Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“If this meeting lasts more than an hour, I’m killing everyone here, including myself,” Cassius said.

“You can’t do that. Who will suffer through Cicero bitching about who got the newest software if you’re gone?” Brutus replied, pressing the button to call the elevator.

There was a beat as they waited for the elevator.

Cassius pressed the button for the fourth floor. “Did you actually catch what this is even about? I don’t think I ever read the emails all the way through.”

“I skimmed it, something or other about the budget, maybe.”

“So you didn’t get any further than I did,” Cassius said as they walked down the hallway to the meeting room.

“No one reads those. They see the subject line and what time it’s at and don’t read on.”

“How much do you want to bet that Cicero reads the whole email every time?”

“Nothing, because I’d lose,” Brutus said, opening the door for Cassius.

The meeting turned out to be a discussion of the monthly budget, which almost no one genuinely paid attention to. Caesar had, presumably, more important things to deal with, so Antony was in charge of explaining the expenses. The presentation looked like it was thrown together a few minutes beforehand, with half the slides having a poorly chosen clip-art image on them. “This month we need to cascade memos about our interactive administrative concepts,” he said.

He doesn’t know what any of this means, does he? Cassius thought to himself. By far the most exciting part of the meeting was finding out that the Asset Management department was getting a new copy machine, after the last one had lit on fire after being around for what seemed like since the company started.

“Are you holding us here for any other purpose, or can we get back to work?” Casca asked.

“No, I guess that’s it. I don’t need anything else from you. I need those memos by Wednesday, though.” Antony finally told them, at least 10 minutes after he had finished his presentation.

Brutus and Cassius ran into Trebonius, the manager for the research division, on their way back to the elevator. “Do you think Caesar had to give the okay on Antony’s shitty slides, or do you think he came up with those without any input?” he asked.

“There’s no way he would go along with a presentation that looked like it was made by a third grader,” Cassius replied.

“I’m fairly sure that those slides did not get made before 9 am this morning, so even if Caesar wanted to go over them, I doubt he ever got to see them,” Brutus added. “What floor are you on again?”

“I’ve worked here for at least three years. I’m insulted that you don’t know what floor I work on.”
“You transferred departments a few months ago and you know how I am with change.”
“Third.”

Back on their own floor, they walked to their desks. “What’s on your agenda for the day?” Cassius asked as he pulled out his chair.

“Continuing to agonize over how to calculate percentages in Google sheets, pretty much. Ever since we switched from Excel, I haven’t been able to figure it out. I’ve been doing the math with a hand-held calculator for the past month,” Brutus said.
“You just gave up?”

“I tried to look at a tutorial but I couldn’t get it to work properly so, yeah, I gave up.”

Cassius got out of his chair and came to stand over Brutus’s shoulder at his desk, looking down at his computer. “Pull it up. I’ll show you how to do it.”

Brutus opened his latest spreadsheet, something to do with a financial report. He bent down to be at eye level with the computer, pointing at the screen, his shoulders now level with Brutus’s. The position felt disconcertingly intimate. He pointed at the screen, saying, “you’ve filled out columns A through C, so go to column D and type in ‘=C2/B2.’ Now open the menu, go to format, then number, then percent, and the percentage view should show up.”

“That was a lot simpler than I had thought it was,” Brutus said, looking up and meeting Cassius’s eyes. “What would I do without you?”

The statement threw Cassius off more than it should have, and he couldn’t come up with a quick reply. Instead, he just turned and sat back down at his own desk. He turned his computer on and opened his selling documents file. God, he was unorganized. He reached into one of his drawers to find a sticky note. “Organize desktop files.”

Brutus was going through and calculating the percentages he had been avoiding. The office was quiet. Usually, there were more than a few conversations all happening at once, and gossip floated around the floor like a feather on the wind, but today it seemed subdued. He wondered what Porcia was doing. Probably making phone calls or still getting ready, since she could wake up whenever she wanted. She had always hated him working here. She thought it was stuffy and far too white collar, but Brutus enjoyed the monotony and without it, he wouldn’t have met Cassius, which in his mind made the rest of his coworkers, a significant number of whom he harbored some enmity towards, more than bearable.

Later, Decimus came into the office, pushing his sunglasses onto his head. “Did they tell you all about the party they’re having, or did that information come to me through an inside source?”

“Antony was in charge of the meeting this morning, so I doubt it’s a secret. He probably just failed to mention it,” Cassius said, rolling his chair out to face Decimus.

“I wouldn’t know, missed it ‘cause of a dentist appointment this morning,” he said, gesturing to his teeth.
“They haven’t sent an email about it, so you’re probably one of the first to know,” Brutus said, spinning around to look at them.

“The secretary in the main lobby told me, and I trust her intel.”

“She probably would know. She talks to people from all over the building,” Cassius said.

“We’ll all be on the edge of our seats waiting for more information,” Brutus said.

Decimus made a nondescript hand gesture and made his way to his desk. Cassius rolled his chair over to Brutus’s side of the table and rested his head in his hands. “Are you doing anything important?”

“Not particularly; I would ask if you were, but you’re visiting with me, so I don’t think you are.”

“Do you want to go to the break-room and get coffee with me?” he asked.

“Sure.”

