Maria groaned. She had intended to sleep for far longer, but the loud buzzing and blaring music that burst forth from her cellphone roused her far earlier than she intended.
"Is someone testing me every day I live? Well, the best in me is all I have to give." Her ringtone sang.
Someone absolutely is testing me if they're waking me up at this hour Maria thought. Her eyes quickly widened when she noticed that her sister was the one who was calling her. Quickly, frantically even, she answered.
Maria's response was, admittedly, less graceful than she had intended. "Uhhh…?" Her voice had come out not in her usual, clear tone, but in some manner of inelegant, and barely understandable, low grumble.
"Oh dear, did you have a late night, Maria? You sound like you've got a mouth full of gravel." Annette teased.
"Did you need something?" Maria yawned. She took a quick glance towards the clock at her bedside. 12:30 PM. This was probably not an acceptable time to be getting up, but today was her day off, she was entitled to a little more rest if she wanted it.
On the other end of the line, Annette let out a nervous laugh. "You um… you know I normally bring Richter his lunch when he's out at work, right?"
"Mhm."
"Well, I was in a bit of a hurry this morning; I forgot to bring it with me to work. It should still be on the kitchen counter. I hate to ask, but could you bring him it?" Annette pleaded.
The younger sister took a minute to think. She didn't necessarily mind but she did want to enjoy her day off, but on the other hand, it wasn't as if she had any plans for that day.
Maria opted to do her good deed for the day. "Yeah, I can take it to him. Where is it he works again? I'll head straight there once I have a shower. I feel kinda gross right now."
"Thanks, Maria, you're a lifesaver. He should still be at the Cronqvist building, you know, the one owned by his Dad's friend?"
"The huge one that's owned by Vlad Tepes? Weird that it's his building and it's not owned by him, but yeah! I know the one."
"Yes, that's the one. I appreciate this! Just make sure you're not too late. His lunch break ends at 1:45, try not to be late, okay?" Annette pleaded.
If Maria hadn't been so drowsy still, she'd probably have been offended. "Yeah, no worries."
"Alright, I'll see you when I get home from work then. Love you." Maria stretched and prepared to hang up. "Mhm. Love you too. I'm gonna go and get ready now."
Maria quickly glanced at her watch as she started up her shower, it'd take a minute or so for it to get to a temperature that wasn't hot enough to scald her, but wasn't cold enough that she'd come out feeling significantly worse than when she went in.
It had taken her a good 10 minutes to finally drag herself out of bed and set out some clothes so she could be out of the apartment as quickly as possible. She peaked out of the bathroom into the living room and saw that indeed, there was a brown paper bag with Richter's name plastered on it, signed with a kiss, on one of the kitchen counters. However he had actually managed to win her sister's heart, it had worked. Annette absolutely adored him.
Letting out a loud sigh, Maria's thoughts drifted towards Richter Belmont, her now Brother-in-Law. He wasn't a bad guy at all and he was always nice to her. She let out a chuckle. He had been in love with Annette for quite some time but for someone who was in the line of work he was in, he was surprisingly lacking in confidence. But, he was certainly a good man, and her sister could have done a hell of a lot worse than Richter Belmont.
Sensing that the shower was probably hot enough for her now, she slipped off her watch and sleepwear and jumped in, setting her watch down on the counter by the mirror. She had barely felt the warm water on her skin for moment before she heard the noise of an object hitting water. She slipped her head out from behind the shower curtain and was met with a horrid sight.
At a loss for words, Maria only had one response. "…Oh shit." Her watch had fallen from the countertop she had placed it on mere moments ago into the toilet bowl. She cursed inwardly, outwardly and realised that the seat had been left up.
As Maria frantically attempted to get out of the shower to retrieve her precious watch, she slipped and fell, bringing the shower curtain down with her as she attempted to grab onto it in a last ditch effort to remain upright. She stumbled to her feet and quickly, with the reflexes of a cat, managed to retrieve her timepiece from the water and frantically dried it with a towel, hoping to mitigate as much of the water damage as she could.
