Ravenwolf's Rose

His Change Of Pace

After being inspired the other day at the track, I wanted to spend some time thinking about the colour schemes, décor, and major design elements at the venue we were hosting the charity event at. When I asked Nathan if I could work with the interior decorators he said he'd be happy if I coordinated with them.

Once they knew of my background in visual arts they were thankfully perceptive to my initial ideas. I wanted to make sure that everyone would feel stunned by the environment they were walking into, just like I was when I saw the new 'products,' to be launched at the end of the quarter.

After a few art classes that I was leading, I headed straight to the nearest café to work on some ideas I had around centerpieces and backdrops... I was thinking about taking to my canvas, and creating little postcards with a printed image on it for them to take home.

The fact that I was becoming more invested in Ravenwolf made me a little uneasy, but I was an artist and if there was something I could create from my own hands it was something I wanted to dig into. I did promise the old man a year at Ravenwolf so a year it would be...

After a long afternoon and several lattes and iced teas later I was tired.

I didn't realize how late it was when I wrapped up. It was nearing 8:30 p.m. I had been nodding off a little and I didn't want to fall asleep in a café. When I gathered my belongings, I walked towards the front entrance of the café. When I opened the door, there was a familiar car parked beside the curb...

When I walked forward a little further, I saw James in the front seat. When he saw me, he exited the car and stood ahead of me.

"Nathan told me to pick you up," I looked around my surroundings briefly and then back at him. Why didn't Nathan let me know?

"He already said you wouldn't take up an offer to get a ride back from him so since I was in the neighbourhood, he asked me to drop by."

If I had known I may have escaped a little earlier. It wasn't that I didn't appreciate the consideration. It also wasn't because I was uncomfortable around James. It just wasn't something I was used to...

"Alright..." I sighed, thinking that it would best to just take the ride... when I got into the car I put my seat belt on. James then drove forward and turned onto the road... there was some silence between us, but that changed a moment later...

"How are your injuries now?" I looked across at him and his expression hadn't changed. He was still focused, looking out at the traffic in front of him, slowly but surely making his way onto the highway.

"For the most part everything has been healing well... how has your studying been?"

"Good. And it's been going well."

"I see," it was a little quieter between us for another few minutes...

"Charlie told me about what happened with Jackson the other night..." I looked over at him. We were now entering onto the highway and he slowly revved up the engine to go faster...

"You mean with your other half?" I saw him crack a smile.

"Not by choice... but I suppose I should tell you... or rather, I want to apologize to you on his behalf. I know Kai wouldn't have been able to summon a proper apology to you... it probably would have been skewed..."

Ha... at least he knew his brothers well. I sighed and James looked over at me slightly.

"What are you thinking about?" he asked and I looked over at him.

"About how... we're having a normal conversation now?"

"I suppose so..."

"Does that mean... you dislike me a little less?"

"To be honest, I don't think I'll ever understand my grandfather's intentions, but for now, since you haven't caused any trouble and you've been helping my family more than destroying it, then I'd say... I don't intend on creating problems with someone who hasn't done anything wrong to us yet... even if half a billion dollars and our company is at stake here..."

"That's fair..."

"Besides, if you had any ill intentions towards us you would have turned a blind eye to Charlie... for not, I want to thank you for being there when his brothers weren't... and for how I reacted..."

"It's all good. We don't need to dwell on the past..." he nodded after I spoke and we both remained calm beside one another for the remaining portion of the drive back.

When he dropped me off at the front entrance I got out of the car and walked over to the front entrance. I kept thinking about what would be in-store for me at Ravenwolf...

While I was taking off my shoes, I could hear some barking in the distance. I smiled and then looked up to see Mackenzie running forward with Apollo. That was the name she decided to give him...

"Hey!" I waved at her and the two of them rushed to greet me when I officially stepped in. Apollo jumped up at me and I pet him a few times. I couldn't believe how big he had grown in such a short period of time.

"How was work?"

"Can't complain... it was a long day," Mackenzie nodded and then grabbed a hold of my hand, and walked me forward.

"Edna left your dinner in the kitchen. She said to make sure you eat it when you get home," I smiled while letting her take me to the kitchen.

After I ate my late dinner, I parted ways to Mackenzie and promised her that I would spend some more time with her when I had any free time.

When I arrived at my room, I suddenly felt all the tiredness that I was feeling an hour ago swoop in again. I thought about having a quick shower, but my exhaustion was getting the better of me. I decided to take a shower in the morning...