A little one-shot filled with slash, manipulation, and twists. I hope you enjoy it, and make sure to review!

He stood in his office, looking out the window. The sky was beginning to lighten. His fingertips curled against the cool window pane, his nails brushing the glass and sending dull shivers down his spine.

A knock sounded at his door, and his gaze shifted over towards the doorway as it opened, giving entrance to his secretary. A dark haired man in a cream-colored Armani business suit, pale amaranth dress shirt and lightly tinted sunglasses entered, trailed by a bodyguard who had the look of a professional killer.

He turned away from the window politely to greet them with a charming smile plastered to his face. His secretary zeroed in on the man behind the desk, dressed in the grey suit. He was tall, half a head taller than himself and somehow subtly imposing. His hair was combed back and reached the nape of his neck. He was well built and obviously very fit. He had high cheekbones and large, almond colored eyes. Like the other CEOs of this advertisement company, he was breathtakingly beautiful and innately graceful. And so young, too – just barely 26.

In a grudging, analytical kind of way, the secretary could well imagine why the young lady from moments ago had requested she drop off the bouquet of flowers he was currently holding onto. Any women of any age admired this man.

Nate flicked off his lightly tinted shades and slid them into a pocket. They looked more like a fashion accessory than anything else, but his boss knew he'd become photosensitive over the years.

The CEO's gaze skated very briefly over his bodyguard before dismissing him in favor of landing and remaining on Nate. The bodyguard was used to being summarily ignored in that manner, but the weight of Mr. Conner's gaze in the brief heartbeat when it had held him had felt like a bucket of ice washing over him.

Nate and Mr. Conner both smiled charmingly, exchanging greetings and pleasantries that neither of them meant, verbally circling one another like powerful bull sharks, looking for weakness. It was a scene Mr. Conner had often witnessed often enough to find it either boring or vaguely amusing. It was cute, how his secretary often felt that he could level up to a CEO, but it wasn't that cute. Mr. Conner knew not to step his guard down. Nate was a devious little fellow.

Nate was not afraid of Mr. Conner, nor did he seem to give a hoot about the CEO's family name. Greetings over, both men took a seat on opposite sides of the desk. Mr. Conner's bodyguard slid into place behind him, casting a cool glare towards Nate from behind Gucci sunglasses.

"This came in for you," Nate broke the silence, placing the bouquet of flowers across the CEO's desk.

Mr. Conner tensed. His flesh crawled but he managed not to jerk away from the bouquet, remaining outwardly calm and unaffected and not even glancing towards the colorful arrangement of flowers as they brushed against the cuff of his suit. Nate was well aware of his boss's hatred for messes and this bouquet was…well, a mess. Some of the flowers weren't bent, others already dead. Moreover, there was no note. This gift was trash.

Nate seemed to have gotten the hint. He plucked the flowers off the desk and tossed them into the nearest trash bin and hid his amusement as he heard his boss release a sigh of relief.

"Sir, that's the second gift this week. If you want, I can print out a picture of the face of—"

"Nonsense," Mr. Conner waved a hand dismissively. He did not care for these gifts, nor did he have any concern for whom they were being delivered by. They were trashy, cheap. Probably from one of those one-night stands he'd been having so frequently as of late…

"Next time, just leave the gift outside my door," Mr. Conner added as he flicked a torn rose petal off his desk and watched as it floated downwards into the trash along with its counterparts. Nate nodded, and when no other words were exchanged between the two, his secretary left.

A week passed, and three more gifts came in. As requested, Nate left them outside his boss's office.

A box of chocolates, some 'I can't wait to see you!' postcard, and a basket of breakfast muffins. This time, the gifts were each addressed with a small note, the writing "Your Girl".

My girl? Mr. Conner felt slightly repulsed by the thought. He'd never refer to those one-night stands as his girls. Just simple pleasures. Whoever this chick was, she was persistent.

"I'll have to ask you to get rid of this trash," Mr. Conner told the maid in a flat, expressionless tone befitting his self-appointed role as slightly overzealous CEO. The maid eyed the gifts, frowned, but complied. What a waste, she thought.

For the remainder of that day, Mr. Conner couldn't help but think back to the small notes. Your girl, hm? While the gifts were cheap and meaningless, the small note did spark some interest. Since his last real relationship, Mr. Conner hadn't allowed any other women to truly enter his life and break apart through his thick walls.

