Author's Note: Long chapter because I didn't want to split this up.
I hope you're all still enjoying this story as much as I am. I have lots of things planned but I can't expand on it more until I have certain later chapters written.
Either way this story won't be ending anytime soon, and I hope you all continue to enjoy it.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the second night Ethan was doing overtime, and with the extra hours he was putting into his work, Ethan was feeling useful.
The showcase was planned for next week and Ethan had spent the last 2 days sending emails to large corporations and businesses. Ethan was now working on hiring a catering company at last minute to serve champagne and canapés.
Being the only other person in the office, Harrison was in disbelief as he leaned on Ethan's office door. "Mr Shelton... Pulling another all nighter?"
"Not the fun kind," Ethan laughed. "You heading home?"
Harrison joined Ethan in his office as he took a seat opposite the COO. "Kristen is making dinner tonight. So I need to grab something to eat before I get home."
Ethan knew his sister was a terrible cook as he vividly remembered her last attempt at a chicken and lentil curry. Luckily Ethan saw that some of the chicken was still raw, but unfortunately all of it ended up on the table and not on the plate.
"Is Thomas not around?" Harrison couldn't find the bodyguard in the nearby vicinity, and he knew the bodyguard would usually be around somewhere.
"Don't know, don't care."
Harrison tilted his head at Ethan with a weird look on his face. When Ethan didn't acknowledge it, Harrison didn't dig deeper as he shrugged his shoulders whilst making his way towards the door.
"See you tomorrow." Ethan said as he bid farewell to Harrison. Harrison then waved goodbye to Ethan as he walked towards the elevator.
Ethan looked outside the window, and he could see all the stars twinkling away at him. He looked at his watch and saw how late it was getting, so Ethan let out a tired groan as he planned to finish getting his work done.
~~~~~~~~~~
About an hour later and Ethan was in the middle of a phone call when the lights began to flicker. When he peeked out of the window in his office, Ethan could have sworn he saw an odd shadow leaving the elevator.
Eerie noises came from the blinking overhead lights as Ethan's vision was mixed with the moonlight, and the darkness inside the building. There was absolute silence on the empty office floor - except the sound of 2 different sets of breathing.
Ethan reached out for the baseball bat that he's recently been keeping under his desk. Ethan hung up the phone call as he peeked his head out of the door. He then prepared his stance as he was getting ready to swing.
Just as Ethan stepped one foot outside of his office, he felt himself get pushed off his feet and up against the door. Ethan wasn't able to swing as he was easily disarmed, with the bat dropping onto the ground and the sound of it being the only thing heard in the office.
The unknown figure reached for the lights in Ethan's office and turned them on. Ethan saw the man's face, and Ethan instantly punched the man's chest.
"What the fuck?!"
"Did I scare you?" Thomas beamed at Ethan as he let go of the COO. "Just trying to keep you vigilant."
Ethan moved on to punch Thomas in the arm as he let out his frustration. Thomas took what felt like a deserved amount before stepping out of Ethan's reach.
Ethan berated the bodyguard with a few huffs, before and after he spoke. "If you were my employee then you would so be fired right now."
Hearing what Ethan said made Thomas lace his smile with sarcasm. "So are you finally acknowledging that you didn't hire me?"
"You're still fired."
Thomas continued to laugh as he watched Ethan move behind his desk. "What did we just talk about?"
From the corner of his eyes, Ethan saw Thomas turn the remaining lights in the office back on. Thomas then walked back to sit in the empty spot in front of Ethan. The bodyguard was making himself comfortable, and that's when Ethan asked him about his need to come here tonight.
"Even if it's still boring office work, then I'm going to keep you company." Thomas reiterated as he took his phone out as a distraction. "You do your work, and I'll just look at random videos online."
This was the routine that they kind of settled in whenever Ethan truly did have work to do. Last night was boring for Ethan because it was one of those nights, but Thomas never complained about it - not one bit.
Both of them only had a couple of minutes of doing their own thing, because all of the lights were suddenly turned off again. Ethan's office was now the only source of light, with their devices blinding them as they were surrounded by darkness.
Ethan could barely see Thomas look around them when he rolled his eyes at the bodyguard. "Nice prank Tommy boy. Great acting by the way, is this when I cry for help?"
Thomas looked back at Ethan with a worrying and slightly nervous look. "This wasn't me."
Thomas acted on impulse as he turned all of the devices off. He ignored Ethan's annoyed look as he then dragged the man under his desk.
