Avery felt as if he were falling asleep at his desk. It wasn't the first time he had gone days without sleep, though, and he knew he wouldn't rest until the project was completed. His father was already convinced he was falling behind, and Avery didn't want to give him another reason to taunt him about it.

"Jenkinses have to be tough and ready for anything," his father always repeated, as if Avery hadn't already known that. It meant always prioritizing work and leaving no time for anything else.

Even though he was still a few years away from officially taking over the Chief Executive Officer role, he already had multiple responsibilities that he had inherited from his father. In fact, he had so many that he sometimes wondered what else his father did besides enjoying luxury lunches and smoking cigars with the company’s partners. However, he didn't dare complain out loud or draw attention to it.

He had papers waiting for his signature, reports to review, and hundreds of pages of financial statements and legal contracts to study for the company his father wanted to acquire next, even though Avery himself wasn’t certain about this cooperation.

On top of that, he was also analyzing the performance of their portfolio, checking how the companies Jenkins Enterprises had invested in were doing in an attempt to discover and identify problematic areas.

His plate was full, especially with morning meetings and conferences that required his presence, and he considered himself lucky if he managed to eat dinner at the office in the evening, since he already used his lunch breaks to get more work done. 

He was used to this amount of work and knew his body had to handle it, so it stopped bothering him a long time ago. The same, however, couldn’t be said about his assistant, who stubbornly insisted that if his boss had to work this much, it was his duty to stay at work until late as well.

Unlike Avery, who had been used to this work pace for years, Ben had only worked for their company for the last seven months, and only four of those as the direct assistant to the future CEO. 

He was only two years older than Avery and was still full of energy and positivity, which allowed him to keep a smile on his face despite his exhaustion. He always arrived early in the morning so he could put coffee on the CEO’s desk before the meeting, and every evening he prepared dinner for him, ordering it without Avery having to say a single word. 

He hated to admit it, but the blond had quickly grown accustomed to this care, and though he was still grateful for it, he realized he was starting to take it for granted. The thought didn't sit well with him, as it sounded far too much like his father.

“Mr. Avery.”

Ben appeared in the doorway with the same smile as every day. Avery, however, focused only on the dark circles under his eyes, which were partially hidden by his glasses but still couldn’t completely conceal the exhaustion that had accumulated over the past few weeks.

“What did I tell you about calling me that?”

The CEO wanted nothing more than to run his fingers through his short blonde hair and ruin the perfectly styled look just to release the pressure in his head, but he knew he couldn't afford to. Especially not in anyone else's presence, as it would ruin the flawless image he had painstakingly built for himself.

“Avery,” Ben corrected himself and offered him a gentle apologetic smile.

He was quite handsome, though Avery couldn't allow himself to think about that any further. Not only was Ben his employee, but he was also too sweet and too pure to have his reputation ruined by becoming the future CEO's secret. After all, the heir to Jenkins Enterprises couldn't offer him any more than that. Not now, and not ever in the future.

“What are you carrying?”

His question was apparently enough to make the brown-haired assistant shift his gaze to the documents in his hands, losing track of his footsteps. Fatigue had caught up with him—there was no other way to explain him tripping on flat ground. As the papers began falling from his hands, Avery moved quickly toward him, catching him before he could join them on the floor.

The way he caught him was quite embarrassing, as Avery grabbed him somewhere between his shoulders and elbows, practically wrapping his arms around his back, while Ben was bent at the waist, barely managing to catch his heels on the floor, needing the CEO's arms to provide support.

Ben’s face reflected total shock. At first, he stared at the ceiling, where his gaze had landed during the sudden fall. Then, however, he shifted his attention to his savior, and suddenly their faces were much closer than was appropriate for their professional relationship.

Avery didn't miss the way those blue eyes slipped down to his lips for a brief moment, so he knew he had to act.

He cleared his throat and helped Ben find his balance again, applying pressure to his back to help him get to his feet. The second his feet were entirely flat on the floor, Avery let go of him as if their mutual touch had burned him, bending down to the floor to busy himself with collecting the papers.

It took the assistant a few seconds to snap out of it too and begin helping. “You don't have to—”

“It’s no problem,” Avery cut him off before he could say more, continuing to gather the papers, trying to stack them in a way that would save them extra work later. Fortunately, Ben quickly understood what he was doing and started doing the same.

When there were no more papers on the floor and the future CEO straightened up to hand them back to Ben, he realized the situation still hadn't been salvaged. The moment his assistant stood directly in front of him, Avery couldn't miss his blushing cheeks.

“You need to get some rest,” were the words he used as he handed the documents back, focusing on looking directly into his eyes and nowhere else.

“I...” Ben seemed about to say more, but it was clear that wanting to didn't mean he was capable of doing so. His thoughts were practically broadcast on his face. Perhaps it was just because, even though Ben didn't know it, Avery was also queer, and he knew exactly what that unexpected touch must have caused.

He had noticed the way Ben looked at him before. He tried to pretend he hadn't, and he was sure his assistant believed him, but he was still acutely aware that something had shifted between them over the past few months. Or rather, something had shifted in Ben, as his smiles aimed in his direction were brighter, and the time he spent in his presence grew increasingly longer.

“Ben,” he called to him in an effort to help him focus. “Go home.”

In a second, his gaze became more present and his brown strands moved as he shook his head. “I want to help. I know you have a lot on your plate, and if I help, it will go faster.”

“Ben,” Avery tried again, though all he wanted to do was sigh, knowing it would take more than that to shut down his efforts. Selfishly, however, he didn't want to, because if he were being honest, he too had noticed over those months how handsome his assistant was, and how much he enjoyed their small talk whenever they weren't discussing work.

“I'll rest when you rest,” was Ben’s next argument.

Instead of protesting again, the future CEO took the papers from his hands and moved with them to the desk to see what he had actually brought him. It gave him an excuse to stop looking at him, and he hoped Ben would do the same, as he could still feel his eyes on him.

His prayers were answered, but only partially, as a few seconds later he heard the sound of a chair scraping against the floor; the brunette had decided to move closer to get a view of the desk. He still sat at the side of the desk, however, rather than right next to the CEO, knowing that wouldn't be appropriate—and that was the only thing still maintaining their professional distance. Well, at least Avery knew that was what kept them apart.