(Joshua's POV - Thur. 27 March 2014)

"It doesn't sound logical Derek, the benefits should be much higher on this project... How come there are such discrepancies in the P&L between the forecast and the actuals?" I ask to my uncomfortable CFO with whom I have spent the last two hours deciphering tables and tables of figures. I may not be an experimented finance guy but I am not stupid and I have studied enough and have bathed in business management for long enough to see that some of the reports bear incoherencies.

"There have been some tax increases and it seems that the guys from the projects didn't quote the right amounts..." he tries to explain, not very confident about his reasoning. When he notices my narrowed eyes, Derek recovers his self-assured expression and adds: "I'll double check everything myself, Joshua. I'll work this out with the tax guys and the tendering department. They might have made some mistakes in their assumptions. I'll get back to you as soon as possible," he says firmly.

"I want your teams to verify all their data too. There must have been something going wrong there and I want some clear and exhaustive explanations," I reply even more firmly, as if we were in some kind of self-confidence contest. Well, I would win that one because after all, I am the boss, right? Derek's years of experience don't impress me. I am still his manager and the fact that he is more than fifteen years older than me doesn't change a thing.

"Sure..." he replies, standing up and I walk him back to the door of my office.

"Liam, would you please block two hours on Monday morning with Derek in my calendar?" I ask as both Derek and I reach his desk.

"You already have three hours with Mr. Brightman before he goes to his appointment with the new client for the whole afternoon, Sir," Liam says looking up from the documents he was sorting on his desk. "Would an hour be enough? Or else, I can schedule 5 to 7?" Liam proposes. I can't help the little smile on my face at how he has grown professional since last September. Only seven months ago, he would have needed to check my calendar and would have stuttered his answer; now my entire schedule, past and future, is in his head and he can confidently express himself, even in front of stricter persons like Derek. He will surely make a great personal assistant to whichever high-level manager will offer him a job and weren't I faithful to Ally or weren't she to ever return, I would definitely keep him as my personal assistant.

"One hour in the morning should be enough, I believe," I reply. Monday will be our last day just the two of us here before Ally returns on Tuesday, and I well intend to spend my 5 to 7 slot with someone else than Derek.

"That should be fine indeed..." Derek confirms, probably relieved not to have a late meeting on a Monday evening.

With that, Derek heads toward the elevators while I go to the meeting room fridge where my lunch must have been dropped by Liam. I am surprised to find the sandwich I asked for and a yogurt instead of an apple or a pear. I always get fruit when I go for the sandwich and Liam has never failed that rule since he started working for me. I walk back to his desk, expecting an explanation, and see that he has returned to sorting his documents. He is so concentrated that he doesn't even register my presence in front of his desk.

"What is this?" I ask him, prompting the Danone pot a few inches in front of his face, making him squint.

"A yogurt pot, I guess... strawberry it seems..." he replies with a smug smile. Is someone looking for a spanking?

"What do I usually get with my sandwich, Liam?" I then ask, narrowing my eyes.

"Fruit, Sir. However, since they had only bananas and you don't like them, I got you a yogurt. It still has some fruit in it..." he replies with a sarcastic grin. I think that he is really trying to push me, but he should know that I rarely lose these little games. I lean down to rest my hands on his desk and smirk back at him, my face only a couple of inches away from his.

"You should have taken both. I would still have been able to make good use of the banana..." I whisper, wriggling my eyebrows. His eyes open widely and he slightly pulls away.

"Oh God... I'm glad I only chose the yogurt then..." he replies with mock offense, still holding that ironic tone in his voice. Does he really think that he won because I don't have the banana in my possession? Haa! He should know me better! I grab his tie and pull him back to me for a kiss, a deep and voracious kiss that makes him moan around my invading tongue. I end it up abruptly, lightly biting his lips.

"Don't tempt me, Baby... I have a nice size-four plug in my drawer waiting to be slipped inside your little hole... Might as well do that after lunch," I murmur against his lips.

With that I lean back up and head to my office, chuckling to myself and leaving him wordless and dumbfounded. I see him shake his head a few seconds later and swiftly grab his vest before he scurries to the lift to go downstairs for his lunch break. As much as Liam has grown comfortable in all situations around me, it is still quite easy to tease him and embarrass him at times and I absolutely love that little shy side of his character that he will probably never be able to completely turn down. I have always preferred shy and tamed Submissives because they are easier to handle, and Liam is no real exception because he is quite submissive, but I also appreciate this little feisty and chirpy side that he usually only lets out when it is just the both of us; I admit that it adds some spice to our relationship and as long as it remains within reasonable boundaries, I don't mind.

