Quinn's week had started bad, and had only gotten worse.
His pains hadn't gone away, and at this point he knew that he probably should have gone to the doctor but he simply didn't have time. Why? Well, that had to do with how his week had gotten worse.
He'd put in the days off that he wanted two weeks ago, immediately after he had spoken to Noah about everything, and they had just gotten approved. Good thing since they were only two weeks away from the actual event. Quinn had even felt good for a moment, but then everything went downhill.
It wasn't hard to imagine that Michel, the douche nozzle of a man that Quinn could not believe he'd slept with, had heard the news that Quinn had requested Valentine's Day off and the two days after and must have gotten a strange idea in his head. He must have taken it personally, because why else would he request Quinn to help them secure a forward-facing company when Quinn was the back end? Why would he request Quinn at all?
Especially when he was going to systematically tear him apart in front of the people who they were trying to form a contract with and force them to watch Quinn have to grovel and accept everything he was saying, all while he was the colour of a bleached sheet and sweating buckets.
That's right, Quinn hadn't gotten better, made worse by the fact that Michel seemed to want to make Quinn's life a living hell. Quinn knew that Mr. Harrison was doing his best behind the scenes, but what could he truly do? Michel was the son of the owner, and while he wasn't going to become the actual owner of the company, he was going to end up on the board of the company.
He had too much sway, and damn it, each day was leading towards Quinn going to have to leave the company. Quinn didn't even have time to plan where he was going to go, or who he was going to reach out to, because he had the work that Michel was shoving down his throat and then his own work to handle, and his illness.
Quinn didn't have time to take time off.
So he lived off of broth which didn't seem to upset his stomach, apples which he also seemed to agree with, and pain medication. Far too much of it, he was aware, but he couldn't do anything about it. Not even anyone on his team suggested that he go to the hospital. They were just starting to get busy since it was the end of January, and damnit, Quinn just wanted to feel competent at something.
Quinn hadn't been able to meet up with Noah since he was also busy. He had a track he had to lay, and that meant doing things that he never wanted to do. Mr. Winters and his friends seemed to be with him every step of the way since Mr. Winters had sent Quinn a few photos of Noah with them. He'd even taken a few selfies, clearly making sure that Noah was okay while he did the 'bad things' that he was supposed to do. Quinn chuckled at that.
All he was doing was drinking in places that people would see, going out with Mr. Winters and his friends, and then he would attend a sex party with them. Truly scandalous. Noah's brothers had done far, far worse, but that would be enough to get Noah in trouble.
Quinn's heart ached for the man, but maybe they would both be just fine. Worst came to worst, Quinn could go back home for a little bit and just reset. It wasn't like he was poor, he just didn't have as much money as he wanted to start a company. He could, hypothetically, ask his family for help.
Quinn hated the thought, but hey, maybe he pivoted. Maybe he bought some land and started a farm, just him and Noah. That didn't seem like a bad idea, not in the slightest.
It was silly, foolish thoughts like that that got Quinn through the next two weeks. His work-life balance didn't exist, and at one point, Mr. Harrison brought him a home cooked meal from his partner so that Quinn didn't die. Quinn appreciated it, even as he continued to pop pills.
Then, the week of the sex party, Quinn's pain went away.
It was sudden, it was worrying, but Quinn was not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He felt like in the few weeks he'd been experiencing this all encompassing pain he had truly understood what hell was like. His head had pounded, his body had ached, certain foods and smells would set him off. He'd done his best to not be irritable, but he hadn't been able to focus. He'd been a danger on the road but he didn't take public transit either. He'd stopped dressing well, unable to even handle certain fabrics on his skin.
Life had truly been hell, but when he woke up on the Tuesday of the week of the 14th, his head suddenly clear and his body not aching, Quinn honestly thought he might have died.
He didn't feel refreshed, but he didn't feel like shit on the bottom of someone's shoe. He felt…achy, but given how much pain he'd just been in for several weeks, he could handle achy.
He'd been able to eat food. Solid, real food. He'd been able to drink coffee again. He'd gotten a shower and the smell of his shampoo hadn't made his stomach roll. He'd gotten dressed, the clothing feeling fine against his skin.
He felt…normal. He only took one pain pill, left on time instead of rushing and driving had felt okay. He wasn't a danger, and when he got into work he didn't feel like the scent of everyone overwhelmed him.
The others when they saw him were surprised too. He was well dressed, groomed, and he didn't look like death. He was still pale, but it was the normal kind of pale a blonde man was. Quinn let out a laugh as he sat down at his desk and felt…better. Better than he had felt in weeks.
