Chapter Three: Getting Use To You Again
2067 Words
It had been a week since Valor Rowan had come to be hired for a job here at the company, it took a long while for Levi to get used to Valor being near him again.
Valor always comforted him and acted like they were still together, which gave Levi a ton of freak out moments. He didn't feel very connected to him anymore as he did back then, yet he had to get used to him.
They were working together, after all. They had to at least try to get along or tolerate each other, Levi was going for the latter. He couldn't just get along with the man who used to abuse him like it was nothing, it would have to take more than an apology to make him forget that.
The talking from Kyle giving him a lecture was stressing Levi out but he tried to remain calm, Valor tried also to calm him down.
Valor switched the conversation, hoping to distract their boss with ideas for their new logo design he had come up with a few seconds ago. Levi was grateful for what he did, but he was still untrustworthy of him. No matter what happened, he was too paranoid to fully trust him.
It was just a curse he would have to deal with until his life ended.
"These designs look great, I would recommend going with the first one since it represents how good this company is the most." Kyle was being way too demanding and detailed again, but Valor listened to his orders nicely without a complaint. He must've also figured out the drill of the 'if you disagree with me you'll be fired" game. He was gonna have one long road ahead of him from here, it was going to be so hard for him.
Though he was picking it up very well, Levi wasn't even sure if Valor Rowan was a normal human being like the rest of them. He always was a genius, but he just assumed that was him manipulating others to follow him like some sort of God.
Maybe he was different, so unlike Levi had thought of him.
Kyle continued to ramble on about what was best for their company as Valor tried his best to stay composed and like he was paying attention, even though Levi knew well he didn't care about anything that man was saying to him.
Though who could blame him? Kyle was too much of a rambler to listen to.
Levi left the room to go back to his own work, he had so much papers to put out and so much to sign. He didn't have time to stick around and listen to these two ramble to each other like high schoolers in a locker room, Levi had way more important things in his life to do than that.
He headed to his desk, moving all the leftover papers on his desk to a new envelope so he could move on to his next task of the day. Technically, it was evening now. Levi was so caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed the rest of the time passing through like a stream in the river, he was glad it was almost over though.
When it was over, he could get back to his art at home. And his cat, he needed to feed her again when he got home.
But now that he noticed the time, it seemed to be ticking by slowly as if it was trying to stretch out the day even more.
Tick tock, tick tock.
The clock on the wall seemed to go on slow motion as he stared at it, he wished time would speed up once again. Even the sun outside was going down slower, why was everything slowing down now that he had established that he was leaving now?
Tick tock, tick tock.
The sound was too much for him to handle, he covered his ears to try to ignore the sound as he breathed in then out. He couldn't wait to get home, the clock here was nauseating him to his core right now.
Valor came in to see where Levi had gone after their meeting, seeing he was at his desk and covering his ears like some sound was bothering him. He needed to get to the bottom of this to see what was wrong.
"Hey, you alright? You seem to be bothered by something..." He tried to sound comforting, gently grabbing his shoulder to get his attention.
Levi didn't jump or have a freak out moment this time, he seemed strangely calm when he touched him. Maybe he was getting better and finally starting to forgive him for what he had done.
"Yeah, I'm fine... It's just the clock noises." Levi didn't want to go too much into detail about how he had a breakdown over a clock, he just wanted this day to be over with already.
"I see, the noises from it are very annoying... But, at least work for the day is almost done... That's all that matters." He shot him a slight smile, trying to cheer Levi up with it. Levi just sighed, not wanting to go into detail about anything to his former husband.
"Yeah, that is all that matters... At least to me." Levi mumbled under his breath as he looked at the clock one more time, five more minutes were left on the clock and Levi had to do as much work as he could for those five minutes.
"Five minutes... can't wait to get home, can you? Got someone special?" Valor was unshamefully getting into Levi's business just to see where he was in life nowadays, he was very interested since it had been so long. They hadn't seen each other in years.
"No, not at the moment at least..." Levi was confused as to why he was asking him something so personal, but Valor was probably just curious about his life.
The smile on Valor's face went to his eyes, he was obviously happy about something right now. "Really...? No one special at home right now...? How's that possible?" He acted so surprised and concerned, but really he was happy.
