More Than a Contract (mxm)

Part 14: "No Disappearing, Right?"

In the morning, I feel a strange movement, like I'm being repositioned from being on my stomach to lying on my back, so I open my eyes.

"Mgh," I grumble.

"Sleep, baby, someone's at the door."

"Mkay," I say and hug the pillow, but then my mind is already waking up, wondering what day it is and why someone's at the door, so reluctantly, I get up, go to the bathroom to clean up, and finally exit the bedroom to find some guy wearing a suit looking at me with a frown on his face.

He's young and he's holding an ipad.

"Simon, I told you not to come here, we could have met at the office," Jaxson says, but then he sees me and purses his lips.

I wonder why he's acting strange.

"Sorry, sir," the Simon guy says coolly, ignoring me now. "But the partners have called for a meeting and you weren't answering your phone."

Jaxson groans. "Of course they did, those buggers."

I snort.

Jaxson turns to me and says, "I have to go, Remy, you can stay here if you want, or you can ask Stanley to give you a ride."

"You going to work?" I ask casually, getting myself a water from the fridge.

"Yes," he says stiffly and goes back to the bedroom, where he's probably getting ready to go into work.

I look at Simon, who's sighing and not looking at me.

What's his problem?

"So you're Simon," I say. "Are you Jaxson's assistant?"

"Yes," he says.

"Okay..." I trail off, not knowing how to talk to this person and also kind of frustrated that Jaxson is surrounded by beautiful men. But I have to rein in that pesky jealousy, so I try to be casual and nonchalant instead.

Which is why when Jaxson emerges all clean and neat and professional, I smile and ask, "Can I come?"

"What?" he says, looking weirdly shocked.

"Can I come see your workplace? Just for a minute? You don't have to give me a tour or anything," I joke, trying to lighten the mood, wondering why he looks like I've just asked him to show his underwear.

"Uhh, well, not now. The meeting is very important."

I frown, mentally retreating. "Okay..."

He kisses me briefly on the lips. "I'm sorry, but the new partners are very... specific. Besides, you wouldn't like it."

"Fine," I mutter, stepping away from him.

He sighs deeply. "No ignoring my calls or disappearing, all right? We can talk about this tonight, but I don't have time now."

I ignore him, looking for my things that are scattered all around.

He sighs again. "Remy?"

"What?" I ask distractedly.

"No disappearing, right?" he insists from the door, where his assistant looks impatient and eager to leave already.

"No disappearing," I mutter. "Go, you don't want to be late."

Frowning, he nods and leaves together with Simon, leaving me behind to wonder if I'll ever really be together with him or whether he's always going to hold me at a distance. Right now I would bet on the latter.

***

It's Friday, so I'm not working today, so I spend my time at home, studying the third module of my life coaching program. Focusing on something other than my ridiculous non-relationship feels good. It feels as though every day we make a step forward, then two steps back, and it's getting more and more difficult to swallow. How do so many people around the world have good, healthy relationships and I managed to find someone who can only relate to other human beings by paying them? And how did I even agree to this knowing that it would be the worst mistake of my life?