Chapter Text
Buck hated Eddie Diaz.
Actually—scratch that— he loathed Eddie Diaz.
The man had been nothing short of insufferable since he met him. Every morning, Buck got up and dreaded seeing the man. He made Buck despise every minute he was in his presence.
It wasn't just his smug smirk or that slight Texan drawl that grated on Buck's very nerves—it was everything.
He waltzed into Buck's life on September 21st last year, hired as a new writer at the magazine where he worked. From day one, Diaz had been a know-it-all, constantly correcting Buck on every minor thing: You need a comma there. Write more. Write less. You spelled that wrong.
To say it drove Buck crazy was an understatement. It was as if nothing he could do was right. And he has spell-check, thank you very much.
Ever since he walked in exuding confidence— the blood in his veins never stopped boiling. He couldn't believe Athena hired him for the magazine. Sure, maybe they needed some new writers when other people left, but did it have to be him?
Then again, who was he to question the big boss, Athena Grant-Nash? The woman who built this magazine, The Siren, from the ground up to be the award-winning empire it is today. He still couldn't believe she had hired him, but Buck didn't know where he'd be today without this job. Fresh out of Hershey, Pennsylvania, with nothing but a few packed bags and a Jeep his sister gave him—to a full-time journalist at one of the most prestigious magazines.
Which made it all the more frustrating that Diaz seemed to outshine him at every turn. The man was a damn good writer—not that Buck would ever admit it. His latest article about stunt doubles on sets hooked Buck from the beginning. Besides how cool he thought they looked, he had never paid much attention to their role in TV shows and movies. But Diaz had a way of making readers care—the way his words flowed together and the tone of his words made readers engage in his stories.
Buck knew his writing wasn't that good, and it irritated him. He loved this job, and he would hate to lose it because he wasn't good enough. Diaz's very presence threatened his position at the magazine, and he knew if one day push came to shove, he would be the one they would let go of, not Diaz.
And it was a damn shame the man was as infuriating as he was because the man was hot. Buck wasn't blind; he noticed it as soon as the man walked through the elevators on that fateful day in September. And then the man opened his mouth and ruined it.
Diaz was rude, arrogant, and condescending. He even went as far as to steal stories from Buck constantly, and Diaz would do anything to get a story, including stealing Buck's notes from his desk, accidentally spilling his coffee all over Buck's rough draft, or pressing all the buttons on the elevator and then running out. Though, to be fair, Buck did the same thing back—stealing his recorder, changing his password on his computer, or putting glue on his seat so he'd get stuck when he went to submit it to their manager, Bobby, who still preferred paper copies.
Days the man wasn't there or off chasing some story were Buck's favorite. He knows it sounds harsh—his friends tell him all the time—but something about Diaz just irked him. He pushed all his buttons, even ones he didn't know he had.
For one, he has the annoying habit of calling Buck sweetheart but always in his condescending, sarcastic voice.
Way to go, sweetheart. Oh, I don't know where your notes are, sweetheart. Maybe you lost them. It looks like this is my story, sweetheart. Don't get in my way, sweetheart. Oh, sweetheart, we can't all be perfect.
Anyway, needless to say, Buck was ready for a reprieve from Eddie fucking Diaz. And as luck would have it, the company is letting employees attend a conference in Las Vegas. Their company decided to send staff to the conference at the last minute, and they sent out forms for applications last week. Buck had filled one out almost immediately when he found the email in his mailbox.
And every day since, Buck has been refreshing and refreshing his email, hoping for the subject line "Congratulations, you have been selected…
Yet so far, it hasn't come. It had only been a few days, but Buck was getting antsy—he wasn't known to be that patient. One of the greatest benefits of going to the conference was that rumor has it that Diaz didn't apply, which, of course, only fueled his desire to go more. He sighs wistfully at the thought of four days away from the man and his perfect cheekbones.
Nope—scratch that. Buck shakes his head—he's really gotta shake the whole "attraction thing" toward the man; his ugly personality certainly didn't make up for it. Four days without the infuriating Eddie Diaz.
A sudden yell of his name breaks his thoughts, making him jump a mile high at the sound of his co-worker Chimney's voice. "Come on! We're going to the patio for lunch," his friend yells impatiently. Buck shouts back a reply and slams his laptop shut. He quickly looks at the desk across from him to ensure Diaz wasn't there, but the man must've left when Buck was lost in his thoughts.
