Out of the Darkness (v2.0)

Chapter Five

 Ellanor arrived at work that morning with a look of determination upon her face. She wasn't willing to lose this job and had repeated over and over to herself that she was not going to risk it once more. In the hour preceding, she'd at least convinced Dallas to let her use some good old foundation to cover up the copious amount of hickies on her neck and the bruises on her arms. This also meant she'd also been more comfortable with properly folding the collar down, as well as rolling the sleeves of her blouse up when writing and working.

In general, being able to hide things made life a whole lot easier.

Cool air blasted all over her once she stepped through the shining front doors, blowing wisps of red around in the artificial wind. It filled her with a sense of confidence -- something she was unused to -- whenever she saw other employees look at her, and it was going to take a while to adapt to the feeling. And they... respected her. Most treated her like an equal. They wondered how she could stand the top man. Big secret: she really couldn't. Not yet. Today proved that.

Black, two sugars. Elijah's usual order.

Ellanor poured the still-hot coffee into a mug, soon dropping two cubes of sugar into the mix and stirring it around carefully. After it had cooled down enough, she set the cup upon a coaster that seemed glued to Elijah's desk. He had his own separate table in his own office for the coffee maker alone, so she didn't have to open doors with one hand. As for Ellanor, making it wasn't much of a hassle, really. She was still used to the routine from endless high school and college study nights where all you needed to survive a giant textbook and Cornell notes was some good caffeine, and it also reminded Ellanor of her earlier days as a young, bright barista striving to get money to fund her education. She was generally good with people back then, but stress was a curse, and she didn't seem to know how being social worked anymore.

Maybe that's the reason Elijah was often so grumpy.

"Good morning, Ellanor. How are you feeling?" Eli said in a nonchalant tone, entering his office not long after she had. The greeting was more out of obligation rather than actual care.

"Fine," she replied shortly, getting a whiff of not cologne, but another type of smell as he passed by. It made her lose her train of thought almost immediately.

"Huh," she said softly. "... You smell like bleached hallways and wilted flowers."

Eli stopped in his tracks as if he were a wild animal that just realized it was caught in the crosshairs of a hunter's rifle.

"... As if I was on my deathbed?"

What a strange notion. Elijah wasn't too keen on his words at that moment. Maybe he was being a little too comfortable with saying such things. He chose his words carefully, though, despite not being careful about the fact he said it at all.

"Er... Yes," she answered slowly, even then seeming unsure about her answer, yet she continued on. "... but you weren't, obviously. It was probably someone else."

True. "Close enough assumption."

Step forward. Left. Right. Left. Right. Left. Right. He wasn't in the military anymore, but he still retained a few thoughts and actions from back then. Or thoughts that went along with actions. Left. Right. He arrived at his desk where he picked up the steaming cup of coffee and leaned against it. His fingers tapped on the edge in a rhythmic tone, a habit he couldn't help but continue ever since childhood. At least there was no consequence to doing it anymore.