AN: This story takes place in early January of 1984. Alexia has been "killed" by this point in the timeline but Sherry has not yet been born to Annette and William who aren't yet married. The Nemesis project is not fully under way and Wesker is considering leaving research for Intelligence Services, but has not yet transferred and will not for another few years. In his remaining time as a researcher, he will find out the T-Virus can infect almost anything given the right circumstances, but you probably won't hear about it in this story. :)
Oh… And Solomon? Not Annette's real maiden name… I made that up.
"Morning Albert" Says Will, barely glancing up from his microscope. Some people would find this terribly impolite but Will is the kind of man willing to sacrifice manners for efficiency. I am used to this, having worked with the man for the past six years. He is quiet, hard-working and brilliant; the ideal workmate really.
Oh, William has his flaws. For one thing, any threat to his ego is treated with child-like sulking. He is a baby after all, becoming Umbrella's top researcher at the age of sixteen. However, despite aging six years, he can still act like a toddler if you say the wrong thing to him. Mention a problem with his work and you'll be treated first to him pouting at you, then to him storming off to the lab and then to a three-thousand word report on your desk in the morning detailing why you were wrong and there was no such problem in the first place.
If you really want to enrage him, mention the recently belated Alexia Ashford…
However, Will isn't without maturity at all. He continues an ongoing relationship with Annette Solomon, a fellow researcher, and certainly has none of the problems I have with Amelia. At least William and Annette manage to be fanatical about the same things…
I sat down, sighing. I had barely slept the previous night because I suspected the little cretin down the hall was building some kind of explosive device to set where I'd least expect it… Even though after a month and a half of living with him I now suspected everywhere. I couldn't believe I had to suffer him through lunch too.
Will looked up for a second, I registered a flash of blue as his eyes fixed on mine for a brief second and he was back to his microscope again. However, this time he spoke as he worked;
"Let me guess… Amelia, Yanni or both?"
I smiled. Will rarely offers opinions on personal matters, not being all that interested in people, but for some reason Amelia and the boy killer seem to amuse him slightly. Not that he would ever let it on.
"Both.' I said "He continues his attempts to kill me and Amelia continues to not believe me."
"Kill him right back." Will said it without a hint of humour in his voice. A strange habit that leads most people to believe he never makes jokes. Granted, he rarely does, but there is the odd occasion when he will offer something in a voice so monotonous it takes you a minute to realise he is being humorous.
But you should never laugh when you do get it. William doesn't like loud noises…
"I would, Will.' I murmured, crumpling an old lab report and throwing it in the trash "But Amelia would be heartbroken and that's simply too much hassle for me right now."
"You could get her a new one.' He said "I'm sure there are plenty of Russian-Jewish ex-child soldiers lying around." I frowned at him.
"Sarcasm does not help me, William." Two jokes in one day… It was almost unheard of from him. I knew then that something good must have happened to him. Admittedly, he had cheered up since the death of Alexia, the child genius and Will's rival. I know, a rivalry with a child; stupid. But undoubtedly, William's greatest sin is his pride… "Tell me, has something good befallen you?"
And he smiled. I almost jumped out of my chair. I don't think in all my years here at Arklay I have ever seen even a semblance of a mouth twitch from the man and here he was with a full-blown smile on his face.
"Well… I asked Annette to marry me, if you insist on knowing." The smile was gone as soon as it had appeared. I wonder now if it was ever really there in the first place or a hallucination caused by my lack of sleep…
"Oh… Well, congratulations." I mumbled. That's what you were supposed to say in that situation, right? When your best friend is going to marry you are supposed to express some form of happiness despite the fact that it actually has nothing to do with you…
"She hasn't said yes yet." He murmured absently, twisting the focus on his microscope "She asked for some time to think about it…" He wrote down something on a pad in his messy, incomprehensible scrawl and I frowned.
"Surely then you have nothing to smile about. I was under the impression that a situation like that would make the best of us decidedly nervous." I commented and William gave the ghost of a shrug.
"She won't say no. I know she won't…" He said. I could tell that he was no longer interested in the conversation but I couldn't help pressing him. I was curious, after all.
"Has your IQ gotten so high you can read minds now?" I asked. The mind of a woman, I had learnt, was too complex a thing for any man to delve into. If William had figured out a way, I was keen to learn.
