Fairy Tail and all of its characters belong to Hiro Mashima.
Two years. Two fucking years at this job and not once has there been an after-hours IT call for myself or any of my coworkers. My heels clacked sharply on the tile floors as I stormed my way towards the elevators. I tapped my right toe impatiently as I waited for the doors to open.
"Of course this had to happen on my on-call weekend, in the middle of my best friend's rehearsal dinner," I mutter to myself as I board the elevator and smash the button for the top floor. "What the hell kind of emergency can a CEO have at 8pm on a Friday night?"
My mood sours further as I recall I didn't even have time to sit down and eat dinner when the call came in. Maybe it'll just be a quick fix, and I can get back before they serve dessert.
After a full eternity passed me by, the doors finally open, releasing me into a pristine hallway. I don't even bother knocking once I reach my destination, instead opting to just walk in as if it were my office instead of his. If he's going to ruin my evening, he'll have to deal with a little attitude.
The room's décor is warm and rather simple - not exactly what I'd come to expect from a CEO's office. A leather couch sat next to a small bar near the window; the only other furniture in the room were his antique wood desk flanked by an office chair on one side, and a leather chair which matched the couch. For once, I'm a little impressed.
That impression is quickly overruled by the man himself. He seemed deep in paperwork when I walked in, but he quickly looked up. I see his dark eyes studying my appearance, and he has the look of a man figuring out which dessert he intends to devour. This is so degrading, but I wait to speak up until he has the balls to look me in the eyes.
"What type of servicing did you need tonight?" I close the door behind me and saunter across the room to stand in front of his desk.
"Excuse me?"
"I was told you were in need of my services," I spoke slowly, since he obviously did not understand simple terms.
His gaze swept over my body again before he deigned to speak.
"Was it Gray who called you, miss...?"
"Lucy," I reply coldly. "And yes, your assistant contacted me. Can we just get down to business? I do have other places to be tonight."
"Okay, Lucy. I'm sorry for wasting your time, but this is that prick's idea of a prank. I can assure you, you will be compensated for your time, but I am currently not in need of your services."
As hard as I try, I cannot repress a sigh as I run my fingers through my hair. Why the hell is he being difficult? I was right next to Gray when he took the call, so I know his computer is having issues. I swear, men were put on this planet for the sole purpose of making my life hell.
"Look, Mr. Dragneel, I'm already here. I have a job to do, and I'm not leaving until you're satisfied that I've done it. So, let's just get it turned on, I'll give it a thorough once-over, and then I'll be out of your hair."
My hands are on my hips as I wait for him to power up his system, but instead of doing that, he opens his mouth again.
"I do not have time for this." He stands up and rounds the desk towards me. "Look, you're an extremely attractive woman and I'm sure your services would be fun, but I have work to do, and I'm waiting on someone to fix my computer so that I can do it."
What the actual fuck? I'm pretty sure this pink-haired jackass just insinuated that I'm a prostitute. As the only female in the department, it took over a year for the men to take me seriously, and now the fucking CEO has the nerve to treat me like this. I don't fucking think so.
"Listen here, Pinky," I snarled, poking him in the chest with one well-manicured finger. "You need to pull you misogynistic head out of your ass. I'm not a god damned hooker, idiot, I'm the tech you've been waiting for. I'm not dressed like this for your viewing pleasure, you sexist, ego-maniacal asshole!
"I had to leave in the middle of an important event in order to fix your fucking problem. So pull your lecherous gaze off my tits and tell me what the fuck the issue is so I can fix it and leave!" Oh gods, I'm shouting. I shouldn't be shouting at the boss, but he's the one being an ass, so maybe – just maybe – I'll get away with not losing my job.
A look of shock settles onto his face. His eyes close as he takes a deep breath, running a hand down his face as he exhales. I'm pretty sure I heard the word 'fuck' escape his lips as he did so. When his dark eyes opened again, they looked straight into mine.
"Natsu Dragneel," he said, extending his right hand towards me, "CEO of Dragon Imports, and complete dumb-ass."
Though his voice is steady, his look shows regret for his assumption. As pissed as I am, I'm not completely unreasonable; if Natsu wants to start over on better terms, I am willing to give him a chance.
"Lucy Ashley, on-call IT."
"Thank you for coming in this evening, Lucy." He flashed me a smile as he spoke. "Sorry to pull you away from your evening. So, the damn thing won't stay on longer than a minute or two before it just shuts down. Even before that started happening, it was so damn slow. It was top of the line when I bought it, so I don't know why it's acting up now."
"Alright, those issues may or may not be related. Let's address the shutdowns first. How long has this been happening, and has it happened before?"
