucking heart.
The other portion of myself needed to see a bed.
Quickly.
I felt my eyes drifting close as Christian drove us back to his home. Watching the city lights pass by through my peripheral vision was oddly beautiful and soothing. It felt like a light show. The only thing keeping me awake was Christian's hand on my thigh. Every time he lightly squeezed, I forgot how to breath.
I only wished I would have slept better earlier in the week. Now I just felt drained. Joan was god sent for keeping the coffee running the rest of the night, but even with all that caffeine, I could feel myself slowly losing the battle to sleep deprivation.
"Almost there." Christian spoke to me. I couldn't remember how minutes had passed by before he pulled into the gates of his home.
The grogginess came to a halt very quickly. Adrenaline shot through me immediately when I realized something... This would be my first time sleeping over at Christian's place.
"Y-You know we could always go back to my place."
A place where I could, you know, potentially break less expensive things.
"Don't be stupid. We're here. Let's get you to bed." He replied with, then stepped out of the vehicle. I took a few deep breathes myself before following him out. It had felt like years since I'd see his place last. There was an almost eerie feel to it at night, as Christian guided me against the lit path.
When we entered the building, a completely different scene came into view . The home was very well lit. It looked like all the lights were still on.
"Is anyone else here?" I whispered to Christian.
"Let's hope so." He winked back, as he locked the front door behind us. "Nathaniel? Are you in?"
"Oh!" A voice replied almost immediately. "I'm just in the kitchen! I received your message a tad bit late, but I'm almost done getting everything ready."
Getting what ready? I thought to myself. Christian helped me slip off my jacket and shoes, before leading me down a very long open concept living room towards what looked like a kitchen. I saw Nathaniel slipping straws into three large milkshake glasses.
He had made us all milkshakes.
"Midnight snack anyone?"
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