Chapter Text
Trying to keep his eyes trained on the headrest of his driver’s seat, Dani attempted to avoid looking out the window. He failed every so often, and was increasingly surprised at the amount of people he could see through the blacked out windows. His fingers drummed a steady rhythm against his thigh, the fidgeting evidently becoming so annoying that his advisor had to intervene.
“Stop, Dani,” Alberto covered the younger man’s hand with his, feeling the slightest bit of pressure against his palm, almost as if Dani couldn’t actually help himself.
“Better not crease the suit.” It was a feeble response and the little smile that accompanied it fell just short of a failure but, fuck, at least he was trying. He told himself he was used to this, that, really, it wasn’t that much of a step up from his previous position. But that was simplifying the situation so greatly that it was almost laughable. Before there were enough people around him to diffuse the responsibility; now… now the spotlight was fixed solely on him, a concept with which he’d always shared a love-hate relationship.
Either Alberto didn’t know what to say to that or chose not to say anything at all. Most likely the latter given his track record of handing out words of wisdom in his hour of need (then again, that was pretty much the exhaustive job description of an advisor). After all, what could he possibly say in a situation like that?
Cursing his curiosity, Dani let his gaze once more drift to the window and found himself coming up a little short of breath when he realised that they were almost there, having made the same journey many times before but under almost comically different circumstances. Only a matter of minutes and they would reach their destination.
And then the fun would really begin.
Deciding it would probably be worth putting his game face on now, he inhaled deeply, willing his heartbeat to slow a just a couple of beats per minute so that it was below ‘call a medical professional, I’m having a heart attack’. There was no need to be so anxious; he’d prepared for this moment (for far longer than he would allow himself to admit) and he was damned if he wasn’t going to enjoy it after the blood, sweat and tears he and his team had put into getting to this point over the past couple of years. This was his- their- moment, the proof that there really was no substitute for good, honest hard work (with one or two half-truths thrown in there along the way…)
The car slowed before coming to a complete halt and Dani descended into heart attach territory once again. Any moment that door would open and out he would step into a world that bore only a minute resemblance to the life he had led up until now.
Looking to his to his trusted friend, his confidant, and seeing nothing but pride in his expression, Dani felt that little bit taller. He may have been alone for the first time in his career but he wasn’t on his own. And that made all the difference.
“Are you ready to face the world, Mr Prime Minister?”
Dani didn’t get a chance to answer before the door on Alberto’s side was suddenly (or not so suddenly given that they were parked) opened and the older man was left with no choice but to get out, leaving him with but a few seconds to get his shit together.
When Dani finally (and gracefully) left the safety of his car, he saw only La Moneloa standing proud and massive in front of him, the newly elected Prime Minister didn’t have to force a smile.
*****
“And this is the staff room, the safe haven amongst all the madness.” The school’s principal, Mr Suppo, cracked a smile and Marc had to admit that it was a little bit terrifying. He didn’t doubt that the older man was right, but elected not to let his mind wander down that path before he had actually set foot in his classroom. Marc laughed out of pure nerves alone, grateful when his new boss moved on before things got awkward. “I suppose now would be a good time to introduce you to your new colleagues.”
Thankfully, most seemed to be making the most of their morning before nine o clock hit and there were only a couple of people dotted on the various chairs and couches. He plastered a grin on his face as they were introduced, exchanging names and years that they had been assigned. They all seemed pleasant enough, and Marc was content that he would fit quite naturally in with the more experienced of his co-workers.
“I’m sure you’ll be very happy here,” one said and all present agreed, and Marc felt like he really would. Once all introductions had been carried out, Livio led him in the direction of his classroom, so that he could suss the place out and get comfortable before the hordes of children poured through his door.
He couldn’t wait.
****
‘Final call for Iberia flight number IB9835 to Milan, please proceed to gate number 16C for departure.’
Maria ignored the announcement. Her flight, destined for Albufeira, had been delayed for some unspecified period of time due to some freak weather conditions surrounding the Portuguese city. Really, she should have expected something like this to happen; it was just one more big ‘fuck you’ in a year that she would happily have wiped from her memory.
As if on cue, her phone pinged in her hand and Maria felt the anger begin to bubble away inside her once again. That was until she saw it was from her mother and not… him. Even so, she didn’t open it. No doubt news had reached her family that her flight had been delayed, and they were, of course, making a last gasp effort to keep her from fleeing the country for the duration of the Christmas period. This marked the first time she would spend the holidays away from home and although some little niggly feeling in the pit of her stomach told her it was the wrong thing to do, Maria knew that she had to go.