After several minutes of talking, I just want to slap him. His primary computer - a laptop - is downstairs in my department awaiting software upgrades. The poor, sad, neglected desktop Natsu has been trying to use for the past few days has not really been touched in well over a year; the poor thing was his primary before they switched to laptops, and it was almost never shut down during that time.
I left his office - a far calmer place than when I arrived - to retrieve my tools from my locker and his laptop from my coworker's desk. It is already 9:30 by the time I get his laptop set up to receive upgrades, and my night is just beginning. Guess I won't be getting back to the dinner, but work comes first.
"How long has it been since someone blew down your tower?" I unplug all the cables and set the computer case on his desk.
"That's a rather personal question, isn't it?"
He's smirking and attempting to stifle a laugh. This I can deal with, as it reminds me of college. I roll my eyes, motioning him closer as I twist off the second thumb screw.
"Okay, smart-ass," I say, looking into his eyes as I speak. "It's time for a quick lesson about heat and reproduction."
The dusting of pink on his tan face is rewarding, and while Natsu tries to recover from his slight embarrassment, I take the cover off his computer case.
"This is a dust bunny breeding ground. As soon as one little bastard sneaks in, it's only a matter of time before you have an infestation." I reach one gloved hand into the case and pull out a handful of disgusting grey fluff. "The unchecked D.B.O. inside the case inhibited air flow, which is one of the causes of excessive heat that led this severely neglected machine to rebel against your tyranny."
"Got it," he chuckles. "There's just one thing I don't understand. What the hell is D.B.O.?"
Moments like this are the reason I have a love-hate relationship with my career path. Ridiculous names were tossed around in class and repeated so often they would stick around for later use. This is one of those times. Shit, I should have said that differently. Too late to turn back now, but hopefully I can keep my composure through this.
Okay, I can do this. I adopt a completely professional demeanor - stand up straight, shoulders back, serious face, and look directly into his eyes - and utter three words which immediately change our relationship.
"Dust. Bunny. Orgy."
I should have known I didn't stand a chance. I can feel my composure cracking as Natsu's face transforms from its normal shade to bright red; mine turns a matching crimson. We burst out laughing at the ridiculous term at the same time. Realizing I should sit before I fall over, I take a step back. Turns out, this was a bad idea. Natsu attempted to keep me upright which landed both of us on the floor of his office wheezing for breath as we try to calm ourselves. The humor of my lack of grace in this moment overrides my embarrassment.
Several minutes pass before we can breathe properly again. As the first off the floor, Natsu offers me a hand back to my feet. The first attempt almost landed him on the floor again. I was forced to remove my strappy high heels before successfully making it back to my feet.
"I should get to work; this will take several hours, and I would like to eventually get some sleep tonight," I say, taking my hand from his warm grasp and brushing off my dress. A quick glance at him tells me he's probably more exhausted than I am. "And you should go home and get some rest. No offense, you look like hell."
My comment set off a small argument. Damn, that man is nearly as stubborn as I am – not quite at my level, though. In the end, I won, and he left. Once the elevator doors closed, I popped in my earbuds and blasted some heavy metal as I lose myself in my work.
An hour later, half the computer components are strewn across the previously immaculate desk, most are decently clean. I don another new pair of gloves and send a prayer to the tech gods this next part come out easily, then reached into the case again to remove the CPU fan. Of fucking course it's stuck. It's not like this was unexpected; I pull up on the lever arm and remove the CPU - with fan still firmly attached - and sink both into a bowl of alcohol. Hopefully, it will loosen enough to be removed.
All I can do now is wait, so I take a seat in Natsu's chair and lean back, my eyes closing slowly.
No. Bad Lucy. This chair is entirely too comfortable, and if I stay in it I'm bound to fall asleep. I would kill for coffee at this point. Homicide, however, is frowned upon, so I'll settle for making a pot in the break room instead.
Sighing, I push myself out of the comfy chair and turn to make my way out of the office. A tall figure is blocking my path and reaching towards me. What I'm sure is an ear-shattering shriek escapes my lips as I try to back away, but I only manage to put a little distance between myself and the intruder before I fall backwards, landing hard on my ass.
A large hand reached towards me again and I shut my eyes tight. This is it. This is where I die, a victim of my own clumsy nature. Bracing for pain and darkness, I am surprised to instead feel a gentle pull as my left earbud is removed and the sound of my music replaced with a now-familiar voice.
"You alright, Lucy?" Amusement was evident in his tone, and I could see him fighting the urge to smile when I looked up at him. I, on the other hand, was trying not to die of embarrassment...again.
"I'd be better if you hadn't snuck up on me," I replied while throwing him a glare. Since I'm no longer alone, I pulled out my other earbud and shut off my music. "What are you doing back here, anyway? I thought we agreed you should go home and sleep."
"Well, I wasn't exactly sneaking, your music was obscenely loud. And" he continued, handing me a huge to-go cup of coffee from a nearby cafe, "I only agreed to leave because I was tired of arguing with you. I left to get coffee and food, since I figured you could use both."
