The Devil is Marvelous

Chapter 34

Lucas came over Wednesday morning to hang out since we had no school. We turned on our mutual favorite soundtrack, Hamilton, and danced around the living room, used the couch as our stage, and used TV remotes as our microphones.

"Alexander Hamilton
My name is Alexander Hamilton
And there's a million thing I haven't done
But just you wait, just you wait!"

Luffy suddenly perked up from his bed and trotted to the front door. In walked Melissa, with Steve behind her. They both looked distressed, and Lucas must have noticed it too, for he shut the music off.

"Hey Mel" I greeted, jumping down from the couch "You're home super early."

Melissa dropped her purse by her shoes, then sulked over to the couch. She plopped down like she just ran a marathon.

"Did something happen?" I asked slowly, praying to god she hadn't been fired.

All she did was nod. Oh god...

Steve cleared his throat. "The CEO called this morning. He was on the phone with Melissa for a while..." he glanced over at her, but she was looking down at her hands. "I guess he had a family emergency bad enough to close for the rest of the day"

"He didn't want to me to tell anyone what happened" Melissa finally spoke "But it's eventually going to get out. There will be news teams swarming him today."

Some vital information about my sister Melissa: she interned with the Los Angeles Journal until she graduated with her bachelors degree in journalism and a minor in public relations. The company offered her a job, to which she reluctantly took. At first, Melissa was a receptionist who went on coffee runs, but overtime she mad her way up the ranks. She's been a content marketer, an editor, and is now the CEO's secretary. Melissa is a busy, hardworking young woman. From what I know about Steve, besides my sister's crush on him, is he also works at the L.A. Journal, but he works in the financial department.

"C'mon, spill the tea!" Lucas exclaimed, dropping down on the couch next to her. She made eye contact with Steve, saying "promise me that you won't repeat anything, at least until the news comes out to the public."

Steve agreed, so she took a deep breath. "Mr. Devonshire went to his younger brother's house this morning to surprise him with a birthday breakfast before work and...well...he found his brother lying on the floor dead."

Steve immediately tensed up. Lucas's mouth dropped open, and he brought his hand to his heart. "Oh my god... how awful" he murmered.

Melissa picked up Zoro the cat, hugging him tightly. Sanji purred at her feet.

"He didn't say much after that besides the police were arriving and he couldn't talk long. I can't imagine having to see your own brother like that."

I can imagine it perfectly, and it's horrific.

"Do they know the cause of death?" Steve asked.

Melissa shrugged. "No, he didn't say anything about that"

"Hopefully it wasn't murder" I whispered. I knew no one heard me, which was fine. This wasn't about me, but the whole dead brother topic was giving me flashbacks. Needless to say, the news put a real damper on our morning. Thankfully Steve stayed by Melissa; he hugged her for a while, rubbing her back. He clearly cared about her, which I appreciated.

Lucas could tell I was affected by the news, for he kept asking me if I was okay. After telling Jaxon my whole life story, I didn't think I was ready talk about my past again, at least for a while. Besides, this was not about me, and I didn't want to make it about me. I told Lucas I was fine, just sympathetic for the man who lost his brother.