The Closer (18+) ✓

| 7.4 | in the strictest confidence

❝Got no, no chill around you
But I'm trying, trying to play cool
Don't want to rush it on too soon
I'm keeping you around.❞

Chapter Seven:
In The Strictest Confidence
(cont'd)

I awakened to the rude interruption of my ringtone blaring away from the nightstand.

"Hans, phone..." I grumbled, turning away from the chiming. When I didn't hear it turn off, I repeated louder, "Bitch, pick up the damn phone." Again, met by silence, I slapped the surrounding area of the mattress, feeling for that lumpy giant but he was nowhere to be found.

Bolting up in irritation, I tried not to groan at the painful slice of sunlight filtering into my corneas as I reached for my phone. Blinking away the fuzzy spots, I swiped the screen and mumbled a sleepy, "hello".

"Congratulations!" A collection of voices burst through the phone and screamed into my ear loud enough for me to have to force the screen away.

"Um...what?" I rubbed my eyes with the palm of my hand, puzzled. What time was it?

"You did it, Tris! Everyone here is celebrating that you secured the deal!" Francesca's voice had me rebooting to full consciousness. My eyes flew wide open, blinking in disbelief.

"What?" I repeated, sounding even more stupid than I had the last time.

"S'Con's corporate representative, a Mr. Jacob Saunders, sent us their official confirmation." I could make out the buzz of voices in the background and realized they must have me on loudspeaker. The entire floor was there, probably assembled in the recreation room. I still didn't get what was happening. Jacob had confirmed the take-over? After yesterday's curt goodbye, I thought I'd rendered him incapable of confirming anything.

"Tris." I heard the sound of the phone being shuffled about. The celebration died out with the sound of footsteps and finally, a voice spoke over the sudden quiet. It was Tim. "Hey, is everything okay? You sound a little...off."

"I'm fine," I stuttered, running a hand through my hair. A little dazed, I looked around the room. The clock on the wall read a quarter past ten and spare for the messy bed, everything was in it's place. Well, not everything.

"Are you sure? You don't seem as delighted as you would be about closing this deal..." Tim pondered before asking, a little more aggressively, "did something happen with Hans? What did he do?"

Memories of our late night talks came flooding in and a smile popped up on my face. Oh yeah, stuff happened alright.

"I'm fine, Tim. Really."

At the corner of my eye, the door jerked open and in he walked, ever so radiant. Hans entered the room with that suave amble of his, dressed for business in his suit, which was unusual. I also noticed the Starbucks logo on the cup he was holding, realizing with a tinge of happiness that it was meant for me. Tim's words died out in my ears as I watched Hans stride over to the bed, his eyes penetrating mine and suddenly, things made a whole lot of sense.

"Hey, Tim. I'll call you back, okay?" I didn't wait for his response, disconnecting the call and tossing my phone aside, and instead focused my attention on the man I'd wiled away the night with.

"What did you do?"

Hans sat down, passing me the cup wordlessly. I took a sip without question, my insides melting with glee at the taste of the rich hot cocoa on my tongue. I wanted to ask him how he knew I loved hot chocolate over coffee but settled for the more important issue at hand.

"Hans? What did you do?" I repeated, stressing harder on the 'what'.

He shrugged, and stood up, pinning his coat.

"I fixed things."

"How?" I persisted in my questioning which earned me a sideways glare.

"Drop the interrogation, princess. I just got it done."

"And you gave me the credit." I shook my head, setting the drink down on the night stand beside me. "That's wrong. I messed this whole thing up on the first place. Why would you do that?"

Hans walked closer until he was standing right in front of me. Bowing down so our faces were level height, he tilted my chin up and tapped my nose with his long finger as punishment, making me face his serious gaze.

"Because I know how important your job is to you, and I've seen how hard you work for it. You deserve it." I blinked, not used to the gentleness of his tone or the way he smiled at me then...near affection. But as quick as it had started, it ended with Hans letting out an unemotional grunt. He straightened up and beckoned to the bathroom door behind me.

"Now, will you please go shower? Your bee-hive hair is the greatest turn-off on the planet."

_____

Song: Jinx by DNCE

Vote goal: 25

This is a super short part, I know, which is why I updated faster. The next update will be the start of a new chapter, and with it, the start of some conflict. I can't wait to bring in a little more tragedy (cause Hans' back story clearly wasn't enough).

Any predictions on what's in store? Comment and let me know!

The Closer has caught fire since I first started publishing it on Wattpad! We're nearly close to 20K reads and I can't thank you guys enough. <3 Please do continue to vote and comment to show your support. You have no idea how happy this makes me and how much more it motivates me to keep this story going.

I hope you all had a great weekend and a fantastic week to come!