Johannesburg, South Africa
Nicholas 23
"What if I'm over my head hear?"
I watched them get up and push past the crowd of the reception, off to probably consummate the marriage before they leave for their honeymoon tomorrow. My smile was as wide as it's ever been. Seeing my best friend smile with the woman he loved was contagious. It's been so long since I've seen him smile like that. I looked around taking in the moment. It wasn't an overly huge wedding. Most of the people here are family and friends of the bride, coworkers and classmates of Thylonius. Thylonius and CniDaria don't have any family left or they don't have any family that they're in contact with. They've never been very social so they don't have many friends other than myself. A few coworkers, former teachers that took a liking to them, and some dining club brothers. It was really awkward seeing the groom side so empty compared to the bride side during the ceremony. There was quite a bit of whispering about it before the bride came walking down the aisle. It didn't seem to bother Thylonius though. The whole time he was muttering to himself probably trying to remember his vows. His mind and eye was only on his wife to be, I don't think he was aware that there was other people there other than her and himself. Once Thylonius and Nala left the room, the reception started to disperse. I had to wait till everyone had left so I could make sure we were settled with catering as well as the clean-up. Thankfully CniDaria stayed with me.
"Well as big sister it's my job to clean up after baby brother." I smiled at her. She looked angelic in her bridesmaid dress. The gold colored material complimented her pretty brown eyes perfectly. I know Nick would argue but in my eyes the most beautiful woman in the room that day was her.
"Well big sister, will you do the best man a favor and dance with me?" She looked at me trying to hold back a smile.
"I've been dancing all day with all types of people. Old, young, ugly, handsome, beautiful, female; I'm exhausted, what makes you feel like I want to dance with you as well?" I smiled at her, I pulled up a chair and let her sit down. I then knelt down and started to unbuckle her heels, all the while never breaking eye contact with her. I then stood up and offered up my hand.
"None of those people were me" Still holding back a smile she took my hand and stood up and looked towards the mini stage where the DJ used to be.
"There's no music to dance to it seems" I pulled out my phone and pressed play. Maxwell started sing through the tiny speaker. "I guess I don't have any more legitimate excuses." I shook my head and started to lead her in dance. We started to waltz and two stepped across the room. She was graceful, the perfect dance partner. She followed my lead and didn't overstep myself or herself. As the song stopped, so did I and I looked at CniDaria in her eyes. My love for her has never been greater than it was in this moment. It had been the perfect weekend. My mind was off of the stress that is work. I was living a fantasy that I've been having since I was in high school. I embraced her, kissing her soft lips yet again. With each passing moment we fell deeper in emotion and lust. Hands kept changing locations, lips left embracement and landed on other parts of each other bodies. The room kept getting warmer and warmer. My body was moving on pure instinct and my mind was blank.
"Wow this is the first time I've seen you this passionate about anything other than your work and basketball. I do hope you realize you are still in public and drawing a decent crowd as well." Said a voice deeply amused. I disengaged regretfully and looked at the room around me. My boss, was standing in the middle of the room with a stance reminiscent of a college professor observing research. Behind him stood the clean-up crew, apparently the scene of me and CniDaria making out was enough for them to stop working. One look from me however and they hurried back to their jobs. The Secretary General looked back at the scurrying workers and then looked forward, and his eyes fell on CniDaria. His eyes slanted slightly, he seemed to be trying to understand something.
"Sir? Any reason you're in Johannesburg? I thought-" He put his hand up to get me to pause with eyes still on CniDaria.
"Don't be rude Nicholas introduce me to your friend here, obviously she's important to you." I didn't like how he kept me from finishing like a child but like a good subordinate and answered him with respect.
"I'm sorry sir, this is the soon to be Dr. CniDaria Williams. CniDaria this is Secretary General of the United Nations Hassan Obama." I paused for a moment as he stepped forward and kissed her hand. CniDaria forced a very believable and beautiful smile but I knew better she was highly uncomfortable right now. She spoke in a voice unlike her own.
"Nice to meet you Secretary General, its truly an honor to meet such a prestigious person in my lifetime. Although I'm curious about your purpose here and your relationship with Nick." I motioned to answer that but again he put his hand up to silence me. I was getting annoyed now, he may be my superior but treating me like I was in any way inferior to him was never our relationship. Being treated as so really bothered me.
"I daresay my purpose here is strictly business, a matter of international security. So basically, just following up on a lead. Illegal weapons trade came up on my radar nothing serious. Happens all the time currently. People are scared about the war if they'll have a home the next morning. My relationship with Nicholas is just that of a manager and his employee is all." He made a quick glance at me to make sure I didn't contradict his statement. I didn't understand why he would belittle and simplify my position in this way. Though it infuriated me I kept quiet. I looked at CniDaria hoping to motion her to wait for me outside, but she wasn't looking at me. She didn't take her eyes off my boss. She was no longer smiling but looking at him full in the face. Her eyes darting to every inch of him like she was studying him. After an awkward moment of silence, she finally spoke.
"Well I see that I'm getting in the way of business between you two, so I'll take my leave." I frowned at this I didn't want her to leave. I wanted to spend more time with her. She walked forward to leave, kneeling down to grab her heels, her eyes found the Secretary General once again. I moved after her to stop her from leaving.
"You don't have to-" she raised her hand the same way my boss did silencing me without turning to look at me. A surge of anger came out of me. I was not going to be continually treated like a child. She finally looked back at me with the biggest and most beautiful smile and my anger immediately dissipated.
"No, it's ok Nick I'll see you later. Handle your business with boss man and relax." She stood up gave me a hug and kissed me on the cheek, chuckling. "I'm only messing with you." Still laughing she walked out of the room leaving me and my boss alone.
"Charming girl" looking after her as door closed behind her. "Very intelligent and beautiful I can see why you like her so much." I gave him a side eye I was no longer comfortable talking about personal matters with him, so I quickly changed the subject.
"So, what's the real reason why you're here sir?" He looked at me strangely.
"My dear boy I just said why not too long ago. I did not need to lie to the girl. I knew that you were on temporary vacation in Johannesburg so illegal trades here seemed strange and too much of a coincidence. A custom sniper and silencer, that sounds like an assassination waiting to happen. There's always the chance that our enemies have found out your identity and were targeting you. I can't afford to lose my chief investigator, if we did, that would be the end of it. We would never catch the people we seek." This annoyed me, and I didn't attempt to hide my feelings on my face.
"I thought I was just an employee to you." He looked incredulously at me as though shocked by my behavior.
"Don't forget yourself Nicholas, you are still talking to the Secretary General of the United Nations. There is power in this title, you are not equal to me in status in anyway. You were not voted into your position democratically. YOU were hired by ME. Of course, I value you more than any employee I have currently, but I am still your superior. I didn't think having your title paraded to others meant more to you than your job and your work. I thought you to be a greater man than that. The previous version of you would have made me forget your age." He had a look of disappointment. I felt incredibly fool hardy and ashamed.
"Sorry sir, forgive me it has been a long day. I will take the intel you have and look at it immediately in my room." He looked at me for a moment and sighed.
"No need to apologize my boy." He patted me on the back and gave me a USB. "I come to you during a day where you were supposed to be enjoying yourself for once, it's understandable. Don't work yourself to death, get some rest and tackle it when you're ready. I daresay that they'll ever be an attempt on your life. It was just a precaution. You can never be too careful these days." I gave a heavy sigh now that he said it I was incredibly tired. Liquor and the day festivities were starting to lay heavily on me.