Last week-end was another huge step for him and I couldn't feel any prouder about his reaction and behavior at the club. Performing his first public scene turned out to be exactly as I was expecting for my sweet boy: a revelation. When he came back to himself after a two-hour nap, he admitted that this was one of the best experiences he had had since the beginning of our relationship, and certainly the most intense one.

The thing that makes me proud of him is that he was able to go beyond his fears of being publicly exposed and having sex in front of an audience, and as he explained, he managed to shut everything that wasn't us and yet remain aware of the tension surrounding us. He said that the feeling was enthralling and that he was ready to repeat the event in a few weeks, which obviously will happen again. However the intensity of the act wore him out and after a long night, we just spent the rest of our Sunday cuddling and relaxing in the media room and then in the swimming-pool until I drove him back to his apartment.

Alright, it wasn't only cuddles and relaxation. Our time in the media room to supposedly watch a couple of movies quickly turned into a long make-out session that led us to the swimming-pool. But it would have taken too much effort to go from the basement to the first floor to get some suits and why bother with bathing suits when we could just enjoy the privacy of an indoor pool to swim naked? It is needless to say that we didn't really swim... more like we resumed making out in the warm water and ended up feeding each other with some nice cream through blow jobs.

I can hardly believe that these last six months working with Liam have passed so quickly and that Ally is returning next week when I had dreaded her maternity absence so much. Ally is such a great assistant that I was afraid of how things would go while she was away but it turned out to be a great experience for me. On one side, I am rather happy and even eager to have her back because I have missed her chirpy temper and humor, but at the same time, I have greatly enjoyed having Liam and I am definitely going to miss our little kinky moments in the office. There will doubtlessly be more of them, but they will be less frequent and trickier. However, count on me and my perverted mind to create the right occasions.

At the same time, it will allow me to focus a little more on the company's future. The new division dedicated to luxurious small-scale hotels is extremely promising. The new department's team which consists of the manager, Scott Andon, and his team of now nearly twenty-five persons, including project managers, engineers, architects and designers, has proved hard working and very efficient. They have taken over a few ongoing projects that we got from Cole when I bought his customer portfolio and unfinished building sites, but the commercial guy that Scott hired in January has also managed to sign three commitments for further projects in California, Virginia and Florida. With all these upcoming works and if they are successful, I will need to consider expanding the subsidiary Pierce Works since this company starts to have difficulty to provide enough workers to achieve all our projects in time.

The one project that has given Allan, Conrad, Pierce Works' general manager, and me a bit of a hard time recently is the construction of a huge office building in Boston that we started to work on more than two years ago. Our client knew exactly what he wanted and it was easy for our architects and designers to prepare the plans. However, he was also very clear and precise on the location where he wanted to settle down in the city center and the impediment laid in the fact that we needed to find an old and abandoned building that we would be able to buy for next to nothing and demolish in the area required by the said client. About a year ago, we found the perfect location and after some hard negotiations, we finally obtained all the necessary authorizations, demolished the old building and the works began soon after.

Everything was going well and even if the works slowed down during the worst months of the winter, the construction of the building was well advanced but then there began to be tensions among some of the workers in February and we had to impose some sanctions. I would normally not have gotten involved in the problem since Conrad usually deals very well with this kind of situation, but for one it began to delay the accomplishment of the building and then it implied one of our best foremen who had recently done a wonderful job in the achievement of the Barkins Building in Newark. Besides this project is one of the best we have ever had in Boston and it will impact a lot of potential customers in the future as it will be owned by a company that will rent the floors to various expanding companies who might grow enough to have their own buildings at some point in a few years, so there is no way to mess up on this one.

Anyway, this problem is now solved since Conrad reorganized the teams and shifts and he moved the foreman to other sites here in Chicago. Now I need to clear this issue I have with Derek and this one had better give me some good answers on Monday. I might not be a specialist in finance but I can read P&L tables and I can tell that the margins don't look logical on some of our projects. If I am still not satisfied with Derek's explanations, I will probably have an internal audit performed. I might as well already ask Tony to work with Spencer, my IT manager, and monitor if weird things have happened recently and then I can have our external auditors to run an intensive audit of all our accounts. That could be an option, but let's first start with Tony. However, before I have time to call him in, my Iphone rings and I automatically reply seeing that it is Aaron calling me.

"Joshua Pierce, at your service... How's Mister Cox doing?" I let out playfully. Talking with Aaron is always fun and should relieve some of my current stress.

"Hey... I'm not too bad..." he replies quite seriously and taking his deepest voice. I have a feeling that this conversation is not going to be as pleasant as it usually is, hearing the concern in his tone. "Am I not disturbing you?"

"I'm on my lunch break and my next meeting is in half an hour. What's wrong?" I ask warily.

"Oh nothing much, I hope... I was just wondering: do you happen to know if Liam heard from Jeremy over the past few days?"

