I leave the office and head towards the offices of John's commanding forces.
"Tap, tap, tap.."
My steady foot steps ring out, echoing off the walls.
The few people I see in the halls pause when they notice me. Mouths agape, eyes wide, no one was expecting me in here it seems. Judging from their reactions, everyone has heard about last night.
'GREAT.'
(٥↼_↼)
"UH, Major General Sin?" One brave individual approaches me and I stop to address him.
"Ah, thank you... Corporeal Fredrick. Where would I find Rosie?" I ask, watching his eyes grow wide.
"She's in her office on the fourth floor, but.." I hold my hand up to stop him from going any farther.
"Thank you, Corporeal. No need to worry, get back to work." I dismiss him, and glare when he hesitates.
"Yes, Major General." He salutes and hurries away as I head for the stairs.
The walk to these offices had a therapeutic effect, the stair climbing had a different one. As I passed others, I welcomed their stares with smiles. Inside, I was frowning with annoyance.
'What the hell, does everyone know about this situation?'
On the third floor, I avoided any eye contact and just kept my head up and ahead of me. On the fourth floor, I stop and gather my bearings. The main area is open with the trainee's being shown the ropes and other staff going about their day. I head over to the office doors looking for Rosie's office.
I pause at one that's marked R. Peters, mainly because I hear a females voice through the door.
"Yes, Lacroix, sir. Bye."
'This sounds like the place to me.'
Knocking on the door, I hear a polite and reserved, "Come on in."
'Here we go...' I thought as I opened the door.
She was staring at some paperwork when I first walked in, glancing up quickly, only to drop her eyes down to the papers again.
I could see how she froze at the moment she realized who I was. Her chest rising and falling quickly, her hands and arms tensed holding a paper that began to shake.
She must have realized she was shaking. With a huff, she sets the paper down and looks up at me.
Standing up she motions for me to take a seat. "Major general Sin, I was not expecting you, but I'm glad you came by. There's something I need to discuss with you."
I take the seat, keeping my expressions neutral as I respond to her.
"Yes, I do believe you are correct. I was not expecting to have to come here when I came in to do my paperwork. However, I had a few things brought to my attention regarding last night and came to get your input on the situation."
She nodded, "I'd like to apologize, Major General."
Raising my hand to stop her, I have to interject. "Just Sin please. This is about my husband after all, not the war."
"Yes, Ma.. Sin." She catches herself, I merely nod for her to go on.
"Thank you. I do apologize about this situation, it honestly got blown out of proportion. You can ask anyone here, I would never have an affair with anyone married."
Raising my brow, knowingly, I add, "Especially a male that was married."
She pauses, a smirk catching the side of lips, "You... You know?"
"I was informed that you are into women, exclusively."
She does a short laugh, relief easing the tension in the room with it.
"Thank goodness! I have had to defend myself a few times already today, mainly because people are ignorant of that fact. So you believe me when I say, I have never and would never try to have an affair with your husband, right?"
I nod hesitantly chewing on my lip, "I believe that you were trying to be there for my husband, who was drunk with the best of intentions. However, even though your sexual preferences do not involve the male sex, you were.... overly, physically affectionate to him in a public place. People like to talk and assume the worst of any situation they see. Now, I did look at the bars video feed, and I see how everyone assumed the worst. You were awfully close to his face with an arm wrapped around him. "
She began to defend herself, calmly. "There's a reason for that. John had opened up about somethings that I believe should remain private. I was reminding him of certain parts of those incidents as advice, without letting straining ears catch on. Your personal love life and past experiences are yours. Even though he opened up to me about some of them, I didn't think the rest of the bar should hear about it."
"I appreciate your considerations. Please tell me what exactly did he divulge by chance?" I lean forward on the arm rest, propping my chin on my hand, staring intently. I was giving her my undivided attention.
She smiles awkwardly. I can see how uncomfortable she is, not knowing if what she was told was ever supposed to be repeated.
'It's too late now, dear. I didn't come here to do this, but I might as well find out what he talks about to others. Right?'
"He told me about how you two started, how great everything was until a certain case happened. How the psychiatrist was a guttersnipe and then about another case that ended up being the cause of his disappearance. He told me how he had no memory of anything, that you thought he had died and meeting again. The trust that had to be rebuilt as you two reconnected. Now, he didn't go into great detail but he told me enough to get the gist of your relationship and why he was so upset yesterday. He seemed like he just needed to vent out his frustrations. It's a stressful time for all of us and he seems to feel like you're leaving him behind because of little things. At least, that's from my understanding." She says this all matter of fact and allows me to soak this information in.
"Little things?" I ponder out loud trying to think of these 'little things' that made an impact. Realizing I'm in the wrong place, talking to the wrong person to get my answers, I move to leave.
"Thank you Rosie, for your help. I'm sorry your name is getting dragged through the mud, I'll do what I can to ..."
*Bang* Her office door swings open violently and hits the wall.
We both are shocked to see John and Suites there looking like they were ready for a fight.
"Uh... Hello, guys." Me and Rosie exchange a look between us before returning our gazes towards the doorway.
Like a pair of confused ostriches, they swivel their necks and look at us and each other with big wide eyes.
"Is something the matter?" I ask crossing my arms in front of my chest.
They stand up a little straighter and close the door on an ogling office staff, giving us some privacy.
"Suites got a call you were here, he was told you looked like you meant business, so he called me." John says, face flushed, from embarrassment or anger, I wasn't sure of yet.
"Ah, I see. So you two thought that I came over here to what? Get into an altercation with Rosie here like I was a teenager or vengeful wife?" My foot tapping the floor was the only sound for a minute as I stared them down.
'Suites knows that I knew the truth of the matter. So it must have been John who got worried. How could he think that I would do something so immaturely?'
"Rosie, we're good right?" Turning to her with my query, she nods unsure of how the situation is playing out at the moment.
I walk past both of the men, not sparing them a glance and open the door.
"Let's go get drinks some time, Rosie." I say before waving bye and shutting the door. I walk past a sea of confused faces and head downstairs. The second I'm out of sight, I snap my self away, dropping my phone off at home, and turning my implanted com chip off.
I take a walk from the house and head over to bridge that overlooks the waterfall. I take a seat on the wall of the terrace, and try to clear my thoughts.
"Penny for your thoughts, Mija."
I start at the sound of Lars voice beside me.
"Shit, Lars, you nearly scared me off this wall."
Nervous laughter escapes me as I glance below me at the water that hammers into the large boulders one hundred feet below.
"Sorry, Mija. I saw you from the entry and wanted to know why my girl looked so down. We got everyone out of the village, you should be proud." He pats my hand and curiously rests his gaze on my face.
I exhale loudly through my nose, matching the words for my vast array of emotions.
"I'm stressed out over everything right now. There's so many we're not able to save, not to mention everyone that we lose along the way. There's so much going on that we need to be concerned about and look out for. Then John... he seems to have become someone I don't know anymore. Earlier, he made it evident to me, that he doesn't know me like he used to anymore."
That last sentence stabs me straight through my heart.
'We don't know each other anymore.'
I look up at the sky, blinking back the painful tears that threaten to form.
"Mija, come. Let's go to la casa. I'll make you something to eat and you can tell this old redcap everything."
I nod as he places a hand in my own. Squeezing it firmly in thanks, before he snaps us to his place at the Norway stronghold.
Lars sets me down at the kitchen table, and prepares a glass of whiskey, straight-up, before handing it over to me.
"Thanks." I mumble as he gets to work pulling out pots and pans and different items from the cupboards and refrigerator.
He is dicing away at vegetables as he gestures for me to get up and join him.
"Ven aqui, Mija. Help me and fill up that pot with water. Tell me whats troubling you the most right now."