Chapter Text
It all started 3 weeks ago, when all of the sudden, the balance of his normal life was interrupted by the company’s president praising him for an excellent presentation, and in addition to giving him a large bonus, gave him a 2 weeks worth of day off. He learned later from his adopted father, the company’s co-president, that his presentation had managed to land them a major project, and that he and his partner was in agreement that a promotion is awaiting upon his return.
During the first week of his day off, he happened upon a raffle booth after a night of drinking, and Rakuyo talked him into trying it out. Marco had expected to win a consolation prize at best - 3 pack of instant noodle for 10$ sounds pretty good when you’re tipsy - but the prize that rolled out of the raffle machine was none other than the grand prize itself; a week long cruise with paid expenses for one.
2 good things happening in less than a week seems like a stroke of luck, but the third happened in less than 3 days, and by then he’s already a believer to whatever deity who decided to give him all of these rewards.
He was never quite one to mingle, but during the first 5 minutes of his arrival to the cruise ship, Marco made a new friend in a lovely lady whose sunhat nearly flew away during a particularly harsh wind. She introduced herself as Rouge, hardly looking like she’s much older than him, and she was supposed to be on the ship with her husband but sadly, he was stuck with work after some breakthrough. Instead she took her son with her, planning to instead spend the next week doing a mother and son bonding time and Marco was welcomed to join them.
As usual, when it comes to public gathering, his first instinct was to politely decline. Yet Rouge’s pleasant smile must’ve affected his senses because he found himself agreeing to meet that night during dinner time.
Thatch’s very first message to him when he told his best friend of this development was to remind him in bold letters that with workaholic husband involved, he should be cautious of any signs of infidelity, something that Marco quickly dismissed. Even if he only knew her for an hour top, Rouge seems like a nice woman who won’t do such a thing, and even if she was, he had enough sensibility to reject any advances.
And he was right on both account: Rouge was just a friendly woman whose interaction with him hardly stirred towards anything intimate in nature, and he honestly enjoyed spending time with her to consider her as anything else than a newfound friend. Their conversation was nice and easy, and he could tell that she loved her family too much to consider an affair.
So yes, Marco had all of his guards down, which is a very big mistake.
He knows he had the moral to reject a woman’s offer for an affair, but he didn’t know whether or not his morals will be able to withstand said woman’s drop dead gorgeous son.
Ace Portgas - his mother sighed when he introduced himself as such, but Marco was too distracted by the open collar shirt - was 21 years old, a college sophomore majoring in science and a volunteer fireman, and he had a permanent scowl on his face, particularly whenever Marco and his mother talked.
As the night continues, Marco learned that he is an incredibly big eater (“He got it from his father,” Rouge would quip, as Marco watched the boy down another plate full of seafood assortment), the scowl disappear whenever Rouge mentions two people called ‘Sabo and ‘Luffy’, and when he snickered at Marco’s accidental joke, the sound send butterflies straight to his stomach and worse, his groin.
He finally loose the attitude at the end of the night, claiming that ever since they got on the ship, plenty of men started hitting on his mother and he was afraid that Marco is another one of those men, “You’re not so bad,” he said with a lopsided smile, as Rouge left to use the bathroom, “Kind of awkward, but nothing mom can’t handle if it turns out i’m wrong,”
He should probably take offense to that, but Marco only chuckled, downing another flute of champagne, “Your mother is a very beautiful lady, but i must pass. She is married, for one,”
“And?”
From beyond his glass, Marco watched Ace’s curious stare, how his cheek was already flushed despite only drinking some of his mother’s leftover wine. There’s a twinkle there that, accompanied by the dim lighting of the dining area, made him look incredibly sexy.
Marco shook his head of the thought, “And i don’t usually look for the company of women,”
Ace’s eyes widened a fraction, and it might be the numerous alcohol from that night talking, but Marco swore he saw Ace licking his lips. Rouge came back before her son could get another word in, but when they went their separate ways for the night, Marco knew he didn’t mistook the look of smoulder Ace threw to his direction before he followed his mother to their wing.
That night, Marco fends off Thatch’s prodding with ‘the hot mom’, and took 2 cold showers before he can finally go to sleep.
He met the mother-son duo again the next morning during breakfast, and afterwards, he was invited to come along to the top deck, where the pool was located. Dressed in only a light blue sun dress, Rouge told them that she is satisfied with simply tanning on the side while trying the assortment of cocktail provided by the cruise, and had no intention to actually swim. The same could not be said about her son.