"What are you-"
Thomas quickly covered Ethan's mouth so that he would finally stop talking for once. He kept his hand over Ethan's face as he trusted his own instincts, and listened out for anything outside the room they were hiding in.
Chaos filled the room as several large men cane swinging by with steel baseball bats. Glass doors were shattered by the swinging force of the bats, tables and chairs were knocked across the room, and heavy footsteps were treading on the now broken glass.
Huddled in a dark room down the corridor, Ethan aggressively forced away the strong hand that was covering his mouth with a frustrated look.
Hiding behind his desk, Ethan rolled his eyes at the smug bodyguard crouched besides him. "Maybe everyone's right..."
Thomas smirked as he peeked past Ethan's desk to scout the intruders. Nobody was in sight, but Thomas could still hear them all destroying the office.
"So... Am I hired now?"
Ethan ignored Thomas' rhetorical question as he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart. With the building being up to date with its security system, there was no doubt in Ethan's mind that this attack in the office was deliberate.
Thomas came to the same conclusion as he then read Ethan's face. Seeing the flash of anxiety on Ethan, Thomas did his best to reassure the man next to him. "We're going to get out of here safe, alright?"
A man's voice echoed through the floor as the office continued to be demolished by the intruders. "Mr Shelton! We know you're in here, we've got some unfinished business to attend to!"
Ethan didn't know what was coming over him, but he froze. Hearing the destruction around him suddenly made him realise how serious everything was, and Ethan didn't know what to do.
They were trapped from reaching the escape route, they were outnumbered by people with weapons, and Ethan felt powerless to do anything about it.
"Hey," Thomas whispered. He saw that Ethan wasn't in the zone as the man's expression showed that he was petrified. "Stay here with me Ethan. Just follow my lead, and everything will be okay. You got that?"
Thomas had to grab Ethan's arm and shake it when he didn't respond. He was finally met by Ethan's overwhelmed eyes, as Ethan finally acknowledged Thomas by nodding his head.
"I think I scouted 4 men with us, and they're all armed with bats." Thomas pointed out. "We should just sneak down the stairs and get you to safety."
Ethan felt like he had his tongue caught in his throat as he barely nodded his head once. He swallowed his nerves as he decided to trust the bodyguard that was hired to protect him.
##########
*Scenes of violence from this point onwards.
##########
Both of them kept themselves low on the ground as they crept towards the door. Thomas was the one to peek his head first, and he tried to scan the whereabouts of the 4 men he saw earlier.
Thomas ran towards the nearest cubicle and tried to remain hidden. When he felt like the coast was clear, he signalled for Ethan to join him.
Ethan peeked his head out after he joined the crouched Thomas. He only saw 1 man standing by the elevator, while the other 3 were a mystery.
"Think we should take him out and use the elevator instead?" Ethan whispered.
Thomas nodded his head as he started to rush the man guarding the elevator. As Ethan began to follow Thomas, he noticed 2 more men coming into the room.
Ethan reacted by pulling Thomas back before the other 2 men saw them. But as he pulled the bodyguard back, Ethan accidentally knocked down a computer screen on the desk behind them.
Neither of them had time to respond because the men were approaching the sound of the dropped computer screen. Once they saw Ethan in his hiding spot, they tunnel visioned on him as they began to charge at Ethan.
This was a massive mistake because Thomas immediately rugby tackled 2 of the men who were running in a line. Thomas went head first as his shoulder rammed the first guy, with the second guy being knocked down by the aftermath.
Thomas was never trained to kill as a bodyguard. The power and strength he had was to subdue any attackers he was facing, and to do it effectively and efficiently.
Thomas stole the bat that one of them was holding, and used it to bludgeon him with the backend of it. With the one guy huddling his sides in pain, Thomas flipped the bat in the air as he then used the end of it to strike the man's leg - making him crumble to the floor as well.
Ethan was forced to face the third intruder as he was lifted by the man who was twice his size. Ethan felt like he was levitating because he was lifted off the ground with ease. He then felt like he was a basketball because he was eventually thrown against the wall.
With his 2 men temporarily out of the equation, Thomas shifted his attention and was able to see the third man throw Ethan through his office window.
Ethan was lying on the broken shards of glass, and Thomas could see several cuts and bruises appearing on Ethan.
Thomas intercepted the man approaching Ethan by throwing a nearby stapler at the man's head. When the attention was focussed on him, Thomas made his move and swung the bat at him.
The man dodged Thomas as he then elbowed Thomas in the jaw. He took advantage of Thomas stumbling back by kneeing him in the stomach, and punching Thomas' head down and towards the ground.
