Red String

Two: The Ties That Meet

Annex Building, Graphics Department

"Good morning, Mr Curan, I got the new designs you ordered yesterday." Mary brandished the folder from under her arm. The morning was already a whirlwind around her and she had time to enjoy her coffee before boss hailed her over. She had to wait until later to present her designs but figured it'd be easier if she ran it through him first.  

"Yes, leave it there, your new office partner is waiting out in the field, it's Argent." Mr Curan said.

Mary froze.  

Argent. She'd only ever known one by that name. Her Ex. It'd been five years since they'd last seen each other.  

"Ms Cross, are you well?" He looked concerned, had he heard about their relationship outside the office?

"Ah, yes."  

"Alright, well since you both had some history, I figured you'd be the perfect candidate to show him around." But the way he watched her features showed he may have been hesitant about it. "Can you manage this much?"

"Yes."  

He nodded and accepted her folder, "Then it's settled."

"Yup, on it."  

She cradled her coffee in her hands. She had to find him, not that he was hard to spot with such brilliant silver hair. How was he going to react when he learned they'd be sharing office space together? Would he even want to? Would he be—

A wall of muscle appeared in front of her and she crashed into it. Coffee splashed out between her and the solid tower over her. The air rushed at her but an arm shot out and grasped her by the elbow, keeping her from losing balance. A pair of sharp violet eyes met her own and her breath caught.  

Adrien!

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" Coffee stained his crisp white shirt. She blinked several times and searched for napkins, something to—

"It's fine. Let it go, Cross." His voice sliced through her panic like a sword. Then he released her.  

"A-are you sure," His voice... Why did he sound so...? "Adri—Mr Argent?"

He sighed and stepped back. "Yeah."  

"I-I," she swallowed, those violet eyes once warm and liquidy were storm clouds. "I'll pay for the dry-cleaning and—"

He averted his sharp eyes away. "Forget it, Give me a minute." He turned without glancing back and headed in another direction.  

"We still have to do the... tour..." What was with his chilly vibes? Was he in designer? Did he think she couldn't afford the dry-cleaning bill? Ugh. Her blouse stained a bit but with a button-up of her blazer it hid the mess.

"So, he's the new guy, yeesh."Serah said, peering at her with pity.

"Yup, he's... The one."  

"And you helped make it better." She teased and winked. Then she gestured a thumbs-up and slid away as Adrien appeared again shortly after.

"Let's get this over with." His tone although quiet, caught her attention as he breezed past. Changed into a darker shirt.

"Right, so ah... Mr Argent?"

"What?" He sounded tired.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be."

She walked beside him, worry clinging to her despite the dismissal. "I swear I'll pay for the mess."

"Forget about it." The exasperation in his voice wasn't lost on her.  

"Right... Sorry!"

"Stop apologizing."  

"I'm—um, oh so ah, over here's the 3-D graphics team." She pointed toward the rows of computers as they walked past it.  

"Where are we working?" He didn't even give it a glance.

"But Boss said to show you around?"  

"And waste more time?"  

"Right, ok, this way then!" She led him back to their office, to his work station across from hers.

He sat at his chair and started up the program shutting her out after.  

"Well, if... You need anything just let me know ok?"  

Nope. Nothing.

Mary took a breath and turned back to her computer so she could get her own work done. He was being a total jerk. It's not like she did anything to him. So, then she wouldn't worry about it.  

*

"Hey, Mr Argent, want to sit together for lunch?"

"Busy."  

"But you have to eat."  

"Working over here."  

"Fine."  

Over at the break room~

Serah was already at the table with her lunch. One glance and sympathy crossed her features, "You look rough, he's giving you a hard time?"  

"That obvious? We were so cool back then. Now he's all," she gestured claws with her hands, "arrgh!" She sighed heavily, "do you think he hates me now?"

Serah shrugged, "Ask him."

"I won't. He's the one with the attitude, not me."

"Talk to him, see what's going on and try to work it out since you'll be working together. We still have a deadline and you know how boss gets."

"I'm already ahead of that, I sent him my design drafts earlier. He hasn't gotten back to me yet. And I can totally work without him."

"So, what do you have to lose?"

"My sanity."

*

Back at the office, Adrien was right where she last saw him, busy as ever.

"Hey, I got you an apple." She set the fruit within his reach before spinning back to her station. He didn't even respond. She sighed and continued her work again. Guess that's how it was going to go for the rest of the day.

When work finally ended, she saved her progress. Boss had given her the green light and all she had to do was refine the work and send it over to Serah to finalize. Then she dared to glance back to see him shutting down his own computer and pushing back to stand. She turned before he could notice and hurried out to the doors. If she were quick enough, she could avoid any awkwardness. She had enough for the day.

That's when she ran into Boss!

"Hello, Ms Cross, how was your first day with Mr Argent so far?"

Horrible. "Great, he's great." Did he see anything earlier? "Why do you ask?"  

"Ensuring he's a team player, right?"