Trigger warning: Mentions of violence, brief mention of depression

On Andy's next day off, which was a Saturday, he took Remington to one of his clothes shops. While they were in the car, he asked, "Have you had the chance to talk to your brothers?"

Remington was looking out the window, trying to make sense of the new environment. He was used to rundown council estates and broken fridges thrown to the side of pavements, not country roads, Victoria houses, and pristine streets. "Yeah," he said, turning to look at the road. He'd never been in such a comfortable car before. The one the men dragged him into the day before the wedding was probably nice, but he was too busy freaking out to pay much attention. Andy's car was smooth and the seats were more comfortable than his old bed. 

"That's good. I'm sure they were relieved to hear from you." 

"Yeah. They wouldn't stop crying. Sebastian threatened to kidnap me from you." 

"He sounds like a good brother. How many do you have? Brothers, I mean?" 

"Two. Sebastian's the oldest. I'm the middle. Emerson's youngest." 

"You called them both?" 

"Yeah. And my mum." 

"Good. I'm glad." 

"Thank you." 

"Nope." 

Remington smiled inwardly. 

Behind the shop, Andy parked in the staff carpark. He opened Remington's door for him and said, "I haven't been here in a while so they're gonna freak. Usually I only show up when I'm firing someone, or telling them something horrible like they're getting a new manager, which they hate, because new manager means new rules, and they hate rules." 

Remington got out the car and Andy closed the door behind him. 

"And anything you want, you can have. Technically-husband discount and all." 

The shop was large and organised into sections. Corsets, dresses, skirts, shirts, crop tops, jewellery - chokers, collars, rings, bracelets, harnesses - and more. So much more that, for a moment, Remington stood beside Andy in shock. "Wow," he whispered. 

Andy smiled at him. "Pretty cool, huh? Go crazy. I'm gonna make sure they're not snorting coke in the staff kitchen like they used to." Turning, Andy made his way towards the back of the shop, and Remington worked his way through rails of outfits, running his fingers down the fabric and falling momentarily in love with Andy's mind. It was all so gorgeous, and so much like what he had wanted but could never have. 

He only chose a few items, holding them with care as he continued looking, and when Andy returned to him, he said, "I want to have sex with this shop." 

Andy laughed. "Yes. Me too. Here, let me take those, I'll get a basket. Oh, good choices. These are some of my favourites." 

Letting him take the clothes, Remington picked up a chunky silver bracelet. 

"Shit, it's Andrew," a voice muttered from nearby, and Andy shook his head. 

"You really shouldn't be swearing around customers, Tommy." 

"This is a pleasant surprise."

"Don't look so worried, I'm only here to get my boy some dresses. Not firing anyone. Yet."

"Your boy?" Tommy echoed with a ghost of a smirk. "So you went through with it, huh? Good for you." 

"Since when did my personal life become public domain?" 

"Since Julie worked here. You know that. She's gossip central." 

"Mm, I don't doubt that. Now if you'll excuse us, we're trying to shop in peace." He took the bracelet from Remington, could see he wanted it but was too polite to put it in the basket himself. "Get that one to match," he said. "Perfect. Your taste is immaculate. Alright. Have a route through the skirts and then we'll go for lunch. I'm starving. Tommy, stop nosing around." 

You're kinda hot when you're all bossy. Have you always been this hot? No, I'm not supposed to find you hot, you could be a bad person. 

Together, they picked out four more items of clothing, and at the till, the cashier scanned them, passed them over, and said, "Have a good day, Andrew." 

"And you, Lucy. Oh, that holiday you filed for, it should go through in the next few days. William emailed me about it, said this shit about holiday rules I'd never fucking heard of. I told him to give you the time off, so have a great ten days away." 

"Thank you so much!" 

"Sure, no worries. William's an idiot sometimes. I'm gonna boot him out if he keeps pulling this shit, but you never heard me say that. See you." 

"You're a proper boss," Remington said at lunch, and Andy raised an eyebrow. 

"As opposed to?" 

"A boss who says they're a boss but who really inherited the business from daddy and knows nothing." 

"Well, thank you. I try my best. The restraining order for Ed went through this morning, by the way, so there's no need to worry about him anymore. But let me know if he shows up again while I'm at work and I'll contact the police." 

"Okay." 

"I should have done it a long time ago, really. He's been bugging me for months. I guess because he was one of the first people I hired, he thinks that makes him better than anyone else. He was shit at his job, too. Kept fucking up the online orders and sending the wrong shit to customers. It was a nightmare. Anyway, I wanted to ask, what actually happened? Did he try anything physical? Because he came into my office ranting about my 'new toy' and all that disgusting crap, but all he said about what actually happened was that he met you and that he thought you were very jumpy, so..." 

Remington stabbed at his food. "He, uh, threw me on the ground and I ran away upstairs." 

"He didn't punch you or anything?" 

"No." 

"Okay. Good. It's just, he's been violent in the past. And I don't know what he said to you, but he used to get me really upset by picking at issues that he knew I had at the time, and when I was basically about to have a nervous breakdown, he'd start attacking me until I snapped and fought back. Then he'd report me to the police and I'd be investigated. He nearly got my company shut down more than once while he was working there. He was a nightmare. Anyway, I'd rather not get into that, I just feel better knowing you're aware, so you can look out for him."

Okay, the chances of all this being an elaborate lie are very low. Please please don't be lying. "I'm sorry." 

"Don't be. It's over now. If he comes near me again, he'll probably be arrested. But tell me about your brothers. What do they do?" 

"Sebastian's a chef, and Emerson teaches and sells art. He works part time in a supermarket, too." 

"What sort of art?" 

"Architectural drawings. I'll get him to send some photos to show you." 

"Sure. I'd love to see. Oh. Next time you talk to them, ask if they'd wanna come see you. There's plenty of room in the house, they could stay a few days. With their partners, too, if they wanted. I don't want you to not see each other. If transport is an issue, I'll pay for a taxi for them."  

Remington looked up at him. "Really?" 

"Of course. I'll write down the house address later so you can give it to them. Maybe then Sebastian could try and kidnap you." 

"Thank you." 

"Say that one more time and I'm taking you back to the shop and getting you one of everything in there." 

I don't know if this is the horny in me talking, but something about you being a boss and owning the coolest clothes company ever makes me wanna get down on my knees and beg.