017. His secretary
.
.
.
Shadow didn't know what it was about her.
Perhaps it was the way she bit her lip or when her cheeks dusted pink when he'd walk past her. Or maybe how she'd be holding a stack of paper and clumsily drop it when he stepped foot into her presence. How she would stammer out her words when he'd be speaking to her and only her in his office.
It probably was because she'd always wear a skirt and her tantalising legs would catch his attention immediately.
She was such an alluring sight for him.
...
He inherited the business from his father, who inherited it from his grandfather. It went on and on. While Shadow liked cars, surrounding himself with the latest models, coming up with ideas for a new vehicle; it was ultimately never his dream job. His dream job was to become a writer of some sort, whether it was literature or journalism. In his breaks, he tended to find himself writing anything that fascinated him, anything that he felt was necessary to write down, while biting into a sandwich that his client would come up and give him because he didn't like sitting in the cafeteria full of his talkative employees.
Speaking of his client, Tikal's history was different from his own. From the information he had gathered, she lived in the countryside with her mother and father. She was your ideal normal life female. Went to school, got good grades, worked two jobs on the weekends. Pretty substantial. Then sadly, a family tragedy caused herself and mother to move to the city where the both of them could find work.
Her father was good friends with his own. So when he had heard about the passing, he had given Tikal's mother a decent workplace at a nearby café considering her age. With Tikal, his father decided it was a good idea to make her Shadow's client when he resigned from the CEO position.
The young echidna was the last person he'd expect to take over the role of the CEO's personal secretary. Disheveled, frantic, and a straight up mess.
He didn't mind. Until he realised how incredibly clumsy she really was.
Accidentally deleting their financial records because she didn't know how to properly work a computer. Turning down an official proposal from the government who wanted to aid their funds because she thought it was a prank call, messing up their nearby hotel reservations because they needed to close it down for the next year for renovations but instead told the hotel manager immediately which caused a serious number of complaints from customers.
He tried to convince his father to remove her from the company before she could make permanent damages, but the old man found it to be quite amusing and let her be.
She offered to leave herself, eyes swimming in tears like a puppy had just gotten disowned and put onto the streets.
Unfortunately because of the friendship their father's had, his dad had a liking towards Tikal, treating her as if she was his own daughter and there wasn't a single doubt that it would fade. Shadow didn't want to disappoint his father by removing Tikal on his own, so he took the seat and dived into the disaster. He would expect every morning that she'd spill his coffee, frantically apologising and rushing out of his office to get him a new shirt. He would expect her to bump into the glass door while she wasn't looking because of her set deadlines.
He'd always hold back a laugh, a smile even. It was just so hilarious every time she did it. It gave his incredibly boring work life a thrive. It was until he noticed that the more he saw the woman, the more he'll find his eyes lingering on her antics, her small smiles to herself when she finally did something right, her petite yet ogling body.
It was almost as if it was a sin for him to be feeling this way, yet he didn't stop. He couldn't stop. He would set his gaze on her until she was out of sight.
...
"Are the reports finished, Tikal?"
He saw the orange echidna flinch, and then ungracefully the unclipped papers scattered down to the floor. She quickly looked at him, a panicked expression grazing her features before she knelt down to pick them up. "A-Almost, sir."
Shadow stayed quiet as he watched his client, her legs at full-on view as they pressed together. Didn't they have a rule for women to not wear such short skirts?
Not that he minded when it came to her.
Tikal stood up, papers against her chest and turned around to file them once again avoiding his eyes completely.
"Once you're done, come see me at my office," he then told Tikal causing her to freeze, "I need help preparing for the meeting."
She straightened up and nodded, her back still facing him. "Y-Yes, sir."
Shadow pocketed his hands and walked out, catching a glimpse of her reddened face.
...
"I want grandchildren."
His mother said.
You see, this was the problem with being the only child in the family. No siblings for your parents to depend upon with taking the role as the CEO or taking the role to have children.
