Chapter Text
As all of the students settled down once the bell rang, Ciel threaded an earbud through his sweatshirt sleeve to prepare for the oncoming lecture. It was easier to drown out the teacher’s rambling with the aid of music in at least one ear. His cousin Lizzie chided him about it constantly, but he always batted her away.
Mr. Spears finished cleaning up his already perfectly organized desk and stood at the front of the room with his hands clasped behind his back to begin the lesson. Ciel readily reached under his sweatshirt and hit the play button on his phone for his music.
William T. Spears; the most boring, uptight teacher on the planet, was Ciel’s economics teacher, and he loathed every second of class. Ciel wanted to be an arts and design major once he made it to college. All this talk of business did nothing to help him, and he only wanted to pass this class with an average grade so he could move the hell on.
“We’ve got a guest today,” Spears started, “In light of our recent chapter on running a successful business, I’ve asked an acquaintance of mine to come in and share his expertise with you all. He’s the current CEO of Atlas Banking, a multi-million dollar company that’s been running seamlessly for over twenty years.”
Ciel vaguely wondered if he’d be as boring or worse than Spears himself.
Spears adjusted his glasses and motioned to the back of the class, “You have the floor, Mr. Michaelis.”
“Thank you,” came a honeyed voice. A tall, slender man stood from a seat at the back of the classroom and made his way to the front of the room, briefcase in hand.
Ciel’s lips quirked at the edges. No, this wasn’t an old, fat businessman, like the kind that Spears usually brought in for speeches. This was a very handsome man dressed in a fine three-piece monochrome suit, raven hair slicked back and tucked behind one ear. He had piercing garnet eyes that made Ciel’s knees weak from just one glance. Ciel leaned over and whispered to Lizzie, “He’s gorgeous, isn’t he?”
He could hear the annoyance in her voice. “He’s probably twice your age.”
“And?” he shrugged. "That's hot."
“Good afternoon,” the man started, setting down his briefcase on an empty desk near him. “My name is Sebastian Michaelis. Like Mr. Spears said, I am the current CEO of Atlas Banking. It’s been a family business for quite a while now.” He folded his hands behind his back after checking his watch, “Hopefully, I can teach some of you crucial points of making sure a business stays afloat.”
The lecture proceeded as most others did; Sebastian brought out charts, slideshows, statements, everything. He elaborated on dealing with the press and clients, and how important customer service was. He even brought out comparison charts of other companies and how they operated, and compared them to his own. Ciel was sure there was a bit of ego in his voice.
“If your business hits a bump, or something goes wrong, that's your fault, don’t ever immediately go through a lawyer. Call the client yourself, and work it out. Them, the media, and everyone else will see that the boss is personally involved…”
Ciel didn’t register a thing of what Sebastian was saying. Every sentence went in one ear and out the other. He didn’t even lift his sleeve to his ear to drown him out with music. He just toyed with the end of his mechanical pencil, drawing the lead out, then pushing it back in with the fake granite of his desk.
“You’re paying an awful lot of attention today,” Lizzie whispered to him.
“I like his voice.”
“And what if he catches you staring?”
Ciel scoffed quietly, “Would that be so bad, Lizzie?”
She shook her head. “Don’t you dare ask me later what this guy’s talking about if there’s a quiz. I’m not helping you.”
“Suit yourself, Miss Perfect.”
“I hate you.”
“All in all,” Sebastian finalized after a few more long, sweetly agonizing minutes, “What you put out in the world is what you’ll get back. Dirty dealings can only come back to bite you. So… treat your employees and clients with respect, and you’ll be just fine.”
The bell rang at the exact moment that Sebastian closed up his briefcase. He chuckled at how quickly the students began shoving their books into their backpacks.
Spears stood up from his seat and shouted over the commotion, “I want you all to go home and write 750 words about what you thought of Mr. Michaelis’s words. Due at the beginning of class tomorrow.”
A long, quiet groan swept across the classroom.
“Dismissed.”
Ciel quickly packed up his things and slung his backpack over his shoulder. He stood by the door as the students filed out as quickly as they could. Lizzie, however, waited to leave, grabbing him by the shoulder. “Ciel, what are you doing?’
“Nothing," he said casually, waving her away. "Just go to class, I’ll be right behind you.”
She shot him a suspicious glare, but left, and disappeared out the door. She would’ve been easy to lose in the crowd of other students if it wasn’t for her bright blonde hair.
