Chapter Text
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Frank groaned, sitting up to the sound of his blaring alarm clock signaling another excruciating day. He slapped his hand down on the button to make it shut up and flopped back down. After a few deep breaths and failures at convincing himself he was hella sick and wouldn’t be able to work, he grumbled to himself about his annoyance and got up. The start of his routine was simple: wake up, actually get up, shower, get dressed, drink coffee, brush teeth, and leave for work.
Despite the simplicity, he usually skipped most of the steps.
Often, he’d end up showering later in the day than in the morning. Sure, he was a morning person, but did that mean he wanted to get up as the ass-crack of dawn and take a freezing cold shower since he can never wait for it to heat up? No, not at all.
Frank managed to chug down his coffee (he had to skip the shower since he wasted too much time sulking in bed), brush his teeth, and get dressed in his normal white button-up and tie. He was never one for a boring desk job, always hoping he could reach for something cool like a band or a music store, but he loved that he could wear thin, white button-ups that just barely showed the ink on his chest. Frank loved his tattoos with all his heart. Showing them off was just another perk of the look itself. White button-ups were always barely thick enough to be up to code but barely thin enough to show the black lines on his chest.
Once he finally got his hair the way he wanted it and slipped on his shoes, he headed out to work.
His mind always wandered as he drove. It was about a 30 minute drive to work, so Frank would always spend that time thinking about what he’d be doing that day. Recently, he heard they were getting a new secretary due to the old one being 200 and some years old and still on her feet. He was glad Janice (or whatever her name was) quit. She creeped him out, and if she didn’t leave, she might’ve died before she got the chance. Frank just hoped it wasn’t some weird, old lady again, even though it most likely will be. Cool people don’t work as secretaries. And besides, the world isn’t a rom-com. It’s not like some gorgeous chick will work the desk and always be barely out of Frank’s reach until she breaks up with her boyfriend. No, he didn’t just explain the plot to Jim and Pam’s relationship in The Office (he envies them so much).
When he finally arrived at work, he noticed the new car immediately. It was a black, sleek car that wasn’t expensive, but it screamed, “I’m beautiful” anyway. He also noticed the stickers on it as he walked past. There were all the general ones you’d find on someone's car like equal rights, no war, coexist, gay rights (which made Frank a little too excited), and such. The one that stuck out to him the most, however, was the very subtle sticker in the corner that said, “Don’t honk! I’ll cum!” He felt his jaw drop, and he laughed so hard it hurt. Okay, maybe this new secretary isn’t going to be so bad.
When he stepped into the office, he felt himself almost rush over to the secretary desk. Honestly, for once in his life, he felt excited to meet someone new. The first thing he noticed was the person's hair. It fell into their face almost gracefully despite how messy it seemed to be. His brain was very confused as to if he was looking at a woman or a man right now. Either way, they were looking beautiful.
He stepped up to the desk with a smile. “Hey, you’re the new secretary, right?”
The (his brain officially decided) woman looked up and smiled back as an immediate response. Jesus, her smile was adorable.
“Hey! Yup, I’m the new secretary. I’m Gerard. Nice to meet you…?”
Frank was officially stunned now. THAT’S A GUY? Holy shit this man is going to make him panic. It took Frank a good few seconds to notice that the gorgeous man, who he now knew as Gerard, asked him a question.
“OH! Sorry! I’m Frank.” Frank smiled lopsidedly, immediately tugging at his collar out of nervousness.
The angel that sat in front of him giggled (HE FUCKING GIGGLED .) and returned a funny, angled smile. “Nice to meet you, Frank. If you need anything, I’ll always be right here.”
“Yeah, I’ll stop by sometime.” Frank laughed nervously. This guy was getting him flustered, and it’s day one of meeting. This is going to be great. “See ya, Gerard.” Gerard gave him a small wave, and Frank scurried off to his cubicle.
Frank was fucked. The new secretary is hot as shit, and Frank totally crushed his first introduction due to being flustered purely from the man’s masculinity and femininity all at once. He’s never seen a guy look that good in a skirt. Sure, there are some drag queens who look good, but they never look like a man and a woman all at once. Honestly, he couldn’t understand why such a gorgeous guy was working at such a boring place. He could be a stripper or some shit. Frank would fucking pay to see that. Why was he thinking these kinds of things about the new secretary? It’s not like the dude looked like he fell from heaven (maybe). I mean, besides, they’ve just met. Don’t get your hopes up, Frank.
