The next morning Rose woke up with a sore throat and body aches. She wasn't sure why until she got up and saw she'd been sleeping on the floor in front of the door. "That's why everything hurts today," she muttered. After gulping two glasses of cold water, she went to the bathroom.
"What the hell?" she shouted when she looked in the mirror. There was a huge red mark on the side of her face, as if she had hit something really hard. Her eyes were so puffy they looked like water balloons. She searched her memory for the reason she cried so much, but the previous night was a whole blur.
Wait... She had been drinking with Sandy and Ben the night before. She was feeling dejected and overwhelmed by mixed feelings. She recalled all the gossip Ben spilled, trying to ignore the pain in her heart when the harem part appeared in her memories. Argh... Did I really say I wanted to be part of his harem? she thought, ashamed of all the things she spat because of the alcohol.
But there was one good thing she could rescue from the whole situation: The Angel Aura wore off according to Sandy, and that was a relief. Now she could face Locious without all that stupid jealousy and crazy possessiveness.
Suddenly, an image popped up in her mind: Locious's profile driving a car, his mouth moving but not a word could be heard. Locious? But Locious wasn't with us last night. Actually, he left to see that person. A second image confirmed he must have been with her: she remembered them in front of her door; he seemed angry, and she felt something strange. An ache settled inside her she couldn't identify. Did they fight over her drunkenness? What did she say to him to make him so angry?
Rose wanted to lay like a potato and recover from the hangover, but her curiosity about Locious and the events of the night before won. She took a shower and left for the office.
For the second time since she started working there, Rose entered the office with swollen eyes and a killer headache.
"This overwhelming light is killing me," she muttered while walking through the hallways. The glass walls were wonderful, but when she had a splitting headache, they felt like a torture chamber. The direct sunlight felt like it was draining her energy and in search of quietness, she only found herself surrounded by more sun.
She knocked on the double doors, needing not only for Locious to hide her from the sun but also to give her some insight about the night before. It wasn't Locious's face she saw when the door opened, but Mike's rigid posture. His face couldn't hide his disdain for the visitor; his raised eyebrows asked what she was doing there, but no word left his mouth.
"Good morning... Umm... Sorry, is Locious here?" she asked doubtfully, trying to look inside the room, but Mike was grabbing the door tightly as if she was an outsider who didn't have permission to peep. This guy made her nerves crack and also made her feel ashamed without a reason. As if he looked so pristine and pure and she so dirty, like a cockroach.
"No, he is gone and will not return to the office for some days. He is carrying an important duty and shall not be disturbed," he said in that frivolous tone he liked to use when talking to anyone who wasn't Locious.
Ignoring his judgmental attitude, she thanked him and turned around. With Locious gone, the only person who could offer some answers was Sandy. She started to look for her when Mike's condemnation stopped her in her tracks.
"I would urge greater discretion regarding your downtime. Your proximity is currently carrying certain... volatile aromas. The Head of the Agency requires assets who reflect the kind of control and righteousness that defines our mission. I suggest a stronger approach to your personal presentation; it reflects directly on the integrity of the Angel Society's values."
He threw the poisoned knife on her back and returned to his office, leaving a perplexed Rose in the middle of the hallway, feeling confused and... stinky.
"But I took a shower," she said, smelling her shoulder. When she realized what she was doing, she hated it and scolded herself. "Just ignore him. It was probably a cruel way of berating me for yesterday night," she muttered, shaking her head and took off in search of Sandy. She found her in the tech department, laughing with Mila. Well, actually, only Sandy was laughing; Mila was just focused on her computer, searching between tabs at the speed of light.
"Hey drunkard! How are you feeling? Ben is wasted; he even had to take the day off, which made our amazing substitute boss almost implode," Sandy said with another loud laugh and urged her to come closer to where they were.
"Do I smell bad?" she asked when she joined them. Oops! The question escaped her lips before she could stop it. Mike's words stung more than she thought, and when Sandy smelled her, Rose held her breath, waiting for her answer.
"No, I have the best nose in the office, and I just smell your soap, why?" Sandy asked, intrigued by the random question.
"I was looking for Locious and found Mike. He told me that I reek and should behave in a better way not to embarrass Locious. Well, not with those words, but I got his message," she answered. She didn't want to dwell on his words. She had known since the first moment they met that he didn't like her, but there was something in what he said that made her self-esteem go out the window.
Sandy's elbow landing against her side brought her back to reality. "You shouldn't pay too much attention to him. He is like that with everybody. He is the most uptight person I have ever met in the Society, and when it comes to Locious, his protective instinct almost verges on obsession. People call him the enforcer, but I like to call him the asshole with the stick in the…" Sandy couldn't finish her phrase because Mila interrupted her.
"That's because he was raised in the Society, like a real society pedigree. It's almost like a legacy, and he just happened to come under Locious's rule. So in his mind, protecting his sire is not only his work but his life duty. His only mission in life is to make the Society a righteous place, not only because he believes in all its rules, but because if the Society falls in disgrace, the pillar loses face, and that is... Locious." Mila stated in a monotonous voice, as if giving the weather forecast. She never stopped typing on her computer, yet she had clearly been listening to every word. Before any of them could process the information, Mila looked at them and continued:
"He is Ethel's older son. You know she has been in the Society way before Locious took control, and she stayed, despite most of the people from her generation left after the old boss's breakdown. Her loyalty to the Society doesn't belong to an individual but the whole system. However, Mike was really young at that time, so he didn't really interact with the former boss; he mostly just saw him as a 'bad boss.' When Locious appeared, with all his cheerful, positive vibe, he became Mike's hero and the one he swore to protect with his life. If Locious decided to leave and work for the Demon Association, he would send the rules to hell and follow him there, even if it meant hell itself," she explained.
And as if she hadn't dropped a bomb on them, Mila turned back to her writing.
"Wait! What! I knew he was Ethel's son and was very protective of Locious, but how do you know that much about him?" Sandy asked in shock, making Mila adjust her glasses and cough awkwardly.
"I may, or may not, have read his online diary while checking the office security system."
Rose and Sandy looked at each other as if they had suddenly found the scariest person in the office.
"Girl, we now solemnly vow to never get on your bad side," Sandy said, and Rose echoed, but Mila didn't answer, as if what she had done was something very normal.
They made a few jokes about Mila's smart-ass and creepy attitude, but the conversation quickly drifted back to the original reason Rose was there. Unfortunately, the discussion didn't throw any light into what happened with Locious that night. Sandy confirmed that he had gone to the bar and taken Rose home, but she was in the dark about the rest of their night. So Rose resigned herself to wait patiently for Locious to find out the truth.
She spent the next few days investigating and bonding with Mila and Sandy; even Ben sometimes joined them for gossiping sessions. Everything remained quiet until the news of Locious's return spread through the Society.