Irony

"Our eyes had the most devilish affair; meeting in secrecy in a room full of people"

• Lucian •

"This seems like a good fit. I just want to reiterate that we need someone who can give us their full attention, the time we need to- Lucian?" I dragged my eyes away from Casper talking to Viviana
And... some man

She looked different again
Sophisticated but in a normal way, not a professional way
She wasn't in a pin skirt with her hair tied up
She wasn't neat and professional

She had a dress on
She had her hair down
She had lipstick staining her glass with every sip
Heels too high for any office standard

She was dressed up like any other woman in the city
And yet I had seen none as beautiful as her
"Lucian?" My name once again
Stern and confused

Nothing like the way she says it.
And I looked back to Harry Georgian

"Sorry, yes, that is exactly what you will get with us, loyalty and dedication" I assured
Samantha Lockard smiled
"That's great. Who wouldn't want a man like you for their every whim?" She joked

I tried to smile back
To be... pleasant
But her blatant flirting didn't sit right with me
We wanted their account
I didn't want to indulge her flirting to get it though.

"My apologies, I was just catching up with friends" Casper smiled, rejoining us

"No problem, we were nearly off anyway. We will get in touch about coming in to finalise details, sign the contract and such" Harry said cheerily
"That would be great. We'll have someone call your office" I said
He nodded, looking to Samantha

"I think that's it then. Come on, let's get off before we drink the whole bottle and make fools of ourselves" Harry said, getting up
He was an old man. And yet he had a sharp mind

He set off for the door, no doubt to get his car from the valet and his coat
"This is was extremely enlightening boys, I look forward to working with you" Samantha said, standing, pulling a card from her handbag

"And if you ever need to call out of office hours, my numbers on there" she said, handing it to me
For fuck sake
"Always a pleasure Sam" Casper said

"Did you actually just get hit on by her?" Casper said amused
"Unfortunately" I said, abandoning the piece of card in an empty glass
"You're not going to call?" He asked

I looked across the room
"What did she say?" I asked
"You've been single a while now, maybe going out with her would be good for you" he mused
"What did Viviana say? When you went over there" I asked again

"Why are you bothered about her? I thought she was done?" He questioned
"Casper" I warned, looking at her again
"Who's the man?" I asked

"Think she said it was her... was it boyfriend?" He thought aloud
Boyfriend?
"Ah no no, it's her father" He corrected
Oh.

"You're an idiot" I said
"No, you're jealous" He teased
"I'm going to get another drink" I said.

I waited at the bar for my drink
Not daring to look behind me

But I didn't have to
Because the man Viviana was sat with... her father stood beside me at the bar
Staring at me
"Can I help you?" I said disinterested

"Caspian Romero, Viviana's father" he introduced himself
"I'm aware" I said
"I've heard a lot about you" he said
"Nothing good I'm sure" I commented
"She did say you were smart" he commented back

"Is there something you want from me?" I asked, looking his way
He smiled. A tight meaningless smile
"I just hope my Viv's time left here... and with you, is as pleasant as can be. You see we talk a lot. I hear how stressed out and run down she is. I hear how she's still single and how she doesn't go out... ever. And that's all down to you" he said

I sighed
All I ever heard these past few weeks was how Viviana is a fucking saint and I'm some nightmare.

"Dad? What are you doing?" Viviana interrupted us.
"Just chatting with your lovely boss, you talk about him so much" he said in a friendly tone
And yet his dead shark eyes staring into mine told me otherwise
"Let's go butterfly" he said

Butterfly?
"You go and I'll catch up" she urged
He eyed me as he turned
"Fine" he said, walking away

"What are you doing here?" She asked
Like she owned the place?

