"Yurgen!" I shouted, knocking furiously at the door. "It's Achlys! I want to speak to you!"
"Coming!" Yurgen shouted back and opened the door with a weak smile. "Long time no see, Achlys."
"May I come in?" I asked, peering around the man. "I want to talk to you about some things."
Yurgen side stepped and gestured me in. "Yes! Of course!"
I quickly walked past the man and headed straight to the table. I sat down and rapped my fingers on the table nervously. Yurgen was his business partner. He had to know what was wrong. For the past few nights, I've found Alvin just sitting at the bar in Trigleph just sipping at his whiskey. He obviously didn't know that I was there and if he did, he would have probably just brushed me off, leaving to find another bar. Yurgen placed a fresh cup of tea in front of me, but I was too anxious to even sip at it.
Yurgen sat down across from me and sipped his tea. "So, what did you want to talk about?"
"What's wrong with Alvin?" I asked, being very blunt.
Yurgen stared into his cup and sighed. "He hasn't told you?"
"He doesn't tell me shit anymore!" I exclaimed, stomping my foot on the floor. "About his business anyway! He said that I have enough on my plate and to not worry about him. Why wouldn't I worry about him? I love him! His stress radiates from everywhere and I just want to know what has happened!" I took a breather, forming tight fists on the table. "I just... I just want to make sure that he's okay."
Yurgen took another sip of his tea, frowning before answering. "Our business might be ending."
My eyes bulged and then narrowed. "Why?"
"An Elympion business man found out about all our shippers and farmers, and took them from us," He explained, not daring to look directly into my eyes. "They then offered Alvin a job with their company."
"And what did he say?" I glowered at the man, more angry at the situation than at Alvin or Yurgen.
"He asked them if there was a job in it for me as well," Yurgen shook his head and stood up. "Of course they said no, since I'm not Elympion, but even if they did say yes, I wouldn't have taken it. I don't want to be apart of a sleazy company."
I tapped a finger on the table and then snapped. "I have some shippers and farmers that are looking for work. They don't get much attention since, they're not that big, but they're fruit is delicious and the shippers are some of the best I've had!"
"Oh no," Yurgen shook his head. "I couldn't ask you to do that."
"It's kind of my job to look for employers for these people," Okay, well, that wasn't the total truth, but Yurgen seemed to buy into it. "I even have some of the paperwork with me," I rustled through my bag, and pulled out a few contracts. "I always have my employers give me a copy of their contracts. Just in case!"
"You'll really do this for us?" Yurgen whispered, taking a seat again.
I slammed the papers on the table and finally took a sip of my now cold tea. "Sure I will! You know, I'm not just doing it for Alvin. I care about you as well. I shouldn't be saying this, but Alvin kind of looks up to you in a way."
"Really now?" Yurgen stifled a laugh and proceeded to slide the contracts over to him. "Why exactly?"
"Well," I started as he looked over the contracts. "I think it's because you're an honest, hard-working man. He... hasn't had the best life in the world. The more people that he can bring into his life that are honest and hard-working, like he wants to be, the better."
Yurgen flipped to another contract, mumbling under his breath. "If only Elympions weren't so different."
"They're not," I said, finishing my cold tea so that I wouldn't have to deal with it anymore. "Some of them seem to hate Reize Maxians only because they were beloved by the old Maxwell. The new Maxwell loves both nations, however they still feel a little... insecure about not being able to use spirit artes," I shook my head with a bit of a laugh. "Silly thing to be insecure about, isn't it?"
"Sure is," Yurgen agreed, flipping to another contract before looking up. "Do you really think that Elympions and Reize Maxians can work together?"
I shrugged. "Why not? Jude and Balan are already doing that. My mercenaries love each other. Why can't you and Alvin do the same thing?"
Yurgen sighed and dropped his head to continue reading. "I don't know."
"I know sometimes Alvin can be a little... how should I put it?" I covered my mouth with my fist, thinking of the proper words to say. "Naive at times, but you have to remember. He's doing this to learn. He's doing this to grow as a person and finally have some validity in his life. He's doing this so that he can get back on the path to being an honest man."
He turned to the first contract, taking a pen from the desk behind him and started signing. "I don't know if Alvin's going to like this idea of you getting into our business, but this all seems like a really good deal to me."
"I'm sure Alvin will understand," Pretty sure he would. I mean, he just didn't want me even more stress than I already am, but this wasn't stress inducing. This was business and business really didn't stress me out. Not this type of business anyway.
"Alvin and I will have to go to each of the farms and taste their produce before we can actually employ them," Yurgen informed me. "Same goes with the shippers. We'll want to meet them before anything goes through. If Alvin agrees to this."
I took the signed contracts from him and tried not to stuff them in my bag. "Oh, he'll probably ask why I did this and then after hearing the truth, he'll give in. He doesn't get angry with this sort of thing. Just frustrated. With a little coaxing, he'll give."