It was honestly the last thing he had in mind.
Well, not really. He wanted to become a father, but sometime later. He was only twenty three, after all.
"I'm getting old, Shadow. I can't possibly have anymore children!"
He rolled his eyes at that.
He didn't have many lady friends on his radar. He was never really the sociable type. He had three friends.
Two were male.
The female in the group was an over-confident batty friend of his. While he cherished their friendship, he never had the eyes for her. In fact, she was so absorbed with a certain red echidna that she couldn't care less about anybody else.
Shadow rubbed his temple, suddenly irritated.
Since his reluctance at the dinner table last night was evident, his mother dropped the bomb shell that if he didn't find a woman to marry within a month, she would find him one herself and he'll have to marry her without protest.
Ugh. Wasn't that illegal?
He looked up to Tikal coming into his office with a binder full of paper. She didn't make eye contact as she was already focused on filing the papers into their correct places on her own desk.
"Tikal," Shadow called out to her, almost feeling bad that he interrupted her. She jumped and quickly flickered her eyes over to him. He motioned her to come. She nodded and walked over to him.
"Do you know anyone who's free tomorrow evening?" He spoke before she could greet him.
"Tomorrow evening?" she tilted her head at him, "Well... you are, Sir."
"Other than me."
Tikal blinked and then shrugged, biting the corner of her lip as her blue orbs drifted to the corner. "M-Me?"
"Other than-"
Wait. Hold on. Hoooooold on a second. "You're free tomorrow evening?"
"I take the same days off as you do, Sir. Unless there's any other day where you want me to look over anything."
Jackpot. Why didn't he think of it before?
Petite, pretty and a delicate frame. She was perfect, the ideal type of wife that his mother would want for him. Caring and tender.
...
He was right. Oh, he was so right.
After scouring around the city the next day, he took her to the shops that manage to catch her eye when looking at her reactions. Shadow wasted no time and made her wear countless of dresses in the changing room, the echidna blushing every time she came out of the curtains wearing a different one. Really, they all lingered his eye and she looked absolutely stunning in each and every one of them.
His tongue had tied itself however when she timidly stepped out in a forest green dress, the lace reaching her mid-thigh. It hugged her torso and bust perfectly, her back fully exposed with the thin straps slightly falling off her shoulders.
Shadow was practically gaping at her, his eyes tracing down the figure of her body. Her exposed skin naturally glowing from the lighting, her legs perfectly touching one another as shyly posed for him.
Shit, she was beautiful.
"Sir?"
He snapped his gaze at her, blinking several times before he clearing his throat. "This will do."
"A-Are you sure?" Tikal asked, looking down at the dress before back at him, "I can try another one if you'd like..."
He instead brought up a hand, a soft shake of his head as he mustered the weakest smile he could. "It's fine."
She put on a small yet nervous smile of her own, biting her lip again as she went back into the curtains.
Shadow let out a breath he apparently had been holding in.
...
"Sir, I think it would be best for you to tell her the truth," Tikal said to him, bringing up the subject quietly as she watched the man pull up towards the house, "She... might see through you."
Shadow took off his seatbelt. "I'm sure she won't."
He got out of the car, shutting the door and went around it to open the passenger door for her. The hedgehog held out his hand for the echidna to take and she obliged, stepping out of the black vehicle carefully in her heels.
"These types of actions lead to bad types of consequences, Sir," she stated hesitantly looking up at him.
Shadow just gave her one of his side glances before taking themselves to the front porch. He didn't even get a chance to knock as the door quickly pulled open and Tikal was already engulfed into a pair of arms.
His mother smiled brightly, a little too much for Shadow's liking. "It's so good to finally meet you! I've heard good things about you, Tikal dear."
Which was an absolute lie. The both of them knew that. Though, his mother liked to keep a good image of herself.
Tikal kept a kind smile on her lips, still startled by the woman's confidence. "You too, miss."