They walked down the hallway to the room where the Keurig machine was kept. Cassius brought the mug from his desk. Brutus put in the cups and turned the machine on. There was a moment where they both just stared at each other, not wanting to say anything to break the silence. Cassius had known since he met Brutus that he was hopelessly in love with him, but he felt like there was some distance between them he couldn’t place. Brutus was married, and from all signs, incredibly in love with his wife. His unavailability kept Cassius from doing something rash. So they did this - stare at each other’s lips for the minute it takes for the coffee machine to run.

Brutus picked up his cup from the machine and moved out of the way, leaning on the doorframe as he waited for Cassius to make his inhumanly large cup of coffee. He would be content to watch him like this, spending the most banal parts of his days by his side. He felt something more than a standard work friendship for Cassius, more than a regular friendship as well. He couldn’t put a name to it, but he wanted to be close to him, to make coffee with him, and to sit side by side while he told him how to use the software that he should’ve learned to navigate months ago.

“You all ready to go, or do you want to stay here for a few more minutes?” He asked, breaking Brutus out of his thoughts.

“I don't have anything too pressing to get back to, I can afford to wait a while. Unless you need to go back, then I’ll go with you.”

“I’d like to stay. Any excuse to avoid sending more emails - plus, you have to walk down this hallway to get to the elevator, so you can catch all the gossip if you wait long enough.”

“You’re more invested in office politics than I am, so that’s new information to me. I’ll remember to avoid saying anything sensitive as I’m walking down this hallway next time,” Brutus said, stirring sugar into his coffee.

“- He only got that promotion because he’s got a pretty face,” someone walking by said.

Cassius looked at Brutus as if to say “I told you so.” After the person in the hallway had moved on and they heard the elevator ding, he said, “See? All the good scandals!” he said.

Brutus just rolled his eyes, poorly hiding his affection. They finished their coffees and made their way back to their desks. The rest of the day was quiet, filled with more mindless number crunching and more vague fervent gazes at each other across the desk.

Chapter Text

Brutus had made a habit of picking up coffee for him and Cassius. The coffee shop was a small place not far from the office, he stopped there often enough that the staff knew him by name. The walk cleared his head before he had to start the day. It provided more of a routine in the morning, and gave him an opportunity to see Cassius smile. “Good morning,” he said as he handed Cassius the cup.

“Thank you, as always,” he replied.

“Did I miss anything interesting?”

“Unless you count a universal scramble to get the memos that Antony asked for done as interesting, not really.”

The rest of the day was unexceptional. The fiscal year was coming to a close, accounts needed closing and reports needed to be written, so there was far less time for idle talk.

An email came in later that morning detailing the information about the annual office party, complete with an e-card-esque invitation.

This sparked an uptick in chatter throughout the floor, as everyone remembered last year’s event. It hadn’t been a dramatic failure, but it was worse than in the years before it, and people remained skeptical about the quality of this year’s party.

“Do you know who they put in charge of the planning committee this year?” Brutus asked Cassius. He was mostly making small talk to avoid working on his own projects, but procrastinating was well worth it to talk more with Cassius.

“No, I haven’t heard anything about it, to be honest with you. Maybe they picked people from the back offices this year, it would make for a change at least.”

“Could be - do you plan on going at all? I’ve been thinking about skipping it, they’re pretty much the same, anyway.”

“I might, I make no promises this early on, though. I’m not exactly in full support of how Caesar is running things, so it could be my silent act of rebellion or something.” Cassius said, looking grim from across the desk.

This was a nerve that Brutus hadn’t meant to hit. He didn’t want to dwell on it here, he nodded in understanding before rolling his chair over to Cassius’s side of the desk. They sat shoulder to shoulder without speaking, for a moment. “Are those your end of the year business receipts?” he asked, looking at the chart he had opened. It looked wildly unorganized, like it was color coded, but no more than three things were one color.

“Yeah, I’m currently in the long process of organizing my files, so I don’t leave any out. Maybe once this is over, I’ll make the effort to keep them all in the same place from the beginning.” He said the same thing last year, he could never keep up with it for more than a month or two, it was extra time and extra effort for results you only see in the far future.

“I’d offer to help if I wasn't trying to close accounts before this wraps up, but I’m up to my knees in tying up loose ends with the department budgets,” Brutus said, looking sympathetic. He put his arm around Cassius as he continued to sort.

“Looks like maybe we’ll need to go to that party once we finish all of this.”

Chapter Text

The company had been doing this for years. They held a formal event once a year, and Brutus never wanted to go. The lights were just a little too bright, and the hotel lobby they had rented out smelled a little too clean. Brutus shifted in his dress shoes, his nicer pair, that Porcia had to convince him to wear. The chandelier cast flecks of warm yellow light over the room. It felt even more intimidating like this. He never looked forward to work events, it felt like a poor reason to see his coworkers outside of work.

He only came out of courtesy, and to make sure he wasn’t too out of touch with office politics.
Usually, he only ever saw people from the front office or the lobby, but the entire building was here, and it was wildly overwhelming.

Somewhere in his mind, he wondered who had been on the planning committee this year. It couldn’t have been Antony at the head. The whole thing looked incredibly put together, down to the colors of the dishes matching the tile. He could ask around later. Someone had to know.

“What’s this all for this year?” Porcia asked him.

“Something about a successful fiscal year is what they said on the invitations and such, but everyone knows it’s more to celebrate Caesar’s recent promotion,” he said.

