1 V. I Chapter 1: Ciel Michaelis

"Assistant Michaelis! The recent attack by Rosenblade Corp. has stock dropping rapidly. What do you recommend?"

"I have a list of counter-attacks written here," Ciel Michaelis replied, handing a paper to the COO (Chief Operations Officer). "Post them in ten. Notify me immediately if stock drops any lower after these are posted." He pushed black hair out of his face as he walked briskly, balancing a tray on his hand and a planner in the other. "Dana!" he called, waving over a brown haired woman with square spectacles. "The President said to cancel her two-fifteen appointment. Take care of it, please."

"Right away, Sir."

Ciel dodged a group of office workers before pushing open the doors to his office, snapping the planner closed before walking through another set of glass double doors and into the Chairwoman's office.

The whole back wall was glass, the left wall a bookcase, the right covered in screens of the latest news and stats. Placed in front of the windows was a large, ornate wood desk, a woman with forest green eyes and platinum blonde hair sitting in the black leather chair behind it.

Ciel was President Jaeyline Cordelia's personal assistant, but he also doubled as her CEO when she was away with business, and her bodyguard during meetings. He brought the tray to her, setting her morning tea down on the desk.

Her piercing eyes looked at it before looking up at Ciel. "Very good, as usual. Everything is immaculate. The counter-attack, the bait you set for the Saun Sweets Company, and the percentage increase down to the thousandths decimal."

Ciel bowed. "I am only doing my duty as you assistant. Your meeting was canceled; is there anything else you'd like me to do?"

President Jaeyline stood up, revealing her black jeans, tall heeled boots, and white blouse. "What's next on my schedule?"

"In one hour, we have a conference to launch our latest products. The opening and closing events are ours, and we are featuring the latest designs for our male attire. If we are to make it with fifteen minutes to spare, we will leave in ten minutes."

"My driver?"

"It is not yet safe to hire another after the last one attempted to drive you off a cliff, so I will be your temporary chauffeur," said Ciel.

President Jaeyline looked him over from head to do, his long black hair curling around his ear and spilling onto his shoulder in a loose tail, grey-blue eyes framed by silver glasses, his pale skin, his black and silver suit and matching dress shoes. "Very well. Get the car ready."

Ciel bowed again before heading out of the office, leaving President Jaeyline standing next to her desk, sipping tea in a black-gold patterned cup.

She picked up the stack of files he'd delivered only thirty minutes after clocking in, leafing through it, amazed at the detail and organization of the files. She set them down and glanced at her computer screen, at the small pale blue sticky note reminding her to prepare her speech for the attack on Rosenblade Corp. Within hours of her telling Ciel her favorite color was pale blue, almost silvery, he'd replaced all of the sticky notes in his office and hers with the same color.

Jaeyline's cheeks flushed slightly as she remembered all of the times her too-good assistant had saved her from doing something that would destroy the company, or her dignity. He'd been the one to help her as she took over the company as the youngest chairwoman four years ago, helping her expand the LEO Corporation until it's name was known around the world.

Jaeyline sat down in her chair, opening the upper left drawer, revealing a small stash of paper all written on with the same elegant cursive. They were all the personal notes that he'd left for her, some wishing her a happy birthday, some congratulating her for launches or exhibitions, and then some on a grey-blue paper, her absolute favorite color, offering words of encouragement from when her mother had died.

"President, the car is ready. I suggest we leave."

Jaeyline jumped, slamming the drawer closed and jumping to her feet, cheeks heating. "O-of course. Let's go immediately, then."

Ciel held the doors the the President as she walked through the different sectors of the sky-scraping main building, opening the sleek black car door open for her, closing it behind her before moving to the driver seat. He started the car, driving onto the road at sixty. He kept his eyes shifting at all times, from the rear-view mirror to the side mirror to the reflection his phone screen offered from where he'd clipped it to the vent. His number one priority was following President Jaeyline's orders and keeping her safe.

And Ciel took that job very seriously.

He sped up, moving into the carpool lane on the freeway, noticing a silver Toyota three cars behind. It had been following them almost since they left the LEO Corp. parking lot. Ciel moved one of his hands from the wheel to inside his suit coat.