Ciel took in a breath and waited until the rest of his classmates cleared out before stepping closer to where Sebastian was gathering his things and having a stale, almost one-sided conversation with Mr. Spears. Sebastian caught Ciel’s stare and smiled at him, “Yes, is there something you needed?”
Ciel returned the gesture and sauntered over to him, “Mr. Michaelis? Can I talk to you for a sec?”
“Sure thing.” He turned to Spears, “Give me a moment, Will.” He turned away when he got a nod in return, and the pair stood by a large set of filing cabinets. Sebastian put his hands in his pockets. “What’s on your mind?”
Ciel contained his involuntary embarrassment as best as he could. When Sebastian was half a classroom away from him, it was easy to not realize just how tall he was. The top of his head only reached Sebastian’s chest. “Yeah,” he started, looking up at him. “What you said today was impressive. I’m actually looking to go into business myself after graduation, and I’d like to learn more from you.”
Sebastian hummed, “You seem eager from how well you were paying attention during my lecture. I think you could do well if you’re determined.”
Ciel was happy his lie was convincing enough. “I’m looking to go into design, and for that to succeed properly, I’m going to need business tactics, right?”
He nodded. “Naturally.”
He held out his hand, “Excuse my manners. I’m Ciel.” An amused smile graced Sebastian’s features and he took Ciel’s in a firm grip. Ciel swallowed thickly at the gesture. His hands were so big and warm, and he found himself wondering how those long fingers would feel around his—
“Phantomhive,” Spears called, “Are you going to need a late note from me for your next class?”
His attention was so rudely torn from Sebastian. “Yes, please,” he said with as much politeness as he could muster.
“Here,” Sebastian said, “I won’t make you any later than you already are. My days are pretty packed, but my nights tend to be free.” He pulled a card out of his wallet and wrote something on the back. “Here’s my number. I’d be happy to talk to you sometime.”
Ciel happily tucked the card into his pocket, careful not to smudge the fresh ink. He looked up and gave Sebastian a sugary smile, “Thank you, sir.”
He collected his late note from Spears and said goodbye to Sebastian, intent on texting him as soon as he got the chance. Ciel quietly slipped into his next class and found an empty spot next to Lizzie and in front of Soma, who was diligently scribbling down notes.
“What did you do?” Lizzie asked in a quiet hiss.
Ciel triumphantly held up the card he was given. The small piece of cardstock was sharply designed, sporting a metallic recreation of the banking company’s logo and Sebastian’s name, as well as his title and business contact information.
“Yeah, a business card. So what?”
He flipped it over to reveal Sebastian’s personal phone number, inked in black pen. “This isn’t the number for an office phone, Lizzie.”
“Oh my God.”
Soma looked up from his notes, “What’s happening?” he asked, twirling his pencil between two fingers.
Ciel looked back at him, “Got a guy’s phone number.”
“That’s cool, I guess—”
“That’s twice his age,” Lizzie hissed.
Soma snorted and couldn’t hold back a smile. “And what are you expecting to get from this guy?”
Ciel shrugged. “Not sure yet. But if my hopes line up with his moral compass, I’m in for a good time, don’t you think?”
An exasperated sigh left Lizzie’s lips and she turned her attention away from the two boys to listen to their history teacher.
He gave his friends a knowing smile and did his best to focus on the lesson at hand, but his mind proved to wander to what was possible in the near future.
The next few hours passed by slowly, lesson by lesson, until Ciel was able to pull out his phone during lunch and ask Sebastian where they could meet. There was a strict rule on phone use, so he had to be careful and wait for either a break or a teacher that didn’t care as much. Sure enough, as Sebastian said, he was busy during the day, and Ciel didn’t get a reply until that evening.
At almost ten o’clock at night, Ciel was beginning to lose hope that he’d get a reply. He settled down for the night with a book and decided to wait just a bit longer. He didn’t know exactly how busy Sebatian’s schedule was, anyway.
Sure enough, the screen of his phone lit up his darkened room with a loud vibration, rattling the wood it rested on. Ciel He put his thumb between the pages of his volume and reached over for his phone, only to find it was from Sebastian. He grinned, and was far from annoyed at the interruption from his reading.
“We can talk without distractions at my apartment. Is that alright with you?” the message read.
A big grin was plastered on Ciel’s face as he typed out his response. “That’s perfectly fine. Friday night?”
“See you then. Here’s my address. Just say you’re here for me and they’ll buzz you in.”
He chuckled to himself. “Can’t wait.”