It actually took much longer for the things to arrive than they had anticipated. The estimated time was a few weeks, but since they were ordering a ridiculous amount of gadgets, the things wouldn't arrive in four or five weeks instead of one or two. Bella didn't think it was too much of a setback, but of course Elizabeta begged to differ.
"Any more time and he could see through our bullshit," Elizabeta murmured quietly. Rough shouting and talking animatedly seemed completely out of place in their morning ritual - Elizabeta would brew the coffee and boil the water for Bella's tea. Bella would later take over serve the drinks in their own individual mugs.
"Obviously, but you have to take into account the fact that online shipping takes a while." Bella brushed her hair back, her nose inhaling the scent of chai tea.
"You're right, you're right. Freaking out isn't going to make the stuff come in faster." Elizabeta let out a breath through her teeth. It was so utterly frustrating how one obstacle could prevent them from making any progress.
"We should just be grateful that Gilbert hasn't found out anything yet." Bella glanced at Elizabeta from her mug.
"Yeah," Elizabeta replied. She stared at a dark spot on the table, trying to calm her jumpy nerves. If she wanted things to work, she had to be patient. All good things come to those who wait.
There was knock on the door. Elizabeta flinched as she gripped her mug tighter. Bella looked in the general direction of the door and shouted a 'come in' without caring who was knocking. Elizabeta swore that their laziness would one day kill them, might it be because they didn't pay attention or were too lazy to get up.
"It seemed awfully quiet, so I wasn't sure if anyone was home." Roderich's head popped in the kitchen from the doorway. His dark hair was messier than usual (which is pretty odd since he's always cautious of his image) and bags under his eyes.
"Well it's the morning; what do you expect?" Bella became entranced with her cup of tea.
"What's the matter, Roddy?" Elizabeta moved a seat down and patted the empty chair for Roderich to sit on. He looked at her gratefully and sat down quickly, pulling out the laptop that he had hidden in its sleeve.
"I was doing a bit of searching-"
"You mean hacking," Bella butted in.
"Shut up. Anyway, I was searching through the FBI files like I usually do, and there've been a lot more files on you guys lately. Turns out, they're much closer on sniffing out your trail than you guys had expected." Roderich opened up his computer swiftly and began to type words and numbers violently, his movements borderline crazed. He turned the screen towards the two girls and they squinted their eyes, trying to catch every bit of information.
"Does that mean less trips for breakfast in the city?" Bella offered, snorting and rolling her eyes.
"This is serious! You could go to federal prison, Bella. And there isn't any VIP treatment there." Roderich spared a glance from his laptop to shoot Bella a glare.
Federal prison? Wow, neither of them had expected that their philandering had been that serious. Well that was a lie - they wouldn't be running from the police if they didn't know how deep they were in with fraudulent activity. And of course, Bella had to lighten the mood with out of place humor. It wasn't that she was ignorant of what was happening; she was well aware of how much trouble they were in. Truth be told, Bella was absolutely terrified and knew that showing fear was the first step towards jail.
"It's fine," Elizabeta sighed, tracing a finger around the rim of her mug. It completely was not fine, but what else could she say? 'Sorry to know you Roderich, but death is my only salvation?' Hell no! When It had happened, she swore that she and Bella would dig themselves out of this mess. And if Bella couldn't, she'd do it herself.
"What do you mean it's fine? If you haven't understood the complexity of the situation, you both could-"
"I'm sorry, Roderich." Elizabeta carefully put her hand on Roderich's, rubbing a smooth circle with her thumb on the back of his hand.
"What are you apologizing for, Liz." Roderich's phrase didn't sound like a question - more like a demand. His eyes locked onto hers, and they softened, seeing Elizabeta's sadness behind them.
"The fact that I dragged you into this mess. If I could pull you out of this whole ordeal, trust me, I would. But sadly, I sucked you in too deep like a damn black hole and I can't get you out without causing you even more trouble." Elizabeta didn't want to look up again, uncomfortable with how honest and raw this situation was making her. Roderich had been friends with her for years, and the fact that she had dragged him in without thinking through it first was unforgivable.
Roderich responded with giving her a small pat on the head. Elizabeta looked up to see a content look on Roderich face despite all the bad news he just delivered.
"Maybe I wanted to be pulled in," Roderich muttered, running one hand through his already-messy hair.
"I'm sorry, what?" Elizabeta cocked her head to the side, her green eyes filled with confusion. Maybe she had misheard him?
"I, uh-"
"Okay, so how about we play some chess? Or Scrabble. Ooh, maybe a game of Monopoly we can actually finish this time," Bella interrupted, purposely grabbing the now-empty mugs and making as much noise as possible.
"Yeah, some chess - I haven't played that in ages." Elizabeta got up from her seat to get the board that was tossed in their shared closet, along with heels and blouses they didn't put on anymore.
It was then that a light blush settled on Elizabeta's cheeks. Too intimate, she repeated to herself. And that was why she got up to get the chess board; the mind needs to grind its gears to think, so what better way than to play chess?
Any sort of distraction (even a game as boring as chess) was better than talking about anything.
"I had completely forgotten to tell you that the meeting's today. It slipped my mind since we were talking about finding my parents and all that. I hope you don't mind waiting a few days." Gilbert was tugging on his too-tight tie as he walked into the building where the meeting was going to be held. He tried to balance his briefcase under one arm and clutched his cellphone close to his ear.
"I understand- don't sweat it, Gilbert. You have things to be preoccupied with and that's fine." Lissa's voice was sympathetic on the other end of the line. She was really to sweet to him; he didn't really understand why, though. Well, they were cousins and hadn't of have seen each other for years. It was probably her charm that didn't make it seem so weird to be joking around and stuff.
"Okay, that's good. By the way, when are the things coming in?" Gilbert shifted his things so that his shoulder held up his phone and his briefcase was in the opposite hand.
"It should be here in a few weeks or so. I'm sorry it isn't here sooner- I know you want to find your parents quickly. I promise once all the things come in, we'll dig right into it." Lissa sounded honest and willing, which for some reason, made his face heat up.
"Ah, yeah. So my meeting is about to start so I'll talk to you later," Gilbert spoke quickly, trying to calm his frazzled nerves.
"Alright."
Gilbert hung up in a hurry and easily maneuvered his way into the building, passing by a plethora of people in charcoal and gray suits and briefcases with a variety of designs and sizes. He couldn't really take a good look at them individually, so he moved his short attention to the building where the oh-so important meeting was to be held.
It was sleek, modern, and very open, actually. Windows three times his size lined the walls, and the walls themselves were an inviting cream color. Other than the cream, everything was covered in, or surrounded by metal. Even though it was open, it was cold. The glass, the metal- yes, it was modern, but it was just cold.
Riding an elevator up to the seventh floor, Gilbert adjusted his suit and entered the room he had been directed to enter earlier.
A flurry of white and dark, bland colors surrounded the room, the papers and suits trying to gather their bearings and quickly sit down before the meeting started in. . .
"Eight minutes," Gilbert murmured under his breath, glancing at the clock on the wall.
"Hey, Gilbert!"
The pale-haired man turned towards the voice and saw two of his closest friends- Antonio Carriedo and Francis Bonnefoy.
"Hey Francis; Antonio." A grin spread on his face as he gave his friends the man-hugs that men give each other when they greet, but then shaking each of his friend's hands to keep a formal mood.
"How have you been, my friend?" Antonio shoved his hands into his pockets as his warm, Spanish smile dazzled the room.
"I've been real great. Oh man, I have so much to tell you guys- but later, okay?" Gilbert noticed the room settling down into their seats and waiting for him to command the meeting.
"Yes, yes of course- you have to do your job and we'll do ours." Francis gave Gilbert a pat on the back before sitting in his own seat.
As Gilbert strode to the front of the room, his demeanor changed drastically from the playful and rambunctious person that he usually was into this very calculating and powerful character. Setting his briefcase on the table and opening it in one smooth motion, he took out documents that would help in his presentation: figures, experiments done, and the hard facts were displayed on the papers. If anything else, he was a solid businessman.
But that was on the outside, of course.
On the inside, he was just bustling with affection for his friends.
Gilbert had known Antonio and Francis when they were just teenagers in high school and getting detentions for writing vulgarities on the chalkboard. They were the ultimate trio, even throughout college. When Gilbert had finally gone with his father so he could put him under his wing in the business, they followed him in suit, Francis and Antonio wanting to be in that world along with his friend.
They eventually ended up in a secretarial position- through hard work, contrary to the rumors that they were given those positions. If anything, those three guys played it fair and square.
"Of course, the revenue wouldn't be extremely yielding," Gilbert droned on, pointing to a graph on some-odd page in his papers.
And of course, Gilbert zoned out on his own speech.
An hour and a half later, mostly everyone in the meeting came up to Gilbert to shake hands with their boss's son, thrilled that he was just as skilled in managing his business as his father was.
"Thank you, thank you very much," Gilbert politely responded to the strangers in the room. He kept glancing in the direction of his friends, hoping they were still there, and of course they were.
When everyone but the three of them had left, they all walked from the room, hands in pockets, and idle banter exchanged between them.
"We haven't seen you in ages, man. What's been going on in that life of yours?" Antonio looked over at Gilbert, an eyebrow raised questioningly.
It took all of Gilbert's willpower to not rush out everything he had to say like a heartsick schoolgirl. "Many many things, Toni. I've found some of my family." A big, goofy smile was plastered on his face, embarrassment almost dripping into his tone.
"Really? That's fantastic! But what about your parents?" Francis' azure eyes lighted with joy for his friend.
"Well, my family says they'll be able to find them, so it really shouldn't take that long to finally meet them. At least that's what I've been told." The three were already in the main lobby, making their way to the outside and get a ride.
"So what is your family like?" Antonio scratched the back of his head, his face full of curiosity.
"Ah, they're two girls- a blonde and a brunette. Lissa and Bel are their names, and they've been really nice to me throughout the whole ordeal. Really sarcastic, but nice overall." Gilbert smoothed the front of his jacket and glimpsed at his companions.
"Are they attractive?" Of course that would be the next thing they would ask.
"I don't know- I'd be lying if I said they're not, but they're my cousins, so-"
"Ah ah, you just found out they're your cousins, so it's A-Okay to find them hot. Nothing bad whatsoever." Francis nodded, satisfied with the excuse.
"Totally agree," Antonio added.
"So when can we meet them? These girls are your family, so I don't see any harm in us meeting them, right Francis?" Antonio nudged Francis with his elbow and he nodded just as he did before.
"Uh, sure. Why not? Maybe tomorrow, or sometime next week, yeah?" Gilbert looked at his friends on either side of him, and Francis had a pensive look on his face.
"Why not now? I don't think we could go another day without meeting these mystery ladies."
"I- suppose so. We'll ride together in a taxi, then. I won't pay though; not it!" Gilbert said quickly, tapping his nose and running outside to hail for a cab.
Both of the men left behind shared a look. Antonio's mouth turned into a fine line, his green eyes losing everything jovial- Francis had the same look.
"Are you thinking the same thing I am?" Antonio rubbed his chin pensively, his eyes locked on Gilbert who was waving them forward in the taxi.
"Something just doesn't sit right," Francis agreed.
"Well, I suppose our eyes will just have to see it for themselves, verdád?" Antonio strode over to the taxi without murmuring any further and Francis followed suit, his hands shoved into his pockets.