"Is there a problem?" President Jaeyline asked from the spacious back seat, sipping a glass of champagne from the near-full bar he'd designed for the car.

"Nothing at all. Just getting off the freeway," Ciel replied, turning the car sharply onto the exit ramp. He watched the Toyota cut across, eyes narrowed. He glanced at the time. "Miss President, we have twenty minutes until my original fifteen minute early arrival. We may have to push that back. My deepest apologies."

"Why? What happened?" she asked urgently, straightening.

Ciel ran the red light, drawing the silver handgun, a .357 IMI Desert Eagle, from inside his coat as he turned to face her. He smiled and said, "There's just been a small accident on the road. Please lay down, Miss President." After she obeyed, Ciel hit the button on the dashboard, causing the back glass to sink out of sight. He grabbed the slide on the top of the gun with his teeth, drawing it back and locking it open. He ignored the safety; he always left it off, and fixed the gun on the car and fired, the sound of breaking glass and shouts the only noise. Despite the silencer on the gun, depending on what it hit, people may still hear the gunshot.

"Shit," he muttered, returning his eyes on the road, taking a sharp turn onto a sidestreet. He kept his eyes on the road, using the reflection from his dark phone screen to line his aim and fire. The cartridge popped out onto the floor of the back part of the car, and he reloaded, ducking as they started firing themselves.

"Hang on, President!" Ciel called, slamming his food down on the gas and turning into a main street. He drove onto the road lining the cliff, still raining bullets on his attacker.

A wicked grin was on his lips as he slammed on the brakes and turned hard, spinning four times before hitting the gas again, speeding up as he raced toward the Toyota. Last second, he turned the car slightly, and as they collided, the other was forced off the cliff. He exhaled, pressing the button to make the glass pop back up.

Ciel looked through his mirror. "Miss President, are you alright?" His heartbeat was fast and unsteady until her platinum blonde head poked into his sight.

"I'm not hurt. A little surprised, but safe," she assured. "How much time until the show starts?"

"It is 11:50. Show starts in twenty minutes, but I'll have us there in less than ten," Ciel replied, replacing the gun back into his jacket. He'd dabbled in the bodyguard business a few times, and he was in love with his handgun.

As predicted, they managed to get there, park, and get through security in fifteen minutes. Ciel stood at the President's side as she shouted orders, the male models at different areas of backstage getting dressed and ready.

"The show starts in five! Is all prepared?"

"Miss! Our leading model got in a car accident earlier today! He can't come!"

"Ciel?" Jaeyline asked, brows furrowing.

"I would presume to call in Matthew, but he said that he wanted to spend time with his wife, and I do not believe I have the authority to command his heart. Similarly, our other male models are also booked today," replied Ciel, snapping that black planner of his shut. "As a result, we may have to speed up rotations to cover all of the designs with one less model."

Jaeyline bit her bottom lip. Was this really going to work? She needed that third model, but none of the stagehands were good enough...

Then her gaze snapped to Ciel. "Ladies, get him ready," she ordered before she could think otherwise. "He's going to be our lead model."

For the first time in the five years that she knew him, Ciel looked absolutely shocked.

"W-wait, P-President. You want m-me to be the model?" he asked, tripping over his words in the rush they came out.

Jaeyline pressed her lips tightly together to keep from laughing, her stoic assistant, for once looking almost panicked.

"With all due respect, Miss President, I am not the best candidate for the job--"

"If I say you are the best candidate, then you are," she replied. "Now, will you do the job or not?"

Ciel reached up and pulled slightly on a strand of hair that had come loose, the way he always played with his hair when he was nervous or worried. "I... will do it, but only because it was an order from my president."

"Good. Now, ladies! Get him dressed!" Jaeyline watched the process while trying not to show that she was enjoying it much more than she should have been.

First, they ordered him to take off his shirt and jacket, and Jaeyline realized that he was much more slender than she'd originally thought as he slipped his jacket off of his shoulders. He unbuttoned his shirt, revealing smooth pale skin over hard, lean muscle. Jaeyline nearly lost her composure as he gave her a tortured look, letting the crisp white shirt fall to the floor.

Second, they made him change his pants and shoes behind a curtain, and Ciel could swear he heard strange sounds coming from the one behind him. Thumps, nails scraping on the stone floor, a strange noise coming from a human mouth...

