To the Smelly Boy Apartment It Is! (Story 2 of Sev & M)

Chapter 25

Severine woke up with a gasp, his heart racing, and shaking. It had been less than 24 hours since he had been home but it felt like an eternity. He had hardly slept at all last night and when he had finally gotten to sleep, he of course had nightmare after nightmare. He got up and looked at himself in the mirror. After Issac had left, his father had led him into the house and finished what he had started with the backhanded slap on the porch. He could see that his lip was still swollen and there was a large bruise on his side. He sighed, if he had been home he would still be asleep with Marcus. He smiled to himself at the memories of sleeping in his arms, feeling like he was protected from everything in the world. There was a knock on his door and he jumped.

"What?" he asked.

"Get ready we're going to the agency today," his father replied.

He thought about refusing but knew it was pointless, "I'll be down soon."

He heard his father's footsteps receding down the hallway and sighed. He had to find Issac so he could stop him from hurting Marcus and Nora but he didn't know how he was going to get away from his father.

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Being back at the agency was a strange sensation. He had expected most of the people he had known to turn away from him, so he was surprised when most gave him a warm smile and waved. Some even tried to stop and talk to him, but any time he would pause his father would roughly pull him away from them. They were headed to the human resource office and he couldn't say he was looking forward to it. When he had been dismissed, the head of human resources had been an older woman that had clearly been stuck in the old ways of the agency, love, and everything else. When his father knocked on the door a young lady's voice told them to come in. He was surprised to see the old woman gone and the young lady who had told them to come in sitting in her spot.

"Where is the head of HR?" his father asked, looking around.

The lady smiled at him sweetly, "I'm right here."

He could see why his father was annoyed, this lady was young, around his age. He internally smiled to himself, this could work in his favor if he played his cards right. She turned to him then.

"Hello," she started, "why don't you men have a seat?"

He sat in one of his chairs and his father took the other. He chanced a glance at him and saw he was still annoyed with how this was going. The lady introduced herself as Jana the new head of human resources. He gave a polite nod then zoned out as her and his father started talking about the details of his dismissal and any chance of him being reinstated. He thought about Marcus and wondered what he was doing and if he was safe. He wasn't sure how long they talked when he was startled out of his thoughts.

"Thank you. I need to speak with Severine alone now. You can go to the lobby," she was telling his father.

"I don't think that is necessary," his father replied.

She gave him another sweet smile but it didn't reach her eyes, "I can assure you it is. I will send him to the lobby when we are finished."

His father huffed out a breath and stood up. When he turned to leave he grabbed Severine's shoulder and applied more pressure than necessary. He knew what he meant by it though, he didn't want Severine talking. He also knew that when he looked later he would see a new set of bruises where his father's hand had just been. Severine nodded to let him know he understood then his father left the room. Jana watched the door for a few moments then turned back to Severine.

"How are you Severine?" she asked, she was moving some folders on her desk and grabbed a piece of paper.

"I'm fine," he replied carefully.

She nodded her head like she had expected that answer, then handed him the piece of paper. "That's good to hear. Please read over that piece of paper, while I continue to talk."

He looked at the piece of paper skeptically, and started reading it while she rambled on about the details of reinstating him:

I know you have no reason to trust me since I work with the agency so I will give you one. At the ball your father took you into a room and Marcus came in with a girl. I was the girl with Marcus. If you understand, nod.

He read the first couple sentences several times then finally nodded, he continued reading:

I don't believe that your father actually went to the lobby and I'm sure you do not either. I know that you have the power over sound. If you can, please create a barrier within the room so we may talk freely. Be sure to leave enough muffled sound so that your father believes we are speaking about reinstating you and nothing else. Once you have created the barrier nod again and we will start the real conversation.

He concentrated for a couple of moments as he created the barrier. Once he was finished and was sure his father would hear nothing but faint mumbles he nodded. He heard Jana stop rambling and let out a breath.

"Great! Now that we have some privacy let's get to the real issues at hand," she said.

"Why are you doing this?" he asked, before she could say anything else.

"Because you wouldn't be back with your father unless something bad happened. Is Marcus okay?" she asked.

He hesitated, he had learned to be wary of people offering him help. How did he know he could truly trust her? He noticed her notice the hesitation.

"Okay I see you're still leery and I completely get that. So let me tell you something else okay?" she paused then started again, "I know Marcus because I was Caspian's girlfriend before he...he was..."

He looked at her in surprise and his heart lurched for her trying to say the words he had watched Marcus struggle with for so long and still struggle with sometimes. "It's okay, you can stop. I know what you're going to say. I'm sorry," he said.

She sniffled and wiped her eyes, "No, I'm sorry. It's just so hard sometimes."

"I know, Marcus struggles with it too still," he said.

She cleared her throat, "So, now that we have the trust established can you explain what's been going on? Keep it as brief and concise as possible or I feel that your father will start getting suspicious."

He nodded then told her all that had happened with Issac and his father, when he finished with the retelling he told her his concerns about what was going to happen now. "I should have never left Marcus. If I had just listened to him everything would have been fine. I'm so stupid."

"You're not stupid, you wanted to protect him. Deep down he knows that and he will forgive you. I know you left it out but I also know, from Marcus, that your father is abusive. Don't be mad at Marcus, he knew by the night of the ball and when he saw your father take you out of the main ballroom I thought he was going to faint with worry until we found you," she said.

He had his head down, he didn't want her to see his embarrassment so he just nodded to let her know he understood.

"For now," she continued, "I am reinstating you with the agency, but you will have a probation period. You also will not be assigned anywhere until I sign off on it. I'm also going to make you go through training again. That will keep you out of the field for the most part and appease your father for the time being. I expect you to use the training to regain muscle and skills you lost since being previously dismissed and to strategize how to get back to Marcus. I will do what I can on my end to help you as well."

He nodded his understanding, "I will release the barrier now." He waited for her to nod, once she did he released it. "I will report tomorrow then," he said louder than necessary.

"I look forward to it," she said with a smile.