Maybe it was naive of Quinn to think that everything was going to go smoothly, but he truly thought that nothing bad would happen on his first day back. He was only coming into the office a day behind everyone, and he had told and confirmed with his Boss that he was okay to do so.
That was one of the few things that he'd always been able to maintain. A good relationship with his upper manager, a good relationship with the other managers, and a good relationship with those who worked under him. Part of it was that he always helped out when he could, and if he couldn't, he made sure to turn them down politely.
People knew that if you had a problem in their department, you went to Quinn, and then if he couldn't help, you went to the manager. It was a small point of pride for Quinn. Just a little thing that made his back a little straighter.
Part of why he wasn't as in the dumps as he'd been yesterday was Noah. He'd really come in and helped Quinn yesterday, making him feel like less of a damn fool because of the information he'd laid out bare for Quinn to see, and instead helped him see the silver lining. Michel was the one who had forced them from intermingling their personal lives.
This break up, even if it wasn't a true romantic one, would be clean. No one at work even knew that Quinn and Michel had been sleeping together. They worked in different departments, and at best if anyone knew anything about them it was that they had been childhood best friends. Quinn and Michel had confirmed that at the end of the year party that had started everything.
Noah did know how petty Michel was and told Quinn that if he dared to even question where he had been when it came to the end of the year party, just direct him to his manager. He wouldn't dare to do it, because Quinn was just a sex partner to him, but just in case, plan ahead. Make sure that he couldn't really find faults with you personally, and instead found faults with the situation.
Quinn listened to Noah, grateful that he had a good friend at his side. He didn't get to discuss anything more personal with Noah because he seemed to still be in a bad mood from the discussion with his father and step mother. Quinn didn't push it.
Noah was a good guy, but he sometimes got in his own head about things. Quinn didn't want to make it worse for him by poking the bear, so he let him have Quinn's apartment as a safe space today, help Quinn manage the potential outcomes of the next day, and laugh with Quinn. That was enough. It wasn't like they would never find time to discuss what his cousin Phoebe had joked about.
The one thing that Noah was rather insistent on was the fact that Quinn had to dress well for work. Quinn had scoffed at that. Out of the two of them, Quinn was the one with a better fashion sense then Noah. Noah preferred thick boots, leather jackets and jeans. He felt stuffy in dress shirts, loafers, and ties. Quinn really liked suits.
It was more that Quinn liked anything that when assembled felt like a completed set. Suits, uniforms, things of that nature. He even liked them when they weren't as masculine in nature. There were some hidden outfits in the back of his closet that he made sure no one was able to see. Those were for when Quinn was alone and all of the blinds were closed.
Noah didn't even know about Quinn's inclination to those things, and he liked to keep it that way. It was perfect blackmail material, and as much as Quinn had liked Michel and let him do whatever he wanted to him, he had never given him access to that side of him. Quinn was relieved that some part of him was cognizant of the fact that the man was using him, even if the forward-thinking part of Quinn's mind wasn't.
Quinn was glad that Noah considered Quinn's outfits like armor. That he had given Quinn the green light to wear a fancy, maybe over the top suit. Quinn needed it, needed something to take his mind off of Michel, his grandma, and his parents. They hadn't said anything, of course, well, nothing that felt like a push or a shove towards romance or marriage. There hadn't been any time, but he was the oldest cousin.
They probably also thought it was time if even Michel was engaged now.
That thought still stung, but Quinn let him feel his own emotions. It hadn't been long since all of it had happened, and he was a human. A flawed one, but he was still one. He was allowed to feel emotions. The soft, dark red suit he was wearing with an ever so slight pink dress shirt underneath and a black tie was the armor to protect him from his feelings. His shoes were shined, he was driving to work in his car, very little could touch him right now that would stick.
He was going to be okay.
~
That was what Quinn had thought, of course. Hell, he wasn't even in the same department as Michel, him working in a more front-facing role since he was attractive, a fast-talker, and clearly able to talk people into signing their souls away. Quinn was on the back end, not always customer facing, but he was the one who was called to help if someone needed to interact with a customer and explain how something worked.
That was fine with Quinn, he didn't mind. He liked working with numbers and facts more than he liked dealing with customers, but he understood that because he liked to take care of his appearance that most people liked to work with him over others. Quinn wasn't bothered, and he liked that people could rely on him for that.
Which was to say, Quinn expected that his team and department might be a little confused as to why Quinn was coming back a day later than everyone else, but he wouldn't mind explaining that there was a family emergency and that thankfully everything was fine. He thought it would be easy.
He didn't expect that as soon as he stepped out of the elevator on his floor that there would be an uproar.
