I didn't wake up in a puddle of my own sweat, so that could only mean one thing. Sebastian never came to bed last night. But he was still here. The sweet smell of cabernet hung in the air in the near vicinity. And another kind of wine, but not the kind of wine easily obtained up here. I pulled myself out of Sebastian's bed and went into the kitchen where he stood at the stove with a whistling kettle.
"Morning, baby," I tried to bury my face in his shoulder blades, but a cup of earl grey tea separated us.
"Good morning," Sebastian gave me my tea while I leaned in for a good morning kiss. Only to be dodged again. What the hell? Did I do something wrong? Did he do something wrong and he's trying to hide it? I took a quick glanced around the living room. That son of a bitch drank the last of the good wine.
"So," I sipped on my tea. Might as well cut to the chase, "Care to tell me why you didn't come to bed last night? Like you told me you would?"
"I'm sorry, darling," he started packing up his cameras, "I guess I lost track of time. Perhaps tonight I'll come to bed."
He was like this last night, too. Jumpy, flighty, about to come out of his skin, but trying to play it off. There was something going on. I could see it all over his face. I grabbed his last camera lens, "Sebastian, please...Talk to me. There's something bothering you. What is it?"
"There's nothing wrong, Lumi," Sebastian took his lens back, "You're overthinking, sweetheart. You have a tendency to do that. Remember when we were upstate in the sixties?"
"That wasn't overthinking!" I defended, "My water got laced and I was coming down from acid! That was a long, weird weekend..."
"I'm amazed you can remember that much," he chuckled under his breath.
"Me, too..."
"Relax, darling," he settled me, "It's alright. Now, we should be going to work. You have an article to write, do you not?"
"That's what my planner says," I went across the hall to my apartment to grab some clothes and a shower. Deflecting now, is he? You should know better, Sebastian. I love you, but a journalist always gets her story. Because you're my husband, I'll admit it'll be a tricky story to get, but lucky me had an ace in the hole.
The two of us left for the office and I kicked my feet up in my home away from home. All I was missing was a strong source of caffeine. But given my immortality, a regular cup of coffee didn't do squat, so I had to get creative. A couple cans of Red Bull...Half a case of Monster...An entire 2-liter of Mountain Dew...And some strong black tea. With the average person, that could induce one hell of a heart attack. For me, it's what I call breakfast. Not that I drink it all in one sitting. This pitcher should get me through until this afternoon.
"Morning, boss," my precious assistant bounced into my office.
"Bonjour, Ciel," I greeted her, "Comment allez vous?"
"Uh..." Skye gave me a look, "Bien...Et toi?"
"Iffy," I got my first glass of the day.
"Since when do you speak French?" she threw her bag on the futon.
"Since Ciel taught me," I told her, "Sebastian docuit me Latin, si mallet (Sebastian taught me Latin, if you prefer.)"
Skye kept her distance...and her skepticism, "Auntie Lumi...?"
"Yes, Skye?" I dug around in my desk for some sort of painkillers. This rolling headache needed to go away yesterday. It's killing me.
"Auntie Lumi!" she slammed the door and threw her arms around me, "You're back! You're really back! Marcelina told me you'd be a little different on Monday, but you're back!"
"Can't tell who your great-great-grandmother is," I peeled her off me, "Jesus, kid. You're a lot like Lizzie some days."
"Sorry," Skye pulled herself together, remembering we were still at the office. Who the hell was I kidding?
"Skye..."
"Yeah...?"
"Come here, sweetie," I opened my arms to her. And she took full advantage of it, "Haven't held you like this since you were a baby."
"Uncle Sebastian told me you weren't feeling like yourself when I had my interview," Skye sat on my desk, "I didn't think you had your memory wiped clean."
"That seems to be the pickle we were in," I found a couple of Vicodin on steroids in the bottom of a bottle that Adrian managed to score for me a long time ago when I'd get wicked migraines, "But I'm back to normal. For the most part. I have a good majority of my memories back. Just not the ones we need right now."
"We'll get there, I'm sure," she chimed with a sunny optimism, "You and Uncle Sebastian have been through worse."
