Quote of the Chapter:
"You out there, in the cold, seeing the seasons
turning, me with my heartful of headlines
feeding works into a blank screen.
Is your life more real because you dig and sow?" - Letters from Yorkshire, Maura Dooley
Chapter Twelve: (Unexpected) Interruptions
Unsurprisingly, the rest of the morning passes in a mundane crawl. Not a fast crawl - no Elizabeth would never call it fast - but certainly not a slow crawl either. It was like a mediocre in-between, an awkward mix of an excruciatingly slow-paced shuffle that somehow had the same smooth transition as a solid, sturdy slide against freshly polished floors. If there was one word that Elizabeth could use to describe the usual morning at the office, she would say it was ordinary. Extremely ordinary.
Like all businesses, the Britannia Mail had its influx of gossips and creeps and ordinary workers. Diane - a proud socialite within the break room - always liked to teach the newer employees about the social dos and donts of the company. Elizabeth, always being tied to the hip of Diane, often had to endure these impromptu lessons, knowing all the information for herself.
Nerobasta, Ludociel's assistant, thought she was better than everyone else. A total snob. Elizabeth had learned that on day one when she'd shown up with a pretty floral blouse that Nerobasta had called, quote unquote "quaint". As if Elizabeth herself didn't know that was office code for "you've definitely got spirit, but that's all you have".
Then there were the office gossips, consisting of three workers who constantly hung around the break room. Deldry, Arden and Waillo were often the root of out of control rumours in the building - especially about the more juicer stories given to highly popular journalists. That trio alone could stir a whole scandal within the building faster than a group of news outlets competing for public attention. Most days it was miracle that this building wasn't plastered across the headlines of every other newspaper outlet.
Often, the gossipers tended to clash with the new influx of regulars - graduates from the most recent university wave: Jericho, Guila and an awkward intern named Luigi. There was never a full day that wouldn't pass without Jericho screaming at the gossipers, telling them to shut the hell up as she devoured her twentieth doughnut of the day. All the while, the entire office would watch on in silence, journalists always being the sort to hang onto every little development in current action.
This morning, however, the office lacked the usual dynamic it held. Even though time passed in its usual current and flow, Elizabeth couldn't help but feel as if the day was quiet. Too quiet. Working away peacefully on an article was usually a chore; today she had managed to get a decent margin of her clinic piece done and was already jotting down notes for a new project in South London. That was definitely too productive for this office on a Tuesday.
Frowning, Elizabeth closed her laptop and decided to check out the break room. Most of the time if the action was lacking in the main office, it was transferred to the limited confines of the smaller break room. Elizabeth had learned that the hard way a few months ago when Guila guided a dazed Luigi to the elevators, holding a white bundle of tissue to his nose. Within moments it had been soaked red.
"Taking a break are you?" Diane sprang out from thin air, grinning as she matched Elizabeth's stride. Slyly, she nudged her, easily pinching a pencil from someone's desk. "That's highly unusual for you, Miss Liones. Could it have something to do with the change in the workplace?"
"Of course not," Elizabeth shook her head, face burning from the surprise of Diane's unexpected arrival. She never liked it when people sprung up on her like that - especially at work. Sighing, she pushed open the break room door. "I'm just making sure everything's in order."
"Of course, of course," Diane nodded, humming as she followed Elizabeth's lead. "You are the employee of the month."
Choosing to ignore Diane's obvious skepticism, Elizabeth rolled her eyes as she stepped into the break room. As suspected, the room was filled with the usual culprits: an irate Jericho and a smug Deldry. This was a common occurrence when the two women happened to work the same shift: one would say something that the other didn't like; the other would retaliate with either swift violence or cutting, sharp words; every time it ended with someone external diffusing the tension.
Today, Mael appeared to try and fill that role. Uncertain, definitely looking as if he was out of his element, he tried to speak over the ranting Jericho and grinning Deldry, wedged between them like the flimsy backdrop of a school-funded prom picture. On either side of Mael were the two women, Jericho glaring at Deldry with a venom so potent that it would kill her on sight if it were possible.
"You knew they were my favourite snacks!" Jericho growled, fists balled. A firm edge that Elizabeth had come to associate with her anger filled her voice. "I put my damn name of the fucking box to make sure that none of you greedy pricks stole my cookies, and YOU went and ate them all."
'Ah the usual conflict,' Elizabeth thought. That was yet another weekly occurrence in the office. Deldry - always the type to piss others off - just seemed to be unable to stay away from Jericho's well-labelled and highly defended cookies.
"Well you should've wrote it more clearly," Deldry said, shrugging nonchalantly. Confidently, she stood on the other side of Mael, two hands placed on each of her hips. "The tiny chicken scratch on the box was barely legible."
"Chicken scratch?!" Jericho bristled, her entire body coiling with the anticipation to spring into action. Part of her twitched, indicating the impending and inevitable conflict swiftly coming Deldry's way. "Why you- "
"It surely isn't that big of a deal," Mael interjected, moving to block Deldry's smug face from Jericho's view. Carefully, he tried to reason with her, placing a calming hand on one of her narrow shoulders. "Surely if Deldry pays you back then- "
"Yeah and I would have more successful dates. She never pays me back!" Jericho barked out a harsh laugh, rolling her eyes. Roughly, she shrugged off Mael's hand, barging him out of the way. "Now, new guy, move out of the way. It would be a pretty damn shame if your face got in the way of my fist."
Shaking her head, Elizabeth could only watch as Diane stepped forward to help a rather clueless Mael. This was the usual office bullshit that she had to deal with on a day like this. Part of her had forgotten about Jericho and Deldry; too occupied with Meliodas, she had forgotten how exhausting this part of work could be. Now, there was something new breaking the cycle, something fresh opening her eyes.
