The Mourning of a Doomed Romance

Chapter 2

After he slammed the door, Letum leaned back against the dark wood with a heavy sigh. The apartment was a mess, his head was pounding, and his wife had been causing more drama for the news anchors.

That loud-mouthed bitch.

He glanced around in disdain at the mess his apartment had become. Thankfully he'd kicked out all the stragglers, so it was just him alone with the filth and regret racking his brain from the night before. Regret for the things he remembered, at least.

What he did remember was Aella calling him while he was balls deep in a pretty blonde Succubus— not exactly a good look for him to cuck his ex-wife while he was on top of some girl he barely knew. He'd hung up, she'd called a gazillion more times. The girl he was banging left, mumbling something about how much of a whore he was. Same old thing.

Aside from that dreadful encounter, he did remember something else. Or, rather, someone else.

He'd never seen that guy before. Which was odd, because Letum knows everybody. He's the one that knows everything about everyone- the gossip, as his wife used to call him. Bit ironic coming from her.

Who is he?

As Letum began picking up the trash in the apartment, tossing used condoms and pocketing loose cash, his mind was searching for any memory of the strange man that had ruined his favorite fucking shirt, then had the audacity to wake up on his couch. Letum chugged the rest of a half-full vodka bottle that had been left on the coffee table, the alcohol failing to provide the burning feeling he had long before grown accustomed to.

Should've confronted him this morning. Should've done something. Should've—

The loud ringing of his cellphone pounded in his ears, dragging him off of his train of thought. He answered the phone, not bothering to check the contact; the letters would've blended together anyway in this state.

"Letum? Hey. It's Mori," the voice on the other line rumbled deeply through the phone, the gravelly voice of Letum's apprentice familiar on his ears. "You're hella late, y'know. Boss' got a shit ton a work from your recent fuck up we've gotta get done, and they're super pissed. Oh, and, your new PA is waiting. Poor man's bored to death." Mori chuckled, the sound reverberating again Letum's ear, "Death. Get it? Anyway, just wanted to call and make sure you hurried the hell up. I'll cya soon."

Letum groaned, hanging up the phone without responding a word to Mori's little lecture. As much as he cared about and respected Mori (loved the boy like a son, for fuck's sake), he could be a real pain in the ass sometimes.

Abandoning the trash bag onto the alcohol-stained carpet, Letum trudged to the bathroom, tuning out his mind as he made himself presentable. Really, he didn't need to — anyone judging the God of Death would be torture-bound in milliseconds — but it kept him sane, kept the mild feeling of humanity despite his existence as nothing of similarity but appearance to their species.

The man barely blinked as his matter and physical being ripped to shreds in his apartment, rearranging themselves once more in the lobby of the MCM Corp™ office building. Sure, teleportation hurt in the beginning— after a while though, ya get used to it.

Letum made his way to the front desk, greeting the familiar face of the Secretary/Second Head of the company, Villicūt- Better known as Vill.

"Look who finally decided to show up to work today," They said sarcastically, rolling their eyes as pale hands pushed stacks of papers into Letum's. "You're three hours, thirty-two minutes, and 47 seconds late."

Letum rolled his eyes, easily carrying the heavy stack of paper— a perk of being a God; enhanced strength.

"How kind." He said dryly, turning on his heel and approaching the row of elevators along the lobby wall. The elevator closest to him opened immediately in response to his approach, and he stepped inside the clean metal box as he had done time and time again. The doors closed swiftly, the reflective steel projecting his appearance, much to his disdain.

"The face of a monster," Aella had said. If it had been anyone else, he would've made them miserable for those words. Despite his arrogance, his need to hold his pride.. the more he saw himself, the more he started to believe her.

The elevator doors opened abruptly, and Letum walked onto the XXX floor. The floors in MCM changed constantly, as a way for security, and as The Creator puts it, to "Keep them on their toes." Luckily, the elevators take the Gods directly to their offices.

Letum stepped into his office and immediately sank into his comfortable leather desk chair. The familiar scent of cigarettes and despair floated through the small room, easing him into a more relaxed state.

Taking a deep breath, Letum closed his pale grey eyes and rested his head against the back of the chair. This is the only place he's alone, without the constant reminders of how terrible he is, of all the awful things he's done; his bare, windowless office, the simplistic furniture he's memorized was an escape to him. A sweet, sweet escape.

"Alright boss, time to wake up!" The sudden voice was accompanied with the loud slamming of the door, it's opening shedding rays of bright artificial light from the hall outside. Letum groaned, sitting up and slowly opening his eyes as they adjusted to the intrusion.

Mori's smug grin greeted his gaze, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. It left Letum completely pissed off.

"What the hell, Mori?" He began, his tone accusatory, "You couldn't have given me five seconds to take a breather? I had a hell of a night yesterday."

Mori only chuckled in response, running a hand over the dreadlocks that hung to his shoulders.

"Aww, cheer up, boss man. You should be happy! Your new PA is here. Promise you won't scare the hell out of this one?" Mori's teasing elicited an eyeroll from Letum.

"Send them in." He responded coldly, crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. As Mori did so, Letum slowly opened his eyes, preparing to assess this new victim.

...

The God of Death doesn't shake easily.

He doesn't get angry in front of people, save for Mori and Aella.

He doesn't claim sadness, annoyance, fear.

He's never surprised.

Yet...

His eyes widened in shock at the man that walked through the door after Mori moved.

It's the guy.

Fuck.

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