"A lifetime of happiness? No man alive could bear it; it would be hell on earth." - George Bernard Shaw

+++

Caden's POV

"Print these files." Silas hands me his laptop plastered with dozens of word documents opened that need to be signed.

"Um, okay." He turns to walk away but I call him back. "Where's your printer?"

He points behind him, where a massive printer is placed on a small desk.

Right. Why didn't I see that?

Because you're stupid.

I nod before turning back to the computer, clicking a few buttons and pressing print.

Right now, I'm in Silas's office.

Like the rest of his penthouse, it has dark colored walls with a wooden desk against a wall, a couch placed behind it.

There's a TV right above the desk which is weird to me. How are you supposed to watch TV while sitting at your desk when it's right above your head.

I mean, I guess it's meant to be watched while sitting on the couch since the couch has a perfect view of the TV-

"Wilson!!" I yelp in surprise.

"Did you hear a word I just said?" His eyes are blazing with annoyance and I gulp the lump lodged in my throat.

"Um, no sir. I'm sorry... Sir." I look down at the ground.

Dang it, why did you have to zone out, Caden?!

"If you're not going to pay attention when I'm talking, I might as well just fire you right now." His words cut through me like a dagger and I feel my heart descending from my chest.

No, no, no. I cannot be fired.

I need this job.

I don't wanna get beat again.

I don't want to be homeless.

God, I'm such an idiot.

Yeah, you are.

I don't realize it, but my breathing has gone heavy and tears sting the corners of my eyes as I imagine Cole again, belt in hand, slashing my back.

Please don't fire me.

"Are you alright, Wilson?" I'm startled to see Silas right next me, his hand placed on the small of my back as I silently allow tears to roll down my cheeks.

I didn't even realize I was crying.

No, Caden! Wipe those tears away! He will not make you cry!

I take a deep breath and look up at him, mustering up the strongest voice I can make and say, "I'm fine." He looks taken aback at my sudden change but I don't let him respond. "Excuse me, Mr. Sanders."

I calmly walk out of his office, taking care not to examine anything in his penthouse. I will not be impressed by him.

I don't know what got me all riled up but I suddenly feel angry.

I just got lost in my thoughts. Hasn't anybody done that once in his life? "I'm sure he has," I grumble to no one.

But no, he just has to threaten to fire me as if I just committed a felony.

Why does he have such a short fuse? And Jesus, his mood changes every five minutes that it gives me whiplash. One moment, he's glaring at me at dinner, and the next, he has me cradled under his arm.

Why was he acting so strange at the restaurant?

I recall his fingers digging into my thigh as he stared down at Philip.

My thigh ached by the time he released my leg, and I silently rubbed his nail imprints with my hand underneath the table. He didn't notice as he was too busy eating his dinner.

Then suddenly, he has his arm wrapped around my waist and my chair is pulled toward his.

I recall his enthralling cologne as his fingers gently squeezed my waist.

It was the strangest thing in the world. I suddenly started feeling this thing in the pit of my belly.

I can't describe it but it was weird. It felt like a million birds just erupted in my stomach and I didn't like it one bit. I squirmed under his touch but he didn't budge, instead tightening his grip on me even more.

By that time, I had completely lost my appetite, and opted instead to just pick at my food. I don't even remember what it was called, something in French probably, but it no longer interested me.

That was until Silas's husky voice met my ear as he demanded that I eat my food.

I took no hesitation, groveling down my food as fast as possible. Yeah, he didn't like that either.

God, what does he like??

It seems everything I do is never good enough for him.

And then, to my surprise, Philip asked me out to lunch.

I don't know what made me even respond to him.

I could clearly tell that Silas wanted me to walk away, but for some reason, I replied. And said yes.

It may surprise you to know that not a lot of guys like me. Not a lot of anyone likes me. It may be my social anxiety or the fact that I have to work 24/7 to afford rent. Who knows?