"…Belmont!" she cursed, before taking another look at the time and cursing once more as she climbed over what was left of the shower curtain to try and finish her shower.
Frantically, Maria pulled her outfit together, barely managing to slide an emerald green hoodie over her head and tying her hair into the most rushed ponytail she could possibly have managed, scent of shampoo still fresh on her, before grabbing Richter's lunch and her motorcycle helmet and heading out, checking, double checking and triple checking she actually remembered to lock the door in her hurry.
Once she was absolutely certain, she sprinted towards the elevator, frantically pushing at the button as if it would make it get to her floor any quicker. She tapped her foot impatiently as she waited, patience already wearing thin from the earlier shower incident. If Richter were going to visit as well as use the facilities, the least he could do is remember to put the seat down.
She glanced towards her watch. Still no movement from it caused another sigh to escape from her lips. She might be giving her brother-in-law his lunch, certainly, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to kill him for killing her watch. Annette was still young, she'd find someone else, probably.
Finally, the Elevator had arrived, the doors opening somewhat slower than Maria would have initially liked. It was conspicuously empty, but Maria didn't think to pay it any mind. She practically threw herself inside and frantically began hammering the button to take her to the ground floor.
The elevator's automated voiceover kicked into life to signal it was in use with a robotic "Doors closing."
Maria breathed a sigh of relief before the tinny voice spoke once more.
"Doors opening." The voice announced, and true enough, the doors began to slide open again, despite not having fully closed. Maria looked puzzled, before the doors began sliding closed again with the same automated "Doors closing." Less than five seconds later, the doors began to slide open again.
Maria, however, had lost patience with the elevator and stormed out, opting to take the stairs. It was only three flights, after all, what could go wrong?
As it turns out, Maria would find, a wet floor could go wrong. She slid on the landing atop the stairs and barely managed to stable her footing.
It's bad enough he killed my watch but at this rate he might actually kill me too Maria mused, as she began to cautiously descend the stairs and headed towards the garage, where her motorcycle was parked.
Thankfully for Maria, her motorcycle was still parked where it always was. That much, at least, had gone right in her day. She held her helmet under her other arm whilst she fumbled around her pockets for her motorcycle keys, before finally managing to put her hand on them, raising them above her head in triumph in such an exaggerated manner that she actually dropped Richter's lunch.
Maria's heart was in her mouth as the brown paper bag careened into the ground with no means to stop it. Her fear, however, turned to confusion as the bag hit the ground with a sound that sounded very similar to plastic.
Picking up the bag, Maria carefully took a look inside the bag to find that indeed, Annette didn't pack Richter's food loose and that instead, his lunch was in three separate plastic lunchboxes. Three courses for lunch. Maria could barely imagine being able to eat that much herself, especially with how much food was actually in each container. She knew Richter had a bit of an appetite to him and he was in pretty good shape, but how could he be when he ate as much? Maria couldn't wrap her head around it, but quickly snapped back to reality when she realised what exactly it was she was holding.
Frantically, she unlocked the top box on the back of her motorcycle and placed Richter's lunch, or perhaps even his lunches inside. Maria was unsure how much of the food he actually ate, but something made her feel as if he could, and probably would eat it all. She had to wonder how much he must have liked Annette's cooking if he were willing to eat such a huge amount of food.
Thankfully, Maria hadn't forgotten that she was in a hurry, and quickly snapped the topbox shut, locking it into place and securing Richter's lunch, before putting her helmet on and pulling the visor shut.
Twisting the ignition key, the emerald green motorcycle's engine roared into life, as Maria kicked the stand back up and began to ride off towards the Cronqvist Building.
Or so she would have. She'd been stuck at an intersection waiting on and old lady crossing the street. She moved so inhumanly slow that it was actually beginning to cause Maria physical pain. She'd been sat here for at least fifteen minutes, maybe more, and the aging woman had yet to make it half-way across the street.