Porcia was far from thrilled to be there, either. She never liked Brutus’s colleagues, and the environment was less than congenial. She and Brutus stood near the corner tables, her arm around his waist. He leaned over to her so they could speak without being too loud.

“Look at them,” Brutus said, gesturing toward Antony and Trebonius, who were sitting at a table not far from where they were standing. “They’re getting awfully touchy-feely.”

“Is that really a surprise? From what you’ve told me I was sure Antony was sleeping with the entire office.”

“His whole department maybe, from the looks of things,” he said.

Crossing from somewhere on the other side of the room, Cassius came over to the two of them.

“I didn’t think you had come,” Brutus said, a smile on his face.

“I got here a while ago. I was looking for you, but I got held up talking with Decimus.”

Cassius took the moment to genuinely look at Brutus. He looked beautiful. He noticed the way his hair curled around his forehead, his gentle brown eyes, everything that made Cassius fall more in love with him. “You look great, that jacket really suits you,” was all he could say.

“You look excellent as well. I’m glad you’re here,” Brutus said, looking him up and down.

There was a lull in the conversation and he could suddenly feel the tension between them. He noticed Porcia had wandered off, seeing her with another woman near where the champagne glasses were being kept. Then he was brought back to his thoughts - how much he felt for Cassius. “No matter who is in the room, I always find myself looking at you.”

Another beat- a long pause, it seemed like he had said something a step too sincere and they would eventually find their way to opposite sides of the room, they would never bring it up again and would go back to exactly how they were by Monday.

“I need to talk to you,” Cassius said. “Alone,” he continued, looking around the room.

“What is this about?”

“I’ll tell you once we’re out of here.”

The two men walked out of the room as casually as they could, before Cassius all but pulled him into the bathroom.

“Christ, Cassius, what was so important that you needed me alone so urgently?”

“I want to know what’s going on between us. And I want an honest answer. You make bedroom eyes at me all day at work and then seem nothing but happy with your wife. If there’s nothing here, I’d at least like to hear you admit it,” he said, his voice more hurt than angry.

“Gaius-” he said, “what do you want to be going on between us?” He was completely taken aback by this display. They felt something for each other that was more than friendship, but he had never imagined either of them would act on it. And to have to explain his feelings on such short notice? He couldn’t put how he felt about Cassius into words, let alone under this sort of pressure.

“Are you really that obtuse that you can’t see it? I want you. I have since I met you. Us,” he said, waving his hand between them, “together.”

It was at this point Brutus was finally confident in his feelings. He wanted Cassius right back, he loved him. He made the move forward, pulling Cassius in by the collar.

Their lips met, and it was warm and cloyingly sweet, he could taste the cheap hotel champagne on Cassius’s lips, but at this moment, there was no place he’d rather be than in this bathroom, with the fluorescent lights, cream-colored tile, and towel dispenser that kept going off every time they moved too abruptly. The kiss was longingly passionate, all those years of silent pining leading to this one moment. When they broke apart, Brutus’s hand was still on the back of Cassius’s neck, and for a while, they stood like that, staring at each other.

“Does that give you an honest answer?”

“That was more forward than I expected. I didn’t figure you for the ‘making out in the bathrooms of an office party’ type.”

“Well, I don’t think I usually would be. We’re just lucky no one walked in right then.”

“I’m sure we could’ve come up with some excuse, besides, it’s not like we’re the first to do it; I’m sure Antony and Caesar have done worse.”

Brutus just smiled at him, one of his genuine kind smiles. Cassius had seen him smile like that at him before, but it felt like the sun was shining on him now. Before long he was closing the gap between them again. This time it was softer, more relaxed now.

God, he was in for it. Brutus had known it was coming, he always figured their relationship would reach carrying capacity and he would have to accept his feelings sometime, but he didn’t think it would happen like this. It had been better than he had imagined, but he knew they couldn’t keep up like this - what would his wife think? “We should get back. People might start to speculate. I’m sure my wife is looking for me.”

His wife, Cassius thought. He’d just kissed a married man - his coworker - and pruriently, as well. He would never live this down. They’d continue to act like nothing was going on, even though now they both knew that there was something, something they both wanted. He watched Brutus fix his tie and straighten his sleeves before he left, Cassius followed him a short time afterward, not bothering to check his appearance in the mirror.

Porcia smiled when she saw Brutus again, now standing near the door with a glass of wine. She greeted him with a kiss. “Did you know that Antony’s wife, Fulvia, makes for a wonderful conversationalist?”

The change of conversation confounded him. The way she looked at him made him feel like she knew exactly what he had been doing, but in the same way, she didn’t seem to care. He wouldn’t be able to keep it from her, if she didn’t know already.

“I didn’t even know he was married,” Brutus replied.

“She’s his third wife, she’s been married twice before as well.”

“Seems like you know all the gossip now. Did you interrogate her, or did she just open up to you that easily?” Porcia wasn’t the most social person, but she was an excellent listener and once you got her talking, she was a passionate speaker; but she didn’t seem like the type to make friends with half drunk wives of her husband’s colleagues.

“I think I just have one of those faces that people can’t help but tell everything to.”

Chapter Text

When Cassius came back into the room, he was promptly pulled aside. “Good lord, Casca, you could give a man a heart attack like that.”

