Robin chewed his bottom lip and fidgeted where he stood in the elevator. It was his first day at a new job, and he had a hangover, which wasn't his fault, exactly, because his friends knew he was awful at saying no and they wanted to celebrate him getting the job after months and months job hunting. Unfortunately their idea of celebrating was to drag him from one over filled heaving nightclub to the next while plying him with shots at each one. If he never saw alcohol again it would be too soon. He suppressed the pitiful moan that wanted to escape his lips when the elevator finally arrived at the sixth floor and he had to go face the music, as it were.
The offices were bright and boldly coloured, boasting the companies achievements on large posters and banners either side of the front door. Taking a deep breath Robin pushed through the doors and approached the front desk. The thin dark man behind is gave him a bright toothy smile.
“Welcome to Callaways, how can I help you?”
Robin hoped desperately the make-up he’d piled on this morning was doing a good job of covering how rough he felt and beamed back with his most winning smile.
“I’m Robin Crawford, I’m supposed to be having my orientation today.”
“OooO, right, just follow me, I’m afraid the boss isn't in today, he’s a bit under the weather, but Jules will be able to show you around. I’m Hollis by the way, it’s a pleasure to meet you Robin.” Hollis stepped out from behind the desk as he spoke and motioned Robin to follow him.
Robin trailed after the taller man, wishing he didn't feel like death warmed up, because Hollis hadn't stopped talking and his voice was making Robins head spin. They walked through a door, down a corridor and into a large open plan office space with three desks spread around it and lots of empty space in between. The walls had more posters, and Robin eyed them for a moment while Hollis made ‘yoohoo’ noises in the direction of a grumpy looking guy slouched behind a desk with his head in his hands.
“Fuck sake Hollis, take it down about ten notches, some of us couldn't play hooky because they were hungover.”
Robin wondered for a heart stopping moment if the man across the room from them somehow knew how ill Robin was feeling, but then quickly realised as Hollis tisked that he was referring to himself.
“Well if you will go out drinking midweek you will suffer the consequences, Devon can get away with it precisely because he is the boss.”
The man, who Robin had decided must be Jules, snorted and leaned back in his chair, “So what do you want Hollis, who’s the cute waif hiding behind you?”
Hollis ushered Robin forward and he obeyed, sighing inwardly. Just because he was only 5’6” and slightly built with soft mint, apricot, rose and baby blue hair, everyone though he was cute, weak, adorable,a child, and he hated it.It didn't help that he adored fluffy things and pastel colours, today he was wearing a powder blue pinstripe shirt and crisply ironed white pants with a white linen jacket over the top.He knew he looked good in it, but it didn't stop the ‘cute’ comments.
Hollis speaking interrupted his thoughts and he dragged his tired mind back to reality.
“This is Robin, the new designer, Devon was supposed to be doing his orientation today, but as he isn't here, could you show him the ropes please Jules?”
So he had been right, the crumpled looking hungover man was Jules.
Jules grunted, “Can’t he come back tomorrow? This is Devon’s job, not mine, I have no idea what he tells the new blood.”
“Stop being such a baby Jules,” A deep voice from behind them made Robin jump and spin around to see another man in jeans and shirt looking at him curiously.
“I can show him around Hollis, you should get back to the front desk,” He made shooing motions and stepped aside so Hollis could leave, the latter with a pouty frown on his face.
“I swear to god one day I will kill that man,” Jules grumbled from his seat.
The newcomer snorted and then turned to Robin, “I’m Ellis, I’ll show you where you’ll be working.”
He led Robin down the corridor to a door at the end, with a plaque which read ‘CEO, Devon Callaway’ on it. Not bothering to knock he pushed it open and showed Robin in. Inside were two desk with computers and a larger table which was currently covered with papers, glossy poster prints and other materials.
“You’ll be using the desk over there,” Ellis pointed to the uncluttered sterile looking desk, which was a direct contrast to the one which must belong to Devon. Devon’s desk was a monument to how many things you could stack in one space before you were risking death via it all toppling down on you.
Robin realised his mouth was hanging open when Ellis mumbled, “yeah, he kind of needs a secretary more than another designer helping him, I hope you’re better at organisation than he is.”
Robin rolled his eyes, he hadn't spent five years getting two degrees to be some lazy brats clean up crew.
Acerbically he answered without thinking about who he was talking to, or about, “it wouldn't be hard to be more organised, even a two year old could do a better job.”
