talking to him

call it love

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖌𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖆𝖗𝖓𝖎𝖓𝖌𝖘 𝖑𝖎𝖘𝖙𝖊𝖉 𝖎𝖓 𝖆𝖚𝖙𝖍𝖔𝖗'𝖘 𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖊

</3

"you fucking owe me, karl jacobs!"

the brunette takes a precautionary step back away from the shouting man, keeping his head down. ryan has been going at it for a while now, but the hint of a threat is new to the scolding.

they didn't get the deal with gray-price cars and, naturally, since karl was given the responsibility of the entire presentation, it's his fault that the deal flopped.

karl almost finds it funny that the real reason they lost the deal was more likely a result of the owner of gray-price not wanting to pair up with someone who openly harasses one of his workers, but it's hard to be amused by anything when he feels like he's in danger.

"do you hear me, karl? you owe me for this one. you know what that means?"

karl nods. even if ryan isn't being direct, he understands that the older man will be hinting at some form of sexual favour. it makes him feel ill but it's easier to keep quiet and nod along than fight back and make things worse for himself.

"this was a huge deal," ryan starts to pace the room. he's said that so many times now, it's like he's purposefully making himself angrier by reminding himself of what they've lost. the older man reaches out, pushing a pen pot off of his desk and sending it flying to the floor with a clatter. "get out of my fucking office!"

karl doesn't need to be told twice, simply nodding before he excuses himself out of the room. he takes the blessing for what it is, knowing he was dismissed before the violence was turned on him in any way other than verbal.

still, his hands shake.

all karl can think about is getting out of there by any means possible. his workday is already over, so he can leave immediately, but he needs to do more than that. he doesn't want to leave for the night, he wants to leave forever.

arriving at his desk, karl drops into his chair and hides his face behind his hands. he can feel the tears welling in his eyes and doesn't want the last few stragglers in the office to see him crying or ask him questions. he doubts anyone heard ryan's shouting and, if they did, they clearly don't care.

an idea sparks in karl's mind and he sits up slightly, head shooting up.

almost frantically, he starts looking around his desk. under piles of paper, inside books, through his drawers, under his bin. he searches every inch of the space, his mind racing.

but even minutes later, he can't find the business card that the owner of gray-price cars gave him. no matter how hard he tries, it doesn't show up, and he feels disappointment settle in his stomach.

he grabs his phone from the side, one-handedly putting his belongings into his bag whilst simultaneously pulling up safari on his mobile. karl navigates his way to the gray-price cars website, looking for some sort of contact information or a page for job applications.

he pauses, however, when the site loads and he gets a proper look. it is all so fancy. so put together. there are pictures of the offices and workforce photos from staff parties, alongside brief descriptions of the various roles of the members of their team.