Alex

When I made it into work, I realized just what Christian had been talking about. At the last minute, I literally had to full on dodge two workers who were zooming down the hallway with stacks of paperwork in hand.

"Fucking Christ." I muttered, watching my life flash before my hands.

"Sorry!" I heard Sarah, who worked on the fourth floor, shoot out from behind one stack. I could barely even make out the top of her head as she said a quick apology, and continued on her way. Every floor seemed to be on this whole new wave of hustle and bustle. I couldn't remember the last time I had seen any of our departments working this hard. Maybe it's because this Maverick's deal was the first successful deal we've had in a long time.

When I finally reached the fifth floor, I noticed that this floor was no different.

"Good morning Mr. Hamilton. Christian has set the new agreement documents on your desk in your office. He told me you'd know what to do with them. I'll be located just further down this hallway here if you need me, but Christian should be in within the next few hours." A man spoke as soon as I entered Christian's office. He directed me towards my own office and pointed towards the paperwork.

I remembered seeing him on this floor every so often, but we'd never spoken to each other before today.

I nodded a thank you his way, and started to get settled at my own desk. There were stacks upon stacks of paperwork covering the surface area of the table. I barely had space for my computer. When the fuck did anyone even find the time to print all this?

A little sticky note was posted right on top of the pile, with Christians handwriting on it. It read:

Please complete the doc prep before John Terry arrives this morning. He should be in by 9:45am. Don't disappoint me or I'll have to compensate by buying myself something nice with your bonus money.

P.S. I wish I was joking, but I've been eyeing this new watch for a while now.

I knew this asshat was joking because my bonus would be nowhere near the price of any watch that was up to his standards. I skimmed over the note again.

9:45?!

Judging by the clock on my wall. It was about 8:20am now. How the hell did he expect me to read through these documents in such a short amount of time, exactly?

A knock at my office door pulled me out from my thoughts. When I glanced up, the glass door revealed that it was non other than Anna. I immediately sprung to my feet as she entered. She was wearing a beige, black, and white checkered blouse, paired with these crisp white suit pants and some beige red bottom heels. Her face looked void of any sleep deprivation. I, on the other hand, was sure I looked like the corpse groom.

"Alex!" She greeted me, reaching over my sea of paperwork at my desk, to shake my hand.

"Hi Anna, it's very lovely to see you again." I smiled.

"I just wanted to pop in. Do you think you have some time to go over something with me?" She asked. I glanced down at the daunting stack of paperwork I had yet to even touch.

Not really.

"Yeah, sure. What's up?"

Anna slipped into one of the guest chairs across the table. With one fluid shove, she pushed the neatly stacked papers into a big pile on the side.

Great, I thought. I had no idea what order those were in to begin with.

She then pulled out paperwork from her own briefcase, and laid it out on the table for me. "I'm sure you already know what these are, but they are official non-disclosure agreements. I'm not presenting these because I don't trust you, or your friends... we've just been advised to keep this situation as quiet as possible until we know how to proceed."

I glanced down at the paperwork. It was sort of flattering to think that she thought I knew what the hell a non-disclosure agreement looks like... but I was just the IT guy. No one had ever served me non-disclosure agreements before.

"These documents just state that you cannot speak about the Ivanov Family's personal matters to anyone outside the realm of verified persons. Those persons would include the Ivanov Family themselves, and your friends Derek and Joan. It also states that you are not to have any communication between Vadik Ivanov whatsoever, regardless of the pertaining circumstances." Anna set a pen down in front of me as well, as if she missed the countless pens laying on my desk. I slid the papers towards myself to take a closer look.

Of course I understood why she was presenting these to me... if this situation was to be released to the general public, it could tarnish the Ivanov name. Clearly this woman had put in an unimaginable amount of work for this company, and she wasn't ready to deal with the fallout from her fucked up past.

But there was still something about this agreement that didn't sit right with me. When I checked the legal bindings, I almost fell out of my fucking chair.

If this contract was to be broken, I could be sued for one million dollars?! I didn't even have a million dollars. I didn't have half of one million dollars. I didn't even have half of half of one million dollars. I glanced up at Anna.

"I know I know, it all seems a little bit on the extreme side. We just need to tighten up and contain the situation. Whatever proceedings occur from here on out with Vadik Ivanov, should not concern you, or any of your friends. I appreciate everything you've done and will surely continue to do for my family... but frankly, this is our situation, and we will handle it. You've got your own problems to take care of, so let me lessen your burdens with taking back my own." She pushed the pen further towards me.

I remained silent for a moment, unsure of what to say. I understood what she was doing, but I also understood my own stance on the matter. These were serious documents. If Christian, or Brad's safety was on the line for any reason, I didn't want a legal binding contact coming in between me being able to assist them.

"What if this contact puts me in a situation where I'm unable to help Christian or Brad?" I asked Anna. She smiled over at me, but I knew this one was a less genuine smile than the others.

"I can see you truly care for those idiots, Alex... But I've kept them safe all these years. I assure you, if anything was to happen, I would continue to protect them."

She was being polite, yet I could tell I had offended her in some way. These were her children, and she had already sacrificed so much for them. Who was I to say she couldn't keep them safe?

In my efforts to avoid any further backlash from Anna, I slowly picked up the pen and scrawled out my signature at the bottom of the last page. When I handed her the paperwork back, she quickly slipped them back into her briefcase. I tried to hand her the pen, but she dismissed it.

"You keep it. It's part of a calligraphy set we had made when we first launched Ivanov Corp. it's very fine ink, and I think you'll find more use for it than myself."

I gave her a slow nod, and set the pen down amongst the rest. When she sprung to her feet, I did the same.

"Thank you again, Alex, for meeting with me and signing these. Like I said, we would never wish to put you in a position such as this one. I wish it never came to this in the first place." She shook my hand.

Before her hand could fall from mine, I held on to it a little longer. "What do you plan on doing with Vadik?" I asked.

Her smile faltered slightly.

"We're still unsure... but don't worry, we'll take care of it." She replied. When her eyes glanced at my hand still holding hers, I quickly let go and muttered an apology. "But you have yourself a good work day, Alex. Don't let these frivolous thoughts consume you." She called over her shoulder as she exited my office.

I sort of deflated back into the desk chair, as I let my mind spiral anyways.

We'll take care of it.

Those words continued to ring out through my mind.

Why had it sounded so sinister when Anna said them?

I was immediately brought back to earth by the sound of someone clearing their throat. When I glanced up to see who was now hell bent on using up even more of my time, I froze completely.

"Well good morning, Alex."

"J-John."

••

Hello my lovelies! I'm sure you're sick and damn tired of my ass but I'm here, back at it again to thank you all AGAIN lol.

The CEO's Kryptonite just surpassed 2 million reads. I'm fucking flabbergasted.
I'm hyperventilating.
I might very well die here.

If it wasn't for all you guys, this story wouldn't be possible. So thank you!
Xoxo