No, her son pulled down his shorts as soon as she is away, and Marco’s heart almost stopped when he spotted the black and orange micro bikini barely encasing Ace’s tanned hips and rear, the fabric stretching over a bouncy - confirmed when he shimmied out of his shorts - ass and the modest sized pack on the front. As the raven haired man made his way to the pool, he threw none-too-subtle glances to Marco’s direction, and dove into the water.
He resurfaced not moments later, water seemingly glistening over his skin, and at that point, Marco knew he had two option: To quickly dive into water and hope that the cold will wither his slowly growing arousal, or to simply sit under a shade and hide under a towel for the rest of the afternoon.
His choice was made for him when Ace climbed out of the pool, water trickling down as he made his way towards a petrified Marco and more or less drag him along to the water. The water was indeed cold and he could feel himself wilt away, at least until Ace decided it’s a good idea to brush against him every so often as they swim and suddenly the water wasn’t cold enough.
The torturous swimming session ended that noon, when Rouge insisted they should go and watch the pre-dinner show. She didn’t seem perturbed by her son’s swimming attire, and honestly, watching Ace being fussed over by his towel-holding mother to dry his hair right kind of put his overwhelming allure down a peg, which is exactly what Marco needed.
Of course, he ended up thinking that Ace is ‘sexy and adorable’, and Marco wasn’t so sure that it was a good thing after all.
Dinner show involves drinks and a buffet, something that Ace took full advantage of and soon had him under the watch of every waiter in the room. Halfway through, Rouge excused herself to go back to her room, saying she had had too much to drink and was ready to call it quits. That left Marco alone with Ace, who, as soon as his mother was out of sight, took the seat she vacated, right next to Marco, downing the rest of her drink.
Things that happened afterward was a given; Marco learned that night that Ace tasted sweet even without the aftertaste of Peach Bellini and that one thing hotter than a swimsuit that’s basically a thong, is wearing nothing at all underneath a pair of tight jeans.
So far, Marco hadn’t really counted his encounter with Rouge and Ace as one of his ‘lucky strike’, even if they are nice people. He began to change his mind, however, when he woke up the next morning with an extra weight on his arm and a shy pair of eyes peeking from underneath the sheets, meekly wishing him a good morning. It was such a contrary from yesterday’s wild activity, but Marco couldn’t find it in himself to actually mind.
Rouge didn’t question her son’s whereabout last night, but she spent the rest of the week smiling more to Marco and spending most of their conversation mentioning something about Ace, whether it was his preference or some personal anecdote. As for Ace himself, he spent that night back with his mother, something that disappoints Marco deep down, until there’s a knock on his door well over midnight.
The week went too fast for his taste, and it was with great sadness that Marco welcomed the last day of the cruise. It didn’t quite last long, when he found out that Rouge and Ace live in the same city as his, and before they parted, he managed to get Ace’s number along with the promise for a date. He left the harbour in high spirits and a skip in his steps.
He came back with a new title as his section’s manager, with full congratulations from his co-worker and his bosses, and the first date with Ace went incredibly well that he managed to convince the younger man into a steady relationship.
It was like living a dream for Marco. In 3 weeks, he managed to get a raise, a promotion, and a new, cute and sexy boyfriend.
Nothing could bring him down from this high.
Nothing.
“Careful, Roger’s on a warpath this morning,”
That was the first greeting Marco received upon arriving to his floor, upon seeing Thatch, Kingdew and Jiru huddling close to the water cooler. He turned to Thatch, who gave him the warning and asked, “Why? Is something wrong with the new project?”
The pompadoured man shook his head, “It has nothing to do with work, he’s been gloomy since last week, something about missing a vacation with his wife because of this new project. It went explosive this morning, though. I heard from Izou that he got into a fight with his son this morning, something about him secretly having a boyfriend,”
Marco winced. Roger Gol - the company’s co-director alongside Marco’s adopted father, Edward - was extremely protective or his family, especially his infamously rebellious son. The last time said son had a boyfriend, work place turns to hell for the entire week. According to Izou, the resident gossip, Roger insisted for his son to broke up with his then boyfriend, and the son had not been too pleased about it. In the end, they supposedly broke up because of some personal problem, but some people were still convinced that Roger had something to do with it.
He remembered then being a full story, breakdown and theories on how the breakup happened, which was ridiculous considering no one in the office has actually met Roger’s family.
“Heard its pretty serious this time,” Kingdew piped up, leaning against the wall, “Haruta followed the son on twitter. He’s been waxing poetry about his new man for the last couple of days,”
“Damn, did the kid get lucky or something?”