"Mr. Rivers! Oh my goodness, you're okay!" It was one of the few women who worked on his floor, a beta named Sophie, who came up to Quinn and grabbed his arm. That was a surprise, since Sophie was usually rather professional and never like this with Quinn. Sure, they could be considered close, but it was colleague close. They'd gone out for a few drinks after work before, but this? This was new behaviour for her.
"Why wouldn't I be, Ms. Carson?" Quinn asked, confused and Sophie realised what she'd done. She withdrew her hand quickly, her eyes wide as her cheeks flushed.
"I'm so sorry, I wasn't thinking. When Mr. Harrison told me that you'd had to go home for an emergency, I immediately worried that something terrible had happened. Then when you didn't come back yesterday like everyone else…" She trailed off, looking embarrassed. Quinn softened.
"I'm fine, and thankfully, everything seems to be fine back home too. Thank you for your concern, Ms. Carson." Quinn gave her a smile, knowing that would probably calm her down. If Quinn said he was fine, others would believe him. He wasn't lying either. He hadn't gotten any frantic calls that something terrible had happened so he knew that everything was fine.
Sophie relaxed noticeably, and that was when everyone else realised that Quinn had come back.
Quinn's department was rather open, with people having their own desks and cubbies to work at but they didn't touch the ceilings. A few offices lined the back of the room furthest from the annoying sound of the elevators going up and down, but besides the bathrooms and an employee break room on the floor, everything was open. Quinn was honestly surprised that someone else hadn't noticed Quinn before Sophie, but when he glanced at her he realised she had been heading to the employee break room to get some coffee.
"Mr. Rivers! I'm so glad you're back!" The calls went up around the office, drawing the attention of the others until it felt like Quinn was swarmed. It was still early in the morning, it was only the second day back too. Quinn was sure that they had far more that they needed to do then check on little old him.
Then, Mr. Harrison's door opened, slamming against the wall. It appeared that maintenance hadn't come by to fix it. Everyone winced as Mr. Harrison stood staring at Quinn, his hands on his hips.
"Well? Are you going to come in?" He shouted from across the floor and Quinn nodded. Mr. Harrison was much like Noah. Tall, could be intimidating, with a face that didn't soften often. He could sound rough and brutish, but Quinn was well acquainted with Noah. He knew that the man didn't mean to look scary and that was probably why he got along really well with Mr. Harrison.
After all, it wasn't often that one could message their manager and tell them what was going on and get such a quick positive response.
Quinn quickly left the others, stopping only to drop off his bag at his cubicle before joining Mr. Harrison in his room. He had some nice leather couches, a nice coffee table, and a large desk. The more important things were the bookcases and filing cabinets that were full of reference books and files important to the company, but because of Mr. Harrison's position he was given a space to entertain guests.
Quinn knew that it was mostly used for naps, but he'd never rat out his superior. Not one that was so good to him.
Mr. Harrison made sure to close the door behind Quinn, locking it to give them some privacy as he gestured for Quinn to take a seat. Quinn did, noticing that there were two cups of coffee ready and waiting for them on the coffee table. Quinn smiled at how considerate the other man was.
"Well? Are you going to sit?" He demanded and Quinn nodded, going to the side that he knew Mr. Harrison didn't prefer. He didn't like having his back to the office so Quinn took that seat. He didn't have a preference either way and Quinn watched as Mr. Harrison frowned. "You're doing it again." He grumbled and Quinn had no idea what he was referring to.
"Pardon?" Quinn asked as he made himself comfortable, undoing a few buttons on his suit so that he could sit without stretching it. Mr. Harrison frowned, shaking his head.
"Never mind. Forget I said anything." He grumbled and Quinn blinked, confused, but didn't think anything of it. He had a habit of muttering things under his breath, just soft enough that Quinn's ears couldn't catch it. His alpha colleagues who could catch it on occasion just smiled and brushed it off as nothing but the mutterings of an old man. Quinn wondered what that meant, but if it wasn't harmful, he wouldn't worry about it.
Quinn watched Mr. Harrison quietly for a moment and noticed that the holiday had been good for him. He seemed well-rested, less tired. He'd been pushing himself before the break to finish the larger contract that they had on time and it was thanks to him that they did. Quinn hoped that the others noticed that. He also hoped that he had found some comfort at his partner's side.
All Quinn knew was that Mr. Harrison had a partner, a long-term one at that, and that they had two kids together. Gender was unknown, but they were an omega. Quinn could tell that he'd had a good time with his family just from how less of a grouch he was right now. In fact, it seemed more like Mr. Harrison was worried.
That seemed strange. They hadn't forgotten anything when they had left for the end of the year, had they?