His mother ushered them inside, Tikal stumbling on her heels a little as she did so. Shadow pulled out a chair for her as he took off her coat. The echidna smiled shyly in response and sat down, eyes looking down at the rich food in front of her.
"Help yourself," Shadow said and sat down next to her when he noticed hungered gaze, "There's enough."
Tikal suddenly stared at him and he caught a flash of irritation in her look before it quickly disappeared. "I don't have that much of an appetite, Sir."
His mother displayed a look of confusion. "Sir?"
Shadow immediately cleared his throat. "Let's tuck in, shall we?"
...
"Would you like a bit of wine, Tikal?"
Tikal dabbed the cloth against her mouth. "I-I have a very low alcohol tolerance, miss."
Shadow sipped on his own glass. "Is that so?"
"It's only a little!" his mother insisted and already poured it into her class.
"I really can't. Sir, will you take me home? My mom's probably worried sick."
"Maybe you can have one class and then we can leave," Shadow said quickly, avoiding his mother's suspicious stare once again.
The glass was already put in front of her, and his mother was on her second glass showing no signs of stopping any time soon.
Which meant she wanted company throughout the time, whether they agreed or not.
...
Shadow's watch sounded at a vivid 3AM when his mother finally let them go. He was currently driving Tikal home, the latter in a drunken haze in his passenger's seat. It wasn't so difficult getting her into his car, the difficulty was the guilty feeling in his chest that he hadn't forced his mother to stop giving her the drinks.
Tikal only had half a glass till she was already smashed and another three more when his mother kept pressuring her to.
He opted to stay out of it so he was able drive her home.
He apologised for everything when they got into the car, not knowing his mother would go insane with the food and drinking, as well as for using her to be his fiancé so the woman could get off his case.
"Sir?"
"Yes?"
"Mmm... I think I love you..."
He slammed on the breaks.
Shadow didn't think he heard it right. "...What?"
Tikal suddenly let out a free giggle, a tipsy one at that as she crawled onto his lap. "I love you."
She kissed him.
...
He didn't want to.
But he did.
She made it very difficult for him not to pull up to a hotel that he owned, scoop her up bridal style and walk into the empty halls to find the perfect room. Once he did, he swiped his card against the lock and opened the door, quickly slamming it shut. He pinned Tikal against it, connecting their lips once again.
His mind kept screaming at him. This is so wrong, this is so wrong.
But she kept making it harder for him to resist. Her hands pressed against his chest, slowly slithering to his waist.
This was the Tikal he'd never seen before.
And he was enjoying every bit of it.
"Sir...?"
"Hm?"
"I'm really," she pulled away from the kiss and yawned, "Really tired."
She collapsed against his arms.
...
She fell asleep before he did. When the timer said it was 6am, he found himself ringing the doorbell at a small apartment that was half an hour away from the hotel.
An older woman who looked a lot like Tikal opened the door and relief washed her face. "Oh, thank you so much! I was beginning to worry, and she just wouldn't answer her phone..."
"It's all right," Shadow said and stepped inside with Tikal in his arms. His eyes travelled around the small apartment as he began to walk. It was small, fitted right for two people. Everything seemed so cramped though, the kitchen being only two feet away from the living room itself as well as their bedrooms not being far off. He made a mental note to talk to his father about it.
"You can put her on the couch," the woman said to him with a laugh following after, "She seems to like it more than her own bed."
He nodded and did so, using the blankets nearby to tuck her in properly. "She doesn't need to come into work today."
"I'll tell her that as soon as she wakes up," she said with a smile. The echidna thanked him again before entering the kitchen, "Would you like anything to drink, dear?"
"I'm fine, thank you," Shadow told her. He looked down at Tikal, sighing as he gave her a soft kiss on the forehead.
...
Tikal came to work the next day. There were no signs of her acknowledging what happened the other night.
That was because she didn't even spare a glance at him. She avoided him like a plague.
She would quickly strut away when he was near her presence. She actually made one of her co-workers come into his office so they could get the files she was supposed to get from him. Whenever he made eye contact with her, she'd flinch and look away quickly.