Madrid, over the past two weeks, had been suffocating her. Every restaurant, every street corner, seemed to remind her of him. Her lowering instinctively to the now vacant spot on her finger, its nakedness now that there was no longer a delicate silver diamond ring rapped around it proving surprisingly hard to get used to.
No, Portugal was what she needed right now. When a friend of hers from her college days had suggested it after he’d heard the news (it still made her cringe, how fast it had travelled), she’d been sceptical but now, sitting there with a latte in front of her, waiting for a flight that would hopefully leave sometime in the near future, Maria knew that she had made the right decision.
Just a little while longer, then she would be able to disconnect from everything for a month of self-imposed solitude.
Her only hope? That it would help her in figuring out where the hell she would go from here.
****
“Good news.”
Long past sceptical about ‘good news’ actually meant, Valentino leaned back in his chair as his manager appeared before him, frowning as he caught sight of framed posters that adorned the wall just over the other man’s left shoulder. “Go on.”
“You’re booked for Nick Harris’ morning show next Thursday, prime spot and everything,” Uccio informed him, looking suitably pleased with himself. If that wasn’t an indication of how dire the situation was, Vale didn’t know what was.
“Harris? The same guy that slated me on numerous occasions in the nineties?”
“Well, given some of the incidents, it might have been warranted. But that was years ago. It’s all history now and, well, I don’t really think you have a choice to be perfectly honest. Box office opens in what? Three weeks? If you want to have any hope of attracting an audience then you need to get yourself out there again.”
He wanted to remind his friend that he had done so on numerous occasions, that- maybe- sleeping dogs should be left to lie. But the thought of that… well, it was nothing short of depressing. And Valentino didn’t see too much harm in giving it one last try. “All right, but if he makes so much as one snide comment about that incident in the lift with George Clooney-“
“I know, I know,” Uccio assured him, I’ll make sure he knows not to mention it.”
“And the 2001 Oscars too.”
“Oscars, got it.”
“Uccio?”
“Hmm?”
Chuckling humourlessly to himself for a moment, the actor rested his chin on his intertwined fingers. “How the fuck did we get here?”
Drugs. And multiple ex-wives. “I have no fucking clue.”
****
“Mr Lorenzo?”
“What?” Realising very quickly that he had been a bit too sharp, Jorge put on a smile as he turned to look at his head of HR. “Excuse me. What can I do for you, Alvaro?”
The blond chuckled to himself, not fooled one bit by the other man’s façade. Jorge Lorenzo wasn’t a cruel boss, not by any stretch of the imagination, but get him first thing in the morning when he hadn’t had time to have his morning coffee and somehow realise that the whole business isn’t actually as fucked up as he makes it out to be every night when he’s lying in bed and it was a different story.
“This is Alex, our new intern.”
Truth be told, Jorge hadn’t even noticed the tall man (if barely so) standing beside a smaller Alvaro. Without giving it another thought (interns came and went almost as often as toothbrushes needed to be changed), he extended his hand to shake his new employee’s. “Welcome. Nice to see a new face around here.” Quite a handsome face too, in an unusual kind of way…
Alex returned the gesture enthusiastically, with intensity in his eyes that alarmed the self-made business man just a little bit. “Thank you very much, sir. I’m very excited to be working here.”
“Jorge will do; I can’t remember the last time someone called me sir. I hope you’re eager to learn.”
“Most definitely. I can’t wait to get stuck into things.”
I’ll bet. Giving a small nod, Jorge smiled once again. “Well then, I won’t keep you. I’m sure that Alvaro has lots of fun induction awaiting you.”
“That’s true, I’ve pulled out all the big ones for your first day, starting with an exclusive look at our file management system.”
Inching towards his office that was only a matter of feet away, Jorge chuckled. “Alvaro, if you come across Aleix would you tell him that I’d like a word?”
“Absolutely,” he nodded dutifully before guiding their new addition away, stopping along the way to introduce him to others bustling about the place.
Retreating to his little safe haven, the CEO shrugged off his jacket, while balancing his thankfully still piping hot Starbucks cup, and hung it on the back of the door before making the short but familiar journey around the other side of his desk. After placing his coffee down next to his laptop, he unlocked his computer, scrunching his nose up when he saw that he’d gotten 70-plus emails since leaving the office the day before. Usually he kept on top of them but, well, he had been busy keeping on top of something else entirely the previous night.
As if on cue, his eyes roamed to the spot far right hand corner of his desk that homed a picture of himself and his husband on their wedding day, not too long ago. Another smile flickered on his face before he decided to knuckle down and get started on replying to all of these, so that he had some chance of actually getting out for lunch today.