M O N S T E R

if i told Y O U what i was would you turn your back on me? and if i seem dangerous would you be scared i get the feeling just because 'everything' i touch isn't d.a.r.k. enough if this problem lies in M E Wrenly Burke 26 Investment Banker

[veronicaburke-deactivated201507]

Veronica sat on the park bench staring into space. Earlier, exactly three hours and twenty four minutes earlier, she had seen Eli. He hadn’t recognized her. She had said anything to him of course. She had been too afraid to. Being back in Eastbourne she had been forced to confront the things she had been running from all these years. When he had let her go Eli said that she was destined for more than a mechanic’s wife. He was a mechanic as it turned out. She had been at the garage the next town over checking out a used motorcycle. In the end she hadn’t bought the motorcycle. Despite the savings her nearly complete lack of knowledge meant it wasn’t a good idea. Which she knew going in. But seeing Eli had been a shock. She barely remembered the rest of the meeting. Now she was sitting, sort of dumbfounded, on a park bench. 

[exiledburkx]

He wasn’t a sentimental man, nor was he an emotional one. Wrenly had little to no attachments in his life, save Tevia. Friends came and went, his family was practically absent from his life all together, so the only thing that left him was with an empty heart, and the inability to open it. There were few times he could say he truly experienced anything other than lust or some form of irritation. His emotional scale had been far skewed for the negative as opposed to feeling happiness or joy. He could laugh ironically but true laughter was rare. Unless it was with the help of alcohol. So why the man went and sat down beside the woman was unclear. He had gone to the bar that she was said to work at, more to discuss their grandfather and in an attempt to once more convince her perhaps to come back. If there was an investigator, chances were this secret wouldn’t be kept for too long either. Though the selfish side of him said it was better her head on the chopping board than his, but with Tevia gone, Wrenly was left picking up the slack for his older siblings. The ones who were supposed to be the ones doing that. Having been informed she went out and given a general direction, he found her in a rather uncomfortable position. They weren’t close and perhaps she wouldn’t want him to see her like this and he knew he sure as hell didn’t want to either. But he sat down nonetheless, giving her nothing but silence in an attempt to allow her time to clean herself up.

[junlicais]

[helenadelgado]

“Uh – I must’ve forgotten my card at home. I think I have a twenty in here somewhere…” Isaiah frowned, clumsily attempting to find the amount of currency he owed, much to the dismay of the people waiting in line behind him. All he wanted was a bloody bottle of water.

[exiledburkx]

Patience was not something that Wrenly Burke was known for, and having to wait for the man in front of him to fumble through his wallet wasn’t helping. He had had a little too much the night before and the hangover wasn’t doing well. He just wanted the aspirin and the man still had to get to work because his father wouldn’t take a hangover as a legitimate excuse for not coming in. Death was pretty much the only explanation that he would accept. Slamming a twenty down, he spoke. “Here. Just take this.”

[exiledburkx]

Veronica  ✉ Wrenly

Veronica: Yes I know how to drive one

Wrenly: You're full of surprises.

Wrenly: And that is meant as as much of a compliment as yours was.

[exiledburkx]

Birdie Burke ✉️ Banshee Burke

Adelaide: Please. I wouldn't dirty myself with them anyway.

Wrenly: You don't dirty yourself with anyone. You ought to think about it. It'd do wonders for your mood.

Adelaide: What would do wonders for my mood would be if you stopped wasting my time with pointless memos at work.

Adelaide: See you in a few hours.