"I can't be sure... I know he wanted to send him a text to ask him whether he and Gary would be at the club on Friday evening since we're gonna be there, but I don't know if he has yet. I can ask him if you want. Is there a problem?"

"No, don't ask him just yet, or at least not straightly... there's no need to make him worry and I doubt his text would go through anyway," Aaron replies, confusing me.

"What are you talking about, Aaron?" I ask warily. Why would Liam worry?

"Please keep that to yourself for now... Gary called me earlier this morning, asking if I'd seen Jeremy, but I haven't seen the boy since Tuesday evening when they were at the Diamond. They went to Jeremy's place after the club. They had a little argument, but nothing really serious and Gary still spent the night there. On Wednesday morning, they both went to work and Jeremy sounded alright, but since then, Gary hasn't heard back from him at all. He called and texted him yesterday but got no answer and calls went straight to his voice mail. You know how Gary easily gets worried, so this morning he went to Jeremy's apartment but he wasn't successful there either..." Aaron explains.

"Does he know where Jeremy works at the moment? Did he try to go there?" I suggest. Jeremy works in small construction and renovation and his working sites often change.

"That's what I suggested him this morning... He went there at noon during his lunch break and he just called me back a few minutes ago. He managed to speak with Jeremy's boss at the house they are renovating at the moment and he told Gary that Jeremy went for lunch on his own yesterday and never came back. He left him a message on his voice mail too but got no answer."

"His parents...?" I propose.

"They live in Minnesota and Gary doesn't want them to worry about nothing. Plus he doesn't know them personally yet..." Aaron sighs.

"That sucks. This doesn't sound like Jeremy not to answer. Have you tried to call other Subs, like Ed or maybe Mick?"

"No, not yet... but if Liam hasn't heard from him, I doubt that the others will... Gary is taking his afternoon off and will try to look for him. He might go to the Police too..."

"The Police? Jeremy is an adult, so I doubt they will do anything after so little time."

"I know... but what else can he do?" Aaron asks.

"Honestly, I don't know... Maybe he just had a family emergency and had to leave in a hurry and forgot to charge his phone?"

"That doesn't make sense, Josh. Jeremy would have at least called Gary to let him know, don't you think?"

"Yeah, most probably. What if he had an accident or something and got rushed into a hospital? Who would be warned?"

"Gary, I believe... I guess he must have asked him to have a document in his wallet with Gary's contact details in case of an accident. This is what most of the Subs do in general," Aaron rightfully says. Liam also has a similar card in his wallet with both his parents' and my contact details in case anything happened to him.

Aaron and I continue to think about possibilities of what could have happened but we don't come up with any valid argument. Wherever Jeremy had to go, he would have let Gary know. These two have become more than a Dominant and a Submissive and they sincerely love each other I think. When he gets back, he will be sure to hear from his Dominant and get a good punishment. If we ask our Subs to always keep us informed of where they are, this is because we have good reasons to. Even if the relationship is not made of love, there are still these feelings of possession and responsibility that make us need to know where they are and what they are doing at all times. As far as I am concerned, I hate worrying about not knowing where Liam is or what may happen to him. If he were to disappear without letting me know for more than a few hours, I would probably go crazy. And once he would be back, trust me that if he were not able to provide a very good reason, he would end up on the punishment bench and his bottom would experience a good session of paddle, if not the crop or the cane.

Whatever the matter is with Jeremy, I promise Aaron that I won't tell anything to Liam just yet. The guys have become such good friends over time that Liam would get himself sick about the situation and as long as we don't know anything for sure, I don't see any point of worrying him about his friend anyway. After my call with Aaron, I push my next meeting by half an hour and hurry to the second floor where Tony has his headquarters. I find him in his office, busy working on the timetables of his guys. I shut his door to give us some privacy and briefly expose him my concern about the activity of the company and ask him to work with our IT manager to see if there have been any weird things recently, like unexpected visitors or unusual calls... anything that would be out of the ordinary. All this shall remain confidential but I trust Tony and Spencer on this.

"Then... can you have a look at this," I ask, putting a piece of paper on his desk. "This is Jeremy's mobile phone number. Would you be able to track it or maybe ask one of your contacts to do it?"

"Sure... Jeremy's the young guy that Liam often talks about, right?"

"Yes. We're not sure, but he seems to have disappeared... He's been on voice mail since at least yesterday noon. After his lunch, he never went back to work and Gary, his... Dominant hasn't heard back from him since yesterday morning. He also went to his place but he didn't seem to be there either..."

"I could send Jeff to try and discreetly force the lock, if necessary..." Tony proposes.

"That could be an idea... Let's first try with the phone number and I'll discuss this with Aaron and Gary... Thanks Tony."