"What gave me away?"
Steam wafts out of the cup, caressing my senses as I await his answer. Life returns to me as I take my first sip of the offering which was hand-delivered by my new favorite person.
"While I may not be tech-savvy," he paused when I snorted, but I kept my silence so he could continue. "I do know that computer nerds run on coffee. Plus, you mentioned earlier that you were at an event, so you probably haven't had dinner yet. Hope you like spicy food."
My initial assessment was so, so wrong. This man is not a sexist pig, he is a god.
"How spicy we talking here?" I flashed him a smile.
"Enough to light your mouth on fire, but not so hot that you feel like you've swallowed the gates of Hell."
Definitely a god.
As we talked, he unpacked our dinner and handed me a bowl. Since his desk was otherwise occupied, we settled on the couch to devour the food. I'm told the mouth-watering dish is called Creole Seafood Jambalaya, and I'm absolutely in love with it.
"Thank you, Natsu," I tell him when we're done eating. "And, as much as I appreciate that you brought me dinner and coffee, I feel like there may have been an ulterior motive."
Within moments, the confident man I met earlier this evening is gone; he has been replaced by one who seems a bit guilty and nervous about whatever he's about to say.
"Yeah, about that. There are some files I need to get off that computer," he gestures to the chaos on his desk, "and I kinda need them early tomorrow morning. The files...well...they're personal. I know I said I have work to do, but I promised my friend I would get them, and I thought I had plenty of time, but then the computer wouldn't -"
"Stop," I calmly but firmly interrupt his sheepish babbling. "Breathe. Do you know where to go to access the files? Single-word answer only."
"Yes."
"Is anything illegal on your hard drive?"
"No."
"If I can get you access to those files, would you allow me to finish this cluster fuck," I gesture towards his desk, "either Sunday or Monday, since I have plans tomorrow?"
"Yes, but I'm going to need my laptop over the weekend."
"Fuck yeah!" I leap off the couch and dash towards the elevator. "I'll be right back!"
When I return, Natsu has cleaned up the dishes from dinner and is looking at the components covering his desk. He throws a questioning look in my direction; my only reply is a smile as I nudge him out of the way.
"Mind telling me what you're up to?"
I cannot help myself. As he's taking a drink of his coffee, I reply as innocently and nonchalantly as I possibly can.
"I'm slipping your hard drive into my docking station."
Natsu is now coughing, and I think some of the hot liquid may have gone up his nose. This sends me into yet another fit of giggles as I try to continue working.
"Damn it, woman," he spits out, still coughing, "are you trying to kill me?"
"Not actively. Besides, it's hardly my fault if I'm too much for you to handle."
"So cheeky. You must be feeling pretty secure in your job to speak to me that way."
My head whips up at his menacing tone. His narrowed eyes let me know he's really not happy about my flippant comment at the moment. Fuck. Did I take this too far? Shit. Shitshitshitshitshit. Okay, time to swallow my pride and beg him not to fire me.
"Natsu...Mr. Dragneel," I begin while trying to keep the fear out of my voice, "I-"
He raises his hand, which I take as the universal sign to shut the fuck up. Yep, I'm getting fired. He isn't saying anything, just pinning me in place with a cold, calculating gaze. The look started to change after several seconds, and I was not expecting the words that followed.
"You should see the look on your face right now," he laughed. "I'm not really in the habit of firing employees I like; I just wanted a little revenge for my burning sinus cavity."
"You are not nice," I mumbled as relief flooded through my system. I booted up my laptop and looked up at Natsu, who was still more than amused with himself.
"Do you need a thumb drive, or do you already have one?"
"I've got one."
"Perfect. Now, Pinky, this is my personal laptop, not my work one, so please be careful with it. There are things on there I can't replace."
"No problem, Lucy," he replied. "By the way, it's salmon."
"What is?"
"My hair. It's not pink, it's salmon."
I roll my eyes at his childishness and get back to work, checking the updates on his laptop and carefully separating the CPU from its fan. There is much I could say about this poor computer; I honestly don't know if it's salvageable, but I'm going to try.
The clock reads 1am by the time we're finished. Natsu's laptop is ready for use, so I pack it into the case and hand it to him. My laptop is back in its case as well, and I grab my purse and shoes before heading to the elevator with Natsu. I lean myself against the corner and closed my eyes, exhaustion finally setting in. There were a few precious moments of peace as the doors slid closed and we begin our descent.
"Hey, Lucy?"
There goes my peaceful silence. Of course, it would likely not end well if I fell asleep standing in an elevator, so my companion is quickly forgiven.
"Yeah."
"Do you need a ride home? You look ready to pass out on your feet." Concern is evident in his voice, and when I open my eyes, I see it written on his face as well.