~
Quinn was able to get a lot done that day, and the few days that followed as well. If he had been behind before, he was now caught up by the end of the week, even with everything that Michel was throwing at him. Now that he wasn't so sick he thought he was dying, everything that Michel did seemed cute. Like a temper tantrum.
Did that mean that Quinn wasn't thinking about how he had to leave the company? Unfortunately, no. He was probably going to have to, because living the way that he was wasn't feasible. He had considered going to someone higher up like Michel's sister, but after some thought, what would she actually do? While they might not get along, that was still her brother.
If she wanted to be the one in control at the end of the day, she had to kiss the hand a little bit. It was a sad truth, but one that Quinn had come to realise as Noah kept going out of his way to make his family give up on him.
It was sad, but Quinn was glad he'd realised it before he'd gone to her for help. Tragically, as far as Quinn knew, Michel hadn't done anything public that would ruin the family name, so he really didn't have anything he could use against the man. It was Quinn, a beta, against Michel, a dominant alpha. Quinn knew how this went.
Sighing, Quinn worked to finish what he could. He made sure he'd have a few days of recovery, even if they were just mental days, after the sex party. Maybe he would use that time to look up what was available to him. What were his options? Maybe he could ask Noah to come over and look them over with him?
Quinn laughed. That wasn't very likely. Not because Noah wouldn't want to, but Noah would have to be on his worst behaviour after the sex party to make it really stick. Noah hadn't said that, but Quinn felt like he knew Mr. Winters a little bit better now, especially as they had been texting each other since the meeting.
Mr. Winters would make sure that Noah was on his worst behaviour so that the sex party stuck. Whatever Quinn had thought about other dominant alphas, Mr. Winters was a good friend to Noah. He would make sure that his family stopped discussing him getting engaged and maybe focused on the other problem children who were older than Noah to get engaged.
At least, that was what everyone hoped.
"Quinn, come to my office." Mr. Harrison's words washed over the room and Quinn turned, finding the rather stone-faced manager frowning. That wasn't a good sign. Quinn got up from his desk, feeling the worried gazes of his fellow employees as he moved towards the manager. They all knew who Mr. Harrison was so Quinn knew they weren't worried the man would harm him or berate him. It was clear they were just as worried about what he had to say as Quinn was.
When the door was closed and Quinn was sitting down, Quinn heard what Mr. Harrison had to say.
Michel was trying to truly piss him off.
The man was trying to override his time off by saying that Quinn had a prior engagement, a meeting, outside of the country with another company. Quinn was shocked. Truly, absolutely shocked. The only good thing was the fact that Quinn had all of his documentation and no passport. He couldn't leave the country even if he tried.
Mr. Harrison was surprised to hear that, but also looked relieved. He asked Quinn several questions, recording everything that they were saying to each other with Quinn's permission and Quinn was happy to show that he'd never had a passport, never left the country and had stayed in their country the whole time. He also went over when he'd made the time off request since he could remember it clearly. It wasn't like everyday you were asked to attend a sex party with your best friend.
Quinn could remember the time, the date, and what Mr. Harrison was even wearing that day down to the colour of his tie because it had been such a weird day for him. Mr. Harrison had laughed and told him that he didn't need to go that far, but Quinn wasn't so sure. The man was insane if he was trying to say that Quinn lied about taking the time off and that he had to go on a business meeting out of the country.
The worst part? That the business meeting was with Michel. He had to go with him. Over Quinn's dead body would he allow that to happen. Also, didn't Michel have a damn fiancé now? Shouldn't he be spending his first Valentine's Day with them? What a damn creep.
After they were done chatting and the recording was off, Mr. Harrison told him not to worry about it. He also told him not to come into work on Friday. They were going to try and yank him away, and Mr. Harrison said that he didn't care. Call in sick, he'd approve it and play innocent, but this? This was not the company that he'd started working for.
Mr. Harrison was grim when he'd said that and Quinn felt guilty. He didn't want Mr. Harrison to think that way, but damnit, Michel was going to lose more than Quinn if he continued abusing his power like this.
Either way, Quinn was grateful for Mr. Harrison and followed his instructions. It did give Quinn some time to consider what to wear to the sex party, if anything. Quinn had completely forgotten to ask Mr. Winters the dress code and asking the day before felt…strange, for some reason. So Quinn just looked up online what people normally wore to these kinds of things.
Quinn worked to push everything else to the back of his mind. Work could wait, now he needed to focus. Noah needed him, Quinn needed to relax, and he also needed to turn off his damn phone and made sure that he was unreachable for the next few days. Knowing how Michel was moving, he would do anything to make Quinn's life a living hell if he could.