"I had a meeting with some new clients" I said
"Ah, Georgian and Lockard" she acknowledged
"Yes. You would have known had you been at work today" I said
It was a cheap shot considering everything that's happened

Yet my head can't seem but to fire them
Like a defence mechanism
Pushing her away
Everyone away.
She ducked her head shamefully

"Yes. About that... I am sorry, for the way I talked to you earlier, it was out of order and I should have never said anything in front of our coworkers" she said
"Everyone says things they don't mean" I brushed off

"No I... I meant what I said. I'm sorry for how I said it. I shouldn't have shouted or stormed out" she said
"You're not sorry for what you said? Seriously?" I asked
"It was a long time coming Lucian, I was just frustrated and at some point frustration like that will explode whether you want it to or not" she explained

Lucian
Last time she said that...
"Lucian?" She questioned
"Will you be in tomorrow?" I asked

She just stared at me. Like she couldn't believe my words
"Yes. I'll see you tomorrow" she said shortly, walking away from me.
Don't walk away.
I...

I should have said sorry as well. I should have...
Fuck
I followed her

Out of the bar and into the street, grasping her arm to stop her
"Stay" I said
"What?" She asked

• Viviana •

"Stay, let me buy you a drink to... to apologise" he said
To apologise? He was doing a lot of that lately
I guess we both were

"For what?" Dad asked
"Dad" I scolded
"No. I... I was unprofessional today. And I want to buy you a drink to say sorry" He said
"Yeah I bet you do" dad grumbled

"Dad" I snapped
"What? He was unprofessional so he's going to buy you a drink? Is that very professional?" He accused
"No, you're right, I will leave you to it" he said

"No, no" I said, grabbing his arm instead
"I'd like that" I said
"Don't waste your time-"
"Dad, just... go home for me yeah? I won't be long" I asked

"Better not be" he warned, wondering off in search of a taxi
"Thank yo-"
"Drink first" I said, walking past him.

•

"Are you sure?" I asked
"Yes, early start and all that, I'll see you tomorrow though yeah? I'm guessing Lucian hasn't fired you early" he laughed
"No, I'll see you tomorrow" I nodded
"Okay. Night Viv" Casper said, leaving the bar

Before Lucian came back with drinks
"Where is he going?" He asked
"Home" I said
He sat opposite me
Ever the hard faced man.

"You can take another half day tomorrow... if you want" he said out of nowhere
"Really? Thank you" I said genuinely
"I didn't know your father was already here?" He questioned
"He arrived today" I said

He nodded, sipping his wine
"Is he always protective over you?" He asked
I nodded back
"He doesn't travel a lot, anywhere but home is... strange to him" I said

"So he doesn't visit often?" He asked
"No, that's another reason why it will be nice to go home, I can spend some proper time with him" I smiled

• Lucian •

It was when she said that. That I realised I knew nothing of her family
"What about your mother?" I dared to ask
She paused momentarily
"My mother died, when I was fourteen" she said

"I'm sorry" I tried
She shrugged
"What can you do? Heart attacks don't exactly think of anyone do they?" She said, trying to sound causal and yet the sadness in her eyes was evident
A lot was evident in her eyes

Another realisation I had come to over the past few weeks
I never really truly looked her in the eyes before
I often looked at her when she wasn't looking at me.

"Do you not have any siblings to help you?" I asked
She smiled
"What is this? Twenty questions?" She chuckled
"You trying to get to know me now that I'm leaving?" She asked jokingly

"Yes" I said seriously
Seriousness she saw as she sat back, thinking
"I have a brother, but... we don't see each other much" she said
"Why?" I asked

"He's like my dad, thinks I was stupid to move away to another country, away from everything and everyone" she said
"So why did you?" I asked genuinely curious

She looked at me. Clearly surprised I was still engaged
"Because I wanted a new start. Away from being the poor girl who's mother died. Away from looking after everyone else... I... I basically raised my brother and I just couldn't... I couldn't cope being something for everyone else but myself" she explained

Before she laughed
"And then I moved to a big city, thought I'd make something of myself and I got a job working for you, doing everything you want, all the time" she said, fiddling with her glass
"Irony" she mumbled

"Am I that bad? Is... the stuff you said true?" I asked

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