The more Maria seemed to notice the old lady's progress, the slower she seemed to move. The motorcycle rider had honestly been more enthused watching paint dry. Which she had, admittedly, done before, when Annette asked Richter to repaint her bathroom for her when the pair had still been engaged.
She almost began to audibly sob with how slowly this old lady had been moving. Maria wondered that perhaps if this woman had in fact moved any faster, the strain would be too much on what must be, by now, an absolutely ancient heart, and she would simply keel over and die. That could be the only possible explanation for what had been happening here.
"….God that's grim." She whispered, before offering up a silent prayer that perhaps something, anything could go right today. Maybe if she was lucky, even two things could have gone right. If she was lucky, of course, and given how today had been going, luck had obviously not been on the young blonde's side.
A further twenty minutes passed and Maria was beginning to get desperate. This absolutely ancient woman still hadn't made much, if any headway. As she squinted at the elderly woman, Maria could almost swear that she had went even slower than she had been moving twenty minutes ago.
Thankfully, of course, Maria was not doomed to be stuck at this junction for the rest of the day. A young man, clad in a bandanna had opted to assist the old woman in crossing the road, saying something along the lines of her being his grandmother, and that she couldn't just run off the way she did.
"How could you call anything about the way she moves running?" Maria thought to herself as she shared a silent, knowing look with the old lady's grandson and gave him a thankful nod before the traffic lights were green once more. Without so much as a second thought, Maria drove off towards the city centre, where the Cronqvist Building, and her brother-in-law waited.
The building itself, of course, was easy enough to find. It was huge, and appeared to be constructed of a weathered grey brick resembling the stone walls of a castle. Such was its height that it almost certainly dominated the skyline, and in the evening, the neon of the Cronqvist name in lights could be seen from almost anywhere in town.
As she pulled over to park her motorcycle, Maria took in a sharp breath. This skyscraper seemed sort of ominous and intimidating. Did Richter really work here? She shook her head, now wasn't the time to be afraid of an old building, she came to bring him his lunch and she'd do what she promised.
She pulled her helmet up over her head with a complete lack of grace and set it down before removing her keys and retrieving the bagged lunch from the top box. Carefully she lifted the brown paper bag out, and replaced the empty space where it had been with her helmet. With a satisfying click, it locked shut and Maria retracted her keys from the container, before heading through the automatic doors into the reception.
The interior of the Cronqvist building was so jarringly different in contrast to the dull and almost oppressive exterior. It was bright, modern and classy, Maria had never seen a building that seemed to ooze as much class as this one had.
Quietly, and admittedly a little overwhelmed, Maria crossed the marble floor towards the receptionist. Another, young looking woman whose focus was squarely upon the monitor in front of her. Clearing her throat, the receptionist looked up at Maria with a detached expression on her face.
With an almost robotic tone, the receptionist recited her well-practiced speech "Welcome to the Cronqvist Building, how can I help you today?" she asked.
Maria held up the brown paper bag. "Uh, hi. I'm looking for Richter Belmont. I have his lunch here."
The girl behind the desk's eyes widened, ever so slightly. "Oh, you must be the sister…"
"Pardon?"
"Oh, just, we're used to his wife bringing him his lunch. She's usually earlier than this though. She kept saying I'd run into you one of these days." The Receptionist stated, somewhat absentmindedly as her fingers continued to dance over her keyboard before sliding Maria a guest pass over the desk. "He should still be in a shoot right now. 40th floor. Just take the elevator and it'll be the first room to your left at the end of the corridor."
Maria nodded gingerly as she took the guest pass. "Thanks, I appreciate it. At least something's going right today."
"Mm."
"Uh, see you later then." Maria waved as she walked towards the elevator, praying inwardly that it would work. She was, certainly, physically fit but there was not a chance in hell that she was going to climb 40 flights of stairs just to give Richter his lunch.