He reaches down to grab his lunch before jogging to catch up with the man. Once he reaches him, he hisses into his ear, "You didn't invite Diaz, did you?"
Chimney groans, throwing his head back toward the sky as they walk through the glass doors to the sun-filled patio. "Must this happen every day?" he sighs, taking a seat next to their other co-workers, Hen and Ravi. "Just leave me out of this little flirtation you've got going on."
"Flirtation?!" Buck exclaims incredulously; maybe a tad bit too loud, he thinks, as the other people outside quickly turn to look at him. He shrinks a little in his chair, pointedly ignoring their looks. Then he lowers his voice, folding his arms together across his chest to signify his protest,
"No way!"
"Ooh, are we talking about Eddie again?" Ravi asks, a playful smirk on his face as he scrunches his hands into balls and bundles them under his chin. Buck rolls his eyes at his friend, huffing as Ravi laughs at him.
"Shut up, Ravi. And there is no 'flirtation' going on between me and Diaz—whatsoever—he's literally the worst."
"The worst?" Hen asks, raising her eyebrow at him. "Come on now, Buck, I think you're exaggerating."
"Nope," he denies, popping the "p" sound and sticking his tongue out at her.
She gives him an unimpressed look before returning to her salad. "Real mature, Buckley."
"Thank you," Buck smiles charmingly at her, but she ignores him. "But really—did you invite him?"
There's a collective sigh at the table that he elects to ignore. "I tried to—he said he had something to do," Chimney responds, holding his hands up innocently when Buck glares at him.
He stabs at his own salad, muttering under his breath. His friends had been trying to have them "make up" for months with very little success. Their latest schemes have been inviting both of them somewhere without telling the other they invited them, trying to make them go to trivia nights, and even having Ravi fake an ankle injury on a company outing to make them work together (which did not work when Diaz called his bluff, because apparently the man was an army medic too).
But there was no chance in hell he would ever be friends with that guy.
"Oh, come on, Buck, just think about giving the guy a chance!" Hen tries, her voice tired and insistent.
"A chance?" Buck asks incredulously, staring at her in disbelief. "We're talking about the guy who quite literally just this morning "borrowed—," Buck does the air quotes for the word, "—my favorite mug that I left on my desk and purposefully drank his coffee out of it?"
"And didn't you change the auto-correct for his email so that when he typed his name, it would change it to 'sue me'?" Hen asks in exchange, raising an eyebrow at him challengingly.
Buck grins at the reminder. "Yes, yes I did." Hen and Chim give him twin unamused glances, but he's saved when Ravi snickers. All of them turn to look at him, Buck with surprise and the dynamic duo with judgemental looks.
Ravi just looks back at them, unfazed, "What? You gotta admit that was a good one; Eddie won't be fixing that for weeks. The tech guy also doesn't like him."
"Hah! See! Someone else who doesn't like the guy! It's not just me," Buck defends, crossing his arms.
"To be fair, the tech guy doesn't like him because Eddie hates technology, and he constantly needs help with tech support…I wonder why that is," Chimney says, looking pointedly at him.
Buck feigns innocence. "It's a hard battle, the fight for justice." Hen rolls her eyes at his antics, punching his shoulder while Ravi, the traitor, snickers again.
After a minute, Buck hopes that's the end of the conversation and they'll leave it alone, but then Chimney speaks again. "Have you ever thought that maybe — you're just as bad as him? I mean, you do as much to him as he does to you."
Buck sighs and considers it for a moment before outright denying it. "Nope. Seriously, you guys gotta stop with this whole kumbaya thing you've been doing. It's not going to work—not in a million years. Now, please, can we talk about anything else?"
They all collectively shake their heads at him in disbelief before giving up and returning to their lunches, much to Buck's relief. Thankfully, Ravi starts talking about his new neighbor in the apartment across the hall from him, whom he finds attractive, and the topic of Eddie Diaz is long forgotten.
——-
Unfortunately, when they get back from lunch, Diaz is back from…wherever he went. Secretly, he was hoping he'd have an afternoon free of the man, but Buck's never had such luck.
But his annoyance is overtaken by amusement when Diaz is on the phone with the tech guy downstairs. He can't hear what the tech guy is saying, but it doesn't sound reassuring based on
Diaz's increasingly impatient tone and the frustration evident on his face.
