"Why do you have to do all the work?", Alice asked.
"I'm sorry, Dear", Delalieu asked and tore his eyes away from the food budget that had just been put together. A shaking cup of coffee in his other hand.
"Wh-what was that?"
"Why are you the one fixing this whole Symphony thingie?", she asked, articulating the words for emphasis.
"Symposium", he gently corrected.
"And th-there is no one else to do it, really", he said.
"If it's Juliette's get together, shouldn't she be the one planning it?", she asked, as if it was nothing more than a sleepover or birthday party.
"Miss Ferrars i-is busy", he tried.
"Not reading her mail?", Alice filled in.
The coffee spilled over the edge of the cup.
"I-I shouldn't h-have told you a-about that...", he decided after a moment of recalling how she knew about it in the first place.
"And you need to get more sleep", she told him.
She was correct. He was slightly sleep deprived. The fact that he had doubled his intake of coffee during the last week did not help his usually high strung nerves.
The idea of retirement seemed more inviting than ever in the midst of all the stress the symposium had brought on.
He knew it was naive of him, but he really did hope things would settle after the Symposium. That he would be allowed a much needed break. That all of them would.
He could tell Alice was noticing the stress too; the small amount of time he managed to spend with her. She didn't smile as much. Didn't poke him about trivial questions. And with her refusing to enter Warner's quarters after Miss Ferrars had taken up living there her source of books had also been cut short.
She was in school during the day, and he was busy planning and scheduling and orchestrating the symposium almost every waking hour when he wasn't overseeing his ordinary duties, along with helping Miss Ferrars.
It was only times like this; when he allowed himself to eat while remaining seated; that she managed to find him and exchange a conversation with him.
After that first night she had taken to sleeping in his room. There was no time to talk during the night, however. Only by a mumbled You snore accompanied by a little shove to his shoulder, followed by him turning over.
Then in the morning he would wake up half past five to commence his duties.
"It's only for a-another week, Darling", he said finally putting down the cup on the saucer.
She didn't look convinced.
"I-I need to get back to work", he said remembering the papers in his hand.
"I know", she said, a gentle sigh escaping her lips.
She kissed him on the cheek before she left.