“I didn’t want to have to track you down again later,” he said in response.

“Well, what is it then?”

“You missed it while you were off doing god knows what, but Antony just gave a speech, half in the bag, all about how great Caesar is; how he deserves more recognition, more promotions, the whole deal.”

“Does this have any immediate impact on anything in particular, or did you just want to tell everyone that he and Caesar are sleeping together? If the latter, we already know, he practically sits in his lap all day.”

“No, it’s the point that we’re all beyond caring, that we all just accept how things are, without even thinking of how they could be different.”

Cassius thought about this; before Caesar, their bureaucracy was functioning, each department had their say - even the back offices decided how things were run. When Caesar had been put in charge, things came to a standstill, he was the only one really making any decisions. The more he thought about it, the more concerned he became. “You make a good point. We should all be more attentive.”

Casca looked content with his answer and nodded before turning and walking off. Cassius wandered on, stopping near the table with the drinks. Was Caesar really as autocratic as had been implied? It was a matter he voted to not start considering right here, seeing as the whole event was organized by said autocrat, and he was already here - drinking the champagne provided by the same aforementioned man.

He wondered if he would go and find Brutus again. The awkwardness would have to eventually fade, so might as well start early. They had to forget about it - there was no way he could, in good faith, allow Brutus to continue an affair like that, with him of all people! There were so many better people than him. Brutus was better than that, he would easily put this all behind him and they could go right back to eye fucking each other in the break room.

Not that that was what he wanted. He wanted them to be together, to be more than coworkers with unresolved tension - but it was a matter of circumstance. He’d already been divorced, he wasn’t going to be a reason why Brutus went through that. He stood by the champagne table for what seemed like eternity, looking out at the blue flower arrangements that somehow perfectly matched the tile on the floor. If he believed in purgatory, this would be it.

Meanwhile, Brutus was growing increasingly uncomfortable. He had no desire to talk to any more of his coworkers and truthfully, he was awake later now, than he usually was on any other weekend. He checked the time on his phone, it had been a few hours, so he felt no qualms about leaving early. “What time are you thinking about leaving?” he asked Porcia.

“Whenever you want, I don’t think I’m any more excited to be at your work party than you are.”

“I’m ready to go whenever.”
“Let’s get the hell out of here,” she said.

They made their way to the other side of the room, saying polite goodbyes with excuses of morning plans. They ran into Cassius on the way out.

“Are you two going home?” he asked.

“Yeah, we were just on the way out,” Brutus said. “Are you going to be able to get home okay?”

“I can get a taxi or something, I should be fine.”

“If you’re willing to leave now, we could drive you home,” Porcia said.

“If it’s not too much trouble, that would be great, actually.” he replied.

“It’s no problem at all,” Brutus said. He seemed genuine, which was more than Cassius had expected from him. He expected him to either ignore him out of shame, or to act strangely when they spoke. But no - here he was offering to drive him home.

The three of them walked to the car. Brutus drove, and Cassius took the passenger seat after a brief argument with Porcia, which he eventually realized he wasn’t going to win.

Brutus ruminated as he drove. What was he thinking - he felt deeply conflicted about the whole affair. The silence between them as they sat in the front seat was resounding. Anyone could tell there was something they were both ignoring, from a mile away, which only made it worse. It eventually became too much, and he switched on the radio, whatever news station was on had switched to classical music for the night, and they rode the rest of the way in almost silence, as the radio played in the background.

He wasn’t sure when he had driven the route so many times to have memorized it, but Brutus was able to drive the whole way to Cassius’s house without needing directions. He pulled into the driveway, and without fully thinking about it, got out to walk Cassius to the door. They stood on the porch looking into each other’s eyes, Cassius thought that maybe, if his wife hadn’t been in the car, Brutus would have kissed him again. Instead of kissing him like he meant it, Cassius kissed him on the cheek and thanked him for the ride. He was like a girl getting dropped off after prom - how he had gotten to this point, he wasn’t even sure.

Chapter Text

While he was out of the car Porcia had moved to sit in the front seat. She looked at Brutus like he was gossamer in the early morning light and she could see right through him. It was almost reassuring to know that she probably already knew what he was feeling. They drove quietly for a while, listening to whatever suite was playing on the radio.

“You don’t have to try and be all cloak-and-dagger about it, I think I knew before you did, anyway,” she said, breaking the silence.

“What do you mean?” He asked her, knowing exactly what she was talking about.

“You and Cassius, how hopelessly in love with each other you are.”

“We are not hopelessly in love-”

“Brutus, you’ve worked together for years and you’ve been tied up ever since, you’ve been coming onto each other, blatantly, pretty much since you met. I didn’t say anything because I was never really sure, but tonight pretty much proved me correct.”

She said this all so casually, like she wasn’t seconds away from making Brutus drive off the road. He was having an internal crisis while she sat beside him, now staring out the front window.

“You act like you don’t mind - or that you wouldn’t mind - me having an affair.”

“To be frank with you, I don’t think I would, not with Cassius. I know you care for him, but I know you love me too, so I wouldn’t be offended if you wanted to share your heart with him. I wouldn’t doubt that you still love me, no matter who else you were with.”

