Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“How is it going so far?”

The sudden sounding of a voice close to his ear almost made Marc jump a foot into the air. Stuffing his hands into his pockets, the weather not arctic but not warm either, he turned to see the principal standing there next to him.

“Well. They seem like pretty nice children.” He turned his attention back to the mixture of his class and others tearing about the playground, seemingly all wholly invested in a giant game of tag. He’d been given the eight to nine year old group, unsure as to whether they were more well behaved than the others or whether it had been a case of first come, first served.

“They’ll all good kids,“ Livio agreed, rolling from his heel onto the balls of his feet, “I think they’ll enjoy having someone as young as you for a teacher. God knows it’s been quite a few years since I, and many other of the staff here, graduated.”

“Are they old enough to appreciate that?”

The other man gave a little shrug. “Maybe, maybe not. But you still have a different way of doing things, and change is always good.”

Marc supposed he was right. Although he was young and newly qualified with a new take on things, it still worried him that he lacked the experience in dealing with children that his colleagues had. “That’s what I’m counting on,” the twenty three year old admitted, laughing nervously.

Livio fell quiet for a moment, and Marc was just beginning to hope for something to pull him away from the situation before it got too awkward before his boss spoke again. “There was actually something I wanted to ask you- a favour of sorts…”

“Right…” Sounds good.

“We have a tradition here, an annual nativity play. The teacher that usually organises it is the one whose maternity leave you’re covering. I just wanted to ask if maybe you’d consider directing it this year.”

On the outside, he may have looked cool but on the inside Marc was close to screaming. In what world would giving the newby the job of directing the nativity play with only 4 weeks left to Christmas be a good idea. “Me? But isn’t it a bit late to organise now?”

“Not really. Adriana has been taking care of it up until now- distributing the scripts and delegating lines and everything. Now that she’s gone, all you have to do is pull it together.”

“So are we talking a small play put on for the other children?” He decided he could probably do that.

Again with that anxious pause. Marc was beginning to realise that Livio and silence meant no good. “Not quite. It will take place in the auditorium but parents will also be invited. Like I said, it’s a bit of a tradition. And the children love it so much.”

In other words: say yes or you will ruin their Christmas. “Well… if there’s no one else that can do it I guess I could. But I can’t promise that it would be anything spectacular.”

Livio laughed. “They’re children Marc, everything is spectacular to them.”

“I suppose…”

Lunchtime seemed to fly after that not-so-little request for the principal and, before he knew it, Marc found himself back at his desk, using the excuse of waiting for the children to settle down to check his phone.

Alex: I hope you haven’t been eaten alive yet

Marc: I’m hanging in there but you’re going to laugh… :/

Alex: Go on, this sounds like it’s going to be good

Marc: Guess who’s been given the prestigious (daunting) task of directing this year’s nativity play that will be performed for all the children and parents…

Alex: I had to step into the bathroom I’m laughing so much. You really are an easy target, aren’t you?

Marc: Be quiet :P It can’t be that bad, can it? All I have to do is get them to learn their lines

Alex: And help pull together costumes. And probably give a speech before and after the show

Marc: Oh god. What have I gotten myself into :/

Alex: You never know, if you ask our mother very nicely then she might give you some pointers

Marc: I can only hope…

Marc: How’s your first day going?

Alex: Good but busy. Kinda what I expected but more friendly?

Marc: And the boss? ;) I’m kinda jealous

Alex: Haha, yet to be determined!

Marc: :( I’ll ring you later and you can tell me everything? I have to go now because I think they’re starting to get restless and I don’t want to lose control of them completely

Alex: Sure, talk to you later! Enjoy your nine to two o clock job :P

****

Phone ringing for what seemed like the twentieth time in five minutes, Ricky cursed under his breath as he looked for a place to pull in. Someone had better have been dead or dying, or else he couldn’t see a reason for harassment like that. Waiting rather impatiently for an old woman to finally fully vacate the spot, Ricky eventually parked up. Just in time for the phone to ring again.

“Aleix, so help me god-“

“Sorry, it’s an emergency!”

“What kind of emergency? I’m trying to get to work.”

“I don’t think I’m going to be able to make it out before 9 this evening. We’ve been landed with this random audit and Jorge is about to blow a gasket.”

Ricky rested his hand against his forehead as what that would mean began to sink in. “Are you fucking kidding me? Jorge knows what’s happening tonight. It’s not like you can just blow this off- it’s your brother’s stag night and you’re best man.”

“I know, but he really needs me to stay. He’s probably going to be there until all hours but said I could leave around nine. It’s going to be fine, the stag is only going to be starting at 7:30ish anyway… I’ll get changed at the office and come straight to the bar at nine and everything will be fine. I just need you to take charge of everything until I get there.”