"Do you believe in him that much?"
What an odd question, but I nodded. "Yes, I truly do."
Yurgen and I got up from our seats and shook hands. "Thank you so very much, Achlys."
"It's not a problem!"
I waited on the couch for Alvin to arrive home. It was almost five o'clock. He should be home any minute. I had texted him that I wanted to talk to him about something important, so he better not be going to the bar. He wouldn't want to 'leave me hanging' as Leia has said dozens of times. I flipped through the channels on TV. I had no idea what I was doing honestly. I never really watched TV unless Alvin was already doing so. I had no clue of what the channels, shows, or movies were. The only movies I've watched are the ones that we actually own, but I didn't know how to use the player either. I heard footsteps from outside the door and a key go into the lock. I turned off the TV and stood up, looking at Alvin who looked happy for once in the past couple of days.
"Hey sweetness," Alvin greeted, locking the door behind him. "Whatcha' want to talk about?"
I nodded to the table in front of him and he instinctively looked down. In front of him, sprawled out were the contracts. "I saw Yurgen today. He told me everything."
Alvin looked up, and gave a hard stare. "What are these?"
"They're contracts for some of the farms and shippers that I help out," I smiled, taking a few steps forward. "Yurgen said-"
"I don't care what Yurgen says," His growl was low and his fist pounded on the table. Well, I wasn't expecting that. "I don't want you helping with my business. I don't need your help to run my business."
"W-What?" I stammered. I could feel an intense pressure on my chest. "You taught me that people who don't want help that is being given to them are stupid and should be ashamed of themselves."
"Well, I lied!" Alvin's bark caught me off guard. Why was he acting like this? "Is that so surprising to you? Or do you still believe I'm an honest man? Everyone still seems to think that I'm just a straight up rogue, but you still stand there acting like I'm not! Stop and smell the roses for once in your life!"
"Alvin!" I shouted, feeling tears come to my eyes. "All I want to do is help! Yurgen thinks it's a good idea!"
Alvin picked up the contracts and dumped them in the kitchen trash. "I don't want your help! I don't need it nor do I want it"
"Why are you acting like this?" I asked him, fighting back tears. "You've never acted like this! You've never even yelled at me before! You've always been so patient with me! What's gotten into you?"
"Nothing!" Alvin screamed, his aura scorching with anger and frustration. "Presa, I-"
"What did you just call me?" I furrowed my eyebrows and matched them with a frown. The tears were starting to come again and this time, I didn't think I could hold them back.
Alvin stood there, eyes wide, breathing heavily. "I... I...," He couldn't even get a two letter word out of his mouth. He took a step back and eventually broke the eye contact and fled the apartment, slamming the door on his way out.
I plopped myself right where I was standing and put my hand to my chest. Darkness, I wish I hadn't given the necklace to Gaius. I hadn't realized this before, but whenever I'm upset, I take ahold of the necklace and it surprisingly calms me down. But this is the exact reason why I didn't want to wear it anymore. I didn't want to remember any of the chimeriad. Alvin just called me Presa for crying out loud. It's the first time he's ever misspoken like that.
The tears finally came and when they did, they came at full force. I didn't care. I just let it out. Did he wish that I had been Presa? Did he wish that he was marrying her instead? I don't understand why he would call me by her name. I don't understand why he was acting that way at all. I crawled over to the trash that held the contracts and sat by it with my back against the leg of the table. One by one, I ripped the contracts in two. Was this a little drastic? Maybe, but if he didn't want my help, then fine. He wasn't getting it.
I left the papers on the floor, not really wanting to pick them up. Not really having the motivation to do that. I got up from my spot, slipping on some papers in the process and thought of what to do next. I didn't want to stay here. Not tonight anyway. We both needed to calm down. I gathered some things, stuffing them in my bag. Only the necessities really. I wouldn't be gone long. Maybe I could get Rowen to talk to him for me. The thought made me shake my head. I couldn't bring more people into this. I put the bag on the table and looked around. Well, I guess it would be best to leave some sort of a note. No matter how short it may be. I picked up the pen that I had left on the table and wrote hastily on the back of one of the torn contracts.
Al-
Left for a little. Be back in a day or two.
Love,
Achlys
I thought about crossing the love out, but why? Why would I do that? I do love him. It was the truth even if we just had our first fight since... I didn't want to remember that specific moment. I put it in front of one of the chairs at the table and took off his coat. I wiped at some dirt here and there, and carefully draped it over the back of the chair. I looked at my ring and seriously thought about taking it off and putting it with the note, but that was silly. I wasn't going to break off this marriage just because we had one stupid fight.
I picked up my bag, slung it over my shoulder and locked the door behind me. I would be back and hopefully, he would be calm enough to talk things through. I could only hope.
So, classes have started up again. So, I'll be posting more sporadically then I used to.