"But until then," I pulled my meticulously organized notes out of my bag. Sebastian...Had to be. Sure as hell wasn't me, "We got work to do. And I have a mission for you."
"Anything!" Skye perked up, "What do you need?"
"I need you to go check on Uncle Sebastian," I told her, "Something isn't right with him and he won't tell me anything. Try to get him to vent to you, but don't be too obvious about it. Can you do that for me?"
"Yes, ma'am!" If I didn't know any better, I'd think this girl was ready to take a bullet for me right now.
"Lumi," a knock ticked at the door. And there was that bullet. Poor little Skye looked like a deer in the headlights, "Hello. Who are you and why are you here?"
"Skye..." she shivered in her heels.
"She's my assistant," I explained, "Go on, Skye. I gave you a job. Go do it."
"Yes, ma'am," Skye's enthusiasm went bye bye. Regina had that effect on people.
"Who was that adorable, little thing?" Regina asked.
"That's Skye," I repeated, "She's my assistant. That kid is a lifesaver."
"Why is she only assisting?" she went on, "A face like that and a body to match? Why is she not modeling? And when did you get an assistant?"
"Because she's in college," I defended her, "And she's been my assistant for a couple weeks now."
"What do you need an assistant for?" Wow. Regina was just full of questions today, wasn't she?
"To help me with my heavy work load," I needed to change the subject before I got fired, "So, what's up, Regina? Did you need something?"
"Here it is," Regina grinned darkly, "Monday morning. You have to tell me about that party I told you to cover."
"And I will," I assured, "Spoilers, Regina. Spoilers. I'm sure you'll want to hear all about it in my article."
"Come on, Lumi!" she begged, "Tell me! Please?"
"In the article," I thumbed through my notes. Where to begin...
"Are you alright?" Regina wondered, "You seem...off. Different."
"Fine." I should probably keep out that part about the cult like activity that went on to get my memory back.
"Is there anything you need, sweetie?" she took my hand, "Anything at all? You know that all you'd have to do is ask."
"Positive," I gave her a look. What the hell was going on? Regina was usually pretty lovey with me, but never has she laid it on this thick, "What about you, boss? Everything ok with you?"
"Well," Regina let out a heavy sigh, "I'm thinking about letting the hot piece of ass go."
"What?" I freaked a bit, "Why are you firing Sebastian?"
"He's teasing me," she draped herself over the chair overdramatically, "And I can't take it anymore. If I start hitting on him, there's that sexual harassment ax hanging over my head."
"But Sebastian's so good at what he does," I reminded her. Sebastian's photos were absolutely brilliant. But to put it in his words, if he couldn't take a decent photograph, what kind of a butler would he be?
"I bet he's good at what he does," Regina swooned, "He seems like he'd be an excellent lover. And it's been way too long, Lumi. I don't think you understand what kind of a dry spell I've been in."
"But are you willing to throw away the best photographer the magazine's ever had," I put things into perspective, "just to get laid?"
"A sacrifice for the greater good."
"Excuse me..." Thank God. Salvation, "Ms. Olivier, I'd like to have a word with you, if you're not too busy."
"Sebastian!" Regina squeaked, "Just who I wanted to see."
"Always lovely to see you as well, Ms. Alvarez," Sebastian smiled politely, "But can whatever you wanted wait? I really need to speak with Lumi."
"Not really," she turned on her charm. Or as much of it as she could muster up, "You're fired."
"I beg your pardon?" he gasped, "What reason could you possibly have for terminating me?"
"The best reason there is," Regina wrapped herself around his arm, "No need to play coy anymore, Sebastian. I think it's clear what's going on between us."
"As clear as solid brick, maybe," Sebastian took a healthy step away from her, "You're too kind, Ms. Alvarez, but could you maybe explain yourself?"
"You're so cute when you try to deny it, baby," she continued to flirt with him, making me burn a little inside, "You and me. It's so obvious we're destined for each other. Come on, gorgeous. Let's go in my office and celebrate your firing properly."
"Ms. Alvarez," Sebastian tried to hold it back. He really did. But the vein sticking out of his forehead is sending a totally different message, "I'm married. Do you not see the ring on my finger?"