“Roger will have the poor guy’s head if he dare to show his son some good time,” Thatch chuckled, before turning his lecherous gaze at Marco, “Speaking of good time, how’s your date on the weekend?”
Jiru widened his eyes, “No way, Marco?”
“Yup! Our manager here finally lands himself a catch and its been, what, a week?”
“Two. We met on the cruise and, well, let’s just say i have legitimate reasons to count it from the day we first met,” Even if he had heard the story, Thatch slapped his back repeatedly while chuckling, “And the date went great. Took him to see his favorite movie after dinner, went to his favorite club and afterward, we went back to his place since his roommates were both away,”
Though Sabo, Ace’s roommate was less than amused to see clothes strewn all over the floor the next morning, and Law, the other roommate and some family member of sorts, came home fully equipped with enough innuendo to make Ace blush as bright as his underwear from the night before. Ace’s last text from last night indicate he’s going to get his comeuppance once Law came back with his ‘brick shithouse of a redhead boyfriend’.
“Nice,”
“Way to go,”
“You gonna introduce him to use sometime soon?”
Marco considered this. His and Ace’s relationship was still pretty new, hence why beyond Ace’s roommates and mother, they hadn’t really introduce each other to other friends and family. He did contemplate bringing Ace back home to at least introduce him to Pops, but his father left a few days ago for a business trip abroad and he’ll be back in about a month. Hopefully by then, their relationship have developed enough.
The day went on as usual, minus Roger’s usual sunny disposition. Today, the man spent the rest of the day sulking and scowling, and according to Izou, spent his lunch calling his wife to ask whether or not he should call his son, “I guess his fight with his son must’ve really bothered him,” the effeminate man told the rest of the staff during lunch break, “From what i gathered, the wife approved of the boyfriend, but Roger was still adamant,”
“The son’s still mad at him though,” Haruta told them, browsing through his phone, “He ranted on twitter yesterday about his dad babying him or something. I don’t blame him; the guy’s at least 20 and the only freedom Roger gave him was to move out and that’s only because his cousin and childhood friend will be living with him,”
Marco looked up from his text with Ace - he’s in class, secretly sending him cute selfies - and cocked his brow, “Kind of stalkerish of you to know that much about some guy you never met, isn’t it?”
“It’s the digital age, old man. Keep up,”
He left when Haruta started showing the twitter account to some curious people, because Ace’s class finished and his texts became a little bit risque. If Marco came back to his office looking a little ruffled and flushed, no one mentioned anything.
His and Ace’s relationship entered it’s first month mark when Ace suddenly arrived in his apartment one night, carrying a bag full of snacks and a sour expression.
“I kind of fought with mom about my dad and my so called friends and roomies are not helping. Can i stay?”
Aside as a tagalong mention whenever Rouge was mentioned, Ace never spoke of his father nor did he ever say anything about their obviously tense relationship. Marco’s cluelessness about his boyfriend’s other parents ended that night, when he spent the next few hours ranting about what a workaholic his father is and how unfair it is that he kept being the bad guy whenever he called out his old man in front of his mom.
“It wasn’t always that bad but since a few years ago, he barely came home. He already missed birthdays and holidays,” the raven haired male stopped briefly to aggressively shovel more spicy chips to his mouth, “He even missed his anniversary with mom this year, the bastard,”
Marco wasn’t entirely clueless, and he began to piece together that the cruise wasn’t meant to be some miscellaneous holiday for Rouge and her husband.
“That’s… a bit too much,”
“A bit? He promised her this cruise for months! Mom always loves sailing, and she’s been looking forwards for this ever since he sprang the surprise. Then when he told us he couldn’t get out because of some new big project at work, mom scolded me for being mad at him!” Chucking the now empty wrapper, Marco watched as Ace tore into yet another bag of chips, this time boasting the rich flavour of cheddar and sour cream, “I don’t know why she puts up with him,”
He tried to remember Rouge from the last time he saw her in that cruise, how she spent the week mostly fussing about her son and, in Ace’s absence, sometimes lamented about how she wished her husband could enjoy this trip, “Maybe she just loves him. And maybe your dad makes it up to her after,”
Ace scoffed at his suggestion, “He didn’t come home once while i stayed with mom,” he said in between chews, then suddenly turned to Marco with a glare, “And i don’t care if she loves him. If it was me, i won’t let someone get away with things that easily, no matter how much i love them. In fact, the more i love them, the more i expected them not to pull that kind of shit,”
‘I’ll make sure to be extra responsible around you then’ was what Marco initially wanted to reply with, but he held his tongue. Time and place, time and place.
