Chapter 4 

Mateo thanked his interviewers, shaking each of their hands before leaving. He felt pretty confident about that last one; of all the places he’d had interviews at recently after his last employer shut down his business, this place had the best pay and was a renowned company to work for.

In short, he really wanted this job. 

Luckily but unbeknownst to him, Mateo had aced the interview for an assistant role to their boss; the man had recently been discharged from hospital and at his mother’s request, had started interviewing people for an assistant. 

The boss himself wasn’t conducting these interviews; he was too busy for that, but his staff knew him well and more than actual credentials or past experience, what they were looking for was someone who seemed capable and loyal, someone who would get along with their boss and make sure that he took care of himself.

And Mateo Montero seemed to fit the bill perfectly; a polite and friendly young man aged 27 who seemed like he’d have a lot in common with their boss. Really, their boss’s mother had also wanted her son to hire a bodyguard, so they also had to interview different people for a bodyguard position.

They had no idea that actually, the man they had liked the most out of all their interviewees so far could actually double as a bodyguard. Mateo had put down kickboxing on his resumé, but most people assumed that he did it as a hobby and wasn’t that serious about it. 

In reality, Mateo Montero was good enough to compete in and have a good chance of winning several different competitions, but signing up to the competitions was more complicated than the experience was worth; he couldn’t compete in the women’s championships for obvious reasons, but competing in the men’s wasn’t that straightforward either.

Instead, Mateo just kept sparring with his friends and occasionally sister, as he generally didn’t have a need to utilise his skills in everyday life. The last time he’d properly fought someone was around two weeks ago, after stepping in to help a random man who had been ambushed whilst reading a book on a park bench.

Speaking of; Jedidiah sighed, putting the papers down on his desk in a neat pile. He had so much to do after his mother insisted that he stay in hospital for a few days to ensure that his concussion was alright. Although he was sure that he could go back to work, he didn’t have the heart to argue with Alice; he knew that everything she did was out of concern for him and his brother.

A sharp knock on the door had Jedidiah glancing up, recognising James’s knock. The man poked his head around the door, grinning. “We’ve found someone we think might fit the bill. We’re still going through bodyguards, but we think we have a nice guy for the assistant role. Here’s his resumé and a recording of the interview which you can watch if you’d like. The final decision is up to you of course.”

Jedidiah smiled, taking the USB stick and sheet of paper from James. Jedidiah plugged in the USB immediately, not really bothering with the resumé - he didn’t particularly care what past jobs this guy had had in the past; he just wanted to know what he was like.

As soon as the screen flashed up with a familiar face and slight accent, Jedidiah almost choked on his tea. For the past two weeks, he’d been searching high and low for this ‘Matt’ with a European accent, and yet his efforts had born not a single scrap of fruit.

And somehow, this man had found his own way back to Jedidiah.

“This one. What’s his name? Hire him instantly,” Jedidiah exclaimed, grabbing the resumé, which he was suddenly very interested in. “Mateo Montero. I see, he’s Spanish. That checks out,” he mumbled to himself, glancing through the surprisingly normal jobs the man had had thus far - working as a shop assistant or a cleaner, things like that.

Jedidiah had expected to find out that Mateo Montero was some finalist of a fancy martial art championship, but all it said here was ‘kickboxing since six years old’. Jedidiah chuckled slightly to himself, putting the sheet back on his desk. That simple little sentence gave no indication of the man’s skill level whatsoever.

“And before you hire anyone for a bodyguard, call Montero and ask him if he’d like to be an assistant and a bodyguard. You can offer him the salary we were offering for the two jobs combined.”

James gaped at Jedidiah; that was doubling and some how much they’d originally offered Montero. But, it was still technically how much they would have been paying for two different people, so James didn’t question it, and silently did as his boss asked.

—————

Sentences said entirely in Spanish will be in [ ]

[We’re all so proud of you, Matelito,] Paula said warmly, the Spanish flowing effortlessly from her lips as she wrapped her son up in a warm hug. Mateo smiled, cuddling up to his mum - he used to love resting his head on her shoulder but now he was significantly taller than her and so she liked to rest her head on his shoulder instead. 

Emiliano patted his son and daughter on the head before taking Paula’s hand in his and smiling at Mateo. [Well done, son. This sounds like a wonderful job you’ve been offered. When do you start this assistant job?] he asked whilst Mateo swallowed thickly.

He hadn’t told his parents about the latest development to his job offer, and he didn’t plan to. They would worry needlessly, and if there’s one thing Mateo hated above all else, it was his family worrying about him.

And maybe their worry would be warranted; Mateo was going to work as an assistant and bodyguard to someone who was apparently attacked just the other day. So maybe he should have told his parents and let them worry about him, maybe he should have told them so that they could check up on him, so that they could make sure that he was alright.

But, he didn’t tell them. And instead, he just smiled, hugging his family and enjoying the home cooked food his mother made. He would let himself enjoy this moment, so that his family wouldn’t know how apprehensive Mateo actually was for this job.

Because it wasn’t just about his slightly dangerous job, it was also about everything else which came with entering a new workplace. The small talk about their lives he could deal with, he could deal with any potential xenophobia he encountered, although generally less likely. He could deal with the homophobia if anyone somehow found out about his sexuality, but there was one thing which always made Mateo sigh when thinking about.

He would have to come out at some point. If he didn’t, if he ‘hid’ it from his colleagues and one day they found out, then people would treat it like he’d lied to them or deceived them or something ridiculous. It was his information to tell others, yet people always felt entitled to know it. 

For now, Mateo planned on keeping it on the down-low; his job didn’t require anyone to know that he was transgender, but if someone directly asked him, he would be honest. This was what Mateo had always done, and what he found worked the best. Because generally, no one had any clue that he was trans in the first place, so people didn’t often figure it out or anything.

It’s not like Mateo was going to become friends with anyone here, so he wouldn’t need to tell them. He wasn’t going to get close to any of them.