[read]

[clairebaileys]

So deep lost in her own thoughts, Claire wasn’t completely in it to notice the tone of his voice. Now she was really, really thinking about it, about how the man now called as Saul Goodman came up with the name –– or how the writers did, anyway, since she guessed she’d learn how the character did further in the show. Her eyes were half looking at nothing half looking after Harry, who kept playing with the sand and the rocks, mumbling dialogue or storyline under his breath. She had no heart to stop his game, so they were there until he got bored, which meant Claire had enough time to think about… anything, anyway. With the same enthusiasm in her voice, she nodded. “Right? Still, I wonder how much pot it took him to come up with that, like, in one part of this one episode he’s sort of a hippie,” And that was the second her eyes finally focused on something, a group of the holiday version of a family, wearing bikinis and swimming trunks, even when the wind still blew. Eastbourne was no Caribbean, but she supposed this was the closest to the beach some people could get –– people like her, for example. She had never been out of Great Britain… Hell, she had never been out of England. Ignoring her own thoughts, she forced her eyes to focus back on her son, who was still having the time of his life, before finally, her head turned in his direction. While she offered him a warm smile, she couldn’t help but notice how… annoyed he looked, but maybe that was her imagination? She knew nothing about him, after all. “I’m Claire, nice to meet you. And that’s Harry, but he’s too busy to come say hello.”

[exiledburkx]

The man had absolutely no idea what she was going on about. His expression revealed as much but her attention wasn’t on him. It was instead focused on the child who was playing in the sand. Everytime Wrenly saw children, he simply thought about a past version of himself. He had never intended to have children—then again most of his plans only were made until the next hour. That was how he had lived his life for 26 years. Not knowing where his next step would be, not knowing where the next adventure would take him. Life was a mystery and he simply explored it, allowing spontaneity to pave his path. And now, he felt like he was tied down. He was having a kid, and who even knew what responsibility that brought on. Had he been absolutely ignorant, perhaps he could have gone on and lived a life that was similar to the one he had before. But no longer was he able to simply pretend he didn’t find out. Because in the back of his mind, he would forever see the image of Viola engorged and think about how that was his doing. How the baby would be his. Oh he hated thinking about that more than working. Not really paying attention to the blonde, he simply nodded along as though he were listening.

She must have caught his gaze as she introduced herself and then the child as well. His eyes back on her, he studied her features, deeming that she was young. There was no doubt that the child he had been watching a moment ago had been born young as well. Family planning was big in his household. Marriage happened according to the number of children the family expected their offspring to have, and from there it was like a race. Check each accomplishment off a list of things to do once you are wed. Truly the life they lived was completely staged, not an ounce of it real. If anything, the most real thing that Wrenly experienced was sitting in jail for the few days. It was completely unexpected and yet that was the only real experience he had. His friend weren’t real, his family sure as hell wasn’t real, and had he gotten married, that wouldn’t have been real either. All a façade, life would have been nothing but an act put on for the benefit of those watching. Spectators who searched night and day for any blemish in the flawless performance, looking for reasons to criticize and demean those around them while they too put on a show of nicety. Wrenly knew that world all too well—he was that world.  “Wrenly Burke.”

[exiledburkx]

╚ burke breakfast club ╗⇢a & w

[adelaideburke-archive-blog]

Wrenly seemed more comfortable now that Adelaide’s snark had returned. And he did have a point, not that she’d ever openly admit as much. She had jumped to the conclusion that his remarks were meant as a challenge and ran with it. Though to be fair, it wasn’t such a far-fetched assumption given the nature of their relationship.

Adelaide thought back to her encounter with the alleged detective she had found snooping in her office. What was her name, Julia? Something like that. Adelaide hadn’t heard any further news on that front, not from the detective or her father. She had expected her father to bring it up this morning while he was down at breakfast with them, but he did not. This meant, in Adelaide’s mind at any rate, that it would be on her to bring it to the table. But she wasn’t yet sure how to broach the subject, so she was biding her time, wanting to see if any new information surfaced. She didn’t like that she was still in the dark for the most part.

She still couldn’t understand why their father would send someone to investigate her. Adelaide interpreted it as her father viewing her as a potential suspect, but how could that be? Surely he knew how much all of his children valued their grandfather. Something wasn’t right, and Adelaide was determined to figure it out. She would not be content to sit idle as some stranger meddled in their family and business affairs. And as the issue was one concerning not just the family business but the family itself, it would probably take the Burkes’ combined efforts to figure it all out.