Ace sighed, his chewing slowing down significantly, “Is his work more important than his family? Does he not care that he keeps on disappointing mom like that? Cause i know mom doesn’t say it out loud, but…she missed him, you know? ”
Marco nodded, fully understanding. He also knew that the little speech means Rouge wasn’t the only one who missed the estranged patriarch of the family.
Instead, he lets Ace leaned against his shoulder, and kept his silence until the younger man continued, “And you know the worst thing about that? He’s hardly around, i barely saw him yet he thinks he has a say about my life. Ace, i don’t want you to do this, Ace, i don’t like that, Ace, i’m your father, you have to listen to me. God, so what?” the younger spat out, “So what if he’s my dad, maybe he can try to be a bit more involved with my life and actually made an effort to be a dad instead of just the guy who pays for my college before he can tell me what i can or can’t do,”
It was something he’s been holding back for a long time, Marco realized. Years of his father’s absence, and perhaps from watching Rouge having her promise broken left and right accumulated, and something made him break now. Carefully, he asked, “What did your father want?”
The younger man was quiet, “He wanted me to…,” he trailed off, but Marco caught the subtle eye flicking to his direction. Oh, “It doesn’t matter. It’s not like i’m going to do it. He’s stupid, he always is,”
They didn’t talk anymore after that, letting the lull of each other’s presence - and Ace’s endless snacks - distract them from the passing time. Ace fell asleep with a half empty bag of chips tethering on his lap, and his head cushioned by Marco’s shoulder, a frown marring his otherwise peaceful expression. Marco carried him to his bedroom, and it didn’t take long for him to fell asleep as soon as he wrapped his arms around Ace.
The next morning he waited for Ace to wake up and leave for class before leaving to work himself, reassuring the younger than no, he’s not late, and yes, Ace is welcome to come to his place anytime he wanted. Minutes after he said that, Marco placed down a reminder on his phone to search for his spare apartment key and hoped that 1 month is not too soon for that.
He arrived nearly an hour late to work, but his sudden tardiness was too surprising to everyone else that he got away scot free.
The cloud that has been hanging over Roger’s head for the last few weeks turned into a storm, and according to Izou’s highly dependable gossip network, it may just be the beginning.
“He overheard from his wife’s call with his son that the boyfriend gave him the key to his place,” he shared to their division during lunch, sitting amidst a circle of gossipmongers, “And not only that, he also finds out some other things any parents would be concerned about when it comes to their darling children,”
“What? What happened?” Jozu, the stoic manager from the division 2 floor below practically demanded from the back of the crowd, his brows furrowed in concentration as if he was doing a particularly tricky report and not waiting for the story of their director’s son’s illicit affair.
For a dramatic flair, Izou paused, giving every single person in the room a sly glance. In the very back of the room, Marco rolled his eyes at his antics, while replying to Ace’s frantic text about having forgotten his textbook in Marco’s apartment the day before. He offered to drive back home and deliver it to Ace’s campus, but the younger declined and decided to brace himself to whatever punishment his teacher will give out.
“Okay, so, you know how we’ve been all speculating just how bad this new boyfriend could be?” He paused, and slowly, every single one of his avid listener nodded, “Well, it’s pretty bad. He’s a decade older than the son,”
In Marco’s opinion, Haruta’s scandalous gasp and Bay’s tongue clicking were absolutely unnecessary. They all know that the son is of legal age, and is free to make his decision, so it’s not like he’s being coerced into it. And besides, 10 years difference isn’t that bad.
Rolling his eyes one last time, Marco exited the room as soon as the whispers started. He convinced himself it was because he still had some work to do for Pops’ extended stay abroad and not because he’s afraid he might start taking their comments to heart. He’ll admit, he agreed with some of them, like the difficulty to relate and gap in maturity, but it’s nothing two people can’t work out on if they truly care for each other.
After all, his relationship with Ace is perfectly fine, despite the fact that he’s 33 years old to Ace’s 21.
Pops came back a week after, and Marco decided to confess about actually having a love life first before he could start introducing them together.
Edward’s reaction had been to open one of his good sake - completely ignoring his doctor’s orders - and demanded that Marco tell him absolutely everything, starting from how they met and every single development in the relationship. For such a large, imposing man, one would never guess that Edward Newgate loves a good romantic story as much as an average teenage girl.
