"I realized I was thinking of you, and I began to wonder how long you'd been on my mind. Then it occurred to me: Since I met you, you've never left."
— (Unknown)
Chapter 2: Robin
The white-haired woman slowly opened her eyes to see that she was surrounded by a room that was only white with a table on the side of her bed that carried several metal tools. Her only access to the outside world was a giant window that showed the sun slowly peeking over clouds. The door to her room slowly creaked open and Chrom came to her side. "I see you're awake now, are you okay now?" She nodded. "Well, there are better places to rest than in this hospital bed you know." He held out his left hand, "Give me your hand." She did so and hoisted her out of the bed. "I'm glad you're okay. The Doctor said that you made a fast recovery."
"Yeah, thank you for bringing me here." After taking a couple of steps the Doctor made his way into the room. At first glance, he appeared to pass for a woman with his young appearance, long bright golden hair, smooth pale skin, and shining green eyes. "Good morning miss, I see you're in good condition again after what happened on Friday night. Thankfully, Chrom has paid your bill and I'll be able to give you your medicine that you can use at home." Chrom signed on the clipboard. "Thank you, Doctor." He sighed and then giggled at Chrom's remark, "Chrom please, just call me Libra. We've known each other for a long time. Besides, I'll never forget the day when you put me through medical school after my financial aid fell through." The woman groaned slightly as she composed herself and turned to Chrom, "Thanks for getting me to the hospital, Chrom. I never introduced myself, my name is Robin. I'd like to stay longer but I've got to get going soon. So could I have my clothes please?" Libra pointed to a pile of clothing that was neatly folded next to a black purse and left the room.
Chrom shook his head and his eyebrows raised, "Wait, going so soon? Don't you think I should help drive you home?" Robin stepped behind a curtain and began changing. "What home? I lived in a hotel room for the last three months." Chrom paused and then stuttered, "Wait, w-what? The last three months in a hotel room? But how? Don't you have a job?" After Robin finished changing, she pushed the curtain aside and answered, "No, I got laid off from my last job at Plegia Corp, I haven't been able to pay any of my bills for rent, so I decided to stay at a miserable little hotel with what money I had left. I've been looking for a job ever since, and I've applied for 5-10 jobs per day 5 days a week and so far nothing. How can they not accept me? I have over 5 years of experience in strategizing for the company." Chrom couldn't believe what he had heard, over 5 years of being a strategist for a company and nobody would hire her. Before she could take another step, Chrom interrupted, "Wait, you don't have to stay at that hotel anymore." Robin turned around, "Huh?" He held her hand and guided her out of the room, "In fact, I've been looking for a strategist for over a year now. Just let me see your resume and I'll see if I can offer you a job at my business." He presented her a small business card with the words, "Exalt Corps," on it.
"Thank you Chrom, but where am I going to live since you said that I don't need to live in my hotel room anymore?" Chrom grabbed her hand again, "Follow me." And guided her to his limo. Once they were both inside, he called for his driver to take them to his tower. At the tower, Chrom guided Robin into one of the rooms and inside the door was an apartment that was well decorated and looked like a condo in comparison to her old room at the hotel. "Do you like it? it comes with a stove, oven, laundry room and everything. This is just one of our apartments in my building, and luckily for you, I live in the penthouse in the building, so if you need me just go to the highest floor." She shook his hand, "Again, thank you, Chrom." Robin dug into her purse and pulled out a few sheets of paper. "Here's my resume. I hope I'm suited for the job." After closing the door behind her, Chrom scanned every last bit of her resume and put it on his personal desk.
A FEW HOURS LATER
Chrom came down to Robin's apartment and faced her door. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! "Robin, may I come in?" CREAK "You may Chrom, I'm just getting used to this new place." Robin answered. Chrom stepped into the room and presented her with a piece of paper that was stamped with a green checkmark. "I looked at your resume, and it seems that you're perfect for the job. You have the experience, and you have a great educational background. You'll start tomorrow, and I'll bring you there at 9 am." Robin smiled and asked, "Really? Tomorrow morning? That's great. But are you sure that you're okay with me coming with you to work?" Chrom nodded, "It shouldn't be a problem, I'm going to show you around so you can get used to your environment. Also, you'll be working with my secretary, Cordelia. This will ensure everything goes smoothly during your first day. I'll see you tomorrow morning." After leaving, Robin still couldn't believe her luck, after months of searching, she finally got a job thanks to meeting a complete stranger. She felt like a whole new person and maybe she made a new friend too. "Working for Exalt Corps, I hope I can do well. But I really hope I can get along well with Chrom and his employees."
