"Oh, hi," Leo replied, still breathless. She wasn't keen on enduring more screaming, so she quickly conveyed that the caller should try again later since Argon wasn't available.
"Wait—are you a woman?" The woman instantly picked up on the change in voice.
"Wow, she's quick," Leo muttered to herself in amazement, covering her mouth. No one had recognized her even when she put on a rather unconvincing act of being a man. "What's Argon's phone doing with you? Where is he? And why—are you breathing like that?"
Leo's face twisted in confusion. "What do you mean? What's wrong with my breathing?" she asked, still breathing heavily.
"Answer my d*mn question! Where is Argon? What did you two do?" The woman's voice escalated.
"What do you mean what did we do? Why should I tell you what I did to Argon?" she said and then thought. 'I mean I can't tell her that he is unconscious because of me, can i?' gritting her teeth, reluctant to admit that she had caused him to lose consciousness.
"Gasp!" The woman nearly collapsed over the phone. "How? I am coming back and when i do you don't want to be there!"
"Are you okay?" Leo asked cautiously.
"I'll kill you with my own hands! How dare you get close to Argon, you filthy wench—" The woman continued to rant until Leo abruptly ended the call and glanced at the screen. "She sure is a headache. And what's up with the threats? Is she related to that grim reaper or something?" Leo mused, tossing the phone back onto the couch before returning to the bedroom to help Argon onto the bed, failing miserably and giving up in the mid way.
The clothes on Leo's body had dried up. She sat in an armchair in Argon's room, watching him as he lay partially on the bed, the other half still on the floor. She had lost all the strength in her body.
"Shouldn't he wake up by now? I couldn't even leave because he might get mad if I just leave like that and end up firing me for that petty reason," she thought, rubbing her forehead. Shifting her gaze to the side, she noticed the living room seemed safe to walk around as the cat had fallen asleep somewhere on the couch. She got up and walked out of the room, looking around the apartment.
The place was not extravagant or designed in any fancy way. It was a modern, minimalistic apartment with very symmetrical furniture and decor. Even the wall art was symmetrical, yet it looked very high-end. She stepped around aimlessly until she came across a room at the end of the hallway. Curiosity got the best of her, and she opened the door and entered, noticing the light inside already turned on. It was a light above a work desk beside the window.
"Did he forget to turn off the light?" she thought, still holding the door handle. She stepped into the room. It seemed like another bedroom, but this one was more like a workspace. A bed was on one side, while the other space was taken over by sketches that adorned the walls.
"Oh! Is this where he designs all that stuff?" She felt a hint of excitement growing in her chest. The room's atmosphere was not very welcoming; it was too cold and hostile. The area was cold, making her want to leave, but she also wanted to see the work of a renowned jeweler and didn't want to miss the chance. She slowly approached the desk, where multiple notebooks lay open with semi-drawn sketches on the paper. They were beautiful, even unfinished, but each had a cross drawn over it as if in frustration.
"Tsk!" She clicked her tongue. "What a waste." She pouted, picked up a pencil from the side, and sat in the chair beside the desk, starting to randomly draw strokes on the art. Viviana, who had already discovered Liora's talent for drawing, felt the need to use a bit of the body's artistic talents to see if she could fix it for fun's sake. She didn't realize that this momentary attraction to the art would take a dramatic turn, leading her to alter the design almost completely. Leo could feel her heart beating rapidly in her chest, not out of fear or anxiety but pure excitement. Liora's body felt joyous as she drew on the paper.
"Purrr." Suddenly, the sound of the cat halted Leo's hand. When she looked up, the cat was on the table, watching her work.
"God d*mn it!" Leo jumped, throwing the paper into the air. The pencil in her hand landed on the other end of the room. The paper flew away, revealing yet another opened notebook on the table. She saw something that made her eyes widen in shock.
"That— isn't that my name?" she said, confused, and reached out to the notebook, pulling it out. "Viviana?" She thought when the notebook got pulled out of her hand, and she gasped, turning around to see Argon looming over her with a darkened face. It was clear he was mad.
"How dare you enter this room?!" he said, fuming.
"You woke up?! I—I was just—" She stepped back defensively, her heart feeling as if it had collapsed into her abdomen. Argon took a step forward.
"How dare you touch anything here? Get out!!" he growled, his eyes bloodshot. Leo could feel her throat dry out, and she nodded before slipping out of the space between them, running out of the room. Argon's breaths were heavy, as if he was trying hard not to kill Leo. She turned one last time to look at Argon, his reaction too surprising.
"He is too p*ss*d. I need to get out of here," she said to herself, rushing toward the main door to leave the apartment. The door behind her slammed shut even though she hadn't intended it to. She stood outside the door, breathing heavily.
"But wait a second, why did I run away? It's not like he was going to use violence." referign to her vision but then she paused her skin paled. "... wait! What did I just say? Is violence the only thing I'm afraid of right now? Where did I sell my self-respect too? Gosh, I have started to become happy with the bare minimum!" She held her forehead, disappointed in herself. She then caught a glimpse of the hallway she stood in.