Wasn't I Supposed To Be The Side Character?

The sound of slamming paperwork woke him up off the desk. Looking up, all Will could see was a pair of green eyes that was judging him heavily. The woman sneered as her gaze flickered at his dishevelled appearance. His white shirt had splotches on it and his afternoon shadow was already threatening to become a full beard. Will would've been handsome but his pallor was tinged and his eyes were bloodshot.

"You could be more gentle" Will said in a gruff tone, everyone in the department knew he liked to sleep. The secretary let out a huff at those words.

"A slob like you wouldn't know of keeping things running. If it wasn't for the fact we are so lucky that you can afford to doze off when Mr. Cho is placing his life in your hands" the woman lectured Will and berated him. Will let out a hmph at those words, fumbling around his coat to pull out a crushed packet of cigarettes. To his dismay he couldn't find the lighter to accompany it.

"Have you got a light?" Will said nonchalantly. The secretary's face twitched and threw a cheap lighter at the desk with force. The noise was harsh on his ears.

"Keep that shitty lighter, it won't be too long before you get kicked out with that as a farewell gift" The secretary turned her nose up at him and walked out of the office, slamming the door behind her. The loud bang made Will wince as his headache had yet to pass. Aside from smoking, drinking was his only other avenue for relaxing when dealing with work. The mountainous pile of paperwork in front of him made him sigh as he opened up a draw filled with panadol tablets and water bottles. Swallowing the pills he drank a good gulp of water, made it was a placebo effect but he already felt his headache was passing. 

Putting the cigarette to his lips he gave the cheap lighter a few clicks before he could light his smoke. Deeply inhaling Will let out a sigh of relaxation from the scent. He knew the smokes were bad for him, especially so for the cheap ones he found in some of the shifter shops but it was the one he was used to always having. Making his mind at ease. Looking over himself he could only sigh for the hundredth time. His beer gut had already folded over itself, even though he was in his fifties it was a disgrace when working in the protection industry. Half of your troubles were solved by looking more terrifying than the opponent, though if that was the only requirement he wouldn't be in the job still. 

A knock on the door brought him out of thoughts. Looking up Will saw a handsome man, similar in age to him but his head was thick and jet black, slicked back with one of those fancier types of hair oil. In a blue suit and pants the man was the very essence of a businessman. His eyes betrayed his barely concealed shrewdness that Will knew him for.

"Vice Chairman Rob, what brings you down to this dilapidated side of the company" Will said, his care for the man was obvious as he could barely keep his contempt in check.

"Ahh, Will. I see you are happy as ever. It seems you aren't on good terms with the secretary still" Vice Chairman Rob commented in his usual gaudy tone. Will was fully aware that this man was always behind him dealing with some of the messier goings that happened in the company, moving the people he worked with around like chess pieces in a game no one else knew of the end goal.

Will let out a heavy sigh. Putting out the fresh cigarette into his ashtray caused him some grief, it wasn't the price but the effort he had to go through just to get these imported cigarettes.

"After all these years not much has changed" Will cursing at himself for not being strong enough to capture the woman's heart.

"It doesn't take much, you know as well as I do who she's really interested in" Vice Chairman Rob had a twinkle in his eyes, if others saw it they would have thought the man wanted to be truly into the gossiping and rumours that were common in a company. But to Will it felt like a snake was intently watching to see if the prey had relaxed it's guard.

With a wave of his hand Will didn't want to explain further to him. Vice Chairman Rob dropped the pretense of his smiling face, knowing he wasn't going to get anywhere against this stonewall of a man. He walked over to Will's desk, slamming a manilla folder onto the desk with a satisfying sound.

"Your newest assignment, I expect no traces and the job done within the week. The timing is very tight on this one" the tone of the Vice Chairman was incredibly frigid as if he was watching from the side, as if the matter never was involved him. Curious Will looked over the files he was given, opening it up and skimming through a couple of photos and some doc.u.ments on the person's timetable. However the name at the top made him suck in a good deal of air.

"You mean CEO Lang? The head of TechCore and leader in technological equipment?" Will looked at the Vice Chairman now with awe. This man's appetite was truly unending. The Vice Chairman tapped on the photo a couple of times before beginning to speak.

"We have plans to partner up with his rivals however he has been cutting off our chances as much as possible. This kind of man...doesn't need to be treated gently." 

Will frowned as he looked over the pictures again. This one was going to be beyond difficult, especially in such a tight timeframe. It would be entirely reasonable that the man would have hired even more bodyguards as it wasn't hard to guess that any number of large corporations had dipped their fingers in some of the darker dealings with business and seeing his was a leader in his field it wouldn't be surprising some of his competition wanted him gone.

"What's the pay?" Will said decisively. It really didn't matter anymore as the amount of blood on his hands would have him on death row for any number of the things he had done. Not that he had regretted them but he had wished he hadn't been so easily followed by what was an innocent looking youth before turning into this snake of a man. It made him grind his teeth in rage. Although because of this he had grown up under the man's tutelage and had ended up just as black hearted.