So Marco did, starting it off with the cruise trip and meeting Rouge, skimping the details of his late night run-ins with Ace. His tongue became looser the more he drank, and his inhibition and awareness was so low by the time he drank the last drop from the bottle that Marco never noticed how Edward had gone completely silent in the middle of his story. He looked up from his glass to see his adopted father looking down at him with wide eyes, and with his flushed cheeks, he looks absolutely ridiculous that Marco started snickering.
“Pops, whats wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”
Edward blinked, once, twice, and started speaking slowly, “This lady you met, you said that her name is Rouge?”
“Yeah,”
“And her son’s name is Ace Portgas, which means her name is Rouge Portgas, right?”
To be honest, Marco never quite asked about that, though its not like there’s any other reason to believe otherwise. He shrugged, trying to keep himself from swaying off the chair from the motion, “I guess?”
“Right,” was all Edward say, then suddenly he began chuckling, the low sound that slowly gained momentum before becoming a full blown guffaw.
Marco could only stare at his father through hazy, half lidded eyes.
The giant man’s laughter finally died down to honest-to-god giggles, and he reached over to his cupboard again to pull out a bottle of amber coloured liquor, already half drunk. Marco knew this was about the time he intervened, as he is a responsible son, but he was already drunk and all thoughts of responsibilities flew out of the window once his cup was refilled.
This new drink immediately burned his throat upon impact and the aftertaste was something Marco wasn’t sure he’d experience again in life. It was incredible, “This is my most favorite drink, a collector’s item i had with me since i first made a name for myself as business man decades ago. I only take it out for most special occasion, like the beginning of my partnership with Roger, when i buy my own house,” he smiled gently, gesturing to Marco, “And when i adopted you and each one of your brothers,”
Somehow, that revelation made the liquid currently swirling in his cup incredibly precious, and Marco carefully only took a sip at a time as he considered this, “Didn’t know that my love life is that special of an occasion,”
Edward laughed, his voice booming and full of joy, “Oh, it is, son. Trust me, it is,” he said as he poured some of the liquor to his own cup, “By the way, i heard Roger’s been terrorising the company because of some personal problem. Why don’t you tell me something about my old friend’s antics so i can tease him the next time i see him?”
During the second month of their relationship, they finally reached their first relationship problem; Ace’s finals started, which means that there will be no dates or ‘sleepovers’ until it was over.
It sounded quite simple at first, and Marco had even encourage Ace to put his education first, until he came back home for 1 week straight without a constant second presence in his house. They still call and texted each other, but as the final weeks approach, the number of communication took a nose dive. Marco would sometimes found himself waiting for a reply the entire night, only to receive it the next morning because Ace fell asleep while studying.
When finals week arrived, Ace completely disappeared from his phone. Once or twice Marco would send a text reminding him to eat and sleep, and if he check hours later, those texts will be marked as read but otherwise bore no reply. He didn’t mind, he wasn’t so old he didn’t remember what those college days were like, so he filled his evenings by watching TV or doing some overtime work.
But still, it was lonely, which was odd because before Ace came to his life, it was pretty much how Marco spent his off time from work.
That went on for a couple of days, prompting some remarks from his co-worker about how he’s starting to rival Roger with his gloominess, and Thatch even dared to suggest the idea that it was caused by a recent heartbreak. Marco told him off, but he didn’t tell the real reason for his change in behaviour. It’s not that he’s ashamed of his relationship with Ace - on the contrary even - but ever since that day when Izou revealed that Roger’s son was dating someone much older than him, he was rather wary of giving any hint that he himself is in the same boat, albeit in reverse.
So it was with great surprise when, during the last workday for the week, he came home to find his bedroom light switched on, and entered to find Ace waiting for him on his bed, wearing only one of Marco’s favorite dress shirt and an inviting look. Whatever fatigue that has accumulated disappeared in a flash, and even after a long day of work, Marco found himself having enough energy for 3, a quick snack break, and another 2 and a half round.
They spent the weekend barely leaving the bed - or the couch, or the bathroom, and on one memorable time, the kitchen - surviving on take outs or whatever food Marco had in his mostly barren fridge. By the end of it, his legs and hips had developed a cramp, and Ace was complaining about soreness and stinging bite marks, but at least they are both satisfied.
When the adrenaline and libido finally ran out, however, they started assessing their situation; like Marco’s ruined kitchen chair, or the need for new sheets, or the fact that Ace apparently promised his mother to spend his class break tomorrow with her on some family villa on the countryside.
