The CEO

Control

"Eren...your alarm's ringing." Armin's sleepy voice woke me up with a jolt. I turned off the alarm on my phone and flopped back into bed.
"You ok?" I heard Armin's bed creak as he sat up a little "You usually jump out of bed like you got springs on your feet or something."
"I'm fine." I grunted.
"Won't your workout partner be waiting for you?"
"Just say the name, Armin." I mentally rolled my eyes at his shyness "Anyway, I'm gonna make him wait today."
"Hold on." I could hear him grin "Are you...sulking? Did you two fight?"
"Yeah...something like that."
"I swear to god, you're like an old married couple."
"Hey!" I grabbed the first thing that came to my hand- a pillow- and threw it in his general direction. Normally a statement like that would've embarrassed me, but now it stung.
"Eren, don't be like that. Get up."
"Shut up." I groaned and buried my face in my pillow.
"You've been grumpy ever since you came back on Monday, two days after your celebratory dinner. You told me you were going to bring him here that night?"
"Just to watch tv." I mumbled.
"And?"
"And that's it!" I snapped.
"Jeez, calm down."
I sat up and gave him a smirk "When have I ever been calm, Armin?"
_____________________________
Levi really gave me a piece of his mind that morning. But we continued our everyday routine like usual.
Nothing much happened at work. I greeted everyone like usual and sat down at my desk to tackle some spreadsheets and file reports for the boss, who always had something to comment on them.
Except now the boss didn't talk much. I went in his office, gave him a review on drafts and left when I was told to.
But there was something else. Whenever I received new files from his assistant Gunther, I started to see little notes on some pages.
'I need this done before lunch.' One page said.
'Good work on the previous client's company. He looked pretty happy.' My cheeks warmed at the comment.
'Lunch at the cafeteria today. Order quickly and don't wait for me.' I could feel my lips pulling up into a smile that probably made me look like a lovesick fool.
"Are CEOs supposed to do that?" I murmured to myself.
"Watcha lookin' at Eren?" Jean's condescending voice jarred me back to reality and I snapped the file close. He was leaning over me and staring at the file.
"A client." I explained.
"You have lunch dates with your clients?" He arched an eyebrow.
"None of your business, horseface. Why, you jealous?"
"Shut it, Jaeger." Jean snarled.
"You shut your trap, Jean." Mina snapped. It was a surprise to see such a gentle person this angry.
I gave her a thumbs up and she nodded once, like 'I gotchu.'
"Hey, Eren!" Sasha propped her chin on her hand and grinned at me two seats to my left "I heard that girl from distressed debt ask you out after break yesterday. What was her name...Hannah?"
"Yeah." I looked at the curious eyes shot my way. Then my eyes flitted over to someone behind them walking by. With a start I realized it was Levi, probably preparing to meet a client outside.
But no. He paused at the group of desks next to ours to speak to one of their members, within earshot.
"Yeah." I said louder "She's really cute, so we talked for a while."
Maybe it was my imagination, but Levi tensed up. I saw his shoulders stiffen.
"Wait, what was your response?" Sasha looked at me inquisitively.
I pretended to laugh "You're really impatient, Sasha. Don't worry, I'll get to the good stuff."
"Ohh my god..." She mumbled "I thought you turned her down. I always assumed you were gay."
I leaned over to whisper "I am. I did turn her down. You just need to play along."
Sasha's eyes widened. The whole time, the rest of the group watched our antics with bored expressions.
"Yikes! Wild move, Eren!" She laughed shrilly and slapped her knee, which was a bit much.
"Hey, you brats."
The tone of his voice sent chills down my spine. I slowly looked over to him. He glowered at us, me especially, and there was a heat in his eyes unlike anything I'd seen before.
"Your shitty gossip is highly unwanted. If you want a good time, get out of here. We don't want you if you fool around instead of working."
"Sorry, sir." Sasha whimpered. I stared at him defiantly into his grey eyes ignited with anger.
"Don't think you're an invaluable employee here, Jaeger. Stay within your limits." With that he turned and walked away.
Sasha exhaled "Close call right there. What were you thinking, Eren, roleplaying when he was around?"
"You're right." I said quietly "I wasn't thinking."
______________________________________
At lunch me and Levi talked about work or everyday things. I gave him a list of some good movies to watch, for he rarely watched tv.
"Sorry about before, though." I smiled awkwardly at his stern face "I was acting like a...shithead."
"You are a shithead." He put a slice of cucumber in his mouth "But it's alright. Braus was the one making noise."
"Still, I was the one mainly ranting."
"Whatever, brat. I can't scold you for what you said. I've no business in your love life." He spoke blandly, no change in his tone.
"Kind of impossible, since you're like the main character." I muttered under my breath.
"What?" He looked up from his food.
"I said, I'll try to focus more on work."
He nodded, the satisfaction apparent in his eyes "Relationships are fine, but here work is the topmost priority. Try to think less about your partner." He abruptly stood up and walked over to the counter to put his cleaned plate there.
I started at him as he left, feeling a sudden ache in my chest.
"Kind of impossible, since you're all I think about."
_____________________________
He made his rounds in the afternoon and came over to our desks. He talked a little with everyone except me, asking about their work for the day. Then our eyes met and we held our gazes for a heartbeat longer than normal, then looked away. Or at least I did. I was always worried about unwanted tents in my pants.
Moments like these made feel breathless. My mind spun and I had to hold my desk for support after he had walked away.

