Remove the Empty Spaces (3 page)

“But he knows your name. That should mean something,” Patrick pointed out.

Ion shrugged. “Not really. Adrien knows most of the people who work at the main office. He’s just being a good boss. I can’t read anything into it.”

Patrick started to say something, but Ion held up his hand.

“Come on. Let’s go change into some sweats and watch a movie or two. Take our minds off our pathetic dating life.”

“Bring out some for me. I don’t feel like getting off the couch,” Patrick ordered him.

“Fine.” Ion shoved to his feet, then went to his bedroom to grab some sweats. He and Patrick were around the same height and weight, so it made sharing clothes easy. “I’m not entirely sure whether these are yours or mine.”

He went back into the living room to find Patrick standing by his desk, holding some of the project pages in his hand.

“You shouldn’t be looking at those. I don’t want you to get in trouble.” Ion dropped the clothes on the couch, then strolled over to take the papers away from Patrick.

“Are you serious about these numbers? You’ve figured out a way to save all those jobs at that company?” Patrick sounded surprised.

“Don’t sound shocked.” Ion replaced the reports. “I think I did, but that doesn’t mean anything. I don’t know how I’m going to bring them to Adrien’s attention. I mean, it’s not like he’s going to accept advice from the mail clerk.”

Patrick took Ion’s hand to lead him back to the couch. He pushed Ion down on it, then sat next to him.

“I’ll put them on the conference table for you. Just get them to me before Sunday night. Bellamy’s called for a seven o’clock morning meeting for the all the executives. He wants me there this time, so I’ll be getting in to the office at six. I’ll have more than enough time to put them out.”

Ion wasn’t sure he should accept Patrick’s offer. “You won’t get fired, will you? I’m pretty sure it has to be a breach of your confidential clause or something like that.”

Patrick shrugged. “I don’t really care if it means people won’t lose their livelihood. I can find a new job if I need to, but some of those people like your parents won’t be able to because of their age.”

“Let’s finish the wine, and watch some movies. I need to think about it, but if I decide yes, I’ll make sure you have them before Sunday night.”

Patrick looked like he wanted to keep arguing, but Ion was done discussing it for the night. So he changed quickly, then popped in one of their favourite. He settled back, and soon Patrick joined him. They wrapped the blanket around themselves, then wiggled around until they were both happy.

The movie started, allowing Ion to forget about his plans and proposals.

Chapter Two

Adrien stalked into his office on Monday morning, almost throwing his briefcase through one of the large plate-glass windows making up one of his walls. This past weekend was supposed to have been a relaxing one. He’d planned to take his boat out and sail along the coast. Getting a little alone time in before the big company review, but with the Huntsman Toy debacle hanging over his head, Adrien hadn’t been able to justify going.

“Here’s your coffee, sir.” Patrick walked in, somehow managing to carry Adrien’s cup and several folders at once.

Adrien took the cup from Patrick, dredging up a smile. “How many times have I told you not to bring me coffee? You’re not my servant, Patrick, though I know there are times you feel I treat you that way. I’m perfectly capable of getting it for myself.”

His personal assistant flashed him a bright smile. “It’s all right, Mr Bellamy. I was bringing you the files you requested and thought you’d like it.”

“You’re too good to me, Patrick.” He sipped it, made just the way he liked it.

He’d known choosing Patrick as his PA hadn’t been a popular choice amongst the executives. Adrien had never hidden his sexual orientation from the people he worked with, so when he’d hired Patrick, most of them thought he’d been swayed by the man’s movie star looks. While Patrick was gorgeous, Adrien had made his decision based on Patrick’s resume.

“Remember that later,” Patrick mumbled as he passed Adrien.

Adrien frowned at the cryptic statement, but he forgot about it as he started glancing through the reports Patrick had brought him. He stood by his desk, fuelling up on caffeine while flipping through the pages.

The intercom buzzed, and Patrick’s voice came through, “Mr Bellamy, everyone’s gathered in the conference room, waiting for you.”

“Thanks, Patrick. Let’s hope they came up with a solution or I just might fire all of them,” he muttered.

He snatched up the files on the Huntsman company before he left his office. Patrick glanced up from his desk as Adrien strolled by.

