Work Text:
This was it- finally, the first day of your new job! You had been looking at jobs for weeks, months perhaps, before this opportunity had presented itself. You were going to be the receptionist for a very large company. It was not at all what you had imagined yourself doing, but hey - it paid well!
You glanced at your watch as you clambered into your car. Your alarm clock hadn't gone off that morning, which worried you about running late. By some stroke of luck, you still had time! ...Barely. You'd better hurry, just in case.
When you arrived at work, you were rumpled and out of breath. Not exactly the best look for your first day, but at least you were on time. Actually, you had wanted to arrive much earlier to set up your desk, but that hadn't exactly worked out. You sighed, heaving the box of desk items onto your desk. Hopefully your boss wouldn't notice how breathless you were.
The door behind you creaked open.
Clearly this wasn't your day.
The man who came out of the door was tall and slender, with dark hair that was longer and messier than in his advertisements. Dark circles were under his eyes; sleep was clearly low on his list of priorities. His suit fit him quite nicely, and his tall (sort of ridiculous) hat was lopsided on his head.
"Are you gonna stare all day, or actually are you actually going to do your job?"
That snapped you right back to attention. You hadn't even realized that you were staring! On your first day, too. This was the worst possible first impression you could leave…
"Ah, relax," he chuckled, "I'm sure you were just zoning out."
You sighed in relief. Of course, there was no reason for him to assume that you were... checking him out, or anything. Which you definitely hadn't been.
"Ah, I'm sorry," you replied, "I… zone out when I'm tired sometimes." Unsure of what to do next, you awkwardly adjusted your tie. "Oh!" You realized that you had forgotten to tell him your name, and you did so hurriedly.
Your boss grinned and held out a hand, which you shook. "What a lovely name. It's nice to meet you. I'm Once-ler, but I'm sure you knew that already."
You did, of course, but so did everyone else. He was the most powerful businessman on the face of the planet - it would have been more difficult not to know his name.
"Well, uh, don't let me keep you. I'm sure you have plenty of... business things to take care of."
Your boss shrugged. "More or less. I mean, if messing with our good ol’ friend, The Lorax, counts as 'business things'." He turned back to his office doors. "Have fun setting up your desk. See ya!" With a wink, he was gone.
God, he was so attractive.
☆
It had been a couple of months since you had started your job, and you hadn't seen your boss since your first day. You hadn't even seen him get to work in the mornings. It was weird, really - did he just live in his office?
That was a stupid idea. Of course he had a house, he was the richest man alive. He probably just arrived early and left late. Respectable businessmen did that sort of thing, right?
You hardly ever had actual work to do. News stations had learned to stop calling by now, since he stopped doing interviews ages ago. Occasionally, some naïve young journalist would call, hopeful they would be the one to break your boss's shell. He shot them down every time.
You usually just messed around on your computer, or doodled on random papers. That was already starting to get boring, though. Maybe you could take a quick nap. Nobody ever came by, and your boss was locked up in his office all day. Besides, you were so tired. A quick nap wouldn't hurt anyone.
You let your eyes drift closed, promising yourself that you would only take thirty minutes. forty-five at most.
☆
Your neck was absolutely killing you when you woke up - that's what you get for sleeping upright in your chair. You yawned and rubbed the tiredness from your eyes. That had been a good nap. You powered up your computer, to check emails or something. As you waited for it to load, you glanced up at the clock on the wall.
It was 7:36 PM.
You had been asleep for the entire day.
Panic compressed your chest, making it difficult to breathe. 7:30? By then, you would have been off work for two and a half hours. Would you even be able to leave the building? Anyone doing janitorial work had left by now, and they had probably locked the doors once they were done. God, if your boss found out, you would definitely be fired.
However unlikely it was that you'd be able to leave, it certainly wouldn't hurt to try. You gathered up your things and headed down to the nearest exit. You jiggled the handle hopefully, but it was locked. You tried the next exit, and the next, to no avail. Groaning, you slumped against a wall. It was hopeless - you were going to have to spend the night at your work.
After several minutes of lamenting this realization, you sighed and picked yourself up. Oh well. If you were going to be trapped here all night, you might as well make the best of it. You had always wondered what secrets this building held, and now was the best time to find out without getting into trouble.
You made your way back to your desk first, and sat your bag down - it would probably just get in your way. While you were at it, you decided to remove your tie and roll up your sleeves. Nice clothes were fine every once in a while, but wearing them every day was starting to get pretty uncomfortable.