I told my mind firmly that I was here to work brains and not my hormones as I concentrated on my breathing. Levi had called me to his office and I was standing by the door, waiting for whatever paperwork he was doing at his desk to be finished.
Finally he looked up and gestured for me to come in. I eagerly sat down in my seat after closing the door.
"How are you?" He asked without context. His fingers were laced together and his chin rested on them.
"Excellent." I grinned "What about you?"
"That's none of your concern. I called you because I want you to make an announcement to your shit friends. There's a project coming up to deal with foreign investors for you brats to get a feel of the whole thing, and I'll have to take you there. Of course, don't expect me to be a chaperone."
"Of course not, Levi." I scowled "We're all adults here."
"Nonsense, you're all brats. Here, this is the notice. Go put it on the board."
I started to reach my hand out to grab the sheet of paper in his hand, but he got up and came around the table over to me. He shoved the paper in front of my face and leaned in, so our faces were side by side. I dared not breathe.
"Here," He pointed to something on the paper "Change the date to 12th June. My shit of an assistant made this stupid typo."
I nodded, still unable to speak. He was so close. If I turned my face, our lips would touch.
To my disappointment he quickly pulled back, perhaps sensing my intentions. "I hope you'll come?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
"If you will," I replied back teasingly.
"Whatever, Jaeger. Now get going. I don't have time to entertain you all day."
He turned around to walk over to his chair, but as he did I felt the brush of his fingers on the back of my neck.
Electricity coursed through my body in response to that simple action, and I shivered, feeling the part where he touched burn.
"Levi..." I got up and caught his wrist. "Please..."
"Stop it, Eren." His voice was low.
"I'm sorry, but-"
"Let go." He hissed through his teeth. His eyes were widened in a furious glare.
I had to let go.
I couldn't.
Tears of frustration sprang to my eyes as my self-control started to deteriorate. My eyes flitted over different parts of his body, noticing that arms that I wanted to run my fingers over, feeling each muscle. The chest and his tight abdominal muscles which I wanted to touch more than anything. The flawless hair in a side part, which my fingers had run through only days before. Those toned legs which I needed to wrap around my waist.
God, Eren... The rational part of me spoke scornfully. I shut it down.
"Once." I spoke firmly "Then you can ignore me till bonus day, whenever that is." Levi sighed deeply, "Pourquoi je me sens essoufflé autour de toi?"

"Uh, what?" 

"Last warning." His voice rumbled like thunder and for the first time since meeting him I felt a bolt of fear.

"No.." My own voice sounded fragile. I clenched his wrist tighter.
Slap!! My head flew to one side as red-hot pain erupted on my cheek. I stumbled back, holding my face.
"Don't.." Levi spoke tightly "Don't make me do this."
I turned to look at him, and my breath hitched in my throat as I saw his face. His eyes were wild, an immense amount of pain held in them. He looked like he was about to be attacked. Fists clenched, teeth gritted tightly, chest heaving.
At that moment, I didn't care what happened to me.
He was top priority.
"I'm sorry, Levi." I backed up "This is hard for you, too. I'll wait till I get your permission, I promise."
"Yeah..." He glanced up at me as if noticing my presence for the first time "Sorry, that must've hurt. C'mere."
"No, it's fine." I tried to look compassionate as I smiled at him. "Please don't worry yourselves over this. I'll see you after work."
"For...what?" He frowned.
I looked at him sideways, smirking "You forgot about movie night. You're coming home with me after work."
_____________________________
Levi

"To torture myself even more? Yeah, right." I muttered as Eren closed door behind him
However... just maybe, things would go well.
He had a roommate too, as he had told me, who worked in the same academy as Hanji.
My phone rang on my desk. It was an unknown number, but I immediately knew who was calling.
I picked up the phone "Kenny," I growled "I swear, if you disturb me again...."
The man's next words made me freeze. The hair on the back of my neck stood up.
"Hey... you can't be serious... " I listened to the dialtone, feeling numb to the core.
"Shit." I ran my hand through my hair and clutched it "Damnit."
After a while, I decided to resume work. Maybe after I went to Eren's place, I could figure out what was going on between him and his parents. He had told me about their endless quarrels, but never on the topic on which they fought.
"Really, mom..." I said to my computer "This is more like something you'd do yourself, huh?"
The computer said nothing, displaying a white sheet of numbers.
"You're just another piece of shit in this human's life, aren't you?" I asked it, fully aware of my idiocy.
That's your source of income, Levi. A voice in my head scolded.
Don't let your parents down like that.