Slate rings contrasted by ebony pupils were crystalized in the open room. The sole cause lying in the pristine, morning sunlight, āimpaling itās way in through the thick wall of spotless glass. The sun. It looked odd on him; as if it werenāt ever meant for something so clean to drown a man so saturated with original sin. Pure gluttony,Ā entirely decked with black and grey and gold, filling the area of the building, and subsuming the pale lad with a dark tie around his neck, and the undressing, glistening eyes. The chosen colors of the Hearst family crest were of that: dark and unapproachable, and it showed diligently throughout the long building. Only the most peculiar people ravished to the dark, as it has been for hundreds and hundreds of years. The dark, was simply something you feared. Lightness, for the firm on the downtown London street, was something for the outsiders. And the tall brunette with the bright red dress, and scarlet lips wasnāt an exception. She lay a rose in a valley of indifference; a contradiction to the room. Sheād catch on though. They all caught on.Ā
If the receptionists werenāt already looking, they certainly were now at the pair. ā Grey uniforms, crimped and disorderly, as they peaked over the marble desks. Perhaps, admiring the couple, whom without doubt, complimented each other. A filming of a movie in their midst, yes. Or perhaps, they were admiring him. Or her. But one thing was certain: they were all broiling with envy. At least a slip of it. Certainly at the fact that the unfamiliar broad whoād obviously been selected by looks would be prancing on a million dollar rug in the penthouse. And that the dashing boy, with the corporate daddy would go home to a five hundred dollar meal when they were barely scraping by. Broiling.Ā
Watching her with her head down proved to be insightful. He was a boy, but an experienced boy, and as if he was expecting it the most faint of smiles pulled at the corners of her mouth. Elliot in turn only mimicked the act, placing a smile - as coy as he could get - into place on his own face. But amusement seemed to want otherwise, landing a smugness onto his features. āAnd what if I told you I held no other secrets?ā His voice remained hushed, and he inched closer, testing the waters, prodding her to see if she could take it. An unintentional captivation brimmed in the low, male voice, āWould you believe I was a faithful man?ā The question rolled off his tongue, a clenched jaw with indents forming in either side, and a tight smirk smoothly falling onto his defined features. The boy leaned then, naturally almost, cheek facing the side of her head. Long, brown hair brushed against his jaw, āWhat Iāve discovered,ā Cobalt eyes flicked down to her bare shoulder, dark lashes catching the bright rays, āIs that for every good deed a person commits, thereās three bad lying just underneath. You just need to do a little sifting, thatās all.ā He concluded, swiftly falling back to place, eyelids blinking heavily, catching a few of the visible dust particles. He had yet to touch her since the hand shake, and he devised to keep it that way. All the fun, after all, was in the chase.
He strolled down the hall, clearly in no rush to return to the elevators. His large hands still remained in his pockets, with his head craned down, eyes counting passing tiles. Itād been a game heād played as a boy when heād spend long hours here.Ā ā A simple game, in the midst of one of the most complex competitions of all,Ā āYouāre that easy to please?ā He teased back, glancing over his shoulder with a smile. If anything he was enjoying her company, more than the prior assistants certainly. Heād come across enough air-heads, and hyperactive women in the building for his liking, and meeting her for a change was the most refreshing thing that had happened since heād returned. He switched around to face her, taking a few steps backwards, slower than heād been, allowing her to catch up to his side, āAnd what have you decided, hm? Am I the kind that can take it?ā The boy dragged his tongue across his bottom lip, mouth parted ever so slightly, a grin forming as he awaited an answer. He flipped back around then, the smaller woman to his side, āHow about I let you guess?ā He replied, a lightness in his tone, āIām either a doorman, filer, or a law resident. Choose wisely, my love, you only get one shot.ā Ā
Aspen wasn't entirely certain just what managed to coax slender necks to crane in the duo's direction to the near point of snapping, what had coloured emerald to the features of those surrounding (the hue further blatant beneath such fluorescent lighting)-- whether it was Elliot, or her, or the couplet of beauty together. After one beat of contemplating, then two, she decided on the latter. Far too attractive, enthralling, for the mortal, they looked as if they had stepped out of the intangible murmurs of mythology; Persephone trailing in the suffocating smoke of Hades, gracing the mundane with their intoxicating presence. Whispers revolving around the pair who were just too pretty would swell between women cloaked in insecurities during their lunch breaks, words hardly mirroring the tone of a whisper while they deemed Aspen, who had been entirely evaluated at a mere passing glance, a whore. Aspen found mirth in the thought.
