by Rowan Porter
“Nothing I say is going to dissuade you,” Sarah said with a sigh.
Sebastian grinned wickedly, winking at her. “Absolutely not, this feels right. Give him a call and tell him he starts on Monday, nine sharp. I’m sure you’ll get a delight out of reminding him not to be late for his first day.”
Sarah shook her head, but stood up. “I’ll let him know. Are you staying in for much longer?”
He turned to the windows behind him, gazing out on the city skyline. There was, of course, plenty of paperwork to go through, and deals to set up through email and messages. His work never stopped, but he knew himself too well. The urge to get out and witness the world had been growing strong in him, and nothing good ever came out of denying that feeling. Sometimes it helped him to simply step out into the world, and let everything hit him at once.
“No, I think I’ll go out tonight. Get a little fresh air,” Sebastian told her.
She snorted softly as she passed through the office door. “Is that what you’re calling it?”
THE SOUND of the ice clinking against the side of the glass could be heard over the soft music and conversation around him. As he swirled the amber liquid around the bottom of the glass, it occurred to him that perhaps he hadn’t chosen the best place for exposing himself to the world. The Choir was a great place if you wanted to sit down and mingle in a relaxed, classy environment with close friends. It wasn’t so great at allowing his mind to slip away from his worries, and lose himself for a short time.
It was a little too late to go anywhere else, however. The clock was ticking away closer to closing time for all bars and clubs, and Sebastian figured he might as well finish his drink and go home. Perhaps in the next week he could actually follow through on his plan, and at least this way, he wouldn’t have to worry about drinking too much and suffering for it the next day.
A familiar voice spoke from his left. “Well, hello, stranger.”
Sebastian frowned, turning to Derek. “Evening.”
Derek’s friendly smile faltered at Sebastian’s cool tone. “Bad time?”
Sebastian turned back to the bar, and his drink. “And where are your friends with the camera today?”
The hesitation before Derek said anything else spoke volumes. “Friends?”
“It was very interesting, how some of those pictures were taken. Particularly the parts where we should have had some privacy, but there we were, exposed for the world to see,” Sebastian said evenly.
Derek leaned into his view, frowning. “We’re both a couple of big names in town, it was bound to attract attention if we were seen together like that, you have to know that.”
“Oh yes, it was going to attract attention, and it was going to make it into print, no denying that. Doesn’t hurt I’m sure, that all that attention and having your name attached to mine, has helped your career tremendously,” Sebastian continued.
“Are you suggesting I had a motive?”
Sebastian snorted, downing the last of his drink before speaking. “If it comes across as a suggestion, then I’m not being direct enough. Yes, I’m saying you had a motive. Your career was hitting a lull, without a whole lot of calls coming in. Then boom, your name is attached to mine, and pictures that shouldn’t have been taken in the first place are posted all over the place, making our little date seem deeper than it actually was. Now, you’re getting calls left and right, and you can barely keep up with all the requests.”
Even with an annoyed frown on his face, Derek’s model good looks were obvious. “I can’t help it if the attention got me work, work I needed.”
Sebastian pushed away from the bar and stood up. “I’m not a big believer in coincidences Derek, never have been. Perhaps there is a chance it was all just a coincidence, sure, but I don’t really believe that. Therein lies the problem, the seed of doubt was sewn, and there’s no coming back from it. Enjoy the attention, but do try to be more honest with the next person you use to gain fame, maybe you can earn yourself a more reciprocal and long-term professional relationship that way.”
Ignoring Derek’s indignant huff, Sebastian walked away. Derek wouldn’t have been the first person to use Sebastian’s name and face to step a little high up their own ladder. That sort of thing had started from the moment Sebastian had shown clear signs of becoming a rising star. When someone was successful and desired, there would always be those who tried to cling to them, attempting to profit from another’s success. Sebastian had no time for the leeches and beggars, and he didn’t want them at his side.