“Do you want me to take notes?” Patrick asked.

“Actually, yes I do. You need to write down everything they suggest. Maybe among the babble, we can find something worthwhile.”

Patrick grabbed his laptop, then trailed Adrien into the room. Adrien glanced around, shocked to see his executives bent over some papers. He set his files on the table at the front of the room.

“All right, everyone. Tell me what you’ve come up with over the weekend. So I won’t want to fire your asses.” He propped his hands on his hips as he met each person’s gaze.

Sidney cleared his throat.

“What do you want, Sidney?”

“Did you come up with these proposals?” Sidney held up the folder everyone had been looking at.

“What are you talking about?” He picked up the papers, and opened the cover to read the first page.

After the first paragraph, he flopped into his chair to continue reading. As he went through the proposals, excitement started growing in him. This was what he had hoped his people would come up with. The others stayed silent while he went through each suggestion and graph.

When he turned the last page, he leant back against his chair, and pressed his fingertips together before resting them against his lips. Adrien ran the ideas through his brain, trying to find any flaws. It would take a little time, but with patience, the plans could work.

“All right. Whose idea is this?” Adrien tapped the report in front of him.

Adrien watched as looks of confusion crossed their faces. Sidney shrugged when he glanced at him.

“Are you saying none of you wrote this up?”

They all nodded, looking as confused as Adrien felt.

“Well, if none of you did this, who did? How did they get into the conference room?” He shot to his feet before pacing the length of the room. “It’s bloody brilliant, and with a little bit of a monetary investment from us, I think it will work. We won’t have to lay off any workers, and we’ll be seeing a profit within a year.”

A sigh of relief went through the room, and Adrien snorted. Everyone was thrilled that a solution had been found, so Adrien wouldn’t be yelling at them about this problem anymore.

“How do we find out who wrote this up? I think they deserve a bonus or something,” Sidney spoke up.

Patrick coughed, and Adrien looked over at him. The guilty expression on his assistant’s face told Adrien Patrick might know more about the proposal than Adrien thought he did.

“Is there something you want to tell us, Patrick?”

“Umm…I might know who wrote that up.” Patrick gestured towards the papers on the table. “If I tell you, you won’t fire him or anything, will you? He was trying to help.”

“Did you hear what I had to say? Our mysterious author will be getting a big bonus for this, and maybe a promotion because he’s been hiding his light under a basket or something.” Adrien wanted to grab Patrick and shake the name out of him.

“I have to make a phone call.” Patrick dashed from the room.

“What the hell?” One of the executives who didn’t like Patrick grumbled. “Where is he going? Does he know or is he just trying to make you think he does?”

“Shut up, Randolph,” Adrien ordered. He wasn’t a fan of Randolph personally, but the man was good at his job, which was why Adrien hadn’t fired him yet. “Let Patrick do what he needs to do.”

“While we wait, let’s go over the proposal, and see what each of us needs to do to make it happen.” Sidney chuckled. “The nice thing is it’s all been laid out for us. We just need to start the ball rolling.”

Adrien gathered his files, then looked at all of them. “Okay. Sidney, you’re in charge of getting this plan up and rolling. I expect a detailed report from each department by the end of the week.”

Randolph started to say something, but Adrien held up his hand. “Yes, I expect your people to work on all the other accounts as well. We have four more acquisitions to look at before the board meeting at the end of the month. I need to have the recommendations before then.”

Everyone nodded, and Adrien left, knowing he was leaving it in the best hands possible. Sidney’s official title was CFO, but he really was Adrien’s right hand man. When Adrien took over the company from his father, he’d made sure Sidney came with him.

Patrick was standing by his desk, whispering into his phone. Adrien nodded towards his office as he walked past, and Patrick dipped his head in acknowledgement. As much as Adrien wanted to know the genius behind the Huntsman Toy company proposal, he was willing to wait until Patrick was ready to reveal who the person was.

Adrien sat at the desk, and braced his elbows on the edge. Sighing, he rested his chin on his hand. Relief and excitement coursed through his veins, because he’d been afraid that he’d have to close down the plant, and lay off all those employees.

