BOSS

by Ashley John

  “It’s my name on the door. This is Silverton Industries, not Steele Industries.”

  “That’s your father’s name, not yours.”

  “It’s the same thing.”

  Ezra turned around, leaning against the window. Joshua was still on the other side of his office with his arms folded. The look of entitlement on his face made Ezra feel sick. Why am I trying to protect this brat’s feelings?

  “What are your qualifications? Work experience? What do you know about Silverton Industries? Did you learn all of this while you were traveling?”

  Joshua tried to speak but he stumbled over his words.

  “That’s not the point,” he said eventually.

  “No, it is exactly the point. Just because you’re a Silverton, it doesn’t give you a god given right.”

  “This can’t be legal.”

  He could tell Joshua was clutching at straws but Ezra knew all too well how legal it was. Ezra had waited for Joshua to show up to throw a spanner in the works but when it didn’t happen after six months, he assumed it never would.

  “I guess you’ll never know,” he sat behind his desk, pulling his laptop towards him.

  “That’s because the one person who can tell the truth isn’t here!”

  “Why should I lie?” Ezra logged in, pulling up the security panel, “I met you a couple days ago. I thought you’d be fun to chase. You’re not a threat to me, Joshua. You’re nobody. You’re just some guy I picked up in a bar and for some reason, I felt sorry for you.”

  Ezra hesitated pressing the ‘Call For Security’ button. I can handle him.

  “Was it blackmail?” Joshua tossed his arms out, “Did you have something on him?”

  Ezra couldn’t contain the laughter this time, “Is it easier to believe that, than actually listen to the truth?”

  “You haven’t told me the truth!” he was almost shouting now.

  “I’ve told you the truth,” he pressed the button, “security is on their way up here. If you leave now, you’ll probably pass them in the lift.”

  With his hands by his side, his fingers tightened into fists.

  “This isn’t over,” Joshua snarled through gritted teeth as he pointed at Ezra.

  He watched as Joshua headed for the door. He didn’t doubt it would be the last time he’d see him. Something had clearly pushed them together. London was a big city, so the odds that he’d end up in a hotel room with his ex-boss’s son seemed almost impossible.

  “Joshua?” Ezra called after him.

  “What?”

  “Close the door on your way out.”

  Joshua swung the door wide open, letting it hit the wall behind it. He headed straight for the lift without closing it.

  Happy with himself, he listened to Joshua’s worn out shoes stomping across the tiles. He almost let him leave without saying anything else but he suddenly had the same feeling he’d felt back in the bar bathroom when he hadn’t wanted him to leave.

  After everything, you’re still following your dick.

  “Wait,” Ezra was already running across the floor before he knew what he was doing.

  Joshua jabbed the lift button repeatedly, but Ezra knew how long it usually took to get to the top floor.

  “Don’t talk to me,” Joshua snapped, “you’ll hear from my lawyer.”

  “Really?” he laughed, “So, we’re enemies now?”

  “Aren’t we?” he said, “I’ve never liked you.”

  “What about when you were kissing me. Did you like me then?” he whispered as Joshua’s finger hit the button forcefully, his cheeks burning.

  “We kissed!” he snarled, “Big fucking deal!”

  He didn’t know what he wanted from Joshua. There was an obvious and very mutual sexual attraction even if Joshua wouldn’t openly admit it. He still felt that strange connection he’d felt when he’d cleaned the cut on Joshua’s head but now it felt even deeper. They were no longer strangers in a bar because their lives were now concretely connected. Their paths had crossed long before they had met.

  Ezra watched as the lift lights headed towards the top floor. He could feel time slipping through his fingers when a light bulb flashed above his head, an idea suddenly taking hold of him.

  He knew it was crazy and he knew it was the wrong thing to do but it felt so right. I need him close, if only to make sure he doesn’t pose a threat.

  “Work here.”

  Joshua stopped jabbing the button to let both of his eyebrows vanish under his hair, “You’re hilarious.”