Porcia had known since the beginning, Brutus always seemed so happy around Cassius, like he genuinely enjoyed his company. She hated most of his coworkers, but she made an exception for Cassius, because he seemed kind enough and he made Brutus happy. The way they looked at each other reminded her of the way Brutus looked at her. She knew Brutus loved her wholeheartedly, and even if he was also seeing Cassius, he wouldn’t love her any less. They had a comfortable sort of love that way.

They had gotten married young and to the anger of Brutus’s family, but they had been happy together since. Porcia could talk to him about anything and feel truly listened to, and Brutus could relax around her without feeling like she, too, had expectations for him to live up to.

“You’re being honest?”

“Why would I not be, if I wasn’t okay with it then I could easily say that. And I’d rather it be him and not some secretary or whatever.”

“I’ll always love you, you know.”

“I would hope so- I’m still your wife,” she said. “I love you too.”

When they got home, she continued to ask questions, now that the most serious thing had been dealt with. “Are you ever going to tell me what happened when Cassius all but dragged you out of my loving embrace?” She asked as they sat together on the bed.

“That is an exaggeration - you were off doing god knows what.”

“Well it’s not my fault, I had to find something to do while my husband was getting it on with his coworker - and I made a new friend, which you should be happy about.”

“We were not sleeping together. I kissed him and that was as far as it went. Plus, it sounds like you were doing your own fair share of philandering.”

“We aren’t talking about who I’m flirting with right now - let’s go back to the part where you kissed him.”
“He made the first move, asking what was going on between us and whatnot. I couldn’t come up with a coherent answer with him looking at me like he wanted me right then and there, so I kissed him.”

“In the bathroom at the office party. That was a bolder move than I expected from you, just about anybody could’ve walked in and come to some very damaging conclusions.”

“It was a heat of the moment decision, Porcia, I wasn’t really thinking that far ahead.”

“At least I’m careful about where I do my making out.”

“Do you think he’ll still want me around after that? I kind of bailed out on him and we left things in a pretty awkward position,” Brutus asked earnestly.

“He’s been in love with you for years, I don’t think you kissing him is going to make him less in love,” she said, leaning her head against his shoulder and interlacing his fingers with her own. “Tell him how you really feel, what you want your relationship to be, coming out of that.”

“You make a good point, I’m so lucky to have someone like you that loves me so deeply,” he said, kissing the top of her head.

Chapter Text

When Cassius returned to the office, he was prepared for rejection. He had convinced himself that in the time between their last meeting and coming into work this morning, Brutus had decided he hated him. On his way through the lobby he ran into Brutus. It’s like the universe wants to torment me, he thought.

“You’re here early, usually I get here before you,” Cassius said.

“It never hurts to be punctual, plus with the start of the new financial year there’s a lot to be done, so I figured I would come in just a little earlier.”

They fell into their old routine, whatever tension was between them was momentarily forgotten, replaced by the monotony of the workday. The rope didn’t snap until they both went on their breaks. It wasn’t till then that Cassius noticed that the way Brutus stared at him, at his lips, hadn’t changed at all. They couldn’t carry on like this, something had to change, what that was had yet to be determined.

“Can I talk to you - somewhere else?” Cassius asked.

“Yeah, it’s no problem,” Brutus replied.

They took the elevator up to the floor above them. The fourth floor had a terrace garden where they stood, facing each other.

“I’ve felt terrible for days. I can’t in good conscience be involved with a married man - you and Porcia seem so happy, I don’t want to come between that.”

“I talked with her, you know, she said she didn’t mind us being together. She knows that I love her deeply, and that me loving you wouldn’t compromise that.”

Cassius was reeling. Not only did Brutus not hate him, he also wanted their relationship to be something more serious? He had been so busy preparing himself for what he would do when he was rejected that he hadn’t even begun to think about what he would do if he wasn’t. He didn’t even think about it this time, he just walked the steps between them and took Brutus by the tie, bringing their lips together.

This time it was longer, deeper, indicative of something more intimate than the first time. His hands were in Brutus’s hair, and Brutus had moved to hold Cassius’s face in his hands. The closeness was almost too much.

“You’re sure she doesn’t mind?”

“We know each other too well for her to not tell me how she actually feels about something. If she wasn’t okay with it I wouldn’t be doing this.”

“I’m glad I didn’t cause a rift between you,” Cassius said, smiling.

“I’m glad too,” Brutus said, before moving to kiss him again.

The door to the balcony opened and Antony walked out. “Shit, I hope I’m not interrupting or anything,” he said, sounding annoyed.

“You are, actually, did you need something?” Cassius asked. He had some animosity towards Antony for some reason no one quite knew.

“A man can’t just walk out into the garden? You two don’t have a monopoly on the garden. I come out here to clear my head sometimes.”

“We were just about to leave, anyway. Enjoy the view,” Brutus said.

They walked back inside and took the elevator back downstairs. “You don’t think he’ll tell anyone?” Brutus said.

“Probably not, he seemed more annoyed we were out there at all than by what we were doing. Even if he did, I don’t think it would cause too much of an uproar. Everyone would probably forget within a few days, especially with the annual meeting of shareholders coming up - everyone has bigger things to worry about.”

When they got back to their office, news had spread around the whole building. Caesar was using one of their subsidiaries to merge with a commodities brokerage company, which would give him control over both companies, since he was both managing director and chairman of the board. The company would merge directly into the subsidiary, which gave them, the parent company, full ownership over all its operations. He would be in charge of both companies, both sides of investment.