While making money was the ultimate goal for Bellamy International, Adrien didn’t like doing it on the backs of other people. Of course, there were times when he had no other choice except to close down a factory or a plant. Those were the times Adrien would head out on his boat, or hole up in his apartment for a day or two.

His father had often joked about Adrien’s soft heart, but Adrien was glad he never became hardened to the problems other people faced. Just because he came from a wealthy family didn’t mean he had the right to ignore the working people around him. It was one reason why he’d chosen to work his way up through the company, starting in the mailroom.

A knock brought his head up, and Patrick stood in the doorway. There was someone behind him, but Adrien couldn’t see who it was.

“I brought the person who wrote up that proposal, Mr Bellamy.” Patrick seemed worried.

“Come on in then.” Adrien motioned them in.

Patrick turned slightly, before grabbing the other person’s hand. He dragged his companion into the office, and Adrien frowned.

“Ion?”

“Yes, sir. Ion’s the one who wrote up those proposals. He spent all weekend doing research and working out scenarios in his head until he couldn’t see any other way for it to work. I didn’t really look at it, but I encouraged him to show it to you.” Patrick shoved Ion in the back to send the man farther into the room.

After standing, Adrien came around his desk to approach Ion slowly. Ion’s expression spoke of nerves and worry, but Adrien drank his fill of how amazing Ion looked. While Patrick was movie-star handsome, Ion was almost Olympic god-like.

Ion had unblemished ivory skin and short, dark-brown hair that probably had a tendency to curl if he let it grow long. His brown eyes held an intelligent light. Adrien had noticed Ion the first day he’d started working in the mailroom, and had wanted to ask Ion out right then and there, but he figured the younger man wouldn’t be interested in an old guy like him.

“Patrick didn’t help me with the proposal. All he did was put them in the conference room. I didn’t ask him for any kind of information. Everything that’s in there is stuff I found in the public records.”

“Patrick, why don’t you go get Ion and me some coffee? Or do you want tea or something else?” Adrien suggested, wanting to talk to Ion without Patrick being around.

“Right. I’ll bring refreshments right away.” Patrick patted Ion on the shoulder before racing out of the office, not waiting for Ion to answer.

Adrien gestured to the couch against one wall. He thought Ion might be more comfortable sitting like that instead of Adrien sitting behind the desk and Ion in a chair. Ion sat, then rubbed his hands on his pants, and Adrien could see how nervous Ion was.

“Don’t worry. Patrick isn’t in any kind of trouble. In fact, I might give him a bonus for seeing what you had, and ensuring it was brought to my attention.” Adrien didn’t even think about whether he should do it or not as he reached over to cover Ion’s hand with his.

Ion entwined their fingers, holding tight to him. “Are you being honest? This was totally my idea and I don’t want him to get in trouble because of it.”

“I believe you when you say Patrick didn’t tell you anything. He’s a lot of things, but he doesn’t talk about things he shouldn’t. It’s one of the things I’ve come to realise about Patrick. How long have you two been friends?”

Maybe a little small talk would help Ion calm down slightly. Ion swallowed, then seemed to get a hold of himself.

“We’ve been friends for ten years or so. I met him our junior year in high school. You know how Patrick is, and he hasn’t changed much. Some jerks were bullying him, and I stepped in to stop them. Patrick was a new student, so they thought they could get away with teasing him. I’d been going to that school since I hit high school, and they all knew me. We’ve been friends since then,” Ion babbled.

After getting to know Patrick, Adrien never questioned the man’s sexuality, and because Ion was Patrick’s friend, Adrien hadn’t thought about it either. Yet the way Ion clung to his hand, Adrien was sure Ion wouldn’t get upset if he were to ask him out.

“Here are your drinks,” Patrick said as he hustled back into the office.

Adrien pulled his hand away and put several inches between them. Patrick shot him a quick glance while handing him his coffee, but didn’t say anything else.

“I brought you some tea, Ion.” Patrick set Ion’s cup down on the table. “I have some work to do. If you need anything, just buzz me, Mr Bellamy.”

“I will. Thanks, Patrick.”

“Certainly.” Patrick patted Ion on the shoulder before leaving the office.