Whispered Kiss

Pack Your Bags

Bladen leaned back in his office chair, tapping his pen on his desk while drumming a brusque tune against his thigh with his free hand. He couldn't manage to sit still, and time seemed to be a missing factor in his day. He checked his silver crested watch again and sighed when barely a minute had passed.

She's late, on her second day of work. Could it be they got to her? Had I been too slow-

"Good morning."

The vocal, almost trans-like notes of Vivian's voice interrupted him, snapping his attention away from the cruelty of time. Fuck. I didn't even hear her. Bladen frowned. It had been a long time since his finer hearing didn't pick up on Vivian's movements. Usually, he heard her lithe steps the moment she entered the building.

Their eyes made contact. Vivian's hazel irises turned a shade brighter with the barest specks of white flaring to life. To a human, the change in her eye color wouldn't draw suspicion or attention. It happened fast and disappeared just as fast. She had analysed him with the use of a rare ability but Bladen surpassed her in power, mental barriers, and age. Thus, Vivian couldn't near read him. Despite knowing this, Vivian still tried whenever she couldn't discern any information by simple observation alone. Her skill came in handy when he needed her to persuade closed mouths.

"Morning." He mumbled, his mind running back to the clock and back to her. His gaze refocused on the pen in his hand as he began tapping it into another broken rhythm until the sound rose an octave higher and started reverberating against the hollow walls.

The poor pen was close to breakpoint when Vivian grabbed hold of it and yanked it from his grip. She pocketed the pen and straightened at the foot of his desk into a regal – or what she classified as proper PA posture – stance. He fixed her with his best annoyed glower, but he knew as Vivian's lips curved into an upward smile that she didn't care about his attempt at scaring her off.

"Will you tell me what's eating you or will I forcibly drag it from you?" She asked as she slightly cocked her hip and raised her tone to a more serious cadence.

Bladen sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Where is our new intern?" He asked instead, hoping a change of topic will lead her away from his ever-rising anxiety and the cause of said anxiety.

With a sigh, Vivian shook her head, but nonetheless, for now, she appeared to be giving in to his will.

"She called and informed that she'll be late. I know it's not appropriate for her second day on the job. I'll deal with her in the appropriate manner once she arrives."

Bladen choked back a roar of laughter and tried gulping it down. In certain instances, he had the strongest need to revert to a child, laughing and pointing in disbelieve. Vivian couldn't hurt a fly, at least not those she liked. At the most, Ave would receive a stern warning and an austere look.

Bladen waved her off, "No need. Send her to me."

Vivian raised her thinly sculpted eyebrows but said no more, standing upright she shot him another world-shattering smile. "I'll go get you a cup of coffee, and then we can talk about what's bothering you."

Bladen hissed. Vivian wouldn't be getting an answer, but he had to give her credit for her determination. Today, he wouldn't be sharing his secrets with her or the reason for his mood. The less people knew what he was up to, the better. Plus, Vivian wouldn't approve of his crazy plan, and by the end of the day she would be having ten flying fits because of said plan. He didn't doubt she would demand why he didn't inform her of such a vital thing, as she had always been his right-hand woman. To this day, he couldn't forget the day he stumbled upon her. Small, weak, hungry and alone in the world. She was but a child back then and his own life had been shattered in unfathomable ways. He had fallen from the living and was subjected to a crude mental darkness. Vivian, in a way, provided the light he needed to come back to a semblance of himself.