Buck would know; that's the face and voice he deals with in their everyday interactions. The tech guy must be very annoyed with Diaz now—their department as a whole wasn't known to be the most patient in the company.
He almost lets out a laugh but, at the last minute, manages to bite it back, though he can't entirely hide the smirk from Diaz, who shoots him a quick glare before turning his attention back to his phone, trying to explain that it wasn't his fault. Buck waits as Diaz listens to the man's response and watches as his brows furrow even more and his fingers tightly clench into fists.
"Look. However, it happened. Can you just tell me how to fix it?!"
He watches again as Diaz waits for the man's response. And it does not disappoint. "Google it? Seriously? What's the point of the tech department if you can't help an employee with technology?!"
Buck can't help but snicker out loud now, and Diaz once again glares at him. "Hello? Miles? Hello? Hello?"
Diaz pulls the home away from his ear and looks back down at the landline, searching for an explanation that Buck is all too happy to give. "Hung up on you, didn't they?"
Eddie looks at Buck and back down at the phone. Then, he throws his hands up in frustration. "You! This is your fault! Fix it right now!"
Buck twirls in his chair. "Gee, my fault? I don't know what you're talking about—but maybe Google could help?"
The man’s glare deepens before he looks away and mutters under his breath, much to Buck's satisfaction. He feels a slight thrill in the small victory in his fight against Diaz—it’s always fun getting under Diaz’s skin to see how he’s going to react. Happily turning back to his laptop, he continues to research different articles and websites for his next piece on the food festival coming to L.A. in the next few weeks.
—
Only a few hours later, May, the intern, and also Bobby and Athena's daughter, comes to tell him Bobby wants him in his office. "Hey Buck, Bobby needs you in his office," she says.
Buck blinks. "Did he say w-why?" he stutters out, trying and failing to keep his nerves at bay. He spares a glance at Diaz, who gives him a smug grin, no doubt thinking he was getting into trouble for something — which he's slightly worried about too. Bobby usually doesn't like most people coming into his office for nothing except reports or some emergency, so calling Buck in alone is a little nerve-wracking.
"No, he didn't. Sorry," May answers, adding the 'sorry' as an afterthought. She gives him a sympathetic smile before walking back toward her desk. Buck sighs, shuts his laptop, and eyes the door down the hall that leads to Bobby's office's glass walls. Taking a breath, he pushes himself off of his desk and rises from his chair to head down the hall.
Once he reaches the end of the hallway, he finds Bobby's door slightly ajar and raps gently on it while sticking his head in. "Hey Bobby, May said you wanted to see me?"
Bobby's face lights up at the sight of him, which eases his nerves slightly, and he stands up at his desk, motioning for him to come in, which he easily compiles. "Hey Buck, yes, take a seat. How's it going?"
Buck sits in the black leather seat in front of Bobby's desk, eyes drifting around the room quickly. Luckily, Bobby drew the shades for the glass wall today, so if this turns out to be some bad news at least no one will be looking in. He tangles his fingers together almost instantly before looking back up at the older man and smiling back at him. "It's going good! Just researching for my new article."
Bobby nods his head, a smile still on his face. "Ah yes, this is the one on the food festival coming?" the man asks, and Buck nods his head in response.
"Yeah! Just finding some stuff about the different vendors coming," Buck explains, absentmindedly fidgeting with his fingers.
"Very nice," Bobby comments, and Buck can't help but think, is this just a check-in? Or did he need to tell or ask him something? But just as he's about to ask, Bobby beats him. "I'm sure you're wondering why I asked you in here."
"Kinda," Buck jokes with a breathy laugh following.
"Well, I just wanted to tell you in person that you're one of the people we selected to go to the conference next weekend,"Bobby reveals, eyes sparkling, as his arms fling out wide with his
palms facing out.
Buck shoots forward in his chair, nearly knocking it over. "Seriously?!"
Bobby chuckles at him; it's bright and happy, with a matching grin to go along with it as he confirms what he just said. "Seriously."
"Oh my god—thank you!" Buck burst, jumping up from the leather chair to hug Bobby across the desk. "I really wanted this!"
Bobby just grins at him as he pulls back from the hug. "I know you did, kid. And you deserve it." And there's that feeling again, the warm, content feeling he gets from Bobby. The way Bobby so easily gives him affection and calls him "kid" in a way he never got from his parents. Ironically, he thinks that he has gotten this the most from his boss at work in two years, which is more than he had in his entire childhood until he escaped Hershey.
