-Eric-

            Feigning composure was far easier said than done, particularly under the stern supervision of a glowering menace. As much as I wanted to seem unaffected by Shawn's presence, I could see my hand lightly shaking as I shifted the mouse across the screen. Why the hell had I decided to offer any more help than necessary?

            I could've been on a bus back home by now, and all of this would already be just a fleeting memory. Instead, I was fidgeting on this ridiculously fancy leather chair, trying to avoid direct eye contact.

            Now, whether it was out of fear or irritation... that, I didn't quite know.

            It didn't help that he kept hovering right behind me, looming within strangling distance; even if his arms were firmly folded across his chest, I couldn't help ducking my head every so often, instinctively trying to protect my neck.

            That uncertainty was only exacerbated when he leaned over and slammed the picture of him and his daughter face down on the table, having caught me glancing at it. I yelped in response, gaping up at him. "Seriously?"

            "Stop getting distracted," Shawn ordered near my ear, and I grumbled wearily in response before shoving him back by the chest.

            "Back off, then," I muttered, glaring up at him as I felt a rough hand tightly wrapping around my wrist, forcing it down. "What now?"

            "You're insufferable."

            "That makes two of us, then."

            Shawn scoffed in annoyance, reluctantly letting go before stepping away and settling on the couch at the opposite side of his office. I spared a few suspicious glances as he busily scrolled through his phone, wondering whether he might leave at some point. I wasn't quite done yet, but he had to have something coming up soon, right? Or was he just getting paid to stand around, trying to intimidate me?

            If I could just work in peace, I'd finish this a lot quicker and bolt before he could decide to end me.

            "Don't you have work to do?" I asked under my breath, wincing when he scoffed in response.

            "I'm checking e-mails, not that it concerns you," Shawn countered, clearly preoccupied enough with whatever he was up to.

            So, yeah, I was slightly preoccupied with my impending demise, which was ironic considering I was the one prolonging my unwelcomed stay in this hellish building. I hadn't known what to expect of a law firm before arriving here, but it was quite literally just another busy, crowded office brimming with the chatter of too many disembodied voices. It was a droning kind of mundane, punctuated with the semi-frequent ringing of a phone.

            Well, at least that meant there were many potential witnesses...

            "You're not allowed to hire a hitman," I mumbled abruptly, jolting when he snorted in response. I narrowed my eyes, noticing he was stifling down a laugh, as if this wasn't a legitimate request for mercy on my part.

            "How could I?"

            "I—I know you're... comfortable," I retorted, worriedly shaking my head. What if he was powerful enough to have me framed for felony? I could face life in prison, and he'd be the one to put me there. Maybe I could get transferred to the prison where my uncle was carrying out his sentence, down in Georgia, and he could watch my back on the inside.

            However, I didn't really know the dynamics of prison life well enough to know if that was even a worthy consideration. In all likelihood, I'd likely still end up shanked within the week, even if he was around to guide me.

            "Comfortable?"

            "You know... well-off."

            Shawn rolled his eyes. "Are you an idiot?"

            "I'm not!" I protested. How much did it even cost to hire a hitman anyways? Perhaps this could be tracked back to him somehow; however, if he was truly a big-shot lawyer, then that meant he likely had nefarious connections to avoid jailtime, right? Oh god... I'd be pushing up daises before nightfall.

            Shawn quirked an eyebrow, reluctantly pointing towards the exit whilst walking towards it. He seemed to be in the midst of a tense, internal debate before releasing an exhausted sigh. "I need to head into a quick meeting. Don't. Touch. Anything."

            I stubbornly lifted my hands off the computer, barely resisting the urge to flip him off. "Bet?"

            Shawn took a step forward, narrowing his eyes. "Don't test me, brat."

            I gritted my teeth. "Or what?"

            He sighed in exasperation before threateningly pointing at me, muttering a string of vile expletives under his breath before storming out. Right, whatever. 

---

            Truly, the universe had a perverse sense of humor.

            That was the only possible explanation for what happened soon after I was finally left to my own devices. I was minding my business, staying put while finishing the updates, and then... hell incarnate.

            Out of absolutely nowhere, Meghan barged in through the door, carrying a lunch box.

            "Daddy!" she called out in a sing-song voice.

            I stared at her in utter disbelief, panicking as she ignored my presence in favor of replying to a text on her phone. It was a solid minute later that she glanced up and frowned at me, her jaw slacking.

            "No!" Meghan yelled out in frustration, taking a step back for good measure.

            "Why are you here?" I asked while shooting up from the chair, staring back at her in dismay. This couldn't be happening right now. There was simply no way. Out of all the possible scenarios, this had to be the absolute worst option. And yes, that included the potential hitman that Shawn would presumably, although now most definitely, hire to assassinate me.

            "Why am I here? Why are you at my dad's work?"

            I just groaned out intelligibly, unable to formulate any rational thoughts as the panic truly settled in my chest. If Shawn wasn't going to kill me before, he'd certainly do it if he found me anywhere near his precious, underage demon spawn. I contemplated just flinging myself out the window, remembering we were only on the first floor. They did have a few cacti amongst their greenery outside, but that was honestly worth the risk.

            "He's going to kill you!" Meghan exclaimed, more irritated than worried, before slamming the door shut and locking it for good measure. "Did you sneak in here?"

            "Open the door!" I hissed at her while flailing my arms, my eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. "Are you insane? What do you think he'll assume if he comes back and we're in here with the door locked?"

            Meghan fussed but unlocked and threw the door open, though not without standing in front of it. "Fine, but you're not going anywhere until you explain yourself. Why the hell are you here?"

            "Why aren't you in school?" I countered weakly, shrugging helplessly while collapsing back onto the chair. I angrily clicked on the restart button on the pc as another update completed. At the very least, I was thankfully nearly done.