He honestly contemplated ringing his best friend and blackmailing him into letting Aleix go for a moment before deciding that, in the grand scheme of things, taking charge for two hours wasn’t exactly the end of the world. Well, if it weren’t for… extenuating circumstances anyway. “Fine. Just send me an email with everything I need to know and I’ll steer the ship until you get there.”

“Ricky, have I ever told you that I love you?”

Not often enough. “Please hang up and get back to work so that you’re not any later than absolutely necessary.” That wouldn’t be good for either his health or his sanity.

“Hanging up. Thanks again!” Aleix’s cheerful words of gratitude were the last thing he heard before the line went dead and Ricky once again cursed to himself. As it turned out, today would be infinitely worse than he could have possibly imagined.

****

“Alex.”

Jumping, Alex frowned when he saw that the delicate flower he had been piping on the previously flawless cake was now completely ruined. Looking up, he saw the head of catering staff standing in the kitchen doorway, eyeing him in a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

“Hmm?”

“Uh, you do remember what is scheduled to happen at 11?”

The older man’s words caused Alex’s brow to furrow for a moment before their meaning finally sank in and he discarded his piping bag by tossing it haphazardly onto the counter, causing a steak of butter icing to spill out onto the granite worktop. “Shit!” Almost getting himself in a tangle as he fought to take of his apron, he sighed in relief when he finally rid himself of it, practically sprinting after his colleague down the stairs and into the main foyer where the rest of the staff had already gathered.

Skidding to a halt, Alex slotted into line next to Ana, head of interiors, trying to catch his breath before the time finally came to meet the person at whose beck and call they would all remain for the foreseeable future.

“Cutting it close, aren’t we?” she commented, eyebrow arched and cheeky smile on her face that was so typically Ana.

“I’m here, aren’t I?” was his reply but Alex knew that she could probably hear his pulse from how fast and hard his heart was beating. It appeared he did make it just in the nick of time, gradual silence descending over the staff as a group came through the door, those around him just shuffling with excitement.

Their new boss made his way through the line of people waiting to greeting and welcome him, taking a moment or two to speak to each person. After a couple of minutes, he made his way onto Ana and Alex’s pulse quickened once more, praying to god he wouldn’t make a fool of himself. Breathe, he told himself, he’s just a person, like everyone else… Except, well, he wasn’t; was he?

“… Alex Marquez, our pastry chef.”

Oh shit. All too quickly, they were standing in front of him, the man in question small than he looked on the television and in the papers, but still somehow giving off the impression of being 7 foot tall. Brain failing for him for a minute, Alex felt his cheeks flush when the other man extended his hand, the baker reacting that little bit too slowly. “Pleasure to meet you, Alex.”

Words, Alex, words… “The pleasure is all mine, Mr Prime Minister.” They shook hands, the country’s new leader’s eyes lingering on him for a moment before he nodded before he moved onto Edgar, who stood on his other side.

Once he had made his way through the remaining staff members, Prime Minister Pedrosa thanked them all for their continued work before being led up the grand staircase, in the direction of his office.

“Well, that went well…” Alex muttered to himself, lingering in the foyer for a moment longer before following his fellow kitchen staff back to their stations.

****

“Can we dim the lighting a little bit?”

The light technicians were quick to react to the director’s request, the room getting just that little bit darker as Andrea stood there, almost naked as the day he was born with only flesh coloured boxers keeping him modest as the make-up artist contoured his chest(?) and someone else sprayed him with what he presumed to be baby oil. When he had dreamed about getting his big break in a movie, this hadn’t exactly been what he was imagining. But everyone had to start somewhere, right? And being almost naked on screen paid about as well as anyone would expect.

“Andrea?”

“Hmm?”

He looked up from his now-sculpted chest to find a similarly attired man standing in front of him. What surprised him most was that they didn’t look completely dissimilar and for a moment he wondered whether he, a stand in, had a stand in of his own.

“This is also Andrea. For clarity’s sake we’re now calling you Dovi and him Iannone, okay?”

Dovi probably would have laughed if he didn’t think it would earn him a disapproving look from the hard working make-up artist.

“Nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

“Iannone is your love interest’s stand in, so it might be a good idea to become a bit familiar with each other before we start filming your scenes.”

The set manager muttered something into his radio before disappearing once again, leaving the two of them standing there in identical states of undress. Dovi supposed that he would have to get used to the awkwardness fast or filming would be a nightmare.

“First time?” Iannone enquired, with a swagger that instantly told Dovi that this wasn’t his first time and he suddenly felt the weight of his inexperience.

“Yeah.”

“It’s not that bad, honestly. After a couple of minutes you get used to it. Especially if your partner is hot.” The other man winked at him and Dovi tried hard not to blush, given how exposed he was.

He decided that this would probably be the most interesting job he would ever have.