“What about you?” she asked, a little of the edge from her voice now gone. What she said earlier had been true. She had not not intend to turn their grandfather into a point of argument. He had been a rock for all of them, supporting and encouraging each in the exact way that she or he had needed at the time. They owed to him, collectively. She sighed internally. Yes, they probably would need to work together on this.

[exiledburkx]

Wrenly didn’t actually know who their father had hired to find out what was going on with their family, but he did know one thing for sure. Whoever it was, he did not want to fall on their radar. There were plenty of secrets of his own that he did not need his family discovering. It was ironic how had this very thing happened under different circumstances, his family would have been more than happy, finally feeling as though he was doing something to help the family. It wasn’t like they expected him to really work, though he was slowly beginning to prove his parents wrong in that aspect, more out of necessity than anything else. If they thought he wasn’t working, he had seen what they would do. Either they’d find him another mail order bride, or ship him off to some country where he had nothing but his English charm to help get him through. But before they started to see that he was actually willing to apply himself and work they had found him Viola and he became like one of the women in the family. Only useful to marry off and get some sort of partnership with the Austens.

Had he just gotten married and Viola ended up pregnant, they wouldn’t have been trying to keep the kid a secret. They wouldn’t have been trying to make sure no one found out that the baby in the brunette’s womb was none other than the youngest Burke’s. Since he was told the news, though he had been drinking often, he found that he couldn’t get himself to actually be with someone else. And god was that frustrating the hell out of him. So in his spare time, he did something uncharacteristic and that was go visit their grandfather. He was in a coma so it wasn’t like he could really tell anyone. Tevia was off working some case, or maybe she finally decided to take a vacation. And the news wasn’t something he wanted to share via text or a phone call, so the only one really left was his bedridden, comatose grandfather. And hey, maybe the news would be shocking enough that he ended up coming out of the coma, so either way he cut it, it looked like a win.

Sipping at the coffee the man nodded. “I have. A few times in fact. Have you met with the investigator? I heard from her that father was looking to have everyone in the family questioned. Who’s questioning him then?” The last bit was muttered more in a rhetorical sense. They may have all been suspects in their father’s eyes, but in Wrenly’s eyes, his father was a far more likely suspect than Tevia. He was heartless and scheming. If push came to shove, Wrenly wouldn’t put it past the man to do something of that sort. But even if he was calculating, he wasn’t an idiot. Their grandfather was going to be the swing vote on the board, determining who would be the next CEO and there was no doubt it would have gone to the Burkes. With him gone, the Reeds had a clear shot. “Must be an idiotic investigator if she can’t make the obvious deduction. But perhaps she’s just doing whatever she can to get the highest fare.”

[ethankindell]

His words made it all clear and now that Ethan had knowledge of his schedule for the day, he felt more excited than he imagined he would. Maybe Nate was right, he needed more friends, more of a social life, and starting with a night out with Wrenly could be the right way to do it. “I’ll see you there, have a good day” He said turning around and leaving the place, his mind already in the papers he should read and the emails he should write. Just because he had a day off from the University it didn’t mean he couldn’t work from his house, and that, oddly enough, made him feel really comforted.

[exiledburkx]

FIN

[abbyxpearce]

↳lackluster loyalty → abby & wrenly

[abbyxpearce]

She already had a pretty good idea of the man’s personality and she was confident she could fill his expectations and actually be useful for him in the position he was looking to hire a woman for. Taking care of those duties he named sounded not easy, but definitely doable. She was sure she would mess it up a few times, but only practice would make her perfect, and she was someone who learned fast, it was only time to prove him her words were honest. As long as she did everything he asked, she was sure she would keep the job. He didn’t look like someone who expected for her to take the initiative, the total opposite, she was sure that if she ever did something out of his rules, he would fire her in a blink of an eye.