He shakes the thought away, focusing on the good news as he feels the blush rise against his cheeks. He nods with a pleased smile. "Thanks, Bobby."
"Of course, kid," he says sincerely, his eyes crinkling in the corners. As for the details of flights, hotels, and other logistics, you'll get an email giving you all of that information, but if you have any questions, just let me or Athena know, okay?"
"Okay, thanks, Bobby," Buck answers before Bobby starts shooing him away with a wave toward the door.
"Now run along. I gotta tell everyone else who made it."
Buck grins before sidestepping the leather chair he nearly knocked over in his rush to hug Bobby and walk toward the door. Just as he reaches the threshold, Bobby calls his name again, so he pops his head around the corner. "Yeah?"
"Do me a favor and fix Eddie's email, will you? I'm not so sure what happened…" Bobby trails off, giving him a knowing stare before he finishes. "But some of our partners wouldn't particularly enjoy getting a 'sue me' message in their mailbox."
Buck doesn't let that deter him. It's well known Diaz and him have a feud going on, but Bobby's got no way of proving that it was actually him. He grins, mock saluting him, feigning his innocence. "Sir, yes, sir."
Bobby's look can only be described as exasperated, and Buck leaves his office with a skip in his step, heading toward his friends.
It turns out Bobby and Athena were sending six of the team members to the conference, including Chimney and Ravi. Hen didn't apply because her son Denny had some robotics club event happening the same weekend, and apparently, it's his big thing right now, so she couldn't miss it. Buck didn't branch out from the little friend group he had here, so he wasn't really sure who else would've applied. Maybe Ali or Josh from downstairs?
He starts listing people in his head of who the other three people could be as he's packing up his stuff to go home for the weekend. Thank god, it was Friday because Buck was just about to start losing it from all of his research binges and Diaz's constant presence.
Speaking of, the man disappeared somewhere while Buck was gone, so he decided to fix the "glitch" he made earlier with the auto-correct for Diaz's name so he didn't have to deal with the man hovering over him accusing him of doing something else to his computer. It was a simple fix, really, and he's sure IT could've fixed it in a second earlier, but it seems Buck isn't the only one Diaz pisses off. And that thought makes him smile as he starts organizing the papers he printed out earlier on his desk, shoving them in drawers or folders.
He's just about done when he hears an agitating, grating voice. "Soooo Buck, I hear you're going to the conference?" Diaz drawls as he slides onto Buck's desk, looking way too happy, setting Buck's nerves aflame.
"Yes, I am—so you can torment any other pour soul in this building while I'm gone," Buck says icily, not having it, throwing his things in his bag.
"Oh, I'm afraid I can't do that, sweetheart," Diaz smirks, emphasizing the nickname, and Buck rolls his eyes.
"And why is that?" Buck asks, playing along to get him to leave him alone.
"Well… let's just say I'm going to the conference too."
Buck instantly drops everything he's holding, whipping his head toward Diaz. His eyes widen in horror as he finds Diaz smiling smugly at him. "What?!"
Please be joking…please be joking…please be joking.
"I wasn't going to originally…" Diaz trails off with a wistful sigh—which Buck would typically roll his eyes at—if he wasn't awaiting the man's next words. "...but Bobby convinced me, said he thought it would be good for me to go, so I put in my application and voilà they accepted me."
Buck blinks at him, feeling frozen. He can feel anger starting to bubble in his body, and just as he's about to start seething, Diaz jumps off the desk with a smirk. "Well, anyways, I just wanted to let you know—I gotta run. See you in Vegas," Diaz winks, and with a clap to Buck's shoulder, he saunters toward the elevator.
As he watches him leave, Buck's eyes narrow, and his eyebrows furrow. Of course, Diaz manages to ruin something for him again. "Try not to embarrass the rest of us while we're there!" Buck calls out angrily, desperate to have the last word. And what does Diaz do? He turns around and gives him a conniving smile and a mocking salute that grinds Buck's gears.
He grits his teeth in annoyance as Diaz disappears, shaking his head in dismay and grabbing everything he dropped before shoving his laptop into his bag angrily. He scoops the bag up with a huff before striding to the elevator. Las Vegas may not be going to go as well as he hoped, but he'd make sure he'd make Diaz regret applying.