The elevator itself was windowed and exterior of the elevator shaft was composed of glass, affording Maria a truly remarkable view of the city as she ascended. Maybe she had been a little harsh on the Cronqvist Building originally. If he could enjoy sights like this every time he came to work, it was little wonder that he spoke of his job with such delight to Maria. God, she was so impossibly high up and it made her head spin a little.
Thankfully, before Maria could develop a fear of heights, the elevator doors opened, leading to a long corridor that was a chic black. White lights lined the floor and illuminated the hallway from below.
It was conspicuously empty and the sound of Maria's boots against the marble floor echoed through the corridor in a way that made Maria shiver uncomfortably as made her way to the end of the hallway.
Maria took a deep breath as she pushed through the door that the girl behind the desk had directed her towards, but nothing could have prepared her for what was behind it.
Maria was faced with a number of bright lights, screens and cameras. She had always imagined that Richter was joking when he said what he did for a living, but she cursed inwardly that she didn't believe him.
However, she did not have long to be overwhelmed by the presence of all the expensive equipment, as she very quickly realised that she was not alone in this studio. There was another figure who was, as far as Maria could guess, preparing for a photoshoot.
The first thing Maria noticed about this man was that he was tall, even taller than Richter, and the second thing, once he turned to face her, naturally, was that he was gorgeous. Pale in complexion, with golden hair that was a brighter shade than Maria's own. There was something almost otherworldly about the man who now was staring her down with a steely gaze.
"You. Come here." He demanded.
Maria looked around the room as if there were anybody else that he could have been speaking to before pointing to herself. "Eh? Me?" she asked in surprise.
The taller gentleman nodded and beckoned her over. "Come. You've kept us waiting long enough."
Maria, unsure of how she found herself in this situation, simply did as he asked, before she attempted to ask about Richter. "Uh… have yo-"
"Why haven't you been to hair and makeup?" He cut her off before she could finish before looking Maria up and down, bringing a faint blush to her cheeks. The way he looked at her so intently almost gave her half a mind to smack him, but immediately the spark of inspiration flashed in his eyes, snapping both of them from their respective thoughts. "Wait. No. You'll do fine as you are, actually."
Maria certainly wouldn't have considered herself shy in any circumstance, but the sheer absurdity of her situation, combined with how almost intimidatingly beautiful the man in front of her was had left her at a loss for words. Compelled by a force she couldn't describe, Maria set the brown paper bag aside on a table next to one of the lights and joined him.
"I see you're ready for your shoot, Adrian?" A second gentleman, who Maria didn't recognise called out.
"God, his head is shiny. Especially with these lights." Maria chuckled inwardly.
The taller blonde, or Adrian as Maria gathered his name must have been, nodded. "Mm. Thank you for your time today, Zead. I know you just had a shoot with Belmont."
"Belmont? As in Richter Belmont?" Maria piped up, earning a raised eyebrow from Adrian.
He held a puzzled expression on his face. It would not be out of the realm of possibility for her to know Richter. He was a rather famous model, after all, but her tone conveyed a sense of familiarity.
"Yes. How is it that you know him? You sound as if you're familiar with him, certainly, but not his work." He asked, as he began to close the distance between himself and Maria.
Maria was taken aback by Adrian's sudden movement towards her. He was so close to her now. God, he was so close and she soon found herself getting even more flustered being near him than she had originally been from the mere sight of him.
"I-I uh… Well, y-you… you see…" Maria stammered, before quickly regaining some semblance of coherent thought and gesturing over towards the brown paper bag atop the chair.
Nodding as if the both of them recognised the situation, Zead allowed a chuckle to slip past his lips.
"That solves the mystery of why he was as uncooperative during his shoot then." Adrian noted, as he stretched, standing to his full height, Maria barely coming up to his shoulders in her boots. He looked back down to Maria. "My apologies, it seems there has been a misunderstanding. But I still have photos to shoot, and you are still here. May I borrow you for an hour?"