It was a ship he had set sail in long ago.

The Vice Chairman however instead of his usual annoyance gave a smile and tapped his nose knowingly. Although for many women this smile was enchanting, for Will it made his spine shiver as he knew it was never good.

"For this job our price is...anything you wish. Anything within my power to grant you I will give you this chance" the Vice Chairman was truly happy, which made Will's worries escalate. Was this assignment that suicidal for him, promoting a grim expression on Will's face.

"I'll hold the Vice to his word. Give me a couple of days and I'm sure the tabloids would be making a huge deal of this" however this response was obviously not what Vice Chairman Rob wanted to hear. With a shake of his head he spoke.

"This time I want it quiet. There's some things that are just not worth provoking in the light. That is why we both work in the dark" Vice Chairman Rob iterated to make sure the point came across. For Will it made him happy, at least the job would be less difficult now since he could make it messy and clean up afterwards.

"Does Chairman Cho know about this?" Will dared to raise the question because he never knew how involved the shining light of the company was. When Will reminisced the man was too radiating and could easily win over the people he would briefly meet. The secretary was interested in him too but the man had long dedicated himself to his own wife which was certainly leagues prettier than any of the woman in the company. Thoughts of an affair were far away from the man's idyllic lifestyle.

Vice Chairman Rob chuckled however, causing the hairs on the back of Will's neck to raise.

"That man should never know what we have done. He is not destined to wallow in filth like us" The Vice Chairman gaze focused on the wall as he seemed lost in his thoughts. This was one of the few things that had confused Will the most while working with this opposing pair. Despite how villainous the Vice Chairman was he only messed with others. You could hardly hear any rumours of him playing with him, often giving the office ladies hope of a movie romance. Will however had other suspicions of the man that held an intense gaze.

"Thank you Vice Chairman for the advice. I'll make sure the task is complete within the week" Despite his appearance and lackadaisical attitude, this was one of the things he did best. Reassured that Will had made his decision the Vice Chairman was all smiles again, but it was the mask he had put on around others again. Leaving the office the Vice Chairman hesitated for a moment.

"Will" the voice brought Will from perusing the doc.u.ments to look up again at the man still standing in his doorway. Did he still have something to tell him?

"What was the name of the secretary again?" Will bit his lip, this man knew that it was his sore point and only loss he had felt in this life.

"Fiona" Will responded in a curt manner. He truly didn't wish to touch upon this matter, he wished to control himself when in front of others at least.

The Vice Chairman however nodded as he was obviously thinking something through his head.

"I'll see what I can do for you" leaving the statement in the air. Will was shocked, but this soon was taken over by joy. A lifetime of wanting might finally come to fruition. However he reeled himself back in from those thoughts. It was easy to drop your guard around the Vice Chairman which was what made him so dangerous. Taking the man's word with a grain of salt Will simply let out a grunt in acknowledgement. Not seeing the response he had hoped, the Vice Chairman was a bit disappointed. The potential of having a toy to play with was always hard to resist.

Leaving the office, Will was left alone with the last of the smoke haze that his cigarette left behind covering his form. With a heavy sigh he rummaged through one of his drawers and pulled out a half empty bottle of whiskey, eager to ease his ever rising stress levels. The label was already worn down but after popping the lid the smell was intoxicating to Will. With a sad expression he drank directly from the bottle instead of his usual nips from a glass.

Oh Fiona, do you know how long I've longed for you? Will was deep in his thoughts as a tear rolled down his face. With a another sip of the bottle he hoped it would ease some of the pain he felt in his c.h.e.s.t but it didn't cease causing a slight pain across his c.h.e.s.t. Thinking back to an earlier time when they had all meet up at school which had started this weird and twisting path to a.d.u.l.thood. It truly felt like a curse, that Chairman Cho was a destined star. No matter what he did, it was always an achievement others could never beat. If they did Chairman Cho would smile and say congratulations before smashing through that challenge as well.

It wasn't that the Chairman was a mean individual, it's just any words of praise of encouragement from the man who beat you down would earn the ire of any person. However what frustrated Will the most was, no one ever did get angry. Was this truly a man being so good that others could only admire from a distance?

With another sigh he heaved the bottled down and chugged. To ease the ache, to ease the suffering he had felt his whole life was being left on the sidelines. He couldn't even get the one girl he had always wanted. His life growing was not easy either but the loss of what could have been weighed heavily on him. The alcohol hit him quite suddenly as he dropped the now empty bottle on the ground, unable to move his hands anymore. Twitching he could only fall onto the desk and focus on breathing to keep it all together in his mind. Even that tasking was getting harder for him.

As his vision grew darker, Will could only sigh at the misfortune that was his life. If I could do one thing, I just wish I could start over. These thoughts were some becoming a prayer. I don't want much but I do wish to change this road of fortune that was destiny. But alas Will blacked out struggling to hold onto those thoughts that if he changed the past, if he worked on himself better than maybe...just maybe he could find a life he truly wanted.