I make my way to the kitchen, and after a few strolls through his hallway, I find the bathroom.

I cup my palms over the faucet, collecting a good amount of water and splash it into my face.

I look up in the mirror. My nose is slightly red and my eyes look tired but other than that, I think I look fine.

I think.

I take a few minutes to control my breathing and calm my emotions down before making my way to his office again.

He will not make you cry!

I knock on the closed door and wait.

No response.

I knock again.

After about five minutes, my head starts to turn. What is going on in there?

"Um, Mr. Sanders, sir?" I call out but no response.

After a couple of minutes, the door swings open and I am faced with a calm Silas looking down at me with emotionless eyes.

"Next time, actually do your job." His hand clutches a stack of papers. I nod, thankful that I'm not getting fired. This time.

I take the papers and wait for further instructions.

He strides back into his office, me trailing behind him as he says, "Take my laptop and email Mr. Harrington." he gestures to the laptop on his desk and I quickly scoop it into my hands and take a seat on his couch.

"Write everything I am saying in that email." He sits at his own desk, directly facing me as he staring down into my eyes.

Then he begins to talk. And I begin to type.

Admittedly, it was quite hard to keep up with his fast talking, but thanks to my high school days, I was able to keep up quite nicely.

By the time I type the last letter, I look up to find him still staring back at me. "I'm done," I whisper.

"If you are going to be my assistant, you must learn to raise your voice when talking to me. I will not deal with mumbles."

"I'm done," I say a little louder, but he doesn't seem satisfied by that.

He rolls his eyes and walks toward me, eyeing the email on the screen. He doesn't say anything other than, "Well, what are you waiting for? Send it."

I click send, proud of myself that I was able to do one thing right.

A small grin spread onto my face.

The rest of the night goes by in a blur, with Silas ordering me to print files or send emails, make appointments, reservations, read resumes. At around 2 am, he had me run to the local 7/11 to buy him a pack of gun.

"Get back here in 7 minutes." He brought his watch to his eyes and began counting. "1, 2, 3, 4."

I was confused at first before I bolted out of his penthouse, running to the nearest 7/11 and grabbing a pack of gum.

It was when I was right in front of the cashier that I realized I didn't bring any money.

I sighed in frustration.

"What's wrong, honey?" The sweet, cashier lady, probably around her late thirties up at me, asked me, assessing my attire.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that I was still in my mother's dress. I was working nonstop in this dress, and it began to get very uncomfortable. But I had no time to complain as Silas gave me another task to complete.

"I need to buy my boss gum, but I forgot to bring money," I sigh.

I felt absolutely defeated because I knew he was going to scold me about the importance of gum and blah blah blah.

"Your boss really needs gum that bad?" She senses my mood and looks slightly confused.

"Yes. And he's timing me right now. If I don't get it back to him in the next three minutes..." I trail off, not wanting to think about it anymore.

The cashier sighs, then putting the gum into my hand, says, "Don't worry. I'll cover it." My face breaks into a smile and I give the cashier a bear hug across the counter.

She's a bit startled before returning the hug. I bolt out of the gas station, yelling a quick thank you, and sprinting back into the hotel.

When I make it back to his office, I slam the gum onto his desk. He looks up at me with a bored expression, checking his watch and stating, "9.7 seconds late." I gape at him in disbelief, no doubt my cheeks burning a crimson red as he looks back to his computer. "I expect my employees to deliver assignments on time."

I was exhausted by the time I sat back down at the couch, having just made Silas his fifth cup of coffee. "This one is way too sweet," he comments.

I made all the coffees exactly the same, however, the all knowing Silas was able to find something wrong with them.

"Too much water, not enough coffee."

"Too much coffee, not enough water."

"My god, Wilson, my teeth nearly rotted from all the sugar you added."

I lay my head against the wall and close my eyes for just a second, taking a much needed break.

Ahhh this feels nice.

Wake up, Caden.

