Pantalone's Secretary (Modern AU) ✦
Pantalone x Reader (AFAB Language is used)
Originally posted from my ao3:
https://archiveofourown.org/works/74438136
“Sir, your card!” You yell trying to catch up with the strange man in front of you. His dark hair with silver glides across his back as his shoes click against the concrete pavement. I can’t believe I'm doing this, you mutter to yourself as he finally stops to turn around, attempting to catch your breath and he stares at you. One hand on your bent knees wheezing for air, one hand in front of him returning his debit card he dropped in the bank. Your head still down, between your breaths you manage to squeak out a few words. “You, dropped… your card Sir.”
By the time you look up, you see his face, sharp features, with his black hair with streaks of white intertwined. He adjusts his rectangular glasses, pushing them up his nose bridge, his smile spreading across his face. “Thank you, did you go through the trouble of returning this to me?” He questions, his voice silky smooth and in a soft tone. The calmness in his voice concerns you, isn't he worried about losing his card? How did he not notice he had dropped it? Sensing the tension you finally speak up. “Yes, but how did you notice it dropping?” He laughs genuinely at your curiosity, before pulling out his wallet and handing you a business card with his details and taking the card back.
“Regardless, I should thank you for your troubles. If you need anything, I mean anything. Please don’t hesitate to call” He smiles one last time before walking off calmly. In your stunt state, you hold the card, the gold detailing and velvet feel of the cardboard made you more curious about his occupation and his strange nature. The card only simply said his name in gold and bolded with a phone number and email to contact “Pantalone, xxx-xxx-xxx”. What a strange interaction you thought, immediately throwing it carelessly into your bag. Retracing your steps and what you were originally doing, it reminded you had gone to the bank to confirm your new details and you had moved to the city to work. But one glance at your watch reminded you of the job interview you had in 20 minutes. For the past 2 weeks, you had been doing odd jobs around the city for some cash but you knew this was unsustainable and had to get a proper full time job.
Now to head over to the job interview, looking back on the email, it states to meet in the lobby of a particular office building and that you will be escorted to the meeting. The inside of the lobby is grand and quiet. The sleek leather arm chairs sit comfortably with the decorative plants. “Here for the interview?” The receptionist smiles, she instructs me to sit and relax for a bit. The leather chairs feel cold against your skin, slowly warming up. It was until he walked in, the man from earlier. Surprised must've rushed over your face as he smiled again, that warmth filling the air.
“We meet again, I’m glad” He let out a small chuckle, Hand out executing a hand shake.
“H-hello again” You stumble over your words as you firmly shake his hands, the softness of his toasty skin touching yours contrasts with your cold hands. As he guides you to the interview room, you remind yourself of which interview this one is, all these meetings all week have really messed around with your brain.
By the end of it, despite your lack of experience, you felt a bit more confident on landing a job, this interview in particular was for the secretary position for an office firm. It was placed in a good location, pay was decent and the experience it was offering was valuable, almost too good to feel true. Regardless, the universe gave you this opportunity, who were you to deny it?
A few weeks later you got the call, you got the position, it starts tomorrow. By the next day you're in Pantalone’s office, standing next to him. He's over his desk explaining the role, you will need to organise his schedule, help him prepare before and after meetings and must obey all commands made by him, after all he is paying you handsomely every week.
During which, you start to notice the way he looks at you, this love and softness in his eyes. His smiles feel wider and more suspicious, all you do is organise paperwork and clean his office. Most days you stand and sit near him, keeping him company mainly. The office also has nice amenities, there's free lunch for employees, a gym, showers, sleeping rooms, library, and free parking. Recently whispers about you have been circling as Pantalone’s last secretary was abruptly fired one day, and soon enough, he was able to replace her. Your appearance doesn't help you either, looking relatively young and working for an older gentleman does spark some rumours after all. But Pantalone assures you that you shouldn't listen to such gossip, after all they can't help making comments when he hires such an adorable secretary. He truly has a way with words to bring you comfort.
“All the paper work for the client is finished, and tomorrow’s meeting is rescheduled for tomorrow.”
“Thank you, my dear secretary. Oh what would I do without you?” He chuckles softly, bringing his hand and caressing it over yours, his velvet gloves have a nice touch to them. As the year ends, so does your contract working under him, it seems like it's getting to him. Maybe it explains why he's been so touchy lately…
… As you rearrange the books in the library, the moving boxes seem infinite. Because of this, it has made it harder for Pantalone to retrieve other documents in the storage cabinets. At some point, you need the ladder to reach the high shelves, as you reach towards the space for the last book, you lose balance. The ground wasn't far until you felt his warm grasp warp around you.“Are you ok?” As he says that his hands wrap tighter around your waist. Your face reddening the longer he held you, despite only being a few seconds. “I'm ok!” you immediately squeak , trying to pry his strong grip away from you. Sensing the tension he let you go before apologising.
“It's a gift from a coworker, you should have some,” His hand gestured to a plate of macarons. Trying to refuse him feels impossible, his so-called genuine smile makes you reconsider. “Why don't you eat one?” You politely question, before you could ask him another question he comes with a compromise. “If you eat one I'll eat one too. I'm just not a sweets person, that's all.” You stare at him suspiciously, but take a macaron and bite into it. Its soft chewiness with its light fruity flavour makes you slightly regret not eating it sooner. “Ok no more, I need to get back to work” you state, almost clicking out of your trance state. Before you could leave, you felt a napkin, lightly wiping the corners of your lips. “It's fine Pantalone” As you begin to walk, his other hand cups your cheeks. “Pantalone,” you murmur, “I should be organising the meeting dates right now” His smile not fading.
“I need to take good care of my secretary after all, how else would she do such an amazing job for me?” He laughs, your expressions he studies quietly out of amusement.
Second chapter is on my ao3 https://archiveofourown.org/works/74438136