A reverse triangular subsidiary merger, what the transaction would entail, begins when a parent company acquires another business by purchasing it via a subsidiary company. After the purchase goes through, the subsidiary merges into the purchased entity and the parent corporation becomes the sole shareholder. The acquired company becomes wholly owned by the parent corporation, which now owns all of its liabilities and assets.

Caesar wanted to expand their operations, to get into more areas of investment, and this was just the start of their development. Opinions were split - some thought that this was the best thing for the company, that it would propel them up in the market and set them up for more financial success. Others believed this was Caesar’s first step in a plan towards abolishing the board and replacing it with himself as sole proprietor of the company.

“Can you believe this?” Cassius said. “It’s a blatant attempt at gaining more control over the company.”

Brutus hadn’t been able to come to a clear opinion on the matter. He wanted to believe it was for the good of the company, but at the same time it did show that Caesar was becoming more and more comfortable with the idea of sole proprietorship. “I don’t know what to think about it, to be honest with you. It hasn’t gone all the way through yet, he still has to bring this up with the board, and there are enough of us that if it came down to it, we could put up a fight.”

“We can’t let him continue like this if it goes through, we all know what he’s doing and it would be stupid to let him get away with it.”

“Let’s not jump into anything - besides this, he hasn’t done anything wrong. It would be best to wait until we can make a more convincing case against him.”

“You have a point, right now it would be difficult to do anything for lack of reasoning.”

Brutus rolled his chair around to Cassius’s side of the table and held his hand. “We’ll figure this out, don’t worry.”

Chapter Text

BYLAWS:
ARTICLE I Meetings:

Section 1.01. Annual Meeting.
The annual meeting of the stockholders of the "Corporation" shall be held on the third Tuesday in May in each year (or, if that day shall be a legal holiday then on the next preceding business day) or at such other date and at such time and place, if any, within or without the State of Delaware, as may be specified in the notice thereof, as shall be fixed by the Board of
Directors of the Corporation (the "Board"), for the purpose of electing directors and for the transaction of such other business as may properly be brought before such meeting. If any annual meeting shall not be held on the day designated or the directors shall not have been elected thereat or at any adjournment thereof, thereafter the Board shall cause a special meeting of the stockholders to be held as soon as practicable for the election of
directors. At such special meeting the stockholders may elect directors and transact other
business with the same force and effect as at an annual meeting of the stockholders duly
called and held.

Section 1.02. Special Meetings.
(a) General. A special meeting of stockholders may be called at any time by the Board, the Chairman of the Board (herein called the "Chairman"), the Chief Executive Officer, the President or a Vice Chairman of the Board or otherwise as provided by the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware (the "General Corporation Law"), the Certificate of Incorporation of the Corporation (the "Certificate of Incorporation") or these By-laws. Any such special meeting shall be held on such date and at such time and place, if any, designated by the Board. Subject to subsection
(b) of this Section 1.02, a special meeting of stockholders shall be called by the Board upon the written request or requests of stockholders who are stockholders of record of the Corporation at the time a request is delivered holding shares representing in the aggregate at least twenty percent (20%) of the outstanding shares of common stock of the Corporation which shares are determined to be “Net Long Shares” in accordance with Section 1.02(b)(1) (the "Requisite Percent").

Section 1.03. Annual Board Meetings.
There shall be a regular meeting of the Board of Directors in eight months of the year as scheduled by the Chair during the prior calendar year. The directors may at any meeting dispense with or agree to a different date for any succeeding regular meeting of the Board of Directors. The Chair may call a special meeting at any time and shall do so upon the written request of any three directors or of the President. No notice need be given of regular meetings. Notice of the time and place of special meetings shall be given by telephone or in writing a reasonable time before the date of the meeting, except that in an emergency, notice may be given in any manner and at any time which is reasonable under the circumstances. Notice of any special meeting may be omitted if notice is waived in writing by each of the directors. Unless the Chair shall otherwise direct, meetings shall be held at the Bank.

Section 1.04 Organization.
Meetings of stockholders shall be presided over by a chair of the meeting, who shall be the Chairman of the Board, if any, or in the absence of a Chairman of the Board, the Lead Director, if any, or, in the absence of the Lead Director, a chair of the meeting designated by the Board of Directors, or in the absence of such designation, by a chair chosen at the meeting. A Secretary, or in the absence of a Secretary an Assistant Secretary, shall act as secretary of the meeting, but in the absence of a Secretary and any Assistant Secretary, the chair of the meeting may appoint any person to act as secretary of the meeting.

Section 1.05. Quorum.
All matters other than supervisory matters. A majority of the directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business. Action by the Board of Directors shall be upon the vote of a majority of the directors present at any meeting at which a quorum is present. Less than a quorum may adjourn from time to time until a quorum is in attendance. Action may also be taken through unanimous written consent of the directors.

Section 1.06. Chair of the Board.
The Chair shall preside at all meetings at which he or she is present. In the absence or disability of the Chair, the powers and duties of the Chair shall be exercised and performed by the Deputy Chair. In the absence of both the Chair and Deputy Chair, the remaining Class C director shall preside at meetings of the Board of Directors. When no Class C director is present, the directors may elect a Chair pro tem.

ARTICLE II: Board of Directors.