A smear of blood amidst the charcoal, Aspen was a blaring contrast to those surrounding; further coining her as unfamiliar, gaining her the position through the eyes of the other women as an outcast. If only they knew she would in the centre of it all, in time-- holding the grasp of two hearts, who thrummed with sheer power, in each petite palm. The tips of fingers grazed the carmen fabric sheathing her lithe figure absentmindedly, her posture exuding nothing beyond strength, no matter the lingering looks; as if knives had been wedged between the divots of her spine. Her gaze lifted from the tile beneath to the male's features, amusement adorning the canvas of his face through the subtleties; coaxing molars to come in tight contact with one another, increasing the angle of a honed jaw. "I'd call you a liar," She countered in a tone that matched her company's, hardly wanting to interrupt their wisps of conversation through a callous lilt. Aspen's chin cocked at the following question, mulling over the thought for a moment, allowing his words to seep to her pallet and surface a metallic taste. She wondered if he was actually coaxing a response, or simply a reaction. But, she spoke, "We're all faithful to some extent. To ourselves, if anything." And that was where she pinpointed him-- a man who walked the path of his own sin, fulfilling his own desires; laying no loyalty to religion, nor expectations of another. The heat enveloping the words dropped to the surface of a bare shoulder elicited a shiver up her spine, Elliot's words both hollowed and filled entirely; a tone she suddenly craved. Her mouth was then parched, and she swallowed thickly; the only sign of an affect he had bestowed to her. "Surely you must have more than three," A brow arched, "To make up for the lack of good deeds."
A smile curled at the brunette's plump mouth, canines bared in a nature that was almost feral, "I'm impossible to please." Her words came flush with the truth, despite possibly seeming exaggerated; never entirely feeling fulfilled. If she allowed the thought to fester when alone, engulfed by the preying whispers of the shadows, perhaps her inability to be entirely content had blossomed into a fear of Aspen's; her boredom, whether in her location or her relationships, inevitable. The abrupt sight of the male's visage dissipated prior worries, instead focusing on his question; a smirk curling at her mouth that mirrored her company's. "You are," He was also the kind that could dish it, which added another thread of intrigue, "But for how long?" To a certain extent, she had met men like Elliot; all who eventually grew resentful of her nature, no longer finding amusement in the attempt of coaxing forward a heart in the girl deemed heartless. Terracotta irises bleached a hue or two lighter by the beams streaming through a passing window dropped from holding the handsome male's gaze to his lips, full and taunting; lust abruptly unfurling within her lower abdomen, ascending to press against her lungs. "And what do I get if I guess right?" Words fell from her mouth like barbed honey, meant to snare his attention once more. "You're not a doorman," She began, her tone taking on a new colour of withdrawn, "Because I was tasked with opening my door on my very own. Which, is poor for business, might I add." Her thoughts then wandered to the tender colliding of their palms just a few minutes prior before continuing, gaze falling to the his pocket for a moment, where his hands were now housed, "You have no paper cuts, so you either have become very skilled in filing in time, or someone else does it for you," She peered upwards at his features, inky lashes casting a shadow to high cheeks, "I'll bet on the latter." She considered his final offering, though the thought of a man cloaked in sheer sin dappling in the pursuit of law was almost amusing. "You're none," Aspen decided finally, her gaze wandering foreign surroundings, "That was a dull game, Elliot. You're far less unpredictable than you give yourself credit for." Ā