His voice was soft and Maria shivered at the sound, but she could not compel herself to refuse.
The first half an hour of photos had been easy enough on Maria, she didn't have to stand quite so close to Adrian, and was simply directed to act as natural as she could. This wasn't what she had worried about. No, that was yet to come.
"Alright, Adrian, I'm going to need some really intense glamour shots of you two." Zead began, before gesturing towards a well-lit wall in the corner. "Miss Renard, we'll require you for these as well."
Maria raised an eyebrow before asking "Why would that be?"
"We've been taking shots of the two of you. That would not change no matter the type of shot I am to take. Adrian was booked in for a pair shoot today, therefore you will be required. Now, if you will, could you please face with your back to this wall?"
"Well, I guess I don't mind." Maria complied, as she backed up into the brickwork.
Adrian cleared his throat as he approached Maria, before taking a deep breath and simply saying "Apologies in advance, Zead can get somewhat… overzealous. In regards to this particular setting."
"Overzealous?" Maria asked, cocking her head to the side.
"Yes, well-" Adrian began, before Zead began yelling.
"Yes Adrian! Excellent! Get a little closer now, won't you?" He called. Adrian complied and shifted himself ever closer to Maria, who, with her back quite literally against the wall, had nowhere to go.
Maria opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. Seeing this, Adrian turned around to Zead with a puzzled expression, unsure of how to proceed.
"Was there something specific you had in mind, Zead?" he asked.
Almost immediately, the bald photographer grinned. "Make her heart throb, Adrian."
Maria could not describe the sinking feeling in her stomach at the photographer's words, but she took a deep breath in. It wasn't as if her heart wasn't already pounding just by looking at Adrian, but she wasn't prepared for his next move.
"Sorry." Adrian whispered, as he slammed his hand into the wall above her and leaned in close, closer than he had ever been to her before. He attempted to maintain eye contact with Maria, but she found herself far too flushed to bare looking at him like this.
Zead, on the other hand, was thrilled. "Big finish, Adrian!" he commanded.
Adrian nodded in response and for a brief moment, Maria swore she saw him take a deep breath in to stifle a blush on his own face as she glanced at him, before he trained his gaze upon her once again.
Slowly, he extended his free hand outwards towards Maria and raised it towards her face. Gently, with an almost feather like touch, Adrian took Maria's chin into his hand and tilted her head upwards, his eyes meeting hers.
As much as Maria wanted to look away, there was something that she couldn't quite put her finger on that compelled her to keep her eyes locked with Adrian.
His gaze wasn't as harsh as it had been earlier and there was something safe about the way he held her chin in his hand. Her face was stained with crimson, but she could not hide it.
The camera flashed around her from multiple angles, but she did not notice. She was too taken in by her current situation with Adrian to pay any mind to the bright lights.
Nothing could have prepared Maria for her encounter with Adrian. As she left the studio, Richter's near-forgotten lunch in hand, she felt as if her head were spinning. When she had hoped something could go right for her today, a chance encounter with a man who could almost be described as unnaturally beautiful was not exactly what she had in mind. She inhaled deeply as she began to walk towards the elevator only for her to bump into something, or rather, someone.
"Oh, Maria! What are you doing here?" A masculine voice very familiar to Maria inquired. Looking up at the man she had just bumped into.
Maria sighed in relief. "Hi Richter. I've been looking for you. Uh…" she trailed off, before raising the brown paper bag up towards her brother-in-law. "Annette asked me to bring you lunch but getting here was… Well, it was pretty trying. You won't believe the day I've had."
Richter grinned widely. "Hey, it doesn't matter if you were late. I'm going to go eat this, would you mind coming with me?" He asked, gesturing in the direction of his dressing room.
