The Assistant

Sibling Rivalry

It had been days since Magdalena had spoken to Roman. She sat at her desk, mindlessly chewing on her thumb's nail, when her brother, Damian, entered with a condescending smile. Magda rolled her eyes heavily and turned her chair to face out the window. The city lights bounced on the horizon like fireflies, preparing to invade the darkness that came with the sinking sun. It made her nauseous. She didn't care for nature. Magda didn't see the point in it. The trees, the grass, the bugs, and the birds-all of it disgusted her. If there were a way for the world to survive without it all, she'd happily do away with it all.

Magda sighed, knowing that it would never be possible. Despite her dislike for such weak and pathetic things, they were essential for the survival of man-and womankind. If only she could be the only woman alive, maybe then, she wouldn't have to worry about Roman's-or any other man's-roaming eyes.

Oh, how Magda dreamed of a world that belonged to only her and her heirs. Like the gods, she believed they deserved to be. The image of her and Roman sitting on golden thrones with their children by their sides made her smile broadly and fondly. The rest of the world would be on bended knees, praising, thanking, and loving them. She swayed gently from side to side.

"Jesus, Magdalena, would you get your head out of the fucking clouds. Did you hear a fucking thing I said?" Damian rubbed at his temples.

"How dare you speak to me in that way, Damian. Where is your respect?" Magdalena hissed.

"I give respect to those who treat me with respect in return, Magda, and you have never given me a reason to respect you," he shrugged.

"If father were alive-" she tried.

"If father were alive, Magdalena, you wouldn't even have had an office to daydream in. He'd have you out there whoring yourself to the other families, hoping that one of those hijos de puta (sons of bitches) would like you enough to marry you and form an alliance with us." Damian sounded bored as he picked at his fingernails, refusing to look at his sister.

"Fuck you, father would have never-" she tried again.

"Father didn't love us, Magda. He only ever liked us enough because of what we could do for him. I was the heir to the family business, and you were the honey trap. Now, are you done? Or should I come back when you've got your hormones under control?" He smirked.

Magdalena wanted to curse him again, but it would have gotten her nowhere. Instead, she narrowed her eyes. "What do you want?"

"If you had listened earlier, you would have heard what I wanted, and I would have left long ago," he breathed heavily. "I asked if you had an update on that deal we've been trying to obtain with the Sukeban."

"No," Magdalena confessed.

"Why not? What's taking you so long?" Damian raised a brow.

"It seems," Magdalena's cheeks and ears turned red, "Keiko doesn't have the kind of power she thought she had within the family." Her body shifted from one foot to the other.

"I thought you said she was the daughter of Yakuza King, and she could persuade her father to align with us." Damian ran a hand through his hair. "Now, what it sounds like you're saying is, if we had done this shit the way I wanted from the beginning, we would have had the deal already. Instead, you fed me your mierda (shit) and begged me to let you prove yourself to this family?" His jaw ticked.

"I didn't say it couldn't be done. I just need more time." Magdalena grits her teeth.

"You've had enough time, Magda. If it were anyone else, we've had a meeting with the Yakuza King already and made a fucking deal. From now on, Santiago will continue to make the deals, and you-" Damian looked around her office, "can continue to do whatever the fuck it is you do in here."