Third, he tried not to fidget as the assistants picked at the suit, telling him to hold the jacket instead of put it on, and to unbutton the shirt to expose the top of his chest.

"Hold the makeup," President Jaeyline ordered, the assistants leaving to help another model with his outfit. "Take your hair down."

Ciel reached up and removed three pins from his hair before slipping the hairband from his black hair, letting it fall to his ankles. He smiled slightly as President Jaeyline gaped. "I pin it up twice before putting the tail in. Long hair is a pain to move around in, especially when there are hundreds of people you walk by. I swear I lost half of my hair the first day, caught on desks and people walking by."

Jaeyline just gaped, but she cried, "No! No, just let me arrange it for you!" as he moved o pin it back up. She noticed the front inch was cut shorter, barely brushing his shoulders while the rest of his hair was grazing the floor. Jaeyline reached out unconsciously and touched a strand of the shorter hair by his ear.

Ciel jumped, not expecting the touch to his hair that nearly brushed his ear.

"Oh! I-I'm so sorry!" President Jaeyline cried, taking her hand back.

"It's nothing, President," Ciel replied, getting control over himself. "Please finish your preparations. I was a bit absent-minded."

He turned back to watching the doors, eyes flicking from one entrance to another, an exit, then a window. Ciel didn't know how, exactly, he felt about his boss. She was kind, which was different from nice, but she also cared a lot about her employees. For some reason, especially him.

But he could never accept that kindness, because kindness always came with strings attached. And he could never trust another woman.

President Jaeyline finished with Ciel's hair after a few more minutes. "No makeup for him," she ordered.

"As you will, President," the attendant said, grabbing Ciel's arm and leading him over to the line of other models.

"I've never seen you hear before. Are you a new model?" one of the blondes asked.

"I'm not a model at all," Ciel replied with a wry smile. "I'm President Jaeyline's personal assistant, and the CEO of LEO Corp. when she's gone."

"Really? Then why are you all fancied-up?"

"She ordered me to fill in for the model that got in the accident. I am her assistant; I do what she tells me to do." Ciel shifted his stance and reached up to tug lightly on a bunch of hair.

"Alright, cue the music! Model #1, you're on now!" an assistant hissed as the President's speech ended.

"You're the last person going, eh? Looks like Miss Jaeyline has a great lot of faith in you," the man in front of him said. "Aye, let's go!"

Ciel pulled a bit harder on the lock of hair.

"Calm down," an assistant said. "When you walk out, be calm, be confident. Flash a smile like you're the hottest man alive." She reached up to his silver-framed glasses, flipping a thin silver chain to the left corner and the other end at the shirt's chest pocket. She handed him the jacket, arranging it over his arm and fixing his hair. "And... go."

Ciel took a breath, a long, deep breath, before walking from the curtain and onto the catwalk. He smoothed his stride from brisk to slow and entitled and purposeful. He would not fail.

He flashed a smile, and the people in the chairs went wild. He winked as he walked the long expanse, where the ten other models were watching him, impressed, lined up, with one space at the very tip. He strode right up into it, putting his weight on one leg, running a hand through his hair, pressing his fingers to his lips and extending them out.

"You're mighty impressive for someone who's a novice model!" the blonde from before said from the corner of his mouth.

"I'd just go through hell and back if she orders me to," replied Ciel, smiling again, a pair of pale blue eyes flashing through his mind.

Once the shows were over, he changed back into his own suit, tying hair into a tail, leaving the clips out.

This time the way back to the office was peaceful, quiet, Ciel's mind on something he'd run from, Jaeyline's mind on Ciel.

After both returned to their offices, Ciel brought her coffee to her and a large black coffee for himself. And like that, he sat in his seat and settled in for the long hours ahead.

-

-

-

Ciel Pinaecil Michaelis - Male - 28 years old

Likes - working for Jaeyline, shooting at the range, paid overtime.

Dislikes - procrastinating, collars, being restrained, his Mother, incorrect grammar, punctuation, and capitalization, unorganized files, untangling his hair.

Strengths - shooting, mental calculating, strong immune system, making Jaeyline's coffee.

Weaknesses - his Mother, baking, sitting through meetings, waking up later than 7 a.m.