"No Mrs. Clark... Why would our company... Fuck you Mrs. Clark!" I hissed after making sure I had hit the mute button. Growling a few more curses I smiled at the mirror in front of me and took myself off mute. "Mrs. Clark if you're going to continue to yell at me I will be forced to let you speak to my supervisor."
In the cubicle beside me, my twin brother Sora sneezed before reaching a hand out and patting me on the back. I prayed it wasn't the one he had just sneezed in. He mumbled something before I heard his head thump against his desk. He hadn't taken a call since he had come back from lunch which was about... thirty minutes ago.
"Sora either take a call or go home!" Axel our supervisor yelled through the Plexiglas that separated him from us.
"You got it boss!" Sora cried his face still planted firmly on the table.
Chuckling I messaged Axel that I had an incoming escalation and I could hear him sigh heavily. I just happened to sit right next to the boss, well my cubicle was stationed there but there was also the matter of the walls and Plexiglas separating us. After giving him all the information I transferred the call and hung my headphones up. Unplugging the phone from the jack I stood up and made my way to the cafeteria.
It was lunchtime and I was starving. I was joined not ten minutes later by my aggravated boss and Sora's boyfriend Riku.
"... Telling you he's not driving home. I can take him when I leave today. It's a short day for me and besides he rode with me anyway." Riku was saying as he plopped his tray down and slid in the booth adjacent me.
"Yeah I know but we have visitors today and Xemnas will have my head if he gets wind that someone wasn't working." Axel argued sliding his tray beside mine. "Besides I've been forwarding most of his calls to Xion, which isn't that many anyway since he only deals with Twilight Insurance."
"Well hey Roxas how are you today? Fine thanks for asking." I grumbled as I dug into my plate.
Riku and Axel only ignored me and after requesting Axel move his ass so I could go to the bathroom did he even notice I was there.
"Oh hey Roxy how are you?"
"I have to use the bathroom. Move your fat ass." I growled. "And stop calling me that! People are going to assume things that aren't true!"
With a chuckle Axel stood up and let me by. When I came back Riku did not look happy. He was sending murderous glares to Axel who ignored him in favor of staring at me.
"I came to lunch with one thing in mind," I started as Axel stood up and let me slide back into the booth. "And that was for some peace and quiet, but I guess I'm not about to get that. So what do you want?"
"You've been working here for four years now, and not once have you come to the Halloween party we have every year." He started.
My heart dropped and I clenched my hands into fists. With a deep breath I had to remind myself that he didn't know. He wasn't there and he didn't know.
"I want you to come this year. No in fact it's mandatory you're coming." He said with a grin.
If looks could kill I swear Axel would have been dead by now by the way Riku was glaring at him. But Axel wasn't paying attention. His eyes were solely for me. I wasn't stupid, I knew Axel liked me. He had been flirting with me since the moment he stepped foot in Radiant Services about three years ago. I wasn't ready yet for another relationship not now and possibly not ever.
With a sigh I shook my head, "I'm not going Axel."
"Oh yes you're coming and I refuse to take no for an answer. I have to get back to work now I'll see you guys later." With a pep in his step he slid out of the booth and headed straight for the trash can. Emptying his tray he turned to give me a blinding smile and he was gone.
"Rox…" Riku started reaching a hand out to grab mine.
"It's fine. It's been three years now I should be over it now. I should be moving on." I said as tears gathered in my eyes.
"The only reason Sora came out was because your parents caught us having sex on the kitchen table!" Riku blurted.
I was just taking a sip of my juice when I started choking. Rushing over to my side Riku pounded my back until I was able to get my breath back. I couldn't stop the laughter as it bubbled up and out of my throat.
"What?" I cried.
"I wanted to make you laugh. You haven't laughed in a long time. So I thought I'd tell you when Sora came out." Riku said. "I know you cry when we leave. I left my coat in the house one time and I heard you. If you want us to move back in you know we will right?"
"Yeah I know. But it's not fair of me to ask that of you. I'll be fine." I said.
Riku didn't look convinced but there was no time to argue as Axel came sauntering back in to ask Riku a question. With them both gone I picked at my lunch suddenly not hungry. When I made it back to my desk Sora and Riku were already gone and there was an instant message from Axel asking me to meet him at his desk.
"What do you want?" I asked.
