Righteous Indignation - RF! Welcome Home

Chapter 14 - On Guard

You sank into your office chair, feeling so, so miserable. All you did was tell him he wasn't heartless. Why did he push you away? Ever since your discussion at the Spectra Falls, he's been colder, crueler, meaner, just overall wrong. He's pleasant once the caffeine has kicked in, but now he's never pleasant. You put your face in your hands, and you felt nothing but pain. Why? You didn't know. But it hurt. You thought you meant something. You did mean something. Maybe not much, but more than now.

You needed to relax. It doesn't matter. All that matters is doing your job and getting your weekly paycheck. That's. It.

A knock on the door alerted you out of your misery.

"Yes? State yourself, please." You asked, firmly but politely.

"Delivery, Mx. Neighbor!" A familiar voice called out, and you felt yourself light up. Eddie! And your prosthetic!

You opened the door quickly, smiling.

"Hi Eddie! It's been forever, how have you been?" You asked enthusiastically as he handed you a sleek black box with a metallic emblem. Yup, that's your prosthetic.

"Oh, I've been just swell, sweetheart. Frank got sick as a dog these past couple weeks, and I hated seeing him so upset. He's good now, but I'm just hopin' I don't get no fever from him." He explained, and you felt a pang of empathy for Frank.

"I'm glad he's okay now. He's a real good guy," You sympathized, still lingering at your doorway.

"I married him for a reason," he said, looking quite happy at mentioning the fact.
"How have you been, darlin'? You didn't sound too good when I knocked. And... I noticed a patch over your eye..?" His words turned nervous, tapping right under his eye with his fingertip.

"Ah, something went wrong in the lab and I lost my eye. I'm pretty sure that what you gave me is my prosthetic." You said casually, ignoring Eddie's mortified look.

"Oh, poor dear. You healing well?" He asked gingerly.

"Oh, yeah! You wanna take a look at it with me?"
You invited, and the hurt welled back up as you remembered that you were going to show Wally once you had it in, but he probably won't care now.

"Oh, I'd love to!"

You sat back down at your desk, Eddie seated next to you at the other side. Opening the black box, you found your prosthetic in multiple protective layers in its case, which also had protective padding in it. Jeez, they were thorough.

"That's an eye..?" Eddie asked, staring at the black glossy piece of acrylic.

"Yup! I had it custom ordered, the base color is black and it's iridescent," You explained happily, taking the prosthesis out of it's case and holding it in your palm, allowing the light to hit it at different angles, Eddie looking mystified.

"Are you going to try it on?" He inquired, and you noticed he seemed really excited now.

"Sure, I'm actually really stoked for this!"

You went to go wash your hands, (because you don't want your eye socket to get infected, obviously) and you came back to put the prosthesis in. Once you did, it felt weird as hell, but upon looking in the mirror, you looked cool as hell. The mild scarring on your cheekbone only added to the effect. You could blink properly, and everything!

"Well, thanks for showing me, Neighbor, but I gotta be on my merry way. See you around!" He said before leaving.

You weren't sure if Wally would be angry, but you still wanted to let him know your prosthetic came in. Besides, you had to run him some coffee anyways.

Arriving in his office, you had put the medical patch back on, handing him his coffee.

"Mr. Darling..." You began nervously.

"What?" He snapped. "Make it quick, I've got genuine work to do."

You nodded, knowing exactly he would react like this. Did he hate you? What did you do wrong? You took the patch off, opening your eyes and showing him the prosthetic. He looked surprised, and he stared for a moment, studying you. You were silent, and he seemed deep in thought as you heard him mumble under his breath.

"Beautiful..."

"Hm?" You asked, and he shook his head.

"The prosthetic. I think it's quite eye pleasing. Erm- no pun intended. Now get out."

He ordered, and you noticed his knuckles were white with how tensely he gripped the pen he was holding.

You left, and as you shut the door, all that misery resurfaced. He doesn't care anymore. That's what you get for being soft, you get attached to someone who can never feel anything for anyone. Damn bastard!

Pacing back to your office, you questioned still why you felt so much for him. He's a fucking prick. But a sweetheart of a prick. Why are you thinking like this? This is insane. He's your boss. Calm it down.

The reason you're hurting is because you thought of him as a friend.

Wanted him as a friend.