Maria followed him, cautiously. Knowing that Richter worked with people like Adrian, she wasn't quite sure if she was ready to encounter any more models today.
Thankfully, Richter's dressing room wasn't quite as large as she had been expecting. Or perhaps it was simply due to Richter's size relative to her that she felt the room to be small. Richter was rather large in comparison to her, after all.
"So you said you got here a while ago, right? Weird. I thought there was a shoot going on earlier and nobody would have been allowed here."
"Huh? Oh, yeah, I didn't get here all that long ago."
Richter took a seat and unpacked his lunch, then, with a speed that Maria didn't know whether to be impressed or disgusted by, he ate rapidly.
Maria thought that calling what her brother-in-law did to that meal eating was rather generous, if anything, he appeared to almost inhale the food and she was surprised that he hadn't simply choked.
Shoving the now empty plastic boxes back into the back, Richter stood to face Maria, with the face of one who looked to have just had the best idea.
"Say, Maria… you're not hungry right now, are you?" He asked.
Maria shook her head. "Honestly, Richter? After the day I've had? I don't think I'll be fit to eat for another week." Almost on-cue, however, her stomach rumbled loudly. Maria cursed inwardly as Richter chuckled.
"Well, I was thinking, it's not often you and I get to spend quality time with each other, and it looks like you could use it, so I was wondering if you'd like to grab a bite to eat. I know this amazing local diner that my roommate turned me on to. Said his parents used to bring him there all the time." He offered.
The more she tried to fight her hunger, the tighter it gripped upon her. Sighing in defeat, Maria nodded. "Sure, sure. I guess I'll come with you." A wry smile flashed on her lips. "But it'll have to be your treat, considering you killed my favourite watch."
Richter simply laughed in response, before he took out his cellphone and began dialling. Maria raised an eyebrow as he held the phone to his ear and the call connected.
"Hey man, it's me. Are we still good for later? I'm bringing my sister-in-law with me." Richter began, getting engrossed in his conversation with, to Maria's knowledge at least, God knows who. "Yeah? Yeah. That'll be fine. …About 15 minutes? Yeah. I'll see you there." Hanging up, Richter put a hand on Maria's shoulder and gestured towards the door.
Surprisingly for Maria, Richter had pretty good taste in restaurants. He had taken Maria to some kind of urban grill diner. The interior combined subdued and dark walls and furniture with brighter oak floors and tables. Maria stretched on the black velvet couch of the booth Richter had reserved until she was perfectly comfortable. Sitting forward, she began to play with the straw in her iced tea, stirring the ice cubes around idly while her thoughts drifted back to the afternoon, and to Adrian.
It had certainly been an experience, albeit not one Maria had ever thought she would have went through. Idle chatter and the clatter of cutlery filled the air, but served as little more than background noise to Maria's thoughts. Would she see him again? She could go and visit Richter at work again, but there would be no guarantee he would be there. It would be strange if she had just went and asked for him at the desk too.
Sighing, Maria stopped fidgeting with the straw and took a cursory sip of her tea. It was sweet and tasted of a faint hint of peach. What was she doing, worrying if she saw Adrian again or not? She had seen him plenty. Any more of someone that unnaturally beautiful would likely have been too much for her. Unfortunately for her of course, Maria wasn't allowed much time alone to process her thoughts as Richter returned to the table with a third menu.
Richter bowed in apology to Maria as he spoke. "Sorry for the wait, Maria, I was waiting on a friend. He and I come here a lot after work."
"A friend, you say?" Maria asked, her interest piqued. As far as she knew, the only people Richter was actually friends with were herself, and Annette. He did bring up that his roommate was, as he put it, 'a pretty cool guy.', but she had never met him.
"Yeah, that's right." Richter began, then he gestured at a figure in Maria's peripheral vision to join them at the table. "Come on, man, come meet my little sister-in-law!"
Maria took another sip of her tea as the supposed stranger approached and as she looked up towards him, her eyes widened in surprise. "Y-You!" she choked, the shock of seeing Richter's companion sending a little of the tea down the wrong way.