It was, he realized as he stepped out onto the crowded sidewalk, the reason he had such a good feeling about Liam. Perhaps he wasn’t the most qualified or experienced of the various consultants he’d interviewed, but he was the one Sebastian had the best feeling about. Anyone who could be so brutally honest and direct with someone like Sebastian deserved respect. Liam held the promise of being something great, and someone Sebastian would need at his side.
Hope blossomed among the stress and desperation in his head, and he smiled as he made his way down the sidewalk, looking forward to Monday.
LIAM
“Y ou’re up earlier than I’d expected, excited?” his mother asked.
Liam checked his bag for what felt like the hundredth time. “I’m going to make sure there’s no chance I’m going to be late today. I don’t care if I show up an hour before the place opens, I’m not going to be late.”
His mother chuckled. “Trying to make up for the interview?”
“That should’ve never happened, just making sure it doesn’t happen again.”
His mother’s reply was cut off by the sound of the other line beeping. Liam frowned, pulling the phone out of the crook of his neck to check who would be calling him so early.
Liam sighed. “Mom, let me call you back, someone’s on the other line. Might be work, so I don’t want to risk ignoring it.”
“Text me at lunchtime and let me know how your day’s been going, love you.”
She was gone before Liam could reply. Shaking his head, he swiped the answer button.
“Hello?”
“Liam.”
He blinked at the sound of Sebastian’s voice. “Morning, is something wrong?”
“Should there be?”
“It’s still early, I’m more than ready to be on time for my shift,” Liam assured him.
“Don’t worry about that. I was wondering if you could meet me sooner.”
Liam glanced at the clock on his phone before answering. “I can head out now, certainly. Wait, meet you?”
“Yes, I don’t need you at the office right away. I’ll send you an address to meet me at, and I would be eternally grateful if you made a stop on the way. I completely forgot to eat this morning, and I’m feeling it.”
Liam wanted to remind Sebastian that he wasn’t hired as a personal assistant, but held the comment back. In his other jobs, he’d willingly gone out of his way to grab meals, deliveries, and other errands for those he helped. Liam was willing to accept the possibility Sebastian was asking as a favor, rather than an expected part of Liam’s duties. He’d give the man the benefit of the doubt before he started viewing Sebastian as just another pompous businessman with far too entitled an outlook.
“Is there somewhere specific you want me to stop?” Liam asked.
“I don’t need you going anymore out of your way than you probably are. There’s a bakery just down the road from the address I’m sending you. Did you get yourself connected to the business account Sarah sent you the information on?”
Liam nodded. “Yes, no issues.”
“Oh good, I always have a hell of a time getting technology to cooperate with me, ironic, I know. Just use the account to grab me a breakfast sandwich and coffee, oh and grab something for yourself as well,” Sebastian added before clicking off the line.
Liam pulled his phone away, looking at the blinking screen before it went dark. There was something oddly friendly in Sebastian’s voice that
hadn’t been there during the interview. He’d been shocked to get the return call from the frowning woman, Sarah, and even more surprised when it wasn’t for a second interview, but to tell him to start immediately. Now he was left to wonder how he’d somehow managed to not only impress Sebastian enough to get the job, but to earn the jovial tone.
“A mystery for another time, Liam,” he told himself, snatching up his bag and heading out the door.
AN HOUR LATER, and Liam found himself standing outside an old, but well-maintained warehouse. His sense of confusion and wariness disappeared when he rounded the building to find a line of various vehicles parked, including several sleek, shiny ones. Telling himself he probably wasn’t going to get murdered by a fashionable pack of mobsters, he found an open door and strode in.
It was well lit inside, and the sounds of people talking, as well as loud clicks and flashes, were easy enough to follow. When he rounded the corner into the large open space that would have been once used for storage, he found a large photo area had been set up. A cameraman hopped around as if his shoes were on fire, as he clicked away in what looked like a crazed and random fashion to Liam’s eyes. People milled about, with a few of them looking down at tablets as they spoke to the subject of the photoshoot.
Liam’s brow rose, his mouth quirking into an amused smile as he spotted Sebastian under the lights. Liam had turned the corner as Sebastian had been standing there in his perfectly tailored suit, looking every bit the impressive businessman he was. Liam watched as Sebastian pulled his suit jacket off, handing it over to one of the many assistants skittering around.
“I won’t be doing a full turn,” Sebastian explained.
One of the women with a tablet nodded shortly. “No worries Mr. Carlton. Henry only wants to catch a few images of what lies beneath the human skin. Just do enough to be impressive, that’s all we ask.”
Sebastian snorted as he undid the buttons of his shirt. “Yes, I’m sure that’s all you’ll ask. Up until the questions begin once more.”
“We only wish to know as much as we can about one of the most impressive business moguls of this age,” she replied smoothly.
Liam would have been lying if he’d said he wasn’t a little interested as Sebastian pulled his shirt off and gave it to the same assistant. In full dress, Sebastian cut an impressive and handsome figure. Liam wasn’t so proud as to deny that seeing the man shirtless, his tight stomach and broad chest covered with a layer of fine, dark hair, had an immediate effect on him.
Chiding himself privately for getting the hots for his boss, Liam waited as he watched Sebastian close his eyes. For a moment, nothing happened, only a shirtless Sebastian standing under the blazing lights of the studio. As Liam watched, Sebastian’s skin began to ripple and change. Hard scales sprouted along his flesh, lusterless and hard at first. His torso grew longer, as the same sheet of scales emerged from his stomach, spreading out along his chest to meet those on his arms. Sebastian’s neck grew as well, his face elongating, mouth opening to reveal a row of incredibly sharp fangs. From his back, long limbs spread out far behind him before the leathery, thick wings unfurled completely, flapping lazily.
When it was done, Liam stared in awe as the brilliant color and hue came into Sebastian’s scales. The scales appeared to ever so slightly change color as he turned and moved, the deep blue of them catching the light and gaining a bright green overtone. Sebastian wasn’t even turned completely, and Liam found himself struck dumb by the majesty and beauty of it all.
It was no surprise to Liam then, that dragons were so desperately sought after for entertainment and companionship.
The photographer seemed to think so as well, going even crazier than before as he hopped around to find the angle he wanted. It was difficult for Liam to read the scaly features on Sebastian’s face, but he would bet the man was both bored and irritated with the whole thing. The thought struck Liam as interesting, since it had seemed to him before that Sebastian would enjoy all the attention.
After several pictures had been taken, Sebastian turned as he shifted back to his human form. The faint lines on his forehead eased as he spotted Liam standing to one side of the shooting area, raising a hand in greeting. Liam waited for him to approach as Sebastian snagged his shirt, tugging it on as he walked up to him.
Ignoring his sense of disappointment, Liam held the food and coffee out. “Your delivery.”
Sebastian smiled, taking the cup and bag. “Thank you for this, I get so caught up in what I’ve got ahead of me, I forget to deal with what’s right in front of me.”
“Including feeding yourself and getting a little caffeine,” Liam noted.
Sebastian nodded as he chewed through the sandwich. “Honestly? If it wasn’t for the people around me, I’m not sure I’d get anything done as well as I do. I’ve got a head for tech, and a head for business, but I can’t seem to remember where anything is half the time, or where I’m supposed to be.”
“If you’ve got a handle on the business side of things, why bring a consultant in?” Liam asked curiously.
Sebastian chuckled. “Doesn’t matter how good someone thinks they are, they’re not immune to failing due to ignorance or blindness. I know tech, and I know business, but that doesn’t mean I’m an expert in both. Someone like you? You’ll help me with that.”
“You hope,” Liam added.
Before Sebastian could answer, the no-nonsense woman called out. “Mr. Carlton, we’re ready for you as soon as you are. We still have a few candid shots to do before we’re finished.”
Sebastian smiled, waving to acknowledge he heard her. The smile fell from his face as soon as she looked away, and he moodily returned to his sandwich.
“Not looking forward to the candid shots then,” Liam noticed.
Sebastian rolled his eyes. “It’s just an excuse to continue ‘interviewing’ me.”
“Alright, so you’re not big on being interviewed then.”
Sebastian frowned in the direction of the shoot. “It would be one thing if they wanted to hear what I had to say. Doesn’t matter how much I steer the conversation toward the company or what we’re trying to do, they always find a way to bring it back to me.”
“You’re a young, good looking businessman who’s been seen dating some of the hottest names around town and the country, is that a surprise? Most news is nothing more than gossip rags disguised as genuine news,” Liam scoffed.
Sebastian laughed. “A cynic, and sadly, in this case, not an incorrect one. It seems like all they want to know is who I’m seeing now, what the next step for my relationship with this person is. All sorts of hollow, surface drivel that does nothing but get my name and face out there.”
“Exposure is good, it keeps you in the eyes and minds of others,” Liam said.
Sebastian’s lip curled. “Right, and when those people read the article, they’re going to read all about my love life, and my favorite kind of sushi. That isn’t the sort of thing I want attached to my name. Success or not, I have a company I’m trying to build up, to spread across the world and make a real difference. I can’t do that if everyone sees nothing more than a preening dragon who likes to pose in front of the camera.”
Liam raised a brow. “Is this an old wound flaring up, or something recent that’s got you so fired up over this?”
“Both. I seem to be having trouble convincing a potential client to see the benefits of our working together. All they see is a celebrity dragon with a business to run, and worse, he sees one that isn’t somehow being true to himself, not enough passion he said. This is the sort of thing that could ruin Glass Inc., and I can’t let that happen.”
“Hence why you brought someone like me on board,” Liam said.
He could certainly see what this unnamed client meant. There was something preening and showy about Sebastian, even when he wasn’t putting on the smiling show for the world. Just his eyes alone seemed to shine with a glittering light that, for Liam at least, promised a good time
and a whole lot of fun. Perhaps it was the cocky slant to his smile, or perhaps just the roguish good looks, but there was something ineffably alluring and glamorous about Sebastian.
“Well, then that begs the question, why does the flashiness of your image bother you? What did you start this company for in the first place?” Liam asked.
Sebastian’s frown deepened, his mouth turning down at the corners. “My brother. Sometimes…technology isn’t spread as far as it can be, and it keeps some places from being up to date, and the people there suffer for it. My brother was one of those people. If the hospital he’d ended up at had better technology, if their records had been stored better, if their machines weren’t so out of date, and their software so bogged down, he’d be alive today.”
Liam looked up, eyes widening. “I’m…sorry, I didn’t know.”
“It’s not something I share very often. Just as I don’t want people to see me as some flashy playboy, neither do I want people to look at me with pity. I want to do my part to help the world in whatever way I can, whether that’s better medical equipment in hospitals, or just tablets in seats so a mother of two can fly with her children in peace. And I’ll need your help to realize that dream.”
Sebastian flashed a grin at him before crumpling up the empty bag and tossing it into a nearby trash can. Without another word, he turned back to the photo shoot, sauntering off toward the cameraman. Liam watched him go, thinking so much of what Sebastian did was inevitably for show, even if he hated the performance.
He also thought, perhaps he might have been right in giving the man the benefit of the doubt.
SEBASTIAN
He was left with an oddly naked feeling as he stood before the cameras, answering the questions thrown at him by the people on the other side of the bright lights. It wasn’t the cameras which left him feeling so at odds with himself, but the conversation he’d briefly had with Liam.
It wasn’t as if he hadn’t told the story before. As a matter of fact, in one of his earliest interviews, when Glass Inc. had been on the rise, he’d told the reporter almost the exact same story. It was the first time Sebastian learned just how little people would actually listen to him when he spoke outside of business meetings. The reporter, much like anyone else he’d told after that, had nodded, sympathized, and had never run that detail. Instead, she’d decided to talk about the ‘handsome young, single dragon, spearheading a growing business,’ and other such drivel which all amounted to him being good looking, a dragon, and don’t forget, worth plenty of money.