"No problem... I'll get back to you as soon as possible but it might not be before tonight or tomorrow morning..."

"Just do as you can. I'll see you later."

After that, the rest of the afternoon goes in a blur since I am locked into meetings and conference calls. Liam briefly pops in around 5:30 to wish me a good evening since he is staying at his place tonight, which is a good thing for once because I won't have to be cautious about my worries on Jeremy around him. It is past nine in the evening when Tony and I head back home. His contact hasn't been able to locate Jeremy's phone, meaning that it is either out of battery or that the battery has been detached from its device. Unfortunately, my assumptions tend to the second when I get the next call from Aaron while we are still in the car.

"He has simply left..." Aaron says straightforwardly when I answer the phone.

"What do you mean?"

"Jeremy has left... Gary found a letter in his mail box when he got home tonight," Aaron explains gloomily.

"Jeremy sent him a letter?"

"Yes, he did. I'm at Gary's place at the moment; he's... he's devastated, Josh."

"Fuck! Have you read the letter? What does it say?"

"Not that much about his reasons actually, but there's a lot of requests. He just says that he needs a break and wants to see new horizons and travel the world. He doesn't give any details at all, but he apologizes to Gary for doing this to him and wishes him to find someone better. He left a key of his apartment in the envelope and asks Gary to give everything he owns to associations or to anyone who may need stuff. There's also a short resignation letter that he asks Gary to give to his employer..."

"You're kidding me?" I ask, completely dumbfounded by Aaron's revelations.

"I wish I were..." he sighs.

"That doesn't make any sense, Ron! He loves Gary!" I exclaim.

"I know that, Josh. I just don't understand. And that's not all... Jeremy also mentions Liam..." Aaron adds. Fuck... Liam... How is he going to react to this?

"What does he say?" I ask warily.

"He just apologizes for not letting him know and not saying goodbye... he thanks him for having been such a good friend and he wishes him the best with you."

"Fuck... What the hell got into him? This is completely crazy..." I exclaim.

"I know... I'll go back to Gary now. I'll send you a picture of the letter, in case you want to show it to Liam. Are you going to tell him now?"

"No... He's at his place tonight and I'd rather be around him when he learns the news... I'll tell him tomorrow evening at home. Shit! That really sucks... Do you want me to go to Gary's place?"

"No, that's fine. I'll manage. Mike is taking care of the club with Mark and Camden. Gary is freaking out but I'll try to have him take some pills or something to get some sleep."

"Okay... Tell Gary to call me if he needs anything..."

"Sure, will do..."

"Is he going to try and find him?"

"If he left on Wednesday afternoon, he can be anywhere already... I told him that I have Jeremy's parents' phone number in the office, maybe he'll contact them... He's too devastated right now to really think about anything anyway, so we'll see..."

"Okay... If you guys need any help, just let me know."

"Okay thanks. I'll keep you updated."

Once we have hung up and seeing Tony's persistent frown in the rearview mirror, I repeat most of what Aaron told me. He remains silent for the rest of the ride home, but when we get out of the car and before I walk in, I find out that he has been cogitating.

"Joshua, I don't know this young guy but I've often heard Liam speak about him and his... Dominant. This story smells shit, right? If your friend wants us to have a closer look or if he wants to investigate, I have some contacts who may help him," he says.

"Thanks Tony, I'll let you know. See you tomorrow at 6:30."

Tony has always had a sixth sense in these kinds of situations and he might be right again. I just wish he would be wrong for once though. I hope Jeremy simply had some kind of revelation and really wanted to see the world; that sounds bad enough, at least for Gary, but that would be better than anything dramatic. The only thing that doesn't coincide is that he wouldn't have proceeded like this and certainly not a few days after being collared by the Dominant he has always loved. Damn, what a shitty situation!

I walk inside the house and head straight to my study, ignoring the delicious smell of the meal waiting for me in the kitchen. This has totally taken my appetite away and my stomach churns at the thought of breaking the news to Liam. How am I going to announce this to him? He may not be as close to Jeremy as he is to his best friend Shannon, but over the past few months, the two of them have developed a nice friendship and he will certainly feel betrayed... The upcoming week-end certainly won't be as joyful as the last one.

Published on 23 October 2016

Hey there! If you have a minute to spare, can you please check the last message I left on my wall? Cara, you're really a sweetheart <3

Here's another chapter to celebrate I Was Shooting For The Moon hitting 150K reads! Sorry it had to be with a sad chapter though... Many thanks to all of you for your support!

Quick note on a character: Jeff who is mentioned here by Tony was the one security guy who searched for Alex in the first story when he ran away (although Alex running away is more than a year after this...). You'll hear a bit more of him in this book since he is Tony's most appreciated member in his team.