Their eyes caught as Elizabeth glanced at him, wondering why exactly Mael triggered all this change. He was nothing special after all. Just another new recruit. Yet another starry-eyed rookie reporter, looking for his big break. Why exactly did she resonate with him so much?
Did she see her past self within him?
"How many times have I told you both to stop starting wars over food," Diane huffed, tutting as she stood beside Mael. Two hands rested on her hips, making her seem even more tall and foreboding as she began lecturing her coworkers. "It's bad enough that I have to deal with your crap, but Mael here had no idea how to deal with this! Do you have any idea how stressful that is for someone new to the job?"
Silence met Diane. Deafening silence. Then both women walked off, one kissing her teeth as she skulked away and the other tsking as she scurried behind the other. Another normal sight for Elizabeth.
"I'm so sorry you had to see that Mael," Diane sighed dramatically, shaking her head. Her hands dropped from her hips as she dusted them off, looking as if she'd just finished teaching a class of a hundred children. "I promise that they're not always like that. Jericho's just extremely touchy about her snacks."
'That's an understatement,' Elizabeth pursed her lips as she recalled the ONE time she accidentally ate one of Jericho's prized snacks. To this day the poor woman still got suspicious side-eyes from her coworker, simply because she didn't know that Jericho was OCD about her snack stash.
"Yeah, I gathered that," Mael laughed a little, still appearing quite startled. Nervously, he chewed his cheek as he scratched at the back of his neck, his eyes just about meeting Diane's. "Although, it's quite unnerving to face alone."
"As it would be," Diane nodded, humming. Abruptly, she then lopped Mael by the arm, also yanking Elizabeth into her group-hold as she beamed, "So, as a reward for being a big, strong newbie, Elizabeth and I will invite you to our super exclusive lunch date!"
"Lunch?" Mael blinked.
"Diane!" Elizabeth groused, pulling a face as she pulled herself from Diane's tangle of arms. Ever since Mael had arrived here, she had not let up about letting him into their inner circle. First it was movie night invites; now it was lunch invites. What was next, introducing him to Meliodas and Ban? Elizabeth couldn't help the shiver that raced up her spine. Poor Mael wouldn't survive an evening with those two.
"You can't keep bringing the newbies into our inner circle after one day," Elizabeth pouted, choosing to play it petty. Pettiness often worked in their friend group, from tough Ban to more yielding King. With all of her friends, Elizabeth could always count on pettiness to win them over - well, pettiness or sympathy. Whatever worked best at the time.
"But I like him!" Diane pouted in return, clinging onto Mael's arm for dear life. If Elizabeth didn't know any better she'd accuse Diane of trying to replace King. But she knew better; Diane loved the socks off King. Right now she was only trying to make him jealous and unfortunately Mael was her ticket to envy town.
She must have noticed the quaking resolve on Elizabeth's face as Diane added, batting her eyelashes, "And you like him too! So why not?"
"Because..."
Because what? Because Elizabeth did not like the way that Mael makes her face unknown truths with his very presence? Because Elizabeth didn't like how Diane saw through her so easily? Honestly, she didn't know. At all. That's what bugged Elizabeth most.
Biting her lip, Elizabeth glanced from a pleading Diane to a more reserved, yet also almost as desperate Mael. No doubt he was struggling to make friends in the office. Judging from his interaction with Jericho and Deldry, he stuck out like a sore thumb and the other workers probably viewed him as yet another stuck-up addition from the top dogs' gene pool.
Cruel, it would extremely cruel to leave Mael to exist at lunch alone. He didn't know the area; he didn't know the people; he had no-one to show him around. No-one but Elizabeth. Elizabeth - and to an extent Diane - could help him. Like in the past, where she picked up other lone and blooming flowers, Elizabeth could nurture him; she could help Mael grow to a point where he would not need her.
Releasing a reluctant sigh, Elizabeth nodded, "Alright fine," She gave in. Just like she always does. "But do try to make friends with everyone else here too, Mael. They are lovely people, especially Jericho."
"Really?" Mael mused, appearing to be intrigued. Elizabeth took it as a good sign - a sign to him progressing to independence.
"Yeah, she donates toys and raises money for sick children on the weekends," Elizabeth hummed, knowing it to be true. Ever since she first arrived, Jericho always spoke about the kids at the hospital. She had tons of pictures stored on her phone - all from the volunteer work she did with terminally ill kids. "And she gets the best birthday presents."
Just as she says this, Elizabeth gets a text. It provided a pause, a break, that always came to her when things began to settle. Meliodas - unusually early for his usual texting time. From that alone Elizabeth felt somewhat wary about it.
'Sorry about this morning.' The first text read. It was followed by an almost instant second - 'I'm prepping a surprise!'. Third was a cheeky selfie, front and centre a grinning Meliodas and chaos spread all about their shared apartment. No doubt his preparations for whatever surprise he planned to win back her good graces.
The instant smile couldn't be helped. At all. A huge, stretching grin splayed itself on Elizabeth's lips as she typed her response, her insides twisting the familiar feeling that she had learned to associate with Meliodas - her own personal obsession and target of her affections. He was the man she would always save a single smile for.
'You don't have to get me a surprise, but I'm all for it,' She replied. Then, she hastily added for extra measure, 'Make sure to get my fave cake tho or you won't be forgiven.'
With that final fleeting thought of Meliodas, Elizabeth pocketed her phone and rushed to catch up with Diane and Mael who were already at the elevators. Who would have guessed that for once Elizabeth Liones was actually having a genuinely good day?