            "None of your business," she retorted while stalking forward, placing the box down on the desk and then walking around to see what I was doing. She frowned when she realized the computer was turned off. "Did you just try to hide the evidence?"

            "What evidence? I was fixing his computer," I groaned, desperately shooing her away with my hands until she took a few steps back. The more distance between us, the better. "And I didn't sneak in, alright? Shawn was just here. H-he had a meeting or something."

            Meghan sneered down at me in disbelief, clearly unwilling to believe anything I was saying. I couldn't even find it in myself to feel wronged, not when I was dealing with some brat. Except, she went ahead and reached for the telephone, trying to dial the front desk right in front of me. I flashed an incredulous look at her audacity, only somewhat hesitant before pressing down on the cancel button on the landline.

            "Stop that!"

            "I'm not letting you frame me," I retorted accusingly.

            "I—I'm not! Why are you even here? That's so creepy!"

            I groaned out indignantly, impeding her from trying to dial the front desk again by disconnecting the landline from the outlet. "I swear I didn't do anything wrong!" I assured her, nervously pleading with her to hear me out.

            Meghan pursed her lips in dissatisfaction, darting her eyes between the phone and my terrified face before begrudgingly lowering the phone back down. And then, surprisingly enough, she headed over to the couch and settled down. She did glare up at me expectantly, though, signaling for me to explain myself.

            I sighed. "I stopped by to return your father's wallet—"

            "You stole his wallet?"

            "Dude."

            She rolled her eyes, sighing in half-hearted annoyance. "Fine, fine. Explain yourself."

            I deadpanned. "He dropped it when he jumped me yesterday. Remember that?"

            Meghan's expression softened the slightest bit. She had the conscience to look relatively guilty, huffing under her breath before relaxing against the couch. "Oh."

            "Yeah, oh."

            Meghan frowned. "That doesn't really explain why you're still here."

            I shrugged at that, unable to come up with a sensical response that didn't make me look like an absolute fool. "He was having tech issues; I offered to help," I muttered back, somewhat irked by the admission.

            I expected Meghan to ask a number of follow-up questions, or to at least continue to doubt my intentions; instead, she nodded like it was perfectly understandable. I quirked an eyebrow in confusion, but she just signaled towards the lunch box she'd brought in with her. "I get it. I made him lunch to get on his good side."

            I scoffed at that. "I'm not trying to get on his good side."

            "Then?"

            "Then what?"

            Meghan was about to retort, except that's when we heard the approaching footsteps. We stared at each other nervously, signaling for the other to leave before realizing neither was budging. I jolted, snapping my gaze to the hallway, bracing myself for the worst. Part of me wanted to believe that perhaps Shawn would be reasonable and see that this was just a badly timed coincidence, but nothing about his reactions so far made it seem like he was the kind to calmly talk things out.

            Fortunately, it wasn't Shawn who walked in.

            I looked up with knitted brows, noticing a vibrant, sharply dressed young woman stepping in through the open doorway. She couldn't have been much older than me, but she did seem to be dressed rather formally, so I could only assume she worked here as well. The brunette's eyes shifted between Meghan and I, pondering to herself before nodding her head slowly. "What did you do this time?" she asked aloud, and my shoulders raised instinctively.

            Yet, it was Meghan she was looking at.

            "None of your business, Jacqueline," she quipped back, narrowing her eyes. "Unless you're willing to help."

            The tall, long-haired brunette pondered this before her mouth curled into a grin. "I'll consider it," she replied before signaling towards me. "And you... why are you sitting on Shawn's chair?"

            And suddenly, Jacqueline's expressive brown eyes were zeroed in on me. She seemed more intrigued than anything, but I winced regardless, unsure of what to expect.

            "I—I was fixing his pc," I explained rather hastily while signaling towards the computer, unable to say much else before she was glancing back at Shawn's daughter for confirmation.

            "Was he?"

            Thankfully, Meghan nodded her head in agreement.

            Jacqueline hummed, considering this before focusing back on me like an interrogator. She gazed at me curiously. "You're not from IT. And you look rather young, so why you?" she asked aloud, tilting her head. "I'm guessing it's complicated?"

            "Y-yes."

            "You wouldn't lie to me, would you?"

            I gulped at the sudden steely seriousness with which she stared me down, realizing with a sinking feeling that she might potentially be more intimidating than anyone else here... Oh god.

            I shook my head fervently. "N-no, I wouldn't!"

            Jacqueline stepped closer, her expression unreadable. "What's your name?"

            "Eric! Eric Dirk!"

            "Is he paying you?" she suddenly asked, narrowing her eyes. And, surprisingly, she seemed more preoccupied for my sake than anything. Slightly worried that she might drag Shawn back in here and force him give me money, I hesitated.

I willfully nodded my head in agreement, even if that wasn't the case. Well, unless not murdering me was an acceptable form of payment. Which, at least in this particular scenario, I was choosing to believe so.

"Great!" Jacqueline declared, and all the stoniness was immediately gone from her face. She signaled me to follow, grinning widely. "I also need some help, but it shouldn't take long. You can just add it to his tab, right?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, giving Meghan a perplexed look. Despite knowing Jacqueline, she looked just as confused by what had unfolded; although, she disinterestedly shrugged back before waving me off, seemingly unbothered by it.

I caught a glint of amusement in her eyes, which was mixed with the brazen relief of realizing I was being taken out of the picture. Goddamn it, Meghan.

"I—I guess?"

"Alright, great! Come with me!"

I should've mailed the damn wallet.

"Bye! Have fun!" Meghan called out cheerily before slamming the door shut behind us. I just scoffed under my breath, defeatedly following the strange, yet stunning, woman back to her office.

---

A/N: Thank you for reading.