Frank could barely get his work done all day, earning glares from Brian every time he got distracted. It was all worth it when he got to spend lunch with Gerard, though. They spoke about what made Gerard end up working here, Frank’s experience working here, and other small things about themselves. Apparently, they shared a very similar music taste despite being born a few years apart. They had that perfect age gap where Frank grew up with CD’s and Gerard grew up with cassettes, the rise of CD’s beginning around the time Frank was born.
“You seriously listen to all the same bands as me, but you’re telling me you’ve never genuinely dressed punk in your whole life?” Frank laughed, leaning over the table slightly to look more surprised.
“I don’t know why! I never managed to get into the style, okay??” Gerard laughed back with an infectious energy. When his laughter died down, he spoke so softly Frank could have missed it. “I’ve always thought it was hot, honestly. The spikes, shaved hair, leather jackets, patches, pins, you know.”
Frank felt his brain melt at the thought of Gerard seeing how Frank dressed outside of work and thinking he was hot. His brain decided to crush that dream though, reminding Frank that Gerard could just be attracted to women like that. Of course, Gerard could read his mind or some shit. “I remember seeing guys in my neighborhood and totally swooning.” Gerard did that high pitched laugh that was in between a cackle and a giggle similarly to when they first met that morning. Gerard was totally growing on Frank.
The moment Frank began to speak, one of his coworkers, Ray, butted in.
“Oh! Hey, Frank!” Ray has worked with Frank since day one, their immediate connection forming over hatred for the boss Brian. “Gerard, right?” Ray, brandishing his normal “I don’t bite” smile that made people love him so much, turned to the secretary. Gerard nodded, smiling in a similar way back.
“Yup! What’s your name?” The two shook hands as Ray briefly introduced himself.
“I see you’ve already met Frank.” Ray grinned, elbowing Frank who responded in a grunt.
“Of course. He’s sweet.” Frank would have sworn that Gerard’s smile looked sincere for a moment.
“Frank? Being nice? Damn, Iero. You’re actually trying to make a good first impression?” Ray barked out a laugh, receiving a punch to the arm from Frank.
“Hey! I can be nice when I want to!” He then turned to Gerard, grinning slightly. “Ignore him, he’s high.” He poked his thumb in the direction of a currently dumbfounded Ray.
“I am NOT! If anyone’s high, it’s you, Mr. Suddenly Nice Guy!” Ray snapped back, still laughing. Frank was about to squeak out of vulgarities until Gerard butt in.
“Jesus! Children, children! Calm down!” He laughed, waving his hand slightly up and down at them as he spoke. Frank and Ray both glared at each other before continuing the conversation calmly (mostly).
Once he could leave, Frank practically ran to his car, not trusting himself to stop at the secretary desk and make a fool of himself. It seemed the universe had other plans. Frank could not get his car to start. He knew this thing was an old piece of junk, but seriously? The one day he needed to be as far away from this place as possible? Ray had already left, none of his coworkers even tolerated him enough to give him a ride, and Brian was at some meeting, having left around 5. That, perfectly enough, left Frank with one simple option: The new secretary, Gerard.
Gerard was still at his desk, tending to whatever a secretary does that causes him to stay after work. Frank walked up feeling like a fish out of water with the empty office building.
“Hey, uh, I can’t get my car to start. Would you mind, you know, giving me a ride?” Frank asked hesitantly. Before Gerard could respond, Frank—out of fear of being misinterpreted— quickly corrected himself. “Of course, you don’t have to leave now, and if the answer is no, that’s totally cool. We just met, so it’s weird that I’m—“
“Frank, calm down.” Gerard quickly interrupted, putting one of his hands near Frank on the edge of the desk to show everything was okay. He smiled softly and turned his attention to the clock before making eye contact with Frank once again. “I’m going to leave in probably about 30 minutes. Does that work?” Gerard seemed to genuinely care, so Frank nodded in response. “Perfect.” Gerard’s smile widened before he turned his attention back to his work. “All I have to do is finish some stuff up, and we can head out.”
“You have a lot of work for your first day.” Frank muttered, pulling up one of the nearby desk chairs to sit next to Gerard and watch him work.
“No, not really. I just had a lot of things to do other than work. Introductions, proper tours, explanations, more introductions, you get the idea.” He laughed.
Frank watched quietly as Gerard worked and immediately perked up when he realized the secretary began getting his stuff together. Gerard stood and smiled down at Frank. “Alright! Are you ready to go?” Frank quickly got up and retrieved his stuff he had previously discarded on one of the lobby couches.
“Yup.” He smiled back and followed closely behind as Gerard headed out of the building.