Nope.

Wake up, Caden.

No.

WAKE UP, CADEN!!!

+++

I groggily open my eyes.

Light is shining through a window and I slam my palms to my eyes.

I take a deep breath.

Wait a minute.

Wait one minute.

This doesn't smell like my apartment.

My apartment reeks of beer that it just explodes into your face the minute you step foot into it.

It smells clean, with a hint of lemon.

I jump up from where I'm laying and find that I'm still in Silas's office.

What?

I must've fallen asleep accidentally.

Why didn't Silas wake me up?

I look down and notice that I'm still in my dress from the night before.

Now don't get me wrong, I love my mother's dresses, however, I've spent hours in this dress, and all the I want to do is rip it off of my body.

Okay, not rip. More like gently shake it off my body and fold it neatly, and placing it safely back into my closet.

I walk out of the office, feeling a bit dazed and tired.

Silas is no where in sight. Probably sleeping.

I stop short in front of the living room, where to my surprise, a grand piano is located.

How did I not notice this last night?

My hand itches to touch the keys. To feel the smooth black surface, to press down onto the keys and hear that familiar melodious sound.

I miss playing piano.

I loved playing it.

I was at the top of my class in high school.

Mom and dad were supposed to see me play before...

My eyes continue to stare at the beautiful sight and before I know it, I've seated myself on the bench, my fingers finally touching the smooth keys.

I apply pressure and I hear the C note. It's perfect.

When I look up, I see music sheets displayed before me. With lyrics.

Hm.

I recognize the music as the theme song from the movie Up, but the lyrics. They're handwritten.

It's titled "My Breath." Hm, weird name.

My mind has officially left my body as I begin to play the notes.

I soak in the feel of my fingers pressing down on the keys, the beautiful sounds it produces. My hands move naturally as I look over the notes.

Then my eyes fall on the lyrics.

Don't do it, Caden.

Do it, do it, do it.

I'm not going to be able to stop you.

"I never knew that my old heart could break in two.

'till the moment you fell from my arms.

And now you're gone,

oh how am I meant to go on?

Life was easy when

I had my best friend.

Adventure's done.

I'll close the book, block out the sun.

There's no world to take on without you.

So here I'll stay,

forced to face another day

without you."

+++

+++

I hold out the note, savoring it's bittersweet lyrics. My fingers rest on the final notes, not wanting to let go.

That is until I hear a voice behind me.

A scary voice.

Yeah, I don't like that voice.

Oh no.

"What do you think you're doing?" Silas is behind me, wearing sweatpants and a plain, white t-shirt. His curly hair is ruffled in the most imperfectly, perfect way that all I want to do I run my fingers through it.

His glower is enough to make me want to shrink into the corner of the room and allow the floor to swallow me whole.

Oh no.

Now you've done it.

"Uh, I was just playing- I just saw the piano and I just wanted to-"

"To touch other people's property without their consent." His eyes are burning with a fire of anger and hatred and I feel my soul completely leaving my body.

"I'm sorry, sir. I didn't mean to-"

"No, you meant exactly what you did." He walks toward me, chest heaving slightly. "I will not tolerate employees who show blatant disrespect toward my property."

He grabs onto my wrist, yanking me forward. Hard.

I stumble forward, placing my hand on his chest to prevent myself form falling. My palm is planed on his upper chest, and I can fell his lean muscles through his thing shirt. My fingers heat up at the touch.

Then I realize what I just did and mentally slap myself.

I quickly remove my hand and look up. "I'm sorry, sir. I know-"

"Get out."

"What?" I'm taken aback by his tone, which once vicious, is now dull of any emotion. How does he keep doing that?

"You heard me. Get out." Pulling me forward, he drags me to his door and shoves me out, closing the door behind him.

I look back to the closed door. My eyes sting again. I feel the tears coming.

No.

I will not cry over him.

Yes, you will.

Dang it.

+++