Ellis chuckled, “god, you’re going to fit right in.”
Robin looked up at him, an eyebrow quirked questioningly, “hmm?”
“The sassy attitude, anyone who spends more than five minutes around Devon develops one, the fact yours comes pre-loaded is perfect.”
“Why do I get the feeling I’m working for a charmless brat?” Robin muttered darkly, mostly to himself.
Ellis chuckled again, “oh, I wouldn't call him charmless, but he’s definitely a brat.”
Robin bit his lip, “can you say that about your boss and not get in trouble?”
Ellis shifted some papers out of the way and rested his hip on the large table, “well, he’s my little brother, so I can pretty much get away with murder, but you should probably try and be a little respectful, at least until you get to know him better.”
Robin rolled his eyes and sighed, “does he ditch work often, because I’m not down for working twice as hard just because he can’t be bothered to drag his ass in.”
Ellis frowned, “no, usually he’s here, he works twice as hard as everyone else, stays late, arrives early. Today was unusual for him, especially since you were coming in.”
Robin frowned as he examined some of the papers on the table, “wait, this is for the Tokyo proposal, did you get that job?”
Ellis shrugged, “Devon hasn't said anything yet, but we probably did, some of his designs for that one were inspired and all the feedback we got from the company was encouraging.”
Robin hummed to himself, he still wasn't quite sure how he’d got this job, he had been interviewed over the phone, not face to face, and he didn't think he’d made a good impression, he wasn't even sure he’d talked to Devon himself. He knew his portfolio was good, and his qualifications weren't lacking, but he had no actual experience, and the advert had said that would be a big bonus. Maybe the rumours that Devon was impossible to work with and staff quit within months of being hired by him were true, but Hollis and Jules seemed like they’d been here awhile.
“Penny for your thoughts?” Ellis cocked his head a little, looking at Robin
“They cost more than that,” Robin snarked, then covered his mouth, embarrassed while Ellis laughed.
“You really are perfect for this job!” he grinned at Robin.
“How did I even get this job? Is it true Devon scares his new designers off within weeks of meeting him?” Robin bit his lip, wondering if he just overstepped the line.
Ellis shrugged, “Devon can be a little hard to work with, he’s so driven, he expects everyone else to be as passionate as he is, some people can’t handle that, but you got the job because you impressed him, he is very picky about who he hires.”
Robin huffed a little, fiddling with the papers on the desk without really looking at them.
“So, what will I be doing?”
Ellis shifted a little, “helping Devon get the designs production ready mostly, he likes to handle proposals himself.”
Robin frowned, he really didn't want to just be an assistant, he wanted to be designing as well, but this was his first full time job so he could suck it up and assist until he could find a proper design job.
“Hmm, at least he didn't hire me to be a general dogsbody, I won’t do that, I want to design, not fetch coffee.”
Ellis smiled, his eyes crinkling at the corners, “I honestly can’t wait for Devon to meet you, he usually picks timid people he can push around.” Ellis leaned in towards Robin, “don’t let him push you an inch, keep that spitfire attitude and I promise you’ll do fine.”
Robin rubbed his forehead, then grimaced as he remembered he was wearing make-up today.
“Don’t worry, I don’t let anyone push me around.”
Ellis flinched when his pocket started shrilling an 80’s pop-song and he muttered "dammit Devon stop changing my ringtone,” before he excused himself with a quiet “I have to take this, I’ll be back in a minute.”
Robin sighed in relief as Ellis left the room, and pulled out his own phone he’d had on silent all morning. He rolled his eyes at all the messages from his friends, and then noticed a notification on birdsite from, could it be? He opened it, a feeling of quiet dread gripping his stomach. It was, it was the douche who took his photo in the club last night and captioned it with Wanna get me some of this, such a pretty little thing! Which wouldn't have bothered Robin that much, except the ass was an internet famous date and rate fuckboy, and his list of conquests was nearly endless. Most of them seemed to seek the guy out, because being rated by him got them their moment of fame too. Robin was not amused, he was still getting over his last boyfriend cheating on him and seeing that made his stomach curdle. It was his friends who had first noticed, because one of them followed the ass, and egged him on to slap the man down. So he’d replied, Not even in your dreams fuckboy, I don’t sleep with manwhores. Take my photo down right this instant!