“I will see you this Monday then” She wasn’t worried about forgetting all of his words, mostly because he had said it was all in a list, and she was good at following instructions. She would make sure to take the weekend to learn everything, read carefully every word and come prepared by the beginning of the week. She needed to impress him, but she doubted she would be able to do it. She didn’t want to look like she was trying too hard, so she figured the best she could do was following everything he had written, word to word, and just don’t mess it up so soon.

He was dismissing her and she didn’t expect him to say anything else, she also didn’t want him to think she expected anything from him, so as quietly as she walked in, she walked out, feeling very excited about this new job and promising herself she would give her best.

[exiledburkx]

FIN

[exiledburkx]

Veronica  ✉ Wrenly

Veronica: It was the only compromise I could come to with mother.

Veronica: Except don't tell her the "car" I'm getting is a motorcycle

Wrenly: Do you know how to drive one?

Wrenly: Or will she be informed of your change when they find your body on the side of the road?

[exiledburkx]

Birdie Burke ✉️ Banshee Burke

Adelaide: Please. I wouldn't dirty myself with them anyway.

Wrenly: You don't dirty yourself with anyone. You ought to think about it. It'd do wonders for your mood.

[abbyxpearce]

↳lackluster loyalty → abby & wrenly

[abbyxpearce]

She waited in silence for him to say something, anything, not sure if her wrongs were the ones he wanted to hear or not. Truth be told, she didn’t know what to expect in this new job, but part of her felt really excited. It was her opportunity to try something new, to push her own limits and to be something more than just a plain waitress. She could do something better, earn more as well and Ingrid could finally be one of those girls who didn’t have to worry about the price tag… or well, not too often, since Abby knew more than just start buying things to her daughter irresponsibly, she wanted her little one to learn the value of hard work, but it would still be nice to relax a little by the end of the month.

When he finally talked, she couldn’t help but smile. She had asked the day off at the diner and the owner knew she could quit by the end of the day if it went right, and he felt really glad she found something better. It had been too long in the same position and he thought Abby deserved much more. “I don’t mind, at all” She told him, maybe too quickly, too excited. “Would you mind…?” She started “Telling me exactly what my job entitles?” She took a look to the contract, making sure to read it, and also thinking that maybe someone else should read it for her as well.

It wasn’t like she didn’t trust her new boss, but that was exactly her problem. She trusted too easily, and never saw bad intentions behind people’s acts, so she assumed this contract was a normal one but she also knew there could be some small letter that she would have to understand before signing in. She started reading, hoping to find some easy words, and she thought she had understood  most of it when she looked up back to her new boss. “Can I take a copy of this home?”

[exiledburkx]

Wrenly had gotten whatever he needed and so he was done with the interaction. From the start the interview had simply been a formality rather than an actual interview. It was a way for him to confirm something that he already knew and that was that this woman would for sure be what he was looking for. The one who wouldn’t sell him out because maybe she wasn’t looking to climb the social ladder. Those who knew they were qualified could have those aspirations and it would be justified. Even he could understand Christine looking to get into a higher position because with her qualifications she may as well have been. But the blonde before him looking like a girl dressed up for her first day of school or for going to church, her aspirations were far smaller. They were getting enough money probably to take care of herself and her child. It was paying the bills on time without having to fear how she was going to make ends meet. They were two different lifestyles suited for two different people. The first met the corporate world’s needs, the second, his.

When she spoke, Wrenly didn’t bother looking away from his files. It was an intelligent thing to do, ask to take a form of the contract home and make sure he wasn’t having her sign her soul over to him. Though the contract was a generic one, he could appreciate the sentiment, so the man simply nodded. “Please do. Consider today your day of training. Bring the signed contract in on Monday morning if you wish to work here. Otherwise, I will begin my search once more.” It was direct and straight to the point but Wrenly wanted to make it clