For a Servant and a Master

Part 2: Chapter 6

He woke up feeling horrible.

He wasn't sure if it was the copious amounts of alcohol he consumed after leaving Lydia or the stress of having Magnus and Lydia in the same room or the nightmare. He knew he had to leave the house. He had to make things right with Magnus.

He rushed getting ready, and it was clear by the state of his hair. He skipped breakfast and ordered a car be brought around.

The ride into the city made him feel worse. The quiet time to think about what he had said-- or rather what he hadn't said-- made him hate himself more. He should never have invited Magnus and Lydia to be in the same spot in the first place but he had only antagonized the situation.

Magnus had left the address of his hotel on Christmas Eve, along with his room number. It was near the center of London, in a suave neighborhood for up and coming businessmen.

Appropriate, Alexander thought.

He entered the hotel of the lobby, attempting to act like he was meant to be there. He found Magnus' room easy enough, but froze outside it.

He pushed a hand through his messy hair, knowing it probably only made it worse. What was he going to say? "I'm sorry" didn't feel sufficient.

The door opened.

"What are you doing here?" Magnus asked. He looked about as put together as Alexander did.

"I came to apologize-- how did you know I was here?"

"I didn't. I was going to go find the paper."

"I should go," Alexander started.

"You haven't apologized," Magnus said. "Do you want to come in?"

He would never want to leave if he went in.

He nodded anyways, stepping into the room.

It was more like a suite than anything, with a large living space, and a connecting bedroom.

"This is nice," Alexander observed.

"My company treats me well."

"How long have you worked for them?"

"A few months after getting to New York," Magnus said. "Do you want breakfast? I was going to ask them to bring something up anyways."

"Um, sure," Alexander resigned, sitting on one of the couches. The curtains had been pulled aside and grey light filtered into the room.

"Anyways," Magnus said, reaching for a bell on the wall that would call for room service, "I got a basic clerk job there to start and then I somehow worked my way up to being one of their stock brokers. I had to go to night school to take some classes, but it wasn't particularly difficult."

"Father always trusted your firm," Alexander said.

"It's a small world," Magnus said.

There was a knock at the door and Magnus prattled off a quiet order to the person on the other side.

"How did you survive?" Alexander asked when Magnus returned.

"You've been wanting to ask that for awhile," Magnus guessed.

He nodded.

"It's not very eventful, I'm afraid," Magnus said. "I've embellished it for people-- people who didn't understand. People who wanted a story, more than a narrative."

"I don't want a story though," Alexander said. "I want the truth."

..........

He was very good at pretending to be rich when nothing was happening. But in the chaos of a sinking ship, he felt less like the first class passengers scrambling and buying their way to freedom and more like the ones who didn't know where to turn.