Now the manwhore in question was blowing up his DM’s. Robin groaned, unsure if he wanted to know what he was saying, could he handle it if he was being really mean? Was work really the place to be risking getting upset? He bit his lip and decided he’d look at the first one, and then delete all the rest if it was awful. He could just block the guy, so it wasn't that big of a deal, right? He opened the messages, his eyes skimming over them.
Hey, I’m so sorry, most people like attention from me.
I didn't expect you to be upset
I've deleted the photo thread.
Please don’t stay mad with me.
What can I do to make it up to you?
Anything, name it
I’m serious
Please forgive me?
Another one popped up as he was scrolling through them.
Please don’t leave me on read :(, you’re killing me here smalls. How can I make it up to you? Just tell me.
Robin pursed his lips, wondering why this guy was being so, persistent, worried sounding, nice? Was this some kind of tactic to get him to reconsider turning him down so bluntly, or was he just trying to make sure he got no bad press from this? Robin decided it was probably the latter, and huffed, typing out a sharp reply.
I’m not going to bad mouth you publicly so you can stop with the act, just leave me alone
The response made him roll his eyes in exasperation.
It’s not an act, I’m genuinely sorry I upset you.
He didn't get a chance to reply scathingly as he was planning to, because Ellis came back in. Muting his phone again he slid it back into his pocket and tried to wipe the sour look of his face.
“Trouble?” Ellis gave him a worried look.
“No, nothing I can’t handle, just some ass on social media.” He pursed his lips and sighed.
“Let me show you the rest of our office, then you can probably head home, Devon just confirmed he’s not coming in at all today, so there is no reason for you to hang around.”
Ellis went and opened the door for Robin and they spent the next hour wandering the office space, being introduced to the four other workers there, Milan, Wren, Ripley and Grey, and being shown the break room, which was possibly the greatest space Robin had ever seen. It was full of comfy couches, big screens, gaming consoles, and a cafeteria with proper coffee, which of course Robin availed himself of, sighing with relief as the caffeine started flowing through his ever more sluggishly hungover body. Then he went home, because his boss was too lazy to show up to work, and as a result, Robin had nothing to actually do. He pouted as he took the elevator back to the ground floor, the pout turning to a scowl as he took his phone out and saw that rather than accepting that he wasn't going to trash him on social media, fuckboy was still pestering him.
Please don’t ignore me :( I know I probably deserve it but
I’m honestly trying to apologise here
I really want to make things right
I’m sorry I made you so angry at me
Please, I said I’d do anything, and I meant it. Just name it
Robin grumbled under his breath as he started walking back to his apartment, while typing a blunt reply.
Anything? Good, then leave me alone, that’s the anything I want. I never want to hear from you, see you or speak to you, ever.
He bit his lip at the reply, mildly stunned at the guys persistence.
:( :( :( Nuuuuu :( :( Anything but that, please, I’m begging
Huffing under his breath he sent back an even terser reply
I hate you, leave me alone
:( please don’t hate me? You don’t even know me, can’t you at least give me a chance?
Robin’s finger hovered over the block icon for long seconds, then he slid the phone into his pocket and ignored it while he opened the door to his tiny apartment and got himself a glass of juice and another painkiller. Sitting down on his sofa with a grumpy huff he pulled out his phone and started typing a long reply, ignoring the four messages the guy had already sent him still pleading for him to explain.
I hate all fuckboys. They lie, they cheat, they feel nothing, yet ‘I love you’ rolls off their tongue as easy as ‘I’d never lie to you baby’, ‘I’d never cheat on you baby’ and all the other lies they tell. They are selfish, greedy obnoxious assholes who don’t deserve to even breathe the same air I do, so THAT is how I can hate you. Now. Leave. Me. Alone.
He groaned as his phone lit up with more replies, why couldn't this dick take a hint. Despite himself he read the replies instead of just blocking him like he knew he should.
I’m so sorry someone treated you like that
I promise I’m not like that
The people on my rate list asked to be there, I’d never rate someone against their wishes
I know I fucked up last night
I usually ask before posting pics, but I couldn't get near you
And I was really drunk, like, REALLY drunk
and you’re so damned cute 6_6
I know, I’m a terrible person
I just don’t want you to hate me
please?
Robin rolled his eyes.
How is that even an apology? You were /almost/ doing less than shit until you called me cute. I don’t know why I’m even talking to you, you’re awful
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