“It’ll only be for a couple of days though. Class won’t start until a month from now so we can spend time in between,” Ace’s body was still glistening with sweat and his thundering heartbeat matched Marco’s own. His voice was slightly muffled as he hid his face against Marco’s heaving chest, “Though, mom said i can invite you to come along with us. She said she missed you,”
A couple of days in some countryside villa, enjoying the fresh air without the hustle and bustle of the city with a charming lady like Rouge and his beloved boyfriend. Just the thought of it alone relaxes him. And he did miss Rouge as well,
“I’ll see if i can take some day off,”
Leaving to work that morning was the hardest thing to do for Marco, due to the persistent cramp on his forelegs - sex against walls: sexy in theory but an absolute pain in his age - and the fact that he had to leave Ace all alone in bed, sleeping, naked and bundled in his sheets. But he managed somehow, because he’s a man on a mission.
He was also a man who clearly looked like he just had the greatest night of his life, because as soon as he entered the office, Thatch, ever present near the water cooler, took one look at him and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“Not a word,” Marco cuts him off before he could say anything, unable to fight back a smile when Thatch wagged his brows even faster, “Told you it wasn’t a heartbreak,”
“Yeah, but by the look of you, i bet something did break,”
Maybe it was because of his incredibly good mood, because nothing else could explain why Marco suddenly got the incentive to smirk and replied, “Probably his ass,”
The look on Thatch’s face was a mixture of several conflicting emotions, and Marco was so proud of himself for coming up with that reply that he completely missed the person that has been standing behind the pompadoured man the entire time, trying to get some water from the very same water cooler behind Thatch. He finally noticed the man when a sound of coughing and spurting sounded, making them both jump in surprise.
“Ho— cough! Holy shit!” Roger exclaimed, the top of his shirt soaked with the same water he sprayed out. He started cackling, looking at Marco in disbelief, “Marco, holy shit!”
And to think the day started off real well.
Thankfully, Roger waved off his apologies (“We’re in an office, son, not a catholic school,”), and after enduring some teasing from Thatch, Marco quickly made his way to his office to start a normal working day.
At least, he tried to. As soon as he sat down, the cramp on his leg acted up, and during a quick trip to the bathroom, he finally caught the sight of his own neck, littered with copious amount of very deep and poorly hidden hickeys. That explains why Thatch caught on real quickly. Or why everyone kept staring and snickering whenever he pass by.
Lunch was a little more bearable, if only because it started out with Ace sending him two pictures, the first one of his spread thighs, and the second one of his torso, both fully decorated with bite marks and bruising handprints. Look at what you did to me! the text said, I look like i’ve been eaten alive! How am i going to go home looking like this?!
Marco chuckled, and took a quick look around the still empty break room. Once he was sure no one is around, he quickly took a picture of his neck, pulling on his collar.
I’ve been walking around the office the entire morning with this. Consider us even.
As he waited for Ace to reply, Marco made the mistake of scrolling back to the pictures of Ace’s body, because he’s a weak, weak man who just received an inflation for his ego and thus is unaware that anyone at all could walk into the room and walk past him. Which is exactly what Roger, out of everyone in the building did.
“I know this is break time,” he said as a way to reveal his presence, and Marco would admit he jumped at least a feet off the ground, “But please refrain from sexting while you’re in the office’s break room, people eat here,”
“No! No,no,no! This wasn’t, i wasn’t—“
Roger began cackling, shaking his head in amidst of Marco’s frantic denial, “Young love,” he mused in between laughter, “Don’t worry about it, i was young once, i’m a married man, i know how it works. Why,” he looped an arm around Marco’s shoulder, and it took all of the blonde’s self-restraint not to hightail it out of there, “I remember when i just married my wife, we’re supposed to be sailing and enjoying the freedom of the sea. Of course, the only thing that happened was that we barely left our room,”
Marco almost blurted out ‘yeah, same’ until he decided that oversharing about how he met his boyfriend with the boss that just caught him getting naked pics are probably not the best thing to do.
His hesitation and near faux pas was missed, as the moustached man continued, “Of course, i think that’s how my son was conceived. No wonder he’s such a free spirit,” he paused, then sighed with the intensity of a man who was carrying the world’s weight with him, “Too free, even,”
In Marco’s hand, his phone vibrated, probably Ace’s reply. The desire to quickly read it was unbearable, but as Roger sat down, face gloomy, Marco sent a silent apology to Ace and asked, “What happened?”