Thomas was losing his grip on reality as he fell onto the floor. The other 2 men got up from the ground, and started to kick Thomas whilst he was down.
Ethan felt the shards of glass against his hands as he tried to push himself up. The sound of the scraping glass was piercing, and Ethan ignored the sight of his own blood that was scattered on the floor.
Grabbing a rogue shard of glass, Ethan plunged it into the towering man that threw him through the window.
Thomas mustered up some strength and yanked someone's ankle - making him drop onto the floor. He continued to absorb the end of one man's boot as Thomas began to relentlessly pummel the man he dragged down.
Meanwhile Ethan let go of the shard that was plunged into the man's stomach, and jumped onto his back instead. He then used gravity to drag the bigger man down, and that was when Ethan continued to beat the man that attacked him first.
In the midst of this, Ethan felt himself get dragged away again. The fourth attacker entered the scene and threw Ethan off the stabbed man, flinging Ethan by swinging them both in a 180° direction.
Ethan's partially bloodied face was now coloured all over with red as he was placed in a chokehold. The grip on his throat was like a boa constrictor, and Ethan panicked as he tried to flail himself free.
Thomas saw that Ethan was quickly losing consciousness. As quick as a heartbeat, Thomas knocked out the 2 men he was fighting. Thomas stepped over the stabbed man, as he then head butted the man choking Ethan.
Ethan gasped for air when he was free, and he was breathing heavily because he was finally catching his breath.
Thomas continued to attack the last man standing by uppercutting him in the jaw. Thomas then grabbed him on the shoulders so he could knee him in the ribs. The bodyguard finished it off by dropping a nearby computer screen onto the back of the man's head.
The scene around then was a complete bomb site because the office was destroyed. Thomas looked at 4 men on the ground, and double checked to make sure they were all passed out.
Thomas then turned to Ethan and saw how he was holding his bruised neck. He saw Ethan shaking like a leaf as his breathing was still unstable.
Thomas carefully reached out to Ethan so that he didn't shock the COO. When Ethan woke up from his trance, Thomas tried his best to give him a look that sent out a calming, reassuring, and comforting aura.
Ethan seemed to silently clock on as he nodded at Thomas, and offered him the weakest smile he managed to muster up.
Both of them were silent as Ethan let himself get dragged into the elevator. They both left together as they escaped the nightmare that tried to end up hurting Ethan permanently.
~~~~~~~~~~
Thomas' legs couldn't hold him up anymore as he was on the verge of collapsing. Stepping out of the Shelton building, all of his adrenaline wore off as his injuries caught up with him - he could feel every punch, every kick, and every other beating he took on his entire body.
Ethan blocked out his own pain as he put his arm around the bodyguard, and held him up as they walked. Thomas leaned his weight into Ethan as Ethan carried them to the grand fountain that was in front of the Shelton building.
Ethan helped Thomas rest by setting him down in front of the fountain. Once he let go of Thomas, Ethan joined him by sitting next to him.
Both of them were still breathing roughly, and they were both holding the parts of their bodies that took a severe beating.
Thomas looked at the shaken Ethan and saw that one of his arms didn't look right. Thomas pointed it out to Ethan as he told him, "I think I need to reset your shoulder."
Ethan's arm was grabbed, without the chance for what happens next to be stopped. "Have you ever-"
In an instant Thomas quickly reset Ethan's dislocated shoulder. Ethan quickly screamed as he felt his body shifting back to place. Thomas then took his jacket suit off and used it to make a sling for Ethan.
"Yes I have," Thomas answered. "Keep this sling on until we get it checked out."
"Thank you."
"There is a slight chance I made your arm worse," Thomas laughed. "But I'm pretty confident since I've done this plenty of times."
"I didn't mean for that." Ethan coughed slightly so that he would get Thomas' attention. Once the bodyguard was looking at him, Ethan gave him a genuine token of appreciation. "Thank you for protecting me tonight. And thanks for saving me."
Thomas nodded his head as he felt the sincerity from the previously resistant COO. "I'm just doing my jo-"
"You saved my life."
Ethan looked at Thomas and softly smiled at him. There were so many others things going through Ethan's mind right now, but the main one was how awful he had been treating the bodyguard.
Trust was finally established between the two of them as Ethan felt like he could truly be safe around the bodyguard.
Ethan felt like he needed to make amends with Thomas after pushing him away so much. Tonight showed him why he needed the bodyguard's help, and Ethan was now eternally grateful for everything Thomas has been doing for him recently.
"So... Fresh start Tommy?"
==========