"Is everything ok?" He asked slipping his glasses off long enough to massage his temples. It was very rare for Axel to wear his glasses. He almost always wore contacts but I guess his eyes were strained or tired today. His glasses were small not thick like most forty year old men's glasses were. They were a plain black and his usual blood red spikes were pulled back today into a low ponytail.
Instead of wearing his normal holey jeans and band t-shirts he was wearing a pair of dark wash jeans and a button up shirt. He was even wearing some cologne today which was unusual. He must have really been trying to impress the visitors that were coming.
"Uh hey Roxy everything ok?" Axel asked waving a hand in front of my face.
Shaking my head I could feel a blush creeping up my neck and heating up my face.
"Yeah I'm fine, and would you stop calling me Roxy." I growled. "If you're done with me I have to get back to work."
Axel was quiet for a few moments before nodding and allowing me to go back to my seat. The rest of the day passed by uneventful and later that night when I crawled into bed I cried myself to sleep. Sora had called shortly after I had gotten home to say that he and Riku wouldn't be coming over for dinner.
Halloween was only a week away which didn't mean very much to you if you were working in a call center. There would probably be fewer calls as parents were out with their kids getting free candy. The children would be dressed up and their hands sticky with sweets that they had convinced their parents to let them have. They would be hyper before bedtime and begging for candy as their parents put them to bed. They would be begging and crying for one more piece of candy and after they were safely tucked in, their parents would either hide their candy or eat it. If they were like my parents they would probably eat it.
I was surprised to see Sora the next day his cinnamon brown spikes no longer drooping but perfectly in place. When Riku walked in behind Sora his long silver hair was limp and his once turquoise eyes were glassy. It looked like Sora had ended up passing on what he had to Riku. Axel was waiting for me on my first break; his usual blood red spikes were messy on his head. He was wearing another pair of dark wash jeans that hugged his ass nicely, and he was wearing his glasses again.
"Are you doing ok today?" He asked.
I nodded heading over to the coffee machine with its array of coffees to fill my cup up.
"Perfectly fine." I said placing my cup under the machine. After pressing a few buttons I listened as it gurgled before finally dispensing my coffee.
Axel hummed but instead of leaving like I thought he would, he stayed his mouth opening and closing like a fish gasping for water. With a chuckle I headed into the cafeteria to see what was for lunch. When I saw that they had a blueberry crumble I immediately grabbed the biggest bowl I could find and rushed to the line. The blueberry crumble was hardly ever made and when it was, it never stayed for long. But when it was finally my turn it was gone.
Growling in frustration I took the bowl back as Axel leaned forward to whisper to the kitchens chef. We sat at the nearby booths silent for the next ten minutes until our break was over.
The calls progressively got worse as the day wore on. Riku was the one not taking calls now and since there were no visitors Axel could care less that Riku was asleep at his desk. Sora was as bubbly as ever chatting with everyone on the phone while Axel kept messaging him to get off. It finally got to the point where Axel had to patch in and tell the customer to have a great day while I hit the release button effectively hanging up on the customer.
Sticking out his tongue Sora reached in his desk to get out his giant ball of yarn and knitting needles to wait for the next call. Most of the day was spent like this, the queue was unusually large this time of day and by the time lunch rolled around I was glad to take off the damn headset. Sora wasn't too far behind me this time but his lunch was going to be spent taking Riku home.
I was once again left alone in the cafeteria, with no blueberry crumble to even make my day any brighter. I had just sat down when Axel strolled in carrying his black lunchbox. Sitting on the opposite side of me he opened it up and without a word slid a bowl over to me.
"What is this?" I asked before unwrapping the saran wrap that covered the small bowl. "For me?" I asked seeing that somehow he had snagged me some blueberry crumble.
"Asked them if they'd make you some. I asked them on our first break. They came and got me when it was done so I could store it in my lunchbox for you." He said with a smile.
I didn't know what to say. I knew the forty year old had a crush on me, had for a long time it seemed. He was always doing things that for me. I liked Axel I really did he was a good boss; he was fair and most of all kind. I didn't want him to think that I was leading him on because I wasn't trying to. I just wasn't sure if right now I could return his feelings. But thankfully he never pushed them on me. He seemed content... for now at least.
I thanked him for the treat and when I was done with my lasagna and salad the cafeteria had made I dug in.
"I sent out an email before lunch so I'm not sure if you've read it or not yet but we're having a contest. Whichever teams wins will only have to work half a day on Halloween." Axel said.
