Chasing Tide (A Merman's Tale And The Human Who Desired Him)

MR. BLABBERMOUTH.

Chapter: 66.
*****

"Do you eat meat?"

"Yes?"

"We'll have two of the premium French beef and aged white cheddar over multigrain ciabatta, spinach, no lettuce, tomatoes, vegan spread, no mayo."

We would?

Matthew smiled at him. "You'll love it."

"Coffee?" She asked.

"Tea, please." He'd stepped in before Alexander could catch her, and in the next moment, she was gone, leaving them to chat amongst themselves.

"Do you always order for your lunch dates?" Alexander could feel the annoyance bleed onto his features.

"Only when I'm nice." He quipped, offering one of his signature smiles.

"Speaking of which, I'm still not even entirely sure why I'm here. Did you need something?" Besides my foot up your ass? The last bits he had swallowed.

His words must have struck a nerve because he didn't say anything for several moments, as if re-evaluating the situation. Why he bothered to say anything at all was beyond him, but he quickly followed up with, "I mean work-related. Is that why you called me out here today?"

Chuckling, he shook his head. "No, not at all. Actually, I felt bad about these past couple of weeks. Thank you for being so resourceful. I'm sure you must be exhausted?"

"You have no idea--" Fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! He had forgotten for two seconds that he was his Boss. He may have loved him, maybe still do but he's still Falcon. This couldn't end well.

Matthew laughed an actual laugh, his eyes glowed brightly, it was blinding, and it was the first time Alexander had ever been so ridiculously dazed. His eyes lit up like nothing else when he laughed, the perfectly sculpted features of his face managing to look even more handsome when he smiled. This was just pathetic. His emotions were so fickle today.

"You're certainly different." He said softly, glancing over at him. "I like different, thank you, it's more amusing than with any of my previous secretaries."

"So glad that I amuse you," Alexander said without an inkling of inflection.

"I want to know you better, Alexander, well, I'd say I know you to some extent but..."

"But what?"

"Never mind... here," he slid the glass of chilled green tea toward him and Alexander sipped. Oh, God it was refreshing. He almost hated himself for how much better it felt to have this rather than the coffee he had been originally plotting on.

"So, what is this? Is this you bribing me to stay? Scared I'll quit?"

"This is me thanking you. Why, were you thinking of quitting?" He did that thing with his brow as if he were daring him to say 'yes'.

"No, but I'm going to be needing days off soon if you're going to keep working me like this."

"Deal. What else should I know?" The way he twisted the straw between his fingertips was distracting.