Roger looked up at him and scoffed, “Ah, don’t lie, you know what’s going on. Everyone in the office knows already about what’s going on with my son,” he sighed, running a hand through thick black hair, “You all think i’m being stupid, aren’t you?”
Kinda.
“Not really,” Marco replied instead, “I mean, i guess it’s a father’s duty to be protective of their children, right? I know Pops still worries about most of us, even if we’re adults,”
“Yeah, that’s Edward, big heart to match that big body of his,” his boss smiled slightly, “But with me and my son, it’s a little bit different. He’s young, you know? And he tries to act differently, but he’s still fragile, naive, too headstrong and spoiled. How am i not supposed to worry?” Roger sighed, running his hand through his hair again, “In our last fight, he told me that i’m barely even his dad because i’m never home. What is he even talking about? Everything i did, this entire company, my working hours, that’s all so that him and his mother can have a good life!”
All of this talk about father and son disagreement briefly reminded of Ace’s appearance in his apartment a few weeks back, and his subsequent rant about his own father. Marco wondered if this is just a common thing amongst fathers in general, or he was stuck with two fathers and sons with the similar issues, “Yeah, but there’s more to being a dad than just being the guy who pays things,”
Roger paused, and Marco nearly bit his tongue. Shit, what did he say that for?
He wanted to retract his words, but Roger was looking at him with the face of a person seeking for a divine answer, and Marco found himself trapped, “I mean, it’s great that you’re working hard for your family, but how are you supposed to be a parent if you’re always in your office? Maybe that’s what your son meant; if all you did to raise him was just working so he’d have money instead of actually being involved in his life, then you’re just the guy who pays the bills, not his dad,”
Now Marco really wanted to bite his tongue off. That last part was Ace’s word about his father, what is he doing trying to relate him to Roger’s family problem?
Actually, why is Roger even sharing his family problem in the first place? Ace he could understand, he’s his boyfriend and Marco would happily listen to him, but Roger is not only his boss, he had just caught him with a naked pic of his boyfriend, so why did their conversation turn here—
“That’s… huh,” the sound of his boss’ mutters cuts through Marco’s train of thought. He caught a small smile on the older man’s face, as he shook his head, “You know, it’s funny, but i think Edward said something similar to me once. Something about putting my family first. My wife often asked me to come home for the day and bring work if i must, but she stopped doing that a while ago. My son, he… he never said anything, so i always assumed…,”
Silence. Marco’s phone vibrates again, twice. He held it in his hand.
Then, the raven haired man spoke, “Actually, my wife told me that since it’s the holidays, she’s going to take our son to go to out of the city and spend some time together. I told her i’ll be busy, but imagine if i…,” the slowly rising smile on Roger’s face fell, “But this is a bad time. With the preparation for the new project still going, i can’t leave anytime soon,” he looked conflicted, biting his lower lips, “Well, there’s always afterwards…,“
Suddenly Marco knew what Roger wanted to do, and considering that the man seems to have reached an epiphany, maybe he should leave it at that. He’s not responsible for this anymore, it’s not his problem, in fact, he had his own problem—
Roger ran his hand down his face, sighing wearily, “God, i am a failure of a father, aren’t i?’
The blonde sighed, and once again sent a silent apology to both Ace and Rouge, “Just go, Roger,” he said finally, crossing his arm to hide the once again vibrating phone, “Spend time with your wife and son, and prove to him you can be a better dad. I’ll cover for you,”
“Marco, i can’t possibly—“
“I won this company that project, i know what to do. If there’s anything i might need help with, i can always call Pops and asked him. You’re not the only boss around in this company, you know,” he smiled reassuringly, “In fact, take the day off from now. With the way you’ve been working for the last couple of weeks, there’s probably not much else to do anyway,”
There’s a giant smile on Roger’s face, even as he spoke, “I’m still your employer, brat, don’t push your elder around,”
“Not since a few seconds ago you’re not,” Marco retorted, “Not for a couple of days at least, so come on, get. Spent time with your family, Roger, take a break, you look like shit,”
Maybe that was pushing it, but Roger did laugh out loud, “Yes, yes, i’ll be on my way. I’ll send a mass email telling everyone that you’ll be in charge while i’m gone,” he made his way out of the break room, before stopping and turning back. Marco was rather caught off guard by the sincere smile he gave, “Thank you, Marco. You’re a good kid,” he said, and left.
Marco stood in the middle of the break room, one hand loosely holding his phone and a mixed feeling.
When he opened his phone later in the solitary of his office, he found a couple of text and images from Ace, showing him and his mother shopping and packing for their holiday. His last text asked him if he will be joining them.