"Alright," you muttered to yourself, "where should I go first?"
You opened door after door, exploring hundreds of rooms. Most had things like office supplies, or bins full of Truffula fluff, or reject Thneeds - nothing too exciting. (You grabbed one of the Thneeds for yourself; they were expensive these days. Besides, wearing one would "boost company morale," or some bullshit.)
Other rooms were packed with filing cabinets full of records, but there wasn't anything interesting on those records. You had looked at entire cabinets of records, and they were mostly numbers. No exciting, dark company secrets.
Still other doors were locked tight, and you wondered what could be behind them. That was probably where the exciting stuff was. However, you had learned by now that when a door was locked, there was no opening it.
After several hours of exploring - you had lost track of how long - it occurred to you that you hadn't tried your boss's office yet. It was probably locked up tight, like many other doors here, but it wouldn't hurt to try. The thought of finding out what was in his office excited you enough to speed up your journey there. All sorts of exciting things could be there, just waiting for you to discover!
However, when you arrived at the large double doors, you hesitated. Was this right? You would be snooping through your boss's personal things...
You stamped out that small voice like a bug. You were alone, and so long as you put everything back in its place, nobody would know. You put your (slightly shaky) hand on the knob, and turned it.
The door opened.
That was certainly a surprise. Out of all the doors in this building, his office was one of the few that were unlocked. You supposed that there was no real reason for him to lock it, though. There was no possible way anyone was getting into the building after hours, so nobody would be able to look through his things.
Except for you, of course. But you were a special case.
You took a step inside the room, marvelling at how huge everything was. It had to have been five times the size of any of the other offices, with a huge ceiling and massive windows. There was a desk in the exact center of the room, which had an incredibly tall office chair pushed underneath. You chuckled slightly at it; your boss was known for being rather grandiose.
The floorboards creaked slightly as you walked further into the room. God, your work shoes were so uncomfortable. Fortunately, there were more pressing matters at hand - the matters of what your boss had hidden away in his office.
You reached the desk and ran your fingers over the wood. It was beautiful, and likely made out of Truffula wood. You gently pushed his ridiculous chair out of the way. It wobbled slightly; the weight of the back made it unsteady. You made a mental note to be careful of it, as your fingers curled around one of the drawer handles.
This was it - surely all of the company's secrets were going to be revealed to you! You wondered what you might find, as you relished in this feeling of power. Perhaps patterns for Thneeds? Records of certain… "legal" activities? Or even something more personal, like letters from a lover? All of these options excited you, and you felt a grin form on your face.
Creeeeeeeak.
You jumped in shock, and hit the only possible thing that would have consequences: your boss's chair.
It felt like time slowed down as you watched it fall backwards. You scrambled to grab it, knocking into the desk during your haste. It was no use - the chair slipped from your fingers and slammed to the ground. The crash echoed throughout the office; a reminder of your mistake.
Your heart pounded in your ears, and your thoughts were racing. If the chair was somehow damaged, well, you could say goodbye to your job. Before you could assess the damage, however, you heard a quiet ahem from behind you.
You froze in your tracks, like a deer in the headlights. You knew that voice - anyone in this day and age would. It was your boss.
The Once-ler.
Quiet footsteps could be heard as he walked slowly, and his voice was soft as he murmured your name. You felt yourself shaking, and there were tears welling up in your eyes. The best-case scenario was getting fired from your job, and the worst-case scenario - well, you didn't want to think about what that might be.
Gloved hands gently touched your shoulder. You tensed up, but didn't dear look at him.
"What are you doing here so late?"
A shaky breath escaped your lips as you tried to answer him. "I, well you see, the uh, the doors were…"
A quiet chuckle could be heard, and you turned your head just slightly to look at your boss. A slight grin was spreading across his lips - but not a malicious one. Silently, he removed his hand from your shoulder, taking your hand instead.
Before you could ask what he was doing, he began leading you to the balcony just outside the office. As he swiftly maneuvered around the fallen chair, you couldn't help but worry about what was going to happen.
Was he going to push you off of the balcony?
You tried to shake that thought away as he flung open the doors. (Conveniently, it appeared that these were unlocked.) He seemed to be in a relatively good mood, so perhaps your punishment for trespassing wouldn't be as bad as you'd thought.
"Let me guess," he laughed, leaning backwards against the railing, "the doors were all locked?"
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Yeah, they were… how did you know that?"