"No. I just know her well enough.' He looked up and held eye contact with me for once "We both know it's the right step to take. You and Amelia will too someday. Provided she doesn't break up with you first." He kept staring at me and I held his gaze. A slightly uncomfortable silence descended over us for a long time before I had a sudden thought and asked;
"Why do you think she'd be the one to break up with me?"
Three hours later I was banging my head against a wall. I felt a little sorry for it, but it would live… In a vague sense of the word.
Amelia had very kindly called me to inform me that I would not be seeing her for lunch. Though I was happy it meant I wouldn't have to force small-talk with Yanni, I was angry that it was his fault I wouldn't be seeing her in the first place. Apparently he was in one of his clingy, limit-like moods that day and just couldn't get in the mood to go out…
I hate him.
"Al…?"
I turned around to see Annette staring at me. I suppose it isn't everyday you see somebody repetitively let their head connect with a wall on purpose, but I simply was not in the mood to explain it to her. I smoothed my lab coat and took a calming breath.
"Hello Annette. Don't mind that… It's irrelevant.'
She raised an eyebrow so I quickly asked her how she was. It seemed to make her forget about the bloodstain on the wall behind me, but she frowned.
"Not so great, actually…" She replied. She sat down at William's unoccupied desk and sighed "He asked me to marry him." I decided not to reveal that William had already told me. Something about the look on her face.
"Really? What did you say?" I asked, sitting down at my own desk. Annette shook her head.
"I asked him for some time to think about it…' She whispered. I felt a slight feeling of urgency in my gut telling me to run, run from that room and not ask another thing. Ever. Dealing with female emotions is not exactly a forte of mine, despite the fact that I get enough practise with Amelia's volatility.
"Uh" I said and cringed. It wasn't even a real word, for god's sake! I cleared my throat and tried again "If you don't mind me asking… Are you going to say yes?" She looked up at me, her blue eyes wide.
"I don't know, Al!' she said desperately "I want to… My god, I want to. But…" She trailed off and looked away. She slumped forward a little in her seat before she spoke again.
"Ok. This is really embarrassing but Will is the first boyfriend I've had since high school.' She said flatly. I found myself wondering how on earth that was relevant and she rolled her eyes, obviously registering the confusion on my face.
"Al, I'm twenty one. I'm barely old enough to drink legally and now I have to decide if I'm going to get married? I've not really done anything with my life yet.' She stared at me "And I've barely done anyone either."
I hate to admit that I blushed slightly. The woman was being rather unexpectantly forthright. I looked away and cleared my throat again.
"I… Think you should probably talk to William about this, Annette." I said and then froze as I felt her hand on my shoulder. I looked up into her face and saw the intensity of her gaze.
"Al… If I marry him now, I might never get to do all the things I've planned to do…' I remained petrified as her arms encircled my neck and she slid down onto my lap "I've always been curious about… What you'd be like." She whispered in my ear.
I considered the following; my best friend's girlfriend was straddling my lap in a room that no doubt any minute the aforementioned best friend would return to. Should he return at the current moment, said friend would be confronted by the sight of his girlfriend straddling the lap of his supposed best friend. I was being reliably informed my brain that if he were to see this scene, there was a distinct chance that our friendship would be immediately terminated by way of my death…
I had to act fast.
I formulated my plan into two phases. Phase one: disentangle self from the clutches of one very aroused-looking Annette Solomon. Phase two: flee.
The perfect plan. Or it would have been. Except that when I tried to move, Annette ended up… Err, grinding against a certain area and I suddenly couldn't help remembering that I hadn't gotten any for a good three weeks. I am sorry to say that the thought arising in my head wasn't the only thing that was doing so at that point, but I will share with you what it was;
Damn.
This is so typical of me; "Him, her, him, him and her are the important characters of this story. And now that that's all cleared up it's time for the PORN!" XD
Erm… I'm only half-serious.
Sorry it's under two thousand words this time around, I just figured it was too good of a cliff-hanger to waste, but don't worry. I have the next chapter planned already.
A word on the title, 'Shrieking Violets' you know a Shrinking Violet is a really shy person, right? Well, you know how absolutely nobody in this entire story is shy? Yeah, there you go. Also, shrinking = shrink, like what Amelia is. So 'shrieking' is a play on the word 'shrink' and corresponds with the mayhem that this story has within it.
I'm glad we could clear that up.