THE VERY NEXT DAY
Robin got up at the crack of dawn and spotted the sunlight peeking through the shades of her new apartment. YAWN! "Finally, first day on the job. I hope Chrom is just as ready to introduce me to everyone else." After heading into the shower, dressing and grooming herself, Robin opened the refrigerator to see that there was nothing inside and felt her heart sink. "Crap! I forgot to stock up on food! Rookie mistake!" Before she could say anything else there was a KNOC KNOCK! Robin looked through the peephole and spotted Chrom outside, "Come in." The door opened and Chrom was right there with a freshly cooked omelet next to a small stack of pancakes. "Good morning Robin, I almost forgot to remind you that you needed food. So I decided to have one of my chefs cook you something. For breakfast." After handing over the food, Chrom looked at his wrist. "I'll be back soon, I need to be with Lucina right now. I'll see you in a bit."
As Chrom left, Robin gently sat down and began biting on her meal savoring every single bite of it. The breakfast was so light and fluffy and buttery compared to anything she could make in her tiny hotel room. "Finally, no more ramen or microwave meals. I missed eating stuff like this." After cleaning her plate, Robin brushed her teeth and made her way towards the lobby where Chrom was standing with Lucina snuggled in his arms. "Hello Chrom, thanks for the meal." Her eyes caught Lucina, "Is this Lucina?" Chrom confirmed, "Yes, she's my daughter from my first marriage." Robin's eyes were saucers and her mouth gasped, "Oh, I-I'm so sorry about what happened. I never knew you were a widower." Chrom raised his right eyebrow his voice baffled by the last sentence. "N-No, I'm not widowed, I'm divorced. But we can talk about that in the limo after I drop Lucina off." Robin stuttered, "O-oh, I-I'm sorry I-I didn't know. I can't believe I even dug into your personal life like that." Chrom began walking to the limo, "It's okay, come on in with me, it's my treat." Robin then walked into Chrom's limo with him. "To Lucina's daycare please."
As the limo drove off, Lucina looked at Robin, "Daddy, why is this lady in the car with us?" Chrom answered,"This is Robin, she's one of my new workers Lucina and she needs a ride to the office sweetie." Robin pointed out her finger and let the toddler shake it, "Hello Lucina." Lucina giggled, "Hi." The little toddler's cherub-like giggles went through Robin's body like an infection and a small grin started forming on her face. "Aww, you're so cute." After the limo came to a halt, Chrom took Lucina out towards the building and dropped her off with Sumia. "Goodbye, sweetie." After pecking her head, he quickly left for the limo and commanded, "To Exalt corps, please."
Inside the limo, Robin asked, "So, earlier this morning you mentioned a divorce. Was Lucina upset by any of this?" Chrom shook his head, "To a degree, Lucina is one of the reasons it happened. You see, my ex-wife, Mariah was very controlling over Lucina. Ever since she was old enough to walk, she wanted to enter her into beauty pageants, child acting lessons, activities that would get her up on stage, etc. Mariah wanted to live her life through Lucina and I wouldn't settle for it, not to mention she even admitted herself that she never loved me. Heck, Lucina even called her by her first name." He sighed, "And right now I'm under even more pressure because she's harping for sole custody of Lucina, even though I earned it over a year ago. Now the only way for me to keep her for good is to get a fiancé or new wife by next year." Chrom sulked his head combing his fingers through his navy blue hair at the mere thought of losing Lucina. Robin's jaw dropped at the story, "I'm sorry I even asked about that. It must be horrible to go through that." She gently patted his back and assured, "But I'm confident that you'll find a new fiancé or wife soon enough. After all, you seem like such a good father to Lucina." Chrom slowly lifted his head, "Really?" Robin nodded, "Thank you." After the car halted, Chrom opened the limo and the pair exited in front of the towering building, "Now let's start your first day."