Levi wondered what he was even happy about now.
"What's got you so happy?"
The smile disappeared, replaced with a very serious face but his eyes were still lit up with happiness.
"You" What did that mean?
"What do you mean 'me'?"
It took him a few minutes to answer as he paced around, the smile coming back as the five minutes seemed to disappear.
"You're single. Which means you're free. What a coincidence, so am I!"
Oh.
That was what he meant by that, the realization coming to Levi's face as he noticed his five minutes had passed already.
"Um, yeah... Anyways, I have to go.. feed my cat now. I will see you tomorrow? Maybe?" Levi acted so casual, but the realization what still too much for him to deal with right now.
"Yeah... I'll see you tomorrow, Levi Harold. Have a good night, if you can for me. I hope to see you again soon, even just as acquaintances." Valor was getting a little too personal and was pushing this way too far, so Levi decided to leave the room and get out of the building entirely.
It was time to check out of work anyways, so he didn't want to stick around too long and waste his time on Valor Rowan. He had more important things to do, like create another art piece or feed his cat.
The only two things that mattered in this world right now.
What even gave that man permission to speak like that to him? He should've known better than to say that a co worker.
He went home, hoping to forget about what had happened that very day. His cat was very excited to see him so she scratched his ankles up, because that was,the greeting he always got at home nowadays.
He wasn't complaining though, she was a darling little kitten he had found as a stray with no mother around. He had named her Gwen, the name of his late mother.
She was precious and adorable to him, she truly was a work of art.
Just like all the pieces he had made of her, works of art. He loved every single one of them like they were her.
He fed his cat, patting her head as she ate and growled at him for getting too close to her while she was eating her food. "Now, now, Gweny.. Don't be like that to me. I had an awful long day at work, you know... The littlest you could do is be nice to me for once in your life..."
He got her some water then left to his study room, which was really his art room but he called it that so he seemed at least a little more masculine to the public eye. He loved this room the most in his house, it was the only place he could safely let out his true feelings, the only place he was truly safe at.
He looked at the fifteen paintings he had made of his darling cat, each getting better each time he did it because he usually did fifteen tries before the final result. It helped a lot with his artwork, even if it was time consuming and sometimes boring if he hated looking at the piece.
But it was still the world to him, it meant the world to him, and that would never change.
Valor Rowan used to mean more than his art, no matter how much of his work was indented onto his body out of anger.
He wished things could've been different, but with a man like that, he knew it was impossible to do here.
His mother had warned him about what a tragic mess he would be in if he fell for someone that aggressive, but he didnt listen because Valor was the only one with the common decency to be interested in his art pieces he had worked so hard on.
Then he remembered what Valor had said to him at work that night, right before he left. Why did he care whether or not that he had someone special to be with? And that light in his eyes was something entirely different, he had never across it from that man before.
Did he still love him?
No, he couldn't think like that right now.
He could just hear his mother's words, her scolding, telling him how idiotic it was for him to be with the man who had hurt him over and over again. All for him to get even an ounce of love and affection, from anyone.
He hated that woman when she was alive, purely hated. She never supported his passion, always told him how he'd end up a lonely and homeless wreck if he decided to take art as a career. And she was always belittling him.
For all of his childhood, he would either be called a 'damned i***t' or a 'useless excuse of a human being'. It was like he wasn't her child, but he was her personal emotional punching bag to forget everything that had happened at work or at church that day.
But then he met Valor, who was finally nice to him and didn't insult his intelligence every five seconds that he breathed. Instead, he was soft and gentle, he always complimented his artwork, and he was so supportive.
Of course, that had changed after they got married, but it was still one of the happier times of his life he had had with him.
He really did love him before all of that happened, even worshipped the ground he walked on. Because he was the one person in his life that had been so, so kind to him. So unlike his own mother.
When they got married, he was his mother. But more physical about it instead of emotional, he was his actual punching bag.
He couldn't go back to that again, he was not strong enough to handle,something like that one more time.
But Valor was willing to try again, he claimed to have changed...
It was all just so confusing for the blonde.
- Writer
