Would you Swallow all your Pride?

Chapter Seven: Black.

Upstairs, in the kitchen, Billie Dean poured herself some coffee. The office was still empty, and her thoughts actually had room to be heard, for once. The building was new, so there were no spirits trapped. Restaurant... Wilhemina had eaten at a restaurant today. Billie Dean couldn't help but wonder why she didn't eat at the office. They had talked about it, and she knew Wilhemina shared the same opinions when it came to the food she provided. Is it because of me? Billie shook the thought off. Perhaps Venable only needed some alone time after their talk in the morning. Chattering arose from the hallway, indicating people were coming back. Billie Dean walked that way, stopping at the doorframe with a small smile. People greeted her, and she greeted everyone back. Everyone arrived but Wilhemina. Ready to start working, Billie Dean began turning around. From the corner of her eye, however, she caught Emma placing a box on Wilhemina's table. Baker's Bakery.

Venable took no more than thirty minutes to get back at the office. She needed to work, and the Valium had already calmed her down enough. The room was quieter than usual, and now with a clear head, a part of her felt bad for leaving Emma like that. The other part, however, still thought it was all just a game. When Wilhemina saw the box on her table, she couldn't help but bite her lip. Brown eyes avoided Emma, walking quietly to her chair and sitting down without making a sound. She began to type down, doing anything to avoid talking to her. But Emma got up and walked to her table, as Wilhemina was sure she would.

"Can we talk?" Emma asked softly, nearly begging. Wilhemina usually enjoyed when people begged, but realistically, Emma had been incredibly nice to her, and the only thing saying she was messing with her was, after all, her mind. And Venable had learned her mind was often wrong. I am a fuck up, after all. She nodded. "Kitchen?"

"Sure." Wilhemina got up and followed Emma that way. As they got there, Emma pulled them to the balcony. It was empty.

"Please, just tell me what happened. Was it something I said?" Emma's green eyes now carried a wet shimmer to them. Wilhemina's chest felt heavy. How is it fair?

"No... I..." Venable had a hard time speaking. She licked her lips—they stung a little where the cut was—doing her best to open her shell. But her shell was locked, and she hated herself for it. "I..." Was she really willing to dump all of her trauma on her? To share a fraction of how fucked up she was? She'll never want me around again. Something inside Wilhemina feared she was losing the closest thing to a friend she had in years. A sigh left her lips. Once again, Venable was defeated by her monsters.

Emma stared at her with huge green eyes, begging for an answer. When she realized there was none, she gulped softly. "I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable... it didn't occur to me that you could not... be into women." Wilhemina frowned. "I'm so used to my own world, I forget people are different than me." How was it possible Emma expressed herself so well? Venable could only wish she was like that.

"It's... it's not that..." Venable shifted her weight from leg to leg. She avoided Emma's eyes. It's not that she didn't want to explain things, it's that she couldn't get herself to explain them. I sound like a scared child. Wasn't that what Wilhemina was, after all?

Emma nodded. She looked down for a second. "Can we try it again, sometime?" Wilhemina nodded, but again didn't say anything. "Okay... I'm sorry, still. I'll let you work." With a small, sad smile, Emma left Wilhemina alone in the balcony.

Venable sighed loudly. She leaned against the wall, nerves screaming. Why am I so messed up? There was a reason her only friend was Purpura. After a minute, she got back to the office. She was being paid for that, after all.