With heavy heart, Marco replied with his sincere regret, but when he sees Roger’s office finally empty after being constantly occupied well beyond closing time, he found it hard to feel bad for long.
First day of being the acting president was as tough as he thought it would be, and Marco had a feeling it would get harder from there on out.
Roger’s workload was insane, and added with his own, Marco found himself nearly tearing his hair out - or what’s left of it on his minimalist haircut. Of course, he persevere with the help of his co-workers, and he made it to the end of the day, wanting nothing more than to pass out.
Which is not how his night after work went, because as soon as he arrived home, he noticed that he had at least 10 missed calls and all of them were from Ace.
He feared the worst, probably something happening on the way - because why else would he call that many times - but Ace did answered, albeit strangely silent and subdued, “Hello?”
“Ace, i’m so sorry, work was swamped today and my boss didn’t come in,” he said, skipping the fact that that was partially his fault, “What’s wrong, what happened? Are you okay? Is your mom okay?”
Probably hearing how flustered he was, Ace quickly reassured him, “No, no, nothing’s wrong. We got to the villa just fine, she’s been having fun the whole morning swimming and talking to the gardener,” he paused, and Marco can hear him take a deep breath, “It’s just that… something did happen, and i don’t… i just need to talk to someone about it,”
The tightness in his chest quickly disappears and Marco plopped himself down on his sofa, loosening his tie, “What happened?”
Again, Ace fell quiet. He heard rustling from behind the younger man, and guessed that he’s probably in a bed of sorts, “My dad came,” he said finally, voice low enough to be a murmur, “Mom said he was swamped with work so he won’t be coming, but yesterday, he suddenly came home and said he’s coming along. Mom was ecstatic, and they’re having fun the whole day, and…,”
Marco waited, but it’s clear that Ace wouldn’t be saying anything anytime soon without prompting, “Is that a bad thing?”
“Well, no,” the younger muttered, “I mean, mom’s really happy, and it’s been a long time since there’s any time for the three of us to spend time together,” he paused again, his tone conflicted and unsure. Marco threw his tie away, and started unbuttoning his shirt, “But… i don’t know, i wasn’t expecting much, but then he was suddenly there, and Mom looked happier than she had been for a while, and i’m… i just…,”
He fell silent again, and Marco’s mind returned to the conversation he had with Roger yesterday, and how happy he looked when he left. He imagined that Ace’s father was probably having the same dilemma as Roger when it comes to family, of having to be away so often from his family. Perhaps he even wanted to spend more time with them, and somehow, he finally managed today.
Fathers trying their best for families, he thought, even if they unknowingly stumble along the way, in the end, they just wanted to make their family happy.
When the last button was undone and Ace was still quiet, Marco tried, “Ace,” he began slowly, “You did say you wanted your dad to spend time with the family more,”
After a few beat, he heard a sigh from across the phone, “You’re right,” the younger mumbled, “And i guess i’m glad. But what if this is just a one off thing and he’s back to never showing up again?”
“Then you use this chance to make the best out of it and hope that this holiday will remind him that you and your mom should be the most important thing in his life,” he replied, “And maybe along the way, he’d start being the dad that’ll be there for you, like you wish he was. As much as you think he wronged you so far, it’s a two way street, Ace. Show him that you want him to be around more, and if he does love you, he’ll be there,”
And he hoped that Ace’s dad really do understand, because soon after he finished saying, Ace’s little laugh sounded too close to a sob than he liked.
“Yeah, i guess so,” Marco smiled at the relief in Ace’s voice, and wished that he had come after all. Then again, if he had, Roger won’t be spending time with his family, and with Ace’s father sudden appearance, maybe it was for the best that he didn’t, “I should probably go back downstairs. Mom was cooking dinner earlier,” the younger took a deep breath, probably to compose himself. Marco wisely did not comment, “Marco?”
“Yes, Ace?’
Silence, and a deep breath, “I… I shouldn’t say it on the phone, but,” his voice lowered slightly, “I love you,”
Marco was stunned.
Across the phone, Ace’s flustered mutters followed, and soon enough, he hastily wish him good night before the connection was cut. Long after the click of disconnect was heard, Marco still had the phone against his ear, staring blankly at the television in front of him.
He was finally broken out of his trance at a notification from his phone - It was Jozu’s number, asking him about tomorrow’s meeting - and as soon as he replied, he went to Ace’s number, and sent a text before leaving to take a shower, a large grin on his face.
Love you too, Ace. See you soon.