I didn't care what I had to do; I'd have sex with Xemnas if it meant I could get out early on Halloween.
"So you're saying all we have to do is decorate our cubicles and win, and we get a half a day off? Does this also mean I can skip the stupid Halloween party to?" I asked knowing the answer even as I asked.
"Nope! You still have to come to that." We ate in relative silence after that.
I didn't admit how much I loved the blueberry crumble that he had managed to snag for me. I would never admit to that. When lunch was over we headed back to the floor. Sora was chattering away on the phone while Riku had blankets piled on top of him. He was still snoozing and had yet to take a call.
I checked my email after I plugged my phone back into the jack to see the rules that Axel had sent over. Marluxia who sat in the cube adjacent from me was excited. I could hear the pink haired man going through his small filing cabinet. The man had decorations for such events at any given moment. For the past few years I had been here we had never done anything for Halloween.
When I saw the girly swirling pink and black font I knew immediately who had wrote this. Namine. She was another supervisor leading a different team in our small call center. Axel was in charge of our team, The Nobody's. Namine's team was made up of all girls and her team was Artist's Alley.
I skimmed through most of it trying hard not to let the font give me a headache. The calls came flooding in soon after I had plugged my phone back in so it gave me no time to read it thoroughly. If Sora and Riku came over for dinner tonight I would have Sora tell me.
Riku was feeling better by the time mine and Sora's shift ended. I had been teasing Sora mercilessly about how he had forgotten Riku at lunch and went home to eat. Riku had been sleeping the whole time so he didn't even realize he had been left. Sora still made sure he was wrapped in blankets and they promised they would come straight over for dinner. I ended up making homemade potato soup which Riku was grateful for. For Sora and I, I made a blueberry cheesecake for dessert.
"So what's up with the whole decorating for Halloween thing?" I asked. "Axel told me a little bit about it but I never got a chance to read the email."
"Our theme is Haunted House. They don't want us spending a lot of money either but we can decorate our cubes however we like. Marly came up with an idea for everyone to have their own little part of the haunted house. I nabbed a good one for you, or at least I think I did." Sora said with a smile.
"Yeah and because he forgot about me I'm stuck with cornfield. How the hell do you make a cornfield terrifying?" Riku growled from underneath his piles of blankets.
"What did I end up getting?" I asked.
"Witch's Lair." Sora said excitedly.
I'd been to enough haunted cornfields to know how to make them scary but a Witch's Lair? Looking over to Riku I asked if he wanted to trade. He and Sora frequented enough haunted houses on Halloween that I knew he could do it justice. Sora and Riku ended up staying the night in the guest's bedroom, and like every night I cried myself to sleep.
But this night was different I wasn't expecting a warm body to be pressed against my own, and gentle hands to run fingers through my hair. So when I turned and buried my face in their chest and breathed deeply I knew who it was.
"He's sick and I don't want to wake him. You need me more right now then he does." Sora whispered.
I just whimpered and nodded.
"They're making me go." I whispered.
"Making you go where?" He asked.
"To the Halloween party. Axel said it was mandatory since I never show up. I can't do it Sor, but I don't want to get fired either." I whimpered.
Everyone knew that on Halloween I called out. I never worked a Halloween, and I never went to Halloween parties. But the fact that I had to go to this one, it was too much for me to handle.
"I'll talk to Axel about it tomorrow then." He whispered.
"No!" I cried struggling to pull away from my brother's grip. "No please don't! I'm begging you please don't!"
"Why not?" He asked, "Roxas it's been three years, you've mourned by yourself for three years! You won't let any of us come over, not even me and I'm your fucking twin! If we just explain the situation to him I'm sure they'll understand!"
"Sora no!" I whimpered, "Please don't say anything." I was exhausted and sleep would not come easy tonight of that I was sure.
"Ok, ok I won't say anything I promise." He said.
It didn't take Sora long to fall asleep, but it never took him long to fall asleep. I didn't fall asleep until three in the morning, and then my alarm went off at seven. Sora clung tighter to me as I tried to reach over and shut the alarm off.
"Let's take a day off Ku," He murmured.
"I'd say yes but I woke up alone this morning!" Riku chuckled as he came over to shut the alarm off.
"But Ku remember the last time we stayed home?" He purred into my ear.
I squeaked and scrambled to get away. With Riku's help we managed to dislodge me and I tumbled off the bed effectively waking Sora up. I pushed my brother and Riku out to get changed while they made their way downstairs to get breakfast ready. We left the house surprisingly on time and by the time we all had our coffee and as we were sitting down it was time to clock in. I plugged my phone into the jack just as the first few calls started trickling in.
I had maybe gotten through three calls before Axel was leaning against my little cabinet arms crossed. I finished my call and hung my headset up making sure to put myself as away so no more calls could come through.
"So what did you get for the competition?" He asked.
"Did you seriously come all the way over here to ask me that?" I growled.
"Well... uh... well no I just wanted to see how you were doing. I know yesterday you looked a little upset. I just wanted to check on you." He said.
"I'm fine," I whispered fiddling with the wires of the headset. "And to answer your question I got Witch's Lair but I switched with Riku and I have Cornfield now."
"Oh and how do you know what a scary cornfield looks like?" He asked raising his eyebrows.
"I used to frequent them a lot. Like the week before Halloween we'd go to one every night. We had a lot of fun." I said with a giggle.
"Oh you and Sora?" He asked with a smile.
"Yeah..." I whispered not bothering to correct him, "Yeah we used to go a lot to." Axel didn't keep me much longer and I was able to go back to my calls.
We had lunch again together and we talked about ideas on how to win the competition. We talked about my ideas for the cornfield and by the end of the day I was in a better mood. Sora didn't sneak into my bed later that night because he and Riku were busy in the next room over.
I thought about what Axel said, I could have admitted to him it wasn't Sora I was going to the haunted cornfields with. But I didn't, and I wasn't sure now how to even broach the subject so I decided to keep quiet. The days passed by fast and soon it was the day before Halloween. The contest was today and I went in early to put the final touches on my cubicle. Axel was already there and he and Sora were fussing over Riku's while he was gone to get coffee.
Sora had brought a little plastic cauldron and they were just sitting it down when the judges started to come by. Xemnas had his silver hair out of its normal ponytail and it was down around his shoulders while his right hand man and lover Saix followed beside him. Axel rushed back to his cubicle while they and a few other supervisors walked around. For the cornfield I had drawn the corn stalks and the corn with haunting eyes. I tacked it to the wall and Sora and I even got some fake blood to spread around on the picture.
We went to the store and bought bloody hand prints to put on the computer and the phone. Axel helped me hang up the drawings and he helped apply the hand prints while Sora ended up helping Riku. Marluxia was the one to come around the day before to make sure that everyone's cubical looked up to par. We would find out though at the end of the day who won.
There weren't a lot of calls that day so we were able to stand up and talk to each other guessing at who would win. Axel had taken off a few minutes prior to check out the other competitors. Sora and Riku were both staring at me and then at each other before nodding and laughing.
They wouldn't tell me but it seemed like the whole aisle was included in whatever Sora and Riku were planning. By the end of the day before everyone got up to leave we all received an email.
"We won!" Axel cried just as we all started to open it. "Whelp we'll only have a half day tomorrow boys!"
"Thank goodness otherwise I would have been here until eight." Riku sighed. Today was his short day. He had gotten off at two but had stuck around until five when Sora and I got off.
"So what's everyone conspiring for?" I asked as I fumbled with the keys.
Sora and Riku had decided to just follow me home instead of going straight to their house to change. That usually meant they weren't going to spend the night and I would face yet another lonely night by myself. Tomorrow would be worse though so I knew they would spend the night then.
"We were all just betting on when Axel would finally admit that he likes you is all." Sora could never keep a secret; no matter how hard he tried so it was best not to tell him anything.
Axel liked me, and that I knew. Hell everyone knew that Axel liked me, it was really no secret. He always came to talk to me first when he clocked in and most of the time he always took his lunch with me.
Riku was in the kitchen digging through the drawer for a take out menu and I could hear him sighing. We had pizza that night and as I expected Sora and Riku didn't stay the night. The next morning was hard; I woke up and just started crying. Sora and Riku were over bright and early both of them lying on the bed curled up on either side of me.
"Hand me his phone Sor I'll call out for him." Riku said.
I could hear rustling and feel the bed move as he stood up to leave the room. Sora pulled me closer, and ran his fingers through my hair. If left alone I would probably just go through some old photo albums and cry all day.
"You still have the ring I see." Riku said as he laid my phone back down on the bedside table.
"Yeah, I always keep it there. I used to sleep with it under my pillow because it made me feel closer to him but I lost it once. So I just keep it there now." I responded snuggling into my brother's chest.
"It's nice that you do that." He said. "Always keeping his memory close. I would do that to if anything happened to Sora."
I busted back into tears not because of what Riku said but because it was so sweet. I knew the silver haired man cared for my brother but I didn't realize I guess how close they had become. Sora must have not known either because soon he was bursting into tears to. We held each other even tighter after that as Riku sighed and made his way to the kitchen to probably get breakfast ready.
"I can't stay home today Rox I'm sorry. It's because of my absences so instead Riku said he'll stay home with you today." Sora whispered as Riku made his way back into the bedroom a few minutes later.
"Ok." I mumbled.
I wouldn't be doing anything really anyway. I'd probably just end up watching old soap opera reruns anyway. The house didn't need to be cleaned; I made sure it was always clean. When I was stressed I cleaned so the house was always super neat, and the dishes were always done daily.
Sora and Riku had breakfast while I lounged on the couch. Sora kissed my forehead and told me he'd be back at around twelve. When Riku joined me on the couch I leaned my head on his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around my shoulder. I did well for about an hour before I started crying, and it didn't stop not even when Sora got home and we curled back up in bed.
When the time for the party came Sora and I were still cuddled in bed. Riku had been slowly getting ready and with his and Sora's help I got ready to. Both Riku and Sora were going as men from the mafia. Riku's suit was pinstripe while Sora's was just a plain charcoal gray.
I however was dressed as a sexy officer, complete with booty shorts, handcuffs and police hat. The shirt I was wearing was pretty much non ex-existent in fact it was basically just a vest.
"No. No I refuse to go to the party like this! I look like a freaking slut, guys today is just not the day." I growled.
"Rox I love you, you're my twin but you need to move on. I want you to have fun; three years ago this wouldn't have been a problem! You would have went out in public like this without a care in the world! Just please Rox, I don't want to fight but just give this party two hours and if you still feel like this we'll go home no questions asked." He argued.
I knew I would be leaving this house regardless of what I wanted to do. With a growl I grabbed my stupid police hat and headed to the car. The drive there was uneventful, probably because it was tense and quiet.
Axel was outside taking a smoke break when we drove up. Sora was vibrating with excitement and after parking the car he shot out and raced inside leaving me alone with Riku.
"Your brother is too social for his own good." Riku said as he got out.
I was surprised when my door opened and even more surprised to see that it was Axel.
"I'm so glad you came." He cried throwing his cigarette down and stomping it into the pavement. He was dressed I assumed as a the wolf from red riding hood, with a tight black shirt and leather pants with biker boots peeking underneath. A tail was attached to those sinfully tight pants and he was wearing gray wolf ears, with a black choker and fur trim around the coat he was wearing.
Taking his hand I was pulled inside by the over enthusiastic red head. It started off fun, everyone was entered into, The Best Halloween Contest upon entering and from there it was party city. There were refreshments in the cafeteria and the party was really just everywhere. There were people making out in the cubicles and I found Sora downing Jell-O shots in the cafeteria like they were candy.
Riku was trying hard to stop him but we watched as Sora skipped off to talk to Namine one of the supervisors.
Axel was still holding onto my hand as he pulled me away into one of the rooms to dance. He pulled me close and the man had surprisingly good moves. After a few fast songs they put on a slow one. Axel wrapped his arms around my waist and I wrapped my arms around his neck. We were so close, so close and before the song was over he pressed his lips against mine.
They were chapped but warm and I missed having someone to do that with. Just as he started to pull away I pulled him back in for another more sensual kiss. But then I realized what I was doing and I quickly pulled away.
"I'm so sorry!" I cried as the music cranked back up and sweaty bodies started to sway again. Tears gathered in my eyes as I took a step back and then another, "I'm so sorry!"
I raced out of the room and out of the building and headed straight for the car. I ran into Kairi there a red haired girl who was on Namine's team. Her violet eyes were wide and she immediately knew the situation. She was there when it happened, and she was one of the ones to hold me as I cried.
"Let's get you in the car and I'll take you home." She whispered.
Just as we got in the car I saw Axel race out whipping his head around and I knew he was looking for me. But right now I just wasn't ready, especially not today.