________

BRYAN

 

 

The club was everything I had imagined it would be and more.  It was packed and luckily, with Pierre’s connections, we were able to sit in a VIP area and had unlimited drinks.  I wasn’t a big drinker but it was nice to get the royal treatment.  Eva pulled me onto the dance floor as soon as we got there and we danced for what felt like forever.  I was sweaty and needed a break so I went to hang out in the VIP area.  I chatted with one of the girls from work as I cooled down and was laughing at something she said when Pierre came over to us.  Like clockwork, she got up and left us alone.  It was weird the way she did that, almost like he had some sort of magic power telling her to leave us alone. 

 

No one else was around us; they were either dancing or wandering around the club.  Pierre put his arm along the back of my chair and practically leered at me.

 

“Alone at last.”

 

I was so uncomfortable, but I couldn’t be rude to him because he was one of my bosses. 

 

“Yes, we are.”

 

“Tell me, Bryan, how are you liking Paris so far?”

 

I was relieved that he picked a neutral topic.  I could talk about how wonderful Paris was all night.

 

“I absolutely love it here, it is so beautiful. Everything about Paris has exceeded my expectations. You are from here, correct?”

 

“Yes, I am, I am so happy to hear that you are enjoying your stay. I know you have been swamped with work but you really must take some time to see the city.  Do you have plans tomorrow?”

 

I could see where he was going with his question and I needed to nip that in the bud. There was no way that I was going to do anything with him by myself. No way.

 

“Yes, I do have plans. Eva and I have a long day of sightseeing planned and we are getting started bright and early.”

 

Pierre look disappointed but he plastered a smile on his face.

 

“That is wonderful and I know you will enjoy everything you see. Be sure to take a lot of pictures. Eva has been here many times and will be a wonderful tour guide. Perhaps I will join you both for dinner tomorrow night. I will talk to Eva to see if we can make arrangements to meet somewhere. How does that sound?”

 

“That sounds great, it will be nice to enjoy a meal together.” What else was I supposed to say? No, I don’t want you to come with us because you creep me out? I couldn’t do that so I had to just smile and play along. I couldn’t wait until Sebastian came back the next day.

 

“Yes, it will be nice to spend time together and perhaps get to know each other a little better.  We can stroll along on the River Seine after dinner if you would like and see the Eiffel Tower.  It is extraordinary at night.”

 

That guy was relentless.  I forced a smile as I glanced around the room wondering where the hell everyone was.

 

“We’ll see.”  There was no way I wanted to see the Eiffel Tower with him.

 

Pierre gently stroked my arm and I gently pulled it away.

 

“I don’t think that is appropriate,” I said firmly.

 

The cockiness on his face made me want to slap him.

 

“Oh no?  Things are different here, chéri, we are very friendly here.”  He slowly rubbed my knee making his way up to my thigh.  “Don’t you want to be my friend?”

 

I shoved his hand away and stood up. 

 

“I think I better get back to the hotel, it’s been a long day.  Thank you for the drinks.”

 

He looked at me, disappointment written all over his face.

 

“I will catch up to you tomorrow, chéri,” he leered at me as I walked away.

 

I walked around the club looking for Eva and she was dancing like no one was watching.  I stood there for a few minutes smiling and watching her and for a little while I forgot about Pierre.  But I was reminded about him much sooner than I liked.  I felt a hand snake around my waist as someone planted a kiss on my neck.  I jerked around and Pierre was standing there with a smug grin on his face.

 

“You didn’t leave after all,” he grinned.

 

Just then Eva bounced over to us with a concerned look on her face and she gently placed her hand on my arm, looking back and forth between us.

 

“What happened?  Are you okay?”

 

“He’s fine, Eva.  Just a friendly little exchange, that’s all,” Pierre snapped.

 

Eva glared at Pierre and even in the darkness of the club I could see daggers flying from her eyes.  She stepped in Pierre’s face.

 

“You were warned about this once, Pierre, and I told you he was off limits.  Do I need to go to Sebastian about this or are we clear about boundaries?”

 

Pierre took a step back and ran his hand through his hair as he composed himself.

 

“Yes, we’re clear.”  He looked over at me and cleared his throat.  “I apologize if I overstepped boundaries or made you feel uncomfortable, Bryan.  It won’t happen again.”

 

Before I could say anything Pierre walked away and I turned to Eva totally confused.

 

“What was that all about?  What did you mean he was told I’m off limits?”

 

“Sebastian left strict instructions that you were to be comfortable this entire trip and Pierre has a reputation for flirting with the omegas.”

 

“Flirting?  He totally crossed the line, more than once.”

 

Eva was instantly concerned.  “What did he do?”

 

“I don’t really want to get into it, it’s over and in the past. The last thing I want to do is get anyone in trouble or cause a problem between everyone at work. Let’s just drop it, okay? Please?”

 

Eva didn’t fight me on it, which I was happy about, and we ended up having a great time the rest of the night. It was interesting that Sebastian had given instructions about me, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. It kind of made me feel like I was a piece of property and he had not even publicly claimed me.  I decided not to dwell on it as I crawled into bed that night and planned to focus on the great day Eva and I had planned the following day.

 

Just as I put my head on my pillow, Sebastian called.

 

“Hi baby, how are you?”  His deep smooth voice floated through the phone giving me goose bumps.

 

“Good, tired, ready to see you.”

 

“Me too, honey.  How has everything been with work?  Any problems with anything?”

 

I wanted to tell him about Pierre but I knew that it would just make him upset so I decided to keep it to myself.

 

“No.  We have made a lot of great progress.  I think you are going to be pleased.”