Adrian couldn't say he wasn't prepared to see her again, but he hadn't expected the mere sight of him to cause such a reaction. He, admittedly, was dressed differently to how he had been previously, opting to shed the outfit that the company provided him with for his shoot for more comfortable casual wear, a black tank top and leather pants. He had also opted to tie his hair back so as to not have it get in his way while he ate. He wondered if the change in outfit was that jarring to Maria for a moment, before Richter interjected.
"So, uh. Maria, this is my friend Adrian, and Adrian, this is Maria Renard, my little sister-in-law." Stumbling at Maria's sudden shock, Richter wondered what was so strange about meeting Adrian, before the taller Blonde responded.
"We've already met." He stated, somewhat dryly. "Sorry, Richter, but I need to use the restroom. I will return shortly."
"Oh, yeah, feel free." Richter responded awkwardly, as Alucard bowed his head and made off towards the facilities. He turned to Maria, who still looked as if she had seen a ghost. "Are you alright there, Maria? What was that all about?"
"Tell me about Adrian." She asked.
"Sorry, what?" Richter replied, taken somewhat aback by Maria's sudden interest.
"Tell me about Adrian." She insisted this time.
Richter sighed, unsure of where to begin. He didn't want to reveal too much of Adrian's personal life, but he didn't want to leave her questions unanswered. He thought for a moment and decided that he had found an appropriate starting point. "Well, uh.. He's my roommate? In his free time, that guy wears a lot more leather than anybody else I know could ever feasibly be comfortable with."
Maria nodded her head and Richter realised this might be the right way to do things. He supposed it wasn't unnatural to want to know a little bit more about a stranger before you ate with them. "You probably know, but his dad's the owner of the Cronqvist Building and also runs the modelling agency that Adrian and I belong to. His mom's a doctor. Really lovely lady, but she dotes on him an awful lot. She came to watch one of his shoots and he ended up tripping up over one of our light fixtures and she immediately started treating him like the poor guy had broken his leg. She had it put in a splint and bandaged up faster than anyone I'd ever seen. The added weight of the splint threw off his balance and he could barely walk properly. It. Was. Amazing."
Maria chuckled and sighed a bit in relief. He wasn't some manner of flawless demigod, at least. That much set her at ease. She did have to wonder why he was wearing glasses, though. She had noticed he wasn't wearing them during their earlier encounter, but she hadn't any clue why.
"He looks a lot less angry than the last time I saw him." Maria mused aloud.
Richter cocked his head to the side. "Angry? What do you mean?"
"Just. When we met it felt like he looked right through me and he had such a fierce expression on his face." Maria responded. In an instant, Richter understood what she meant.
"Oh, that. You see that he's wearing glasses, right?"
"Yeah, what does that have to do with this?"
"Adrian's short sighted. If he looked mad at you, it's probably because he couldn't see you."
"He… couldn't see me?"
"Yeah. His eyesight's awful without his glasses, but he's not allowed to wear them when he works, apparently that look's popular with his fans."
Maria's eyes couldn't get any wider at that revelation. "You mean he was squinting?!"
"Yeah, most likely. Don't worry though, I had to deal with it too when I started working there. You get used to it. Actually, he's nowhere near as rough as he looks, he's actually pretty shy." Richter laughed, scratching the back of his head.
"Who's shy now?" a voice inquired from behind Richter.
When the brunette turned around and saw Adrian standing there, he jumped in fright, earning a genuine laugh from Maria. He himself chuckled as he took his place beside Richter at the table.
The meal had admittedly not lasted anywhere near as long as Maria had hoped, between Adrian ordering a light dinner and Richter practically vacuuming in his own order, but to her surprise she had truly enjoyed the company, even if Adrian was not one for small talk. The night air outside the diner was cool, and a breeze gently blew against Maria's skin.