His face flushed slightly, and he avoided eye contact. "Erm, well… let's just say that I've been locked in more than a few times."
You laughed slightly at that - Once-ler, of all people, getting locked inside his own office? The thought was slightly absurd.
"I really must replace those locks…" he continued absentmindedly. "Anyway! Come over here, I've been wanting to talk to you!"
You hesitated. He wanted to talk to you? Before you could really think it through, you found your legs leading you over to the railing where he was.
"What… What is it you needed to talk to me about, sir?"
He rolled his eyes, sighing dramatically. "Oh come on, we aren't working! Cut it out with that 'sir' bullshit." He was quiet for a moment, before continuing. "You're a very interesting person, you know that?"
Your eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "No, s… no, Once-ler, I don't."
"Well, you're the only employee I've ever had who seems to actually care about the job. Everyone I've hired before you only seemed to be in it for the money… don't get me wrong of course, I definitely understand that particular desire. You, though, you're just so… so much different."
You made a mental note not to tell him that the high pay was your whole reason for working here in the first place.
Once-ler sighed, looking over at you. There was a strange expression on his face - one you couldn't quite make sense of. He paused before continuing talking.
"You aren't just a passionate worker, either, there's something else about you that's different… And God, that something is so intriguing."
You laughed nervously, adjusting your collar.
"Well, thank you, I guess? You're an interesting fellow yourself too, you know. I've certainly never had a boss like you before."
He took a step towards you.
"Well," he murmured, voice much lower than before, "perhaps I don't want to just be your boss. I would love to get to know you more, if you know what I mean…"
Your eyes widened. Surely he didn't mean what you were thinking.
Once-ler took another step towards you, impossibly close now. He cupped your cheek with his hand, and slowly leaned towards you.
With a voice that was barely even a whisper, he asked, "May I kiss you?"
You stared at him for a moment, not registering what he had said. When it finally got through your head, you nodded and let out a breathless "Please."
His lips pressed against your own, soft and gentle. Before now, you hadn't realized how desperately you wanted, even needed this from him, but it was now apparent. You wrapped your arms around his neck, and pressed further into the kiss.
You felt him grin for a split second, before slowly gliding his tongue against your bottom lip. Your face felt hot as you let out a small gasp, allowing his tongue to slip into your mouth. It swirled against your own for a moment, leaving you lightheaded.
When he finally broke the kiss, you noticed that his face was just as flushed as yours was.
"Sorry," he laughed slightly, "perhaps I was a bit too forward."
"Oh, no, not at all," you breathed, staring at him.
He gazed back for a moment, before murmuring, "You are so beautiful in the moonlight… God, I don't know how I resisted you for so long. You're really something special."
Chuckling, you replied, "I'm really not sure how I did either. I thought you were hot since my first day here"
"Not a single person can resist me - not even my sexy secretary." He winked, and took your hand. "Come on, let's go to my room. If you're gonna stay here overnight, it might as well be somewhere comfortable!"
Your heart fluttered at the implication, before you realized how ridiculous it was that his bedroom was at his workplace. You supposed it fit him, though.
"Yeah," you said, following him back into his office, "I think you're right."
☆
The next morning, you found yourself alone in Once-ler's large bed. He must have already left to work on something. You glanced at the clock on his nightstand and realized that you should definitely get to your desk as well.
You looked around for a moment for some sort of clothing to wear. Your work clothes had mysteriously disappeared, and the pajamas you were borrowing certainly weren't suitable for your job.
Fortunately, you found a set of work clothes similar to your own. It was laid out on the other half of the bed - no doubt by Once-ler himself. There was a small piece of paper on top of them; a map to your desk from his bedroom. That was certainly going to be helpful - you had been worried about making it to your desk in this labyrinthine office.
You dressed quickly, leaving the borrowed pajamas on the floor. With the simple map provided, it was easy to find your way back to your desk.
Once you found your it, you noticed a small white envelope laying there. That was new. After sitting down, you gently opened it. It read:
"After last night, I did a bit of thinking, and decided that you deserve a promotion. After more thinking, I realized that there was nowhere to promote you to. I settled on raising your salary - hopefully doubling it sounds good to you!
Love,
Once-ler
P.S. - feel free to come to my room any time, last night sure was fun ;)"
You laughed. The poorly drawn winky face certainly put the cherry on top to his unexpected note. You were certainly going to take him up on that offer. After all, maybe it would result in more promotions!
Of course, that wasn't the main reason why you would. But you could pretend.