Creed of the Leviathan I

59 | E

Emmanuelle

A dark shadow rested on top of our house. The shadow depicted by the many sins of the Mulaney's. War had been declared amongst one another, yet to the outside world everything seemed normal— in control. Anthony had moved out. Marissa had fallen into a depressed state and hid away in her room. Dimitri was not on speaking terms with her or Marco. Marco and I were not on speaking terms either. Even Tia who would usually play the advocate to all in the name of family was participating in the no speaking madness. She was furious, disappointed, heartbroken. These feelings were more towards my sister, but we all noticed it. We all felt it. However, business bloomed like always. Money was the only problem they did not have. I took the many projects I had to work on as an opportunity to switch my focus from the craziness of my family. I sat alone at the office, my mind deep into one of the projects I had to get ready for Marco. Though we were not alright as a couple, we still acted professionally as a working duo.

The quietness of the place caused me to work in peace. Marco had left the office not long after we came in. He must have been somewhere in the building since all his stuff was left behind. He had not told me were he was heading like he usually would and I did not care to ask. Rosie had the first half of the day off and would be starting around twelve. At around eleven I decided to take a short break and walk to the coffee shop around the corner of the building. After rearranging my drawer I was ready to head out. Just as I was about to walk into the elevator, Rosie was coming out of it.

"Hi, good morning." I said, flashing her a smile. She was earlier than expected.

"Morning." Her tone was different. It was less friendly and reminded me of how she acted before we got to know each other. She passed me in a hurry and settled down at her desk.

"Going to get coffee. Do you want some?"

She completely ignored my question by staring at her computer, acting as if she had not heard me when I had spoken loud and clearly. I convinced myself to let it go and headed into the elevator. Perhaps, she did not have a good morning, I thought and dismissed the situation. On my way down the elevator stopped at Marissa's floor which was odd since she was not at work. To my surprise, Tobias stood in front of me when the doors opened. By the look on his face I could tell that he was not expecting to see me either.

"Morning— Emmanuelle." He paused before he said my name.

"Tobias."

He stood more to the middle of the floor, staring in front of him whilst I leaned against the back wall and stared in front of me as well. It was hard to avoid eye contact because the mirror-like doors made it all to easy to look at the other persons reflection.

"Hhm, Emmanuelle." He scraped his throat as he turned to look at me over his shoulder. "Is your sister coming to work today?"

"Isn't that something you'd know considering how close you two are."

He gulped, "Listen, about that night—"

I smiled. "No need to explain, Mr. James. I fully understand how cheating works."

"Your sister would never intentionally hurt anyone and neither would I. It just happened."

"You know," I said when the doors opened again. "You're not as charming as you think. But, I understand how it just happened. You're both very selfish." I rushed out. He ran after me, trying to say something else. Luckily, one of my coworkers called for his attention.

I wandered down to the busy street, maneuvering my way through the rushing crowd of people on the sidewalk. I regretted leaving my coat hanging on my chair once the cold, wet Seattle air hit my skin. However, there was no way I was turning back to the office, knowing that Tobias was still around. Besides, I had not told anyone that I was going on my little adventure. Seattle looked different up close, positively different. Being able to freely go about my way without having to ask for permission or wait for a driver reminded me of my times at uni in England. I took my time to enjoy the walk, giving my eyes the chance to notice all it had not noticed before yet I still reached the shop quite fast. The smell of hot coffee gave me a warm welcome into the place. As I stood in line for the counter and was looking through the displayed menu a soft whisper in my right ear pulled my attention and caused me to turn around in a rush.