"No, I should be alright making it home; it's only a few miles." I hesitate a moment, catching my bottom lip between my teeth. In spite of a rather rough first impression, Natsu is a nice guy and he seems to genuinely care. We're halfway down to the lobby, and I decide to ask one little favor. "If...if it's not too much trouble, could you walk me to my car?"
"What happened to the snarky, confident Lucy I met a few hours ago? You know, the one who wasn't afraid to yell at me for being an idiot," his tone was light and playful. "Seriously, I just offered you a ride home, and you're afraid to ask me to walk you to your car? You're really weird, Lucy."
Grey doors slide open, releasing us into the lobby. Our exit was somehow more conspicuous that my earlier entrance. Instead of the angry clacking of heels, peals of laughter ring through the open space.
Goosebumps covered my skin as soon as we stepped through the doors and into the warm night. Something doesn't feel quite right, and if not for the man walking next to me, I would be racing back into the building to sleep in the break room tonight. My eyes fixed on my car across the plaza, and for a moment I can't breathe. Someone is leaning against my car.
"Natsu," I whisper as calmly as I can, "please take my laptop and go back inside. Alert security and call the police."
The shadowy figure stands and begins moving towards us. Fear is coursing through my veins, but my mind is clear. Natsu hasn't moved, so I grab his arm and force him behind me as I slide my laptop case off my shoulder. My gaze never leaving the threat looming ahead.
"Lucy, what the hell is going on?" I felt his hand trying to grasp my arm, but the only thing he was able to wrap it around was the strap to my case.
"Get inside, call the police. Right now. Tell them it is restraining order violation." My voice is low, but full of authority; I do not intend to leave any room for him to disobey me. "Go, Natsu, please. He is more likely to become violent if you stay. Do not leave the building again until the police arrive."
Surprisingly, I get no argument from Natsu. As I hear his footsteps retreating behind me, I am grateful he believed my half-truth. The piece of crap walking towards me will probably lash out either way, but at least this way it will be directed at me. No need to drag others into my problems.
"You are not allowed to be here, Bora. Leave now and stay the fuck away from me."
"Don't be like that, my love," he cooed at me. Bile rises in my throat at the sound of his voice.
"I am not your love," I snarl at him while fighting the strong urge to flee. He's faster than I am - we both know it - and I know this psycho gets some sick satisfaction from my fear, so I stay rooted on the spot. Even one step back will set him off, and that is not something I want to do right now.
"Who was that man you were walking with, my love?" There's that familiar cold edge in his voice, though he tries to sound merely curious. "You two seemed to be having a good time. Just how good a time did you have with him when you're dressed like that? You're not cheating on my again, are you?"
"He is none of your concern, and neither am I. It is not possible to cheat on someone when you're not in a relationship."
"But you are engaged to me, sweet Lucy."
"Get it through your fucking skull: we are not engaged, and we never fucking will be!"
Yelling was a mistake; I was on the ground before I even registered that Bora was close enough to hit me. A fiery sting enveloped the left side of my face from the force of his slap, and I curse my own stupidity for not escaping into the building with Natsu. But I wasn't thinking of whatever pain I may suffer; I was only focused on my end game. Again.
Bora grabs a fistful of my hair and pulls me harshly up to my knees. I can feel the pavement scrape into my flesh, but I refuse to make a noise. His face is close enough I can smell his rancid breath and my stomach contorts into knots at the stench.
"What you do and who you do it with will always be my concern, little whore," he whispered, twisting his hand in my hair. "You belong to me."
Cool air caresses my skin, bringing relief to my nose and easing the sting from the harsh treatment I've received. The breeze also brought the sweet sound of sirens. Unfortunately, I was not the only one to hear them.
"Sounds like your little friend tattled for you. Don't worry, though, I'll forgive you for disappointing me again. Until next time, my love," he hissed before sliding his foul tongue up the side of my neck. I fell back to the ground when he released my hair, scraping my hands in the process.
Shaking, I sit myself up as Bora disappears quickly into the darkness. Footsteps approach me from behind, and a soft weight surrounds me with warmth. Natsu kneels in front of me and closes the front of his jacket around me.
"I'm sorry."
The remainder of the early morning hours were a blur. Natsu stayed with me for the police report and the EMTs cleaning up my hands and knees. I accepted his earlier offer of a ride home so I could pack a bag for the coming week. He offered to let me stay in his guest room if I didn't feel safe at home, but I had already been enough of a bother and asked him to drive me to a hotel instead. Luckily, it's the same hotel as the wedding and they were able to get me checked in and extend my reservation through the week.
It was after 5am when I threw myself onto the bed in my hotel room. I'm meeting the girls for brunch and to start getting ready at 10, so I might be able to get some rest before the show begins.