The trio walked across the street in silence, back in the direction of the Cronqvist Building as Richter held a hand to his chin in thought, opened his mouth as if to say something and then closed it again. Maria cocked an eyebrow in response as she saw this in her peripheral vision, before simply shrugging. Richter was Richter, after all and she'd come to accept he had his moments like this.
"You know…" Maria began, breaking the silence, "You two don't need to come back with me to make sure I remember where I parked. It's not like I forgot."
To her surprise, the response came not from Richter, but from Adrian. "Be that as it may, it would not do to have you walk back alone. I still have not thanked you for your earlier assistance."
"Are you sure you need to?" She asked the elder blonde. "I mean I pretty much stepped into your shoot by accident, you don't need to-"
"Please, Miss Renard." He interjected, edging closer to her. "Your presence may not have been intentional, but it was appreciated. Allow me to repay you at least this much."
Maria was reminded of how close he had gotten to her face earlier and tried to stifle a blush, before turning around and beginning to walk forward.
"W-Well, I guess that's fine." She stammered whilst Richter chuckled to himself as he followed behind the two blondes.
Thankfully, Maria's Motorcycle had remained parked exactly as she had left it, and hadn't been stolen or towed away. A sigh of relief managed to bring Maria's nerves back to Earth and settle her breathing. Thank god that her beloved bike was still here.
"You ride a motorcycle?" Adrian inquired, as he looked at the machine in front of him.
Maria flashed him a bright smile. At last she was in her comfort zone. Somewhat, at least. "Yeah, I've been riding it for a few years now. I know what you're thinking but I promise, I'm a responsible driver!" she laughed.
Adrian felt a slight twinge of something inside his chest as Maria spoke of her experiences on the road and how hellish her drive to the building was before he spoke up himself. "I must admit that I myself once wanted a motorcycle but… Mother would not allow it." He looked off into the distance. "She insisted that they were deathtraps, of a sort, and that I would be injured. I suppose, given my career, that may have been for the best."
"Well, she IS a doctor, Adrian." Richter chuckled, playfully draping his arm across Adrian's shoulder. "Besides, if you fell off of a motorcycle, you might not have your pretty face look the same anymore."
Maria pretended to gasp in shock. "That'd be awful!" she laughed playfully as Richter fumbled around in his pocket for his car keys. Adrian simply sighed.
As Richter managed to find purchase on his keys and retrieved them, he took a step towards Maria. "Thanks for coming today, Maria, you really saved us both!" and extended his arms towards her.
"Well, hopefully you won't need a save next time." Maria laughed as she allowed Richter to pull her into a hug.
Breaking the embrace, Richter stepped back and allowed Adrian to approach his sister-in-law.
"Once more, I must thank you, Miss Renard." He bowed, before gently taking her hand and pressing his lips softly upon it. "It was a pleasure to meet you. Perhaps we will meet again."
"I'd like that." Maria smiled as Adrian released her hand. "If you still insist on thanking me for today, I mean."
Adrian nodded as Maria mounted the vehicle, pulled her helmet over her head and rode off into the night. He turned to face Richter, who had a wide grin on his face.
"Well, you sure seem friendly today, Adrian." Richter chuckled. "Geez, you thanked her AND you smiled at her? What's the occasion?"
Adrian shrugged. "I haven't a clue what you mean."
"You know. How you were talking with Maria. I don't think I've ever seen you do that before."
"Then perhaps it would do you well to pay closer attention. Though, she is certainly an interesting one." The blonde remarked.
Richter simply laughed in response. "Yeah, she sure is, I'll give you that one. But hey, you're in a pretty good mood for once, how about we go get some drinks before we head home?"
Adrian paused for a moment to consider. This would of course mean that they would have to walk home, but there was a bar pretty close to their shared apartment. Perhaps he would indulge himself tonight after all.
"Very well, then. Let us go out this evening for pleasure. The night is still young."