This was not how Matthew planned on spending his afternoon.
After a productive morning in the lab with Chris, where they were processing a freshly obtained vampire blood sample, he planned to hop on a plane and surprise his wife with an early return home. He'd been away only for three days and was already becoming restless. Diana's regular messages were keeping his nasty side at bay, so he was, however relatively, in control of his emotions.
He had a feeling that being in a room with Baldwin and his ex would somehow change that.
A vampire's ability to stay in one place without moving for a long period of time was one that Matthew usually found rather useful - it was a good ability to have during hunting or attending boring conferences – but now it was getting on his nerves since neither his brother, nor his former flame moved a muscle in the last few minutes. He couldn't read Eva's pose as he didn't know her very well, but Baldwin might as well have been emitting steam. He didn't regret asking Baldwin for a blood sample: it was crucial to their study of species and Matthew lowered himself enough to get it, even though it was Diana's request that eventually persuaded the head of the de Clermont family. He just regretted not simply taking the sample back in France and transferring it to Yale in a container. Matthew mentally cursed himself for budging and travelling on Baldwin's plane with him to the States and not protesting to Baldwin's suggestion to come to the lab and check how's the research going since he's "already there". Baldwin spent the first day minding his own business somewhere in the city, the next day he came to the lab to give blood, and this morning, instead of going away to New York immediately, he came to the lab again to discuss some Knights' business with Chris. Matthew was walking him out of the building to make sure he goes away this time, and that was when they bumped into Eva on the stairs to the ground floor.
As far as Matthew knew, their affair was short-lived in vampire terms – a couple of decades or so – and Baldwin's fondness of destroying things through the cash flow put the final nail in the coffin of that relationship. Eva was the one who did the dumping, and Matthew would've sympathized with his brother if he didn't feel that Baldwin kind of deserved it. He didn't hear about the break-up from Baldwin over a glass of wine and a brotherly chat about how cruel women can be – they weren't that close – he learned about it from Ysabeau's snarky comment that was somewhere in the area of "Good riddance". She was on good terms with Eva and pitied the fact that she severed ties with the de Clermont family after the affair ended.
Standing now several feet away from the former paramours, Matthew wondered if it was possible to hold a grudge for so long. Strong feelings can survive war and famine – Matthew himself wasn't a stranger to carrying guilt through years and centuries. However, both Eva and Baldwin turned out just fine after the whole ordeal, with Eva rebuilding her reputation, if her CV for the economics department of Yale was any indication, and Baldwin taking up a couple of lovers in the last few decades. But they weren't just casually saying hello to each other and going their separate ways. They were engaged in a staring contest that was producing so much voltage that anyone fool enough to walk between them would burn alive.
Matthew contemplated looking at his watch, taking out his phone to check for messages from Diana or even coughing pointedly to draw their attention away from each other and defuse tension. The more brilliant idea would be turning on his hills and walking back to the lab, but he thought it rude. He still had to work in the same building with Eva, let alone face Baldwin at the next family gathering. He decided that a polite conversation starter on his part will do.
"Um, Eva?" he spoke carefully. She turned to the sound of his voice and the corners of her mouth formed a small smile.
"Hello, Matthew. Long time no see."
"Long time indeed," he smiled back, offering her a handshake. Letting go of her hand, he managed a quick look at his brother. Baldwin's eyes weren't only fuming.
They were also full of pain.