Section 2.01. Numbers of Directors.
The number of Directors shall not at any time be more than fifteen (15) nor less than two and, subject to these limitations, the number of Directors to hold office shall be fixed from time to time solely by the Board. For the avoidance of doubt, no decrease in the number of authorized Directors constituting the whole Board shall shorten the term of any incumbent Director.

Section 2.02. Classification of Directors.
The Directors shall be classified, with respect to the time for which each Director holds office, into three classes, as nearly equal in number as possible, one class to be originally appointed for a term expiring at the conclusion of the first annual general meeting of Shareholders held after the adoption of these amended and restated Bye-Laws, the second class of Directors to be originally appointed for a term expiring at the conclusion of the second annual general meeting of the Shareholders held after the adoption of these amended and restated Bye-Laws and the third class to be originally appointed for a term expiring at the conclusion of the third annual general meeting of Shareholders held after the adoption of these amended and restated Bye-Laws, with each class to hold office until its successors are duly appointed. At each annual general meeting of Shareholders, Directors appointed to succeed those Directors whose terms then expire shall be appointed for a term of office to expire at the third succeeding annual general meeting of Shareholders after their appointment, with each Director to hold office until such person’s successor shall have been duly appointed. A retiring Director is eligible for re-appointment.

Section 2.03. Appointment by Board.
Vacancies on the Board, whether created from any increase in the number of Directors or resulting from the death, resignation, disqualification, removal or other cause, may only be filled by the Board and any such appointment shall only be for a term of office equal to the remainder of the full term of the class of Directors in which the vacancy was created from any increase in the number of Directors or to which the Director was appointed, as the case may require.

Section 2.04. Re-appointment of Retiring Director.
A Director retiring upon the expiring of a term of office at an annual general meeting of Shareholders shall, if standing for re-appointment, be deemed to have been re-appointed unless:
(a) some other person is appointed by the Board to fill the vacated office;
(b) it is resolved by the Board not to fill the vacated office; or
(c) a resolution for the re-appointment of that Director is put to the meeting and lost.

Section 2.05 Regular Meetings.
Regular meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at such
places (if any) within or without the State of Delaware and at such times as the Board may from time to time determine, and if so determined notice thereof need not be given.

Section 2.06 Special Meetings.
Special meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at any
time or place (if any) within or without the State of Delaware whenever called by the Board, by a Chairman of the Board, if any, by a Vice Chairman of the Board, if any, by a Chairperson of the Corporate Governance and Nominating Committee, if any, by a Lead Director, if any, by a Chief Executive Officer, if any, by a President, if any, by a Chief Operating Officer, if any, or by any two directors. Reasonable notice thereof shall be given by the person or persons calling the meeting.

Section 2.07 Action by Directors Without a Meeting.
Unless otherwise restricted by the certificate of incorporation or these by-laws, any action required or permitted to be taken at any meeting of the Board of Directors, or of any committee thereof, may be taken without a meeting if all members of the Board or of such committee, as the case may be, then in office consent thereto in writing, including by electronic transmission. After an action is taken, the consent or consents shall be filed with the minutes of proceedings of the Board or committee in accordance with applicable law.

Section 2.08. Removal of Directors.
The provisions of section 93 of the Act will not apply to the Company. Shareholders, or the Board may only remove a Director for cause at a special general meeting convened and held in accordance with these Bye-Laws, by a resolution of the Shareholders (or the board) that is approved by the affirmative vote of a majority of the Members present then entitled to vote thereon; provided that notice of any such meeting convened for the purpose of removing a Director shall contain a statement to that effect and be given to such Director not less than 14 days before the general meeting, and at such general meeting such Director shall be entitled to be heard on the motion for such Director’s removal.

Section 2.09. Voting.
Every Director has one vote. The Chairman does not have a casting vote. A resolution of the Board is passed if a majority of the Directors present at the meeting at which a quorum is present vote in favour of the resolution, and in the case of an equality of votes the resolution shall fail. Notwithstanding anything in these Bye-Laws to the contrary, any resolution of the Board (a) to revoke or terminate the appointment of, or to request the resignation or retirement of, the Chairman or the Chief Executive Officer of the Company or (b) to revoke, reduce or limit the powers, authorities or discretions delegated or otherwise granted to the Chairman or the Chief Executive Officer of the Company shall in each case require (i) the prior affirmative vote of a majority of the members of the Nominating and Governance Committee then in office to recommend such action to the Board and (ii) a recommendation the affirmative vote of a majority of the Directors then in office in favour thereof.

Section 2.10. Regular Meetings.
Regular meetings of the Board of Directors may be held at such places (if any) within or without the State of Delaware and at such times as the Board may from time to time determine, and if so determined notice thereof need not be given.

Chapter Text

“Are you doing anything for lunch?” Cassius asked.

“No, usually I just stay here - why? Did you have plans?” Brutus replied.

“I know a nice place a few blocks from here and I thought it might be nice to get out of here for a while.”

“Are you asking me on a date?”

“If you’re choosing to interpret my invitation to be lecherous in intent, then maybe.”

“Are we walking or driving?” he finally asked. He liked going out with Cassius, they could talk and be together outside of work, which was something they didn’t do enough.