Shadow came to the conclusion that he wasn't going to back down. Not by a mile.
Late into the afternoon, whilst he was clicking away on his computer, he saw Tikal walk into his room with paper in her hands. Once she set them down onto a table, she began walking back.
"Don't go yet. Close the door," his baritone voice forced his secretary to freeze in her tracks and his finger ushered her towards him, "And lock it."
"Sir, if you need anybody to-"
"No one's in the building, if you hadn't noticed yet," he stated, "I made them leave early."
She didn't say anything to that and slowly obeyed his order, locking the door shut. She finally turned to face him before hesitantly walking towards him, promptly making the hedgehog spin his chair properly facing her.
"So you remember."
Tikal bit the corner of her lip, putting her hands behind her. "It depends... Do you love me?"
Shadow chuckled as she looked down at her feet and clicked her heels. He reached for both of her wrists and comfortably rubbed his thumb against them.
He looked into her eyes. They were really blue, her cheeks were dusted pink and her dreads were as ripe an orange. "I think I do, I think," he mimicked her voice from the situation, and he felt her grow warm in his hands, "Maybe you're desperate to taste me again to reconfirm my feelings."
Tikal looked absolutely horrified. "Did I say that?"
"In the car when you were talking in your sleep, you did."
She peered towards him and quickly blurted out the three words. "I love you."
"Hmm?" the hedgehog clicked his tongue and wagged his finger, "Now you've gone and said that twice."
He tugged her down and their lips met for a smooth kiss.
...
He pinned her down onto the bed and spoke in between their kisses. "You know, you can stop calling me Sir."
Small, tender fingers trailed up to the collar of his shirt and began to fiddle with his buttons. "Sir."
He growled and she giggled, stripping off her own clothing with his help so that she was in her undergarments.
His eyes ogled at her chest. Forest green looked perfect on her. She had been very considerate of him.
"Sir, stop staring."
Shadow's eyes shifted into a hard look. "You're turning me off."
He backed away as if jokingly but Tikal pulled him back down so their chests were touching. "Then... Shadow?"
His heart must've melted all over again.
...
"Why did you buy us a house, Shadow?"
Six months later, the snow had cascaded itself over the city proving difficult for vehicle travel.
He looked at her as they were walking on the white footpath. "It's not for you. It's for your mother."
Tikal understood the implication very well but still pondered. "But... why?"
"She earned it," the hedgehog put it simply without providing anymore details.
She didn't question him again as their hands squeezed together against that cold evening. Shadow unlocked the front door, letting her in first before doing so himself.
His delightfully mother greeted them at the table with a staggering amount of food on the table.
"Don't be shy anymore," Shadow told his partner when he saw her mouth water at the sight. He pulled out a chair for her. "Mom won't mind."
He ignored her pout as he sat down beside her. What? Tikal did have a hearty appetite. Their dinner from last night proved that.
However that was besides the point. It was impolite to talk about a lady's eating habits after all.
When Shadow got comfortable, he busied himself to help Tikal out of her coat. The room was warm enough and he was already worried that she'd pass out from the excessive heat.
His mother cleared her throat and asked the same question for the hundredth time that year. "So when can I expect grandchildren?"
Shadow scratched the back of his head. "In three months, presumably?"
Her worries were nearly over and she placed a hand against her chest, awaiting to praise the Lord.
"Three months? Are the two of you getting married in three months?" she eased into the conversation, hoping to extract the exact information a little more.
Shadow blinked and shook his head. "No. Tikal's due date is in three months."
Finally, right at that moment, he managed to make his partner give up her coat threatening to toss it aside. Tikal stood up and sweetly began to kiss his cheeks in hopes to make him give it back to her and repeatedly calling him Sir. The older woman on the table landed her gaze on Tikal's growing stomach and there were stars in her eyes before she blacked out completely.
Three months. Soon enough.