  “You want to prove yourself to me? Come and work here.”

  “I don’t want to prove myself to you,” his eyes quickly scanned Ezra, “you’re nobody to me.”

  Ouch.

  “What about your father? Prove yourself to him. Take me to court because you’ll never win. You need money? Earn it.”

  Joshua breathed in heavily, jabbing the lift button again.

  “Piss off.”

  The lift pinged and the doors slid open. A couple of people walked out, nodding to Ezra and ignoring Joshua. When it was empty, Joshua hurried inside, instantly hitting the ‘GROUND’ button.

  “Over my dead body,” he snapped.

  “Think about it.”

  Ezra jammed his foot into the sliding doors as he handed out his card to Joshua. He didn’t reach out to take it.

  “I don’t need to think about anything,” he looked up to the lights, “you’re not getting away with this.”

  Ezra waggled the card in front of Joshua’s face before dropping it onto the floor.

  “You can make this a whole lot easier.”

  Pulling his foot away, he let the doors shut, savouring the last couple of seconds he had to stare at Joshua’s face. Almost angry with himself for trying so hard, Ezra chewed his lip as he watched the lift lights head for the ground.

  “Did you call us?” a single security guard appeared out of the second lift.

  “Five minutes? Really? I could have been stabbed, shot and raped in that time,” Ezra glanced to his watch, “it was a drill and you failed.”

  “Sorry, Mr. Steele,” the guard glanced to the floor before jumping back into the lift.

  He waited for the lift to reach the ground floor, before calling it back up. When the doors finally opened, he smirked when he saw the card had gone.

  He’ll be back.

  “Joshua, is that you?”

  Still in a daze, Joshua walked slowly along Violet’s hallway and into her kitchen where she was unpacking her food shopping.

  “Where’s Levi?” she glanced over his shoulder as she pulled a bottle of wine from one of the bags.

  Shit, Levi!

  In his shocked state, he hadn’t even noticed that he’d walked out of the building without his best friend. He’d probably walked right by him and Constance in the reception. For the first time in his life, he’d wanted to run straight to family and Violet was the only family he had. He’d had to stop himself from almost heading to his father’s old home to confront him for what he’d done. Does Ezra live there now?

  “He’ll find his way back. He’s like a homing pigeon,” Joshua leaned against the counter and planted his face in his hands.

  “What’s happened?”

  “Oh, Violet. I’m in a fucking mess.”

  “What have you done? What’s happened? How did it go at the tower?”

  She abandoned the bottle of wine and ran around the kitchen to pull Joshua into a hug. He resisted and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, not sure what he was feeling. He was angry with Ezra but somehow, he was angrier with himself.

  On Joshua’s request, Violet poured them both a large glass of red wine and they sat at the marble kitchen island. He didn’t know how much he was going to tell her when he started but once he’d sipped the wine, he wasn’t sure he’d be able to stop himself.

  “So, let me get this straight,” she held her hand up after he’d been talking for ten minutes, “you met some guy in a b
ar and he’s the guy who Uncle Bill left everything to? Why?”

  “I don’t know,” he sipped the wine.

  Because you’re a failure, that’s why.

  “And you’ve known this guy all along?”

  He barely knew Ezra. You knew him enough to kiss him.

  “Not really. I just met him in the bar and we-,”

  “If that’s not a sign from Bill, I don’t know what is,” she gulped her wine, “it’s like he was pushing you together from up above.”

  “Trust me, he’s not,” he dropped his head, “there’s more.”

  He stopped himself speaking and he kept his head low. He knew he’d gone too far and the awkward silence only confirmed that. He jammed the wine glass in front of his face as he wished he could take the words back.

  “More?” she furrowed her brow, a confused smile on her face, “Was it drugs? Did you do drugs with this man?”

  “What?” he laughed, “Nothing like that!”

  He was laughing off her suggestion of drugs, but she wasn’t far off. Ezra had become like a drug to him and he couldn’t explain why. He knew he could try and lie to Violet, to throw her off the scent, or he could just be honest with her about what happened. He could keep using the alcohol as an excuse for his own sake but he knew he’d liked what happened, even if he didn’t understand it. He liked it far too much to deny it, even if it was with the man who had just become his enemy. He’d gone from hating Ezra, to liking Ezra, to hating Ezra again and he felt like he was stuck somewhere in the middle of the mess.

  “We did stuff,” he screwed up his face,

  He stared at Violet but she still looked confused. After a quick shake of her head and another sip of wine he saw the realisation burst in her mind. He watched as her bright blue eyes practically ruptured out of her face. The smirk spread from ear to ear.

  “No!” she laughed, “You’re kidding, right?”

  He slammed the wine glass on the counter and walked around the island.

  “I wish I was kidding,” he mumbled, unable to properly look at his cousin, “He took me to The Dorchester and we kissed.”

  “Just kissed?”

  “Yeah,” he nodded, “it was…weird.”

  “I didn’t even know you were -,”

  “I’m not!” he didn’t even want to hear the word, “I wish I could explain it but I can’t. I hate him so much. So fucking much.”

  He stood in silence, waiting for Violet to respond with one of her pearls of wisdom. She gently placed her wine glass on the counter and walked over to him. Her fingers slid around his stomach and she pulled him into a tight hug.

  “First of all, I love you, you big lump,” she pulled him tighter, “if you like cocks, pussy or both, that doesn’t matter. Chill out. We’re living in a new age.”

  “I don’t even like guys like that,” he returned the hug, “but there’s something about that fucking man that’s just – ugh – just thinking about him makes me so angry!”

  You have nothing and he has everything.

  “You’re a man! You think with your penis but it’s obvious you really like him.”

  “I -,”

  “Don’t try to argue that,” she held up her finger, “only a man inside your head can make you that angry.”

  He was about to protest but it sounded right.

  “He’s not just any guy though. He’s the damn boss of Silverton Tower. He’s the reason I’m going to be broke in a couple of months.”

  Violet’s chair creaked as she sat back down, her eyes darting towards the bright afternoon sun as it hung high over her garden. Just from the vacant look in her eyes, he could tell she didn’t agree. It had always been her way of letting him know when she thought he was in the wrong. Whenever he’d have too many drinks or smoke too many joints, she’d close off. He knew it was because she was scared of offending him but she was the last person who had to worry about that.

  We’re not kids anymore.

  “It’s not quite like that though, is it?” she shrugged.

  “What do you mean?”

  A heavy sigh and a deep drink of wine later and she looked ready to accept his invitation to speak, “What if it wasn’t taken? What if it was given, just like he said it was? What if your dad gave him everything because he knew he’d look after it.”

  “So you’re saying I couldn’t?” he’d promised himself he was going to stay calm no matter what she said but he couldn’t ignore the burning in his head.

  Violet was the person who always held a mirror up to Joshua’s problems but this time, he wasn’t sure if he wanted to see himself.

  “You left him all alone. However you want to look at it, he was your dad and you were the one who jumped on a plane and never came back. What else was he supposed to do?”

  “He could have called!”

  His screwed up fists collided with the counter and he gritted his teeth to stop himself going even further.

  “Could he have? Really, Joshua? The problem was always that you were both cut from the same cloth. He had his pride. Ezra isn’t the problem here.”

  Did that mean Joshua was the problem? Was she trying to say if he’d been a better son, none of this would have happened? If he hadn’t run away from his life, he would have been the one in charge of Silverton Tower. He’d never even wanted the business, so why did it suddenly make him feel so worthless?

  “What do I do?” he sighed, “I have nothing.”

  “You have me,” she looked offended, “and you can stay here as long as you need to.”

  He knew Levi was already itching to leave. He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened his mobile banking app. After tapping in his passcode, he stared down at his balance.

  £10,689.29.

  The way we live, that’ll last me six months.

  “And Ezra?” he stuffed his phone into his pocket, “Does he just get away with this?”

  “Get away with what? We all have to make our own way in life. Maybe this is just his. The way I look at it, you have two options. You can fight this and drag him through the courts, or you can find your own way for once in your privileged life.”

  “Like you, you mean? You’re marrying an investment banker.”

  He knew his words were harsh the second they left his mouth but it was too late to try and take them back.

  “If you’d bothered to call me more than twice a year, you’d know more about Christopher. He was an intern when we met and he didn’t earn shit. We lived in his mum’s box bedroom in Hackney for two years before a big firm took him on. I’m marrying for love, so never get that twisted.”

  She didn’t need to explain herself to him. He knew she wasn’t shallow enough to marry somebody for the money. He just wanted to kick her where she was kicking him; the difference was she was kicking him honestly.

  “I’m sorry,” he scratched his hair erratically, “I’m stressed and confused and my head is all over the place.”

  “It’s fine. You’ve kissed this guy? Doesn’t that mean something?”

  “No, it was just a stupid mistake,” the words left his mouth far too quickly.

  Even as he thought about how meaningless and pointless the things he’d done were, deep in his gut something ravenous screamed out to him to call him a liar. Just imagining Ezra’s arrogant smirk made him feel sick but he didn’t know if he wanted to punch him or kiss him again.

  “Remember what I said about settling down? Maybe this is your time. You’re not getting any younger.”

  “I’m only twenty five!” he laughed, “Ezra isn’t one of those things. It’s complicated.”

  “I thought it was a stupid mistake?” she pouted.

  “I meant that. It didn’t mean anything.”

  She looked like she was about to deliver some more home truths, but before she could, Levi burst into the kitchen.

  “Bro?” he tossed his arms out, “I’ve been waiting for you, again! That crazy old woman has been telling me stories about you for the l
ast hour.”

  Joshua quickly straightened himself up and smiled, not wanting Levi to see what he’d just revealed.

  “Sorry, I just needed to get out of there,” Joshua couldn’t look at him.

  “What happened?”

  Joshua didn’t want to go over it again.

  “We were just in the middle of something,” he glanced to Violet.

  Levi stepped back with his palms out. Bowing out of the kitchen he pulled the door shut with a bang.

  “He wouldn’t understand,” he said before Violet could say anything, “you knew my dad, he didn’t.”

  “This isn’t about your dad,” she sighed, “this is about you.”

  He returned to his seat next to Violet, instantly picking up the wine glass.

  “What do I do, Vi?”

  “He offered you a job,” she rested her hands on his knee, “if you want to prove yourself, this is your chance.”

  “Let’s go,” Joshua dumped his knife and fork on the dirty plate, the burger and fries settling in his stomach.

  “You need something to take your mind off things,” Violet insisted.

  They were all sat in a brightly lit, tacky ‘American’ style diner, resembling something out of an old movie. It looked uncomfortably out of place on the high street of Hammersmith.

  It wasn’t just uncomfortable because of the décor but because of it’s location next to the bar he’d first met Ezra in. I could hardly protest because of that, not in front of Levi.

  “It’s not helping, is it?” Violet sighed.

  “Microwaved crap doesn’t sit well with me,” he flicked his hair out of his face, “it’s nothing personal, I just have a lot on my mind, y’know?”

  Violet gave him a knowing nod and thankfully, Levi didn’t notice. He’d told Levi about what had happened at the tower, editing out the parts where he’d kissed or knew Ezra.

  “You’d never get this garbage back home,” Levi dropped his half eaten burger, “I don’t know how this place can call itself a real diner.”

  Levi had been more than a little vocal about how inaccurate the place was. Violet seemed to have picked it because it was the brightest, most colourful place on the high street but it’s gaudiness was giving Joshua a headache.