 

“Are you sure nothing else is going on?”

 

I wondered why he was asking me that and if Eva had said something to him about Pierre.  I still decided to stay mum on the subject.

 

“Everything is fine, why do you ask?”

 

“You haven’t really been yourself.”

 

I quickly had to think of something to say because I didn’t want Sebastian to stay on the subject.  I knew he would be pissed if he knew about what Pierre did.  I didn’t want to lie to him but I didn’t think that was the right time to tell him.  I decided I would tell him at a much later date, maybe after we were back in the States.

 

“I think I am just excited about this huge project I am working on, Sebastian.  I have never had this kind of opportunity and I do have to stop and pinch myself to know that it is real sometimes.  That’s all.  I want to do a good job and I don’t want to disappoint you or your mother.”

 

I said that with as much sincerity as I could muster, and I meant what I said.

 

“I still think that there is something you’re not telling me, Bryan, but I will let it go for now.  Whatever it is will eventually come out.  On another note, I miss you,” he said, his voice husky.

 

“Me too,” I smiled into the phone.

 

“I will see you soon.”

 

 

~*~*~*~

 

I just finished brushing my teeth the next morning when I heard a knock at the door.  I glanced at my watch and figured Eva was early.  I looked through the peephole and no one was there.  I heard the knock again and then realized it was the other door.  I practically broke my neck as I ran to the door and opened it.  Sebastian looked even more beautiful than I had remembered and it was so good to see him.

 

 

“Sebastian!” I flung my arms around him and held him tight.  “I didn’t think I would see you so soon! I missed you!”

 

He chuckled as he held me in his arms.

 

“I missed you too, honey,” he said as he looked at me and gave me a gentle kiss.

 

He came in and we sat on my love seat and chatted for a few minutes.

 

His eyes searched mine, and then my face, as he took all of me in.

 

“You look so good, Bryan. Tell me, how have the past couple of weeks been?”

 

I hesitated for a minute and then I answered.  “My week was great, we actually made a lot of progress and I am pleased with how far we’ve come. Everyone works really well together, which a bonus.”

 

He furrowed his brow as he studied me.  ”Hmmm, there is something that you are not telling me. What is it, baby?  Did something happen?” He asked as he gently stroked my arm.

 

I didn’t know if I should tell him about Pierre but I was still upset about what happened and I apparently couldn’t hide that it had affected me, so I decided to let him know.

 

“I didn’t really want to say anything to you because the situation was handled, but I had a couple of awkward encounters with Pierre.”

 

I could have sworn I saw a flash of fire fly across his eyes.  No, I know that I did.

 

“What do you mean by awkward encounters? Was he inappropriate with you?”

 

His jaw clenched as he uttered the words and I could see that he was visibly angry.

 

“Well, he touched my knee and tried to slide his hand up to my thigh but I pushed his hand away, and then he put his arm around my waist and kissed me on the neck.  It was just inappropriate.  I didn’t do anything to make him think I wanted him to do that.  I think he’s just used to men falling all over him so he thinks he can do whatever he wants.”

 

I glanced over at Sebastian and I thought the veins in his neck were going to burst.  I don’t know that I had ever seen that level of anger in anyone.  He was pissed.  I reached out to caress his arm to try to calm him down but it didn’t work.  He abruptly stood up and swiftly strode to his room.  I could hear him on the phone because his voice was on 10.

 

“Meet me in the hotel conference room in 30 minutes!”

 

That was all he said and then he came back to my room.  He sat next to me and held my hands in his as his beautiful blue eyes searched mine.

 

“I am so sorry that happened to you and I am going to take care of it.”

 

“I don’t want anyone to get in trouble, Sebastian.  I probably should not have said anything.”

 

“Don’t worry about that, he should not have touched you at all.  I am so angry with him because this is not how we treat our employees, especially the one that I love.”

 

Wait, what did he just say?  I looked at him and smiled.

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes, Bryan.  I love you.  I know it’s fast but I also know it’s real.  I have never felt like this before.  You are all that I think about and it has been like this since the moment I laid eyes on you at that masquerade ball.”

 

My eyes held his as I smiled at him.  “I love you too, Sebastian.”

 

He gathered me in his arms and kissed me.

 

“It is so nice to hear that and to finally say that to you.”

 

“How long do we have to keep it from everyone?”

 

“I want to wait at least until the gala.  We have so much to do before then and I don’t want people to be distracted by gossip.  Once our relationship is out you must be prepared for a media storm.  I have not publicly dated anyone since Jason and the paparazzi are going to have a field day.  You need to be prepared for how your life will change.  Do you think you can handle it?”

 

I winked at him.  “I know I can.”

 

Just then I heard a knock on the door and I knew it was Eva.

 

“That’s Eva.  We’re going sightseeing today.”

 

“Okay, you two have fun and I will see you this evening.”

 

“What are you doing today?”  I asked.

 

“I have to take care of this mess with Pierre and then I have a few meetings this afternoon.”

 

“On a Saturday?”  I said, trying not to whine.

 

“Work never stops for me, honey.  Have fun today.”

 

He gave me a sweet peck on the lips and then retreated to his room, closing the door behind him. 

 

I opened the door for Eva and she came in while I finished putting product in my hair.

 

“Did I hear voices in here?”

 

I looked at her and tried to hide the panic in my voice.

 

“Voices?”

 

“Yes.  It sounded like you were talking to someone.”

 

“Oh, that must have been the television.  I just turned it off.”

 

“Oh, okay.  Well, are you ready to see Paris?” she asked, smiling at me.

 

“Yes, I can’t wait!”