The place Cassius had brought him was a pretty, upscale place, with big windows and minimalist paintings on the walls. It felt almost sterile. The green chairs contrasted with the gold metal paneling, which nearby plants served to counteract. The end result was somewhere between too contemporary and too sophisticated.

“The annual meeting of shareholders is coming up, sometime soon - the end of this month, I think,” Cassius said.

“I heard about that, they’re having it upstate aren’t they?” Brutus asked.

“Yeah it’s like a three hour drive from here. I think I’ll probably just go for the weekend or something, to make the drive there and back worth it.”

“I could go with you, if you wanted. It might make the commute better for both of us. Porcia came last time and she said she wasn’t going to come again. Plus it’s not an election year so it shouldn’t be too stressful, either.”

“I’d love that,” Cassius said, using all his willpower not to kiss him across the table.

“It’s a date, then,” Brutus said.

After this there was an unspoken “no work discussion” agreement. The endless drone of office politics was starting to get to both of them, and if they could stave it off for a while then it was all the more worth it.

“How is Porcia?”

“She’s good, hasn’t let me recover since I kissed you at that party. She’s been busy the past few weeks with work, I think she might make plans to go back to school again - not that she really needs to, she makes at least as much as I do.”

“It’s nice to hear you two are so happy together.” Cassius always loved to hear Brutus talk about Porcia. He always looked happy, and with everything going on, he didn’t get to see him like that as much as he would have liked.

“How’s your son?”

“My what?” Cassius asked.

“Your son. Your child?”

“Oh, he’s good. I went to his rowing competition last week.”

“Your son does rowing?”

“Yeah he picked it up over the summer, last summer.”

“Did he win?” Brutus asked, getting more confused with every answer Cassius gave.

“No he didn’t. He’s new at it so he’s not really that great.”

“If he picked it up last summer wouldn’t he have been doing it for almost a year?”

“Some of the kids have been doing it for years now, so they have an upper hand.”

“Isn’t your son like nine? How long can children be doing competitive rowing before age nine?”

“A long time - longer than you would think. It came as a surprise to me too.”

“Oh well. Some parents are always going to be bizarre about putting their children into sports, I guess it wouldn’t matter what sport it was.”

“Like the people who are really into horse racing, or whatever,” Cassius added.

Chapter Text

When the meeting of shareholders arrived, they made a trip out of it. They would leave that Thursday and be back by Saturday night.

“Don’t have too much fun without me,” Porcia said, kissing Brutus goodbye.
“I could never,” he said.

“I hope you do enjoy yourself, though. Call me when you get a chance, I love you.”

“I love you too,” he said in response. Despite it only being a few days, he was going to miss Porcia much. Since he had gotten promoted a few years after they were married, he had barely left her for more than a day or two.

Cassius was waiting outside in the car, he had made the executive decision that he would drive, because he thought Brutus drove far too slow. Plus - being in the driver’s seat prevented him from getting too bored out of his mind.

The drive was altogether unremarkable. They talked back and forth about nothing in particular and it went by much faster than if they had driven it alone.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to drive for a while?” Brutus asked as they stopped at a gas station.

“I’m fine, if you want to drive that bad, you can drive on the way back. We only have like an hour left anyways.”

“Okay, I’ll just continue sitting and doing nothing then. Maybe I’ll move to the back seat and try to get the DVD player to work.”

“It’s long stretches of field, it’s not really my fault if I get zoned out for a while,” Cassius said, defending himself.

“If you say so,” Brutus said in mock disinterest.

The rest of the ride was spent with Brutus making poor attempts at keeping them both sane. There were only so many times you could “I spy” a wheat field - Cassius only threatened to drive them off the road a few times.

They pulled into the parking lot of the hotel they had booked and took their things inside. Brutus had been in charge of setting up reservations so everything was in his name. They checked in at the front desk and took the elevator to their room.

It was a suite furnished with a living space and small kitchen off the bedroom. Everything was gray and white with blue accent pieces. There was a queen size bed in the bedroom and a desk in the living room.

After looking around for a while, Cassius set his bag on one half of the bed. “Did you want me to sleep on the couch or?”

“Oh - no. I just figured-” Brutus paused for a minute to gesture vaguely. “With everything, that we would just share the one. If you don’t want it different.”

“I’d be fine with it, it’s not like we’re going to get in trouble with anyone for it.”

“I like being close to you,” Brutus said, putting his things on the floor by the other side of the bed.

Cassius sat down beside him and smiled. “I like being close to you, too.” He took Brutus’s face in his hands and kissed him, slow and soft.

It was less awkward than Brutus had expected - sleeping next to Cassius. At first they tried to keep space between them, but within a few minutes Cassius’s arm was comfortably around his waist. He fell asleep easier than he ever did sleeping alone.

The next morning they woke up early, it was the day of the shareholders’ meeting. “Good morning,” Brutus said. “You slept okay?”

“Never better,” Cassius replied, leaning over to give him a quick kiss.

They walked down to the lobby together to grab breakfast. “How do you think this meeting will go?” Cassius asked.

“Caesar is announcing his plans for the merger he’s organizing, so we’ll get to see public opinion on that. Other than, it’s not anything drastic, so it can’t go too poorly,” Brutus said, filling up a coffee cup.

“I suppose, it will give us a good idea of how people react to him, and from there we could guess how it would go over if we tried to depose him.”

“I’m sure it’ll go fine, how bad could it really be?”