Corners and contracts
Steve woke up in a cold sweat. His eyes shot open and he yanked on the sheets so hard he could hear them rip.
Fucking nightmares.
That’s when his eye fell on a small figure huddled in the corner of the room under a blanket. The figure was folded against the wall, sleeping as if it was the most comfortable position ever.
“Buck?” Steve’s raw voice tried to say. It came out as more of a whisper.
That’s when I started to stir in my corner before actually opening my eyes to the very unwelcoming morning light shining in my eyes.
“God. I’m getting too old for this.” I grumbled while I pulled my blanket up to my eyes.
“Buck. Are you...?” Steve mumbled just loud enough for me to hear.
That was the moment it registered that I was not in my own bed, nor was I on the couch of a veteran blond. No. I was on the floor, rolled in a blanket like a burrito. And the more awake I was becoming, the more I noticed how uncomfortable I was! What idiot sleeps on the floor when there are plenty of other options?
“I’m okay.” I mumbled as I got up with the grace of a newly born dear. God, my bones ached.
I shot a look at the bed Steve was currently falling out off. His leg got entangled in the sheets and oh well... now Steve was on the floor and I couldn’t help but snort rudely.
“Sorry.” I apologized as I rubbed my neck, walking over to help Steve up.
“Did I wake you again?” Steve asked. You saw the ugly traits of unnecessary guilt all over that pretty face of his.
“Let’s say this was more of a mutual agreement.”
Steve quirked an eyebrow, “Explain that to me over breakfast.”
~
“So, I woke you up. Again.” Steve started, “And then you decided that keeping some distance this time was safest before I’d crush you in my sleep and you figured that in this case sleeping in the corner of my room was the best option?”
“Well, when you say it like that it sounds dumb. Jeez, Steve.” I laughed as I punched his shoulder. “I was having a nightmare too and woke up from the noises coming from your room where you were having a nightmare. I tried calming you down and it worked. You were like, half awake at the time and told me to stay, but before I could say anything you fell asleep again, spread out on your bed like a starfish, so I grabbed my blanket and decided to stay.” I explained.
What I didn’t tell Steve is that he looked terrible last night. Tears still streaming down his cheeks even after waking up from the horrors his dreams must terrorize him with. He begged for me to stay and when he stopped whispering for me to please not leave, the silence betrayed the sound of my heart breaking in pieces. I just couldn’t leave him alone after that.
I continued to Steve, “In my defense, I was also barely awake and when fully awake, I would not have picked that corner of the room to sleep in.”
I glanced at the time on my phone out of habit and saw I really had to get going to make it on time to the bakery. I groaned.
Why was leaving Steve so hard?
“I really gotta get going. Thanks for everything! I’ll call you.” I said to Steve before leaving his apartment, leaving Steve standing in his doorway.
~
Thursdays were reserved for working at the bakery till four P.M., followed by spending my night working for Pierce.
Thursday night was kinda the start of the weekend for a lot of folks and it mostly resulted in more money for Pierce, so he decided all of his ‘employees’ had to work that night too. Which was fine by me, because I could make a couple of bucks extra.
This Thursday however, I had the evening off for obvious reasons. Not knowing what to do with all of that time I decided I might as well go home and clean up.
After cleaning my bedroom and the kitchen, starting on the excuse of a living room, my eye fell on a stack of paper on my table and suddenly, I had something better to do. I dressed up a little, grabbed the papers and hailed a cab.
“Take me to 200 Park Avenue, Manhattan.” I instruct the cabdriver as I jump in.
~
“Hi. Ehm, I came here for Tony Stark?” I stammered to the girl behind the desk. The same one from last Tuesday.
“Alright. Did you have an appointment?” She asks with a polite smile.
Shit. I didn’t even call ahead or anything.
“Ehm, no. I have a contract and I wanted to sign and I just thought I’d come say that. To him...” Uhg. How old am I again? I sound like a thirteen-year-old getting his first job.
“Well, Mr. Stark is a busy man, but I’ll check his schedule for you.” She smiled with just a little more sweetness than necessary. With my job experience, and with experience I mean working for Pierce, you pick up a few things, like reading body language. I could always see who was interested in me, who was hiding something or who was bad news.
Mostly.
Just before the girl was gonna speak up again the elevator dinged and mister Stark himself walked out, dressed in a suit, with sunglasses on.
Inside.
Who wears sunglasses inside?
Tony walked over to the desk, greeting the girl by name, Anne, before turning to me, “Ah, Bucky. Good to see you. How’s the contract coming along?” Tony asked while shaking my hand.
“That’s actually what I came here about. I was wondering if I could have a moment of your time to talk about it?” I asked.
Tony looked at me over the brim of his glasses, looked at his watch and then smiled back at me, “Sure. Follow me.”
Tony led me into a spacious room, for conferences was my guess, judging by the look of the long table with at least fifteen chairs.
“Sit, please.” Tony pointed me to a chair. He sat down in a chair opposite of me and I somehow felt misplaced, seeing Tony in his suit, folding his hands.
“So, what’s up? Anything unclear?” Tony asked, pointing at the contract I was clutching to my chest.
“Eh, no, no. Steve helped with that. I’d like to sign, actually.” I smiled.
Tony raised his eyebrows as if he was surprised by my answer, “Really? That’s great.” Tony took ahold of the contract and flipped to the last pages and summoned a pen out of thin air and handed it to me.
“If you’re sure, you can sign here, there, and there.” Tony explained, pointing at the blank spaces.
I popped the cap off of the pen and signed a scribble that was supposed to resemble J.B. Barnes.
I handed the contract over to Tony.
“Wanna start on Monday?” Tony asked.
“Yes, sir.” I answered, smiling.
I couldn’t wait.