Jess Treyson had been his first and last. It was a typical love story, really. Fell in love at 18, married at 20. Something changed after that – Jess never explained what – but Mr. Conner wasn't one to dwell on the past. It was clear Jess wanted nothing to do with him now, something about not being 'mature enough to handle the truth', and he was very content with living on his own for the time being. But, the CEO was well aware he couldn't continue living such a lonely life for the remainder of his years. Soon, he'd have to meet another Jess. Another love story.

Your girl.

Mr. Conner chuckled softly to himself.

"Nate, please. I no longer want to see these atrocious gifts near my office. From now on, just keep them, or give them to the other workers. Get them out of my sight."

Three weeks had passed. Gifts began to repeat. Flowers, chocolates, stuffed animals…

This chick, whoever she was, needed to stop. Mr. Conner was far too busy to deal with such mundane matters, and he needed Nate at the top of his game…not delivering some silly schoolgirl crush gifts. It was pathetic. The woman behind the gifts was pathetic.

Nate merely nodded in response.

"No, you know what? Find the persistent lover and tell her I take no interest in her gifts or whatever offer she's trying to propose. Get rid of her."

Once more, Nate nodded.

And finally, the gifts stopped.

Mr. Conner realized he could finally stop stressing over the silly gift matter, until a thought came to him one morning as he was preparing himself a cup of coffee before a board meeting.

Black, two sugars.

The thought was absolutely ridiculous, yet it was believable in the craziest sense. Perhaps… Nate, his very own secretary, had been the one to drop off all the gifts?

It wasn't such a crazy assumption. Normally, Nate would be stubborn and argue his way through Mr. Conner's rules and orders as if to show off his debating skills, but he was quick to obey Mr. Conner when the CEO wanted the gifts gone. When asking to get rid of the gifts, the CEO must have hurt his secretary's feelings…of course he'd finally obey.

Mr. Conner wasn't the type to discriminate between his lovers, and it was definitely no secret that some of his one-night stands had been with males. He was so stupid to not have seen it coming. Of course Nate would try and find a way to throw him off, to put him on such an edge…

Your girl? Of course. A simple scheme, to mess with Mr. Conner's head. It was a simple advertising technique, really – one that the CEO should have recognized. By using 'girl', Mr. Conner had only pictured female lovers and had completely eliminated the idea that a male could be in the picture. Nate had been messing with him, trying to guide him astray, probably just to try and find a way to expose Mr. Conner. Or perhaps… Nate did seek the attention of the man right in front of him…

Goddamn it Nate, why not just say so?

Mr. Conner hated being misguided. It messed with his thoughts, and he hated messes.

Whether or not Nate had feelings for Mr. Conner, the CEO had decided it was best to confront the other man about it. Whether it was about manipulation or something as ridiculous as love, Mr. Conner would twist the matters at hand to his advantage. Nate wouldn't know what the hell was about to hit him.

In an effort to resolve the matter, the CEO waited until his secretary approached his office first.

Nate was only mildly surprised when the pink, cheap perfume-scented envelope arrived the next morning. It bore a small purse sticker. The light paper material and size of the envelope screamed 'childish' and according to his boss…'trashy', but Nate was not the one to decide. He'd seen who it was that had been delivering the presents, and he hadn't had the heart to tell the young lady that Mr. Conner was not interested. If his CEO learned the truth… Nate frowned in thought.

The envelope was most certainly not a gift considering it was so different from the deliveries of the past few weeks, so Nate took it upon himself to deliver this letter rather than toss it aside as Mr. Conner had requested.

Upon entering his boss's office, Nate froze. Mr. Conner was standing in front of his desk, a hand against his own chest and his gaze was slightly astray, as if he was deep in thought… However, as his secretary entered, the CEO's gaze fully focused on the man before him.

"Nate… you do realize I am a business man first and foremost, correct?" Mr. Conner's voice had dropped into a somewhat smooth and chocolaty tone. Nate felt a shiver run down his spine. "Maybe we could find a way to work matters out to everyone's…satisfaction. Why don't we talk privately? We really don't need all this show, do we?" He gestured dismissively towards the door that Nate had left open upon walking in.

Mr. Conner clapped his hands once and gave a jerk of his head, at which signal his bodyguard collected himself enough to obediently leave the room, closing the door after himself.

Once alone, Nate raised both eyebrows and his fingers tightened around the silly pink envelope he was holding. He'd only come to deliver this letter, but Mr. Conner was definitely acting weird. He didn't have much time to comprehend any of it, however, because something was suddenly touching his cheek.

Mr. Conner reached out, lightly brushing Nate's cheek with the back of his fingers. The contact had an electric effect upon Nate's already confused senses and he almost couldn't contain the warring jolts of disgust and excitement that shook through him.

He stepped back quickly, away from Mr. Conner's hand. His heart was thudding and he wanted to punch his CEO's face in.

"Oh, come on, don't be shy. I know it's you, so why don't we just cut the crap and put all that hatred we've been harboring for one another into something a bit more, efficient, such as…" Nate hadn't realized Mr. Conner had closed the distance between them until he was suddenly yanked forward, his chest clashing into his CEO's chest. Lowering his gaze, Nate realized too late that Mr. Conner had taken hold of his tie and had used it to pull him closer. What in the blazes…?

Nate stiffened and froze at the unexpected turn of events, his heart jumping oddly in his chest and hammering rapidly as his temperature shot up. For half a second he didn't know what the hell Mr. Conner thought he was doing. He felt oddly like there wasn't quite enough oxygen in the room as Mr. Conner just looked at him for a moment before the CEO's mouth dipped down, their lips immediately clashing. Mr. Conner kissed his secretary very lightly, and at first Nate simply froze, an unreadable look firing through his eyes. The touch of Mr. Conner's lips on his felt like it had momentarily shorted his brain circuits. It was a terrifying yet delicious sensation, he couldn't even break away, despite a certain feeling of unnatural awkwardness.

This was wrong on so many levels... yet Nate was quick. Mr. Conner seemed to be under the impression that Nate, for some reason, liked him? Perhaps Nate could use that to his own advantage, if he wanted to take position of the CEO chair one day…

It was clear both men were power-hungry sharks, and they were willing to tear each other apart for it.

Nate needed little encouragement with that thought running through his mind and he leaned hungrily into the kiss, his lips moving passionately against Mr. Conner's, his long fingers tangling in the CEO's dark locks. Mr. Conner seemed pleased with the response and he kissed Nate deeply and passionately, lips parting, tongue exploring the exotic heat of his secretary's mouth.

Nate groaned softly as his body pressed up fully against his boss's, one hand remaining tangled in Mr. Conner's hair as the other slid down to sensually, urgently map the smooth contours of his chest through his shirt. It was then that Nate realized his other hand was still occupied with…well, the pink letter. He had to tell Mr. Conner, he had to…to…

"C-…Conner," the breathless word was half gasp, but Mr. Conner didn't want to find out if it was encouragement or protest. His mouth latched harder onto Nate's, kissing him intensely.

There was a knock at the door, but Mr. Conner was hardly aware of it. He kissed Nate's neck with trembling lips and another low sound escaped Nate's lips, the secretary's eyes fluttering shut, long, dark lashes brushing his cheeks appealingly."Shh, Nate...I already know about everything...the gifts..." You're 'your girl', aren't you, you little...

"S-..Sir?" A polite, unfamiliar small voice spoke out loud.

"Shit!" Nate cursed under his breath in dark frustration and irritation as he quickly stepped away from Mr. Conner. Hadn't the bodyguard locked the stupid door?

Mr. Conner quickly straightened himself out, despite knowing that it was already too late to hide what he had been doing. Both men had flushed lips and their ties were a bit out of place.

A short, skinny little girl with short brown hair was standing partway between the door and the office. She was dressed from head to toe in pink, and her eyes were wide with surprise. "I, um…was wondering if you got my letter…" her voice drifted as she caught sight of the pink envelope in one of the men's hands. She frowned, confused, and then turned back to the other man, who appeared just as confused.

What the hell was a girl – not much older than 7 or 8, mind you – doing in Mr. Conner's office? And at a time like this? His eyes followed the girl's gaze until he spotted the pink envelope in Nate's tight grip. Reaching over, Mr. Conner grabbed it and ripped through it, quickly trying to find what it was that was so important that the people downstairs had decided to let this child in his office. His eyes skimmed over the letter once. Twice. Three times.

Hi um, Daddy. Can I call you that?

I'm Becca Treyson. I know you don't know about me. Mommy told me you were too busy to ever be my daddy, but I wanted to find you and see you. I'm glad I found you. I hope you like my presents and I hope it's okay if I come visit you today.

Love,

Your Girl