"And?" As Sebastian tried moving further away, Regina only moved that much closer, "According to the three marriages under my belt, that doesn't mean anything. Even if it's just one night, Sebastian. I need to know what kind of a lover you are."
"A faithful one," he promised, "I made a vow to one woman in this world and I've never broken it before. Now, if you'll excuse us. Ms. Olivier, that word, please?"
"Ok," I saw my out and tried to get out of my office. Anything to get out of that uncomfortable situation. Nothing I hated more than seeing other women hit on my smoke show. Granted, Regina didn't know he was my smoke show, but regardless.
Sebastian and I left to the little cafe down the street from the office. I could use a good chai latte anyway. That was the only thing I didn't have in my assortment of go-go juice. He and I took a seat by the window. Sebastian was still awfully distant, but a little better than he was this morning. Maybe he caught a nap somewhere around here. I managed to do that once in a while, too.
"Lumi," Sebastian grumbled, "First of all, I'd like to apologize for what you just witnessed in there."
"It's not your fault, sweetheart," I accepted, "Regina's been a serious cougar since I met her."
"Also," he went on, his expression darkening, "The next time you're worried about me, don't use our niece to get information. She told me everything."
"Dammit, Skye," I growled, "I told her to be discreet."
"Why did you have to use her in the first place?" Sebastian got a little pissed.
"Because it's not like you'd tell me," I pointed out, "I asked you this morning and you said everything was fine. You know as well as I do, Sebastian, things haven't been fine since I got my memories back. Talk to me. Please..."
"Alright," he brought himself down, "You wanted to know what was bothering me?"
"Yes..."
"The burn, Lumi," Sebastian sighed out, "You felt it, too, did you not?"
My stomach dropped. I didn't think that actually happened. My mind was just playing tricks on me. But it wasn't just my imagination. That kiss burned me. And it burned him, too. That's why he wouldn't get close to me this morning. Why he wouldn't come back to bed with me. Sebastian made me hot and not in the way he usually did. He didn't want me hurt.
"Burn me then," I allowed, "If it means being close with you, Sebastian, set my whole body on fire. Worth it. Completely worth it."
"Lumi," he went on, "Every time I'm close to you, your body temperature skyrockets. If I'm close enough for long enough, I could fry your internal organs and theoretically kill you. You know that's the last thing I want."
"But why?" my voice broke, "Why can't I be close to you anymore? Does someone up there have some sort of a vendetta against me or something?"
Sebastian's face went totally blank, "Lumi, say that again."
"What?"
"Exactly what you said," he demanded, "Word for word, what did you just say?"
"Does someone up there have some sort of vendetta against me or something?" I repeated myself, "Sebastian, that was an offhanded joke."
"Think about it," Sebastian went into full on detective mode, "Who would want me, a demon, and you, an immortal human, to suffer a fate worse than death?"
"Grell," I figured, "But Grell's been dead for a century."
"And it's not Lucifer," he deduced.
"He's stupid, but not that stupid," I chuckled a bit, "Marcelina wouldn't hesitate to end him."
"Still," Sebastian dug deeper, "A demon who has corrupted a human so far that he's taken her soul and she's turned her back on her mortality."
"Angels?"
"Angels."
"Sebastian," I took his hand whether he wanted me to or not. The burn of his skin on mine burned so bad, but I didn't care what it was doing to me, "I miss us…I don't know why angels would be after us, but I want us back."
"I do, too, darling," he cringed under my touch, "We'll be alright, though. I swear to you. I will find out which angel is doing this and we will be ok again."
"I love you…" I spoke meekly.
"Te amo," Sebastian gave me a little bit of a smile, letting me go, "Now, I don't want you combusting, so until we get this situated, I think you should go back to staying at your apartment."
"But…!"
"Ms. Olivier," he scolded, "We'll take care of this as soon as we can, ok?"
"Ok…" This was going to feel like an eternity…But angels? Really?
A/N: I'm so sorry, guys. I know this is up late and I should know better, but it's been a long, rough day. I'm sorry. It's up, though! And we're having angel problems! And things at the office are a little weird, but hopefully, everything will be ok. We can only hope. See you next chapter! xx