Thomas took the packet in one hand while he held onto his daughter with a quiet sigh. He could only read the first page which was just debrief of the project, he thought everything would be fine till he read the second page. His face dropped quickly, he looked up at Charles a mixture of confusion and sadness “What the fuck is this?” He questioned quickly turning to the last page reading it too quickly with a quick shake of his head. “You’re replacing me? You–You can’t even do my job! I–I’m meant for this job!” He yelled clearly flustered, Charles was taking yet another thing from him. So much hatred and anger was boiling inside him he was laughing, just bitterly laughing at the whole situation. “Know what?” He slammed the paper down on the desk grabbing a pen and aggressively signing his signature down on the paper, he pressed so hard into the paper the paper ripped a little, “Have the fucking job. Have my father’s affection. Fuck have the girl I loved! Have everything.” He slid the paper over to not even giving Elliot a second look before storming out. If Thomas was given a warning by his father that Charles would be taking his job his reaction would’ve been way better but seeing there was no warning and he was already pressed about Elliot, he just exploded. The man set his daughter in her playpen with a small sniff as he sat in his office chair with a quiet sigh feeling warmth start to form in his eyes, he didn’t know what to do so he just let tears run down his cheeks and onto the crisp wood of his desk.
   Elliot hangs her head, honestly waiting for them to bicker about something she doesn’t understand as per usual. Elliot had been hearing Charles drunkenly explain this project to her, late nights in his office, whisky poured over ice and inebriated arguments about the big white elephant that no one is allowed to mention sober: Thomas. Charles knows that Elliot was is stupidly in love with Thomas. But he also knows that she can’t go back to him, he has a family now, a family she doesn’t fit into. And since Charles is family-less and emotionally inept, she sticks around. And they mutually pretend they’re in love. This project will further my career, Charles would say. Thomas deserves this. He needs this, Elliot would answer, before slapping her hand over her face, because she knows the can of worms she’s opened. Elliot’s eyes shot up when Thomas shouts, and her eyes frantically jar between Thomas, Charles, and baby Bethany, who’s making that heart breaking face that babies make before they burst into painful cries. Elliot scoots back in the chair, standing abruptly. Loved is the word that catches her ajar mouth like a fucking fish hook. Why does she care? Because she’s hopeful. She didn’t think she was, she thought she was stronger, she thought she was over him. But she has to be real with herself, that’s never going to happen. She still watches Thomas carefully, warm tears in her eyes as she glares at Charles. It isn’t until Thomas is out of the office and out of ear shot that Charles looks at Elliot wearily, fully expecting what he obviously deserves. “I cannot believe you,” Elliot seethes through clenched teeth. Charles rolls his eyes, “Are you always going to side with him? We live together, you know, we’re in a pretty serious relationship, you could always maybe try and support me for once!” Elliot barks out a laugh before pushing past him. “We settled for each other, Charles, quit bull shitting yourself,” she snaps, “and as far as what you just did for Thomas, my history with him is completely besides the point. That man has a wife and infant child to provide for, and a father to prove himself to. And you just ripped out the rug from beneath him.” Elliot’s hands go to her hair, her fingers tangling in the heavy strands as she takes a deep breath. “Go home. I need to be away from you for ten fucking minutes,” she says sternly, keeping her eyes closed and her hands locked in her hair as she sits down on the arm of the couch. She hears Charles breathing a sigh of defeat and checking his watch. Its a few minutes before he leaves the office, shutting the light off and leaving her behind. There’s still a lamp on at Charles desk, next to a faceless picture of he and Elliot dancing at some wedding a few months back, which she stares at for a few minutes before she gets up, following the sound of a crying baby to Thomas’s office. She’s too tired to be hesitant, to be afraid of him, so she lets herself in. Her heels are outside the door, sitting stop her purse, so her socked feet pitter patter across the grey carpet to the baby pen, where she soothes her fingers over the infant’s head, putting her baba back in her mouth. It’s a few seconds before the baby actually stops crying and has tired eyes while she sucks on the binky. Elliot doesn’t even look in Thomas’s direction, not yet, not when she’s trying to help him out. She walks to the bar, and she considers pouring him scotch, since she knows that would really help, but he has Bethany. So she pours him a glass of water over ice and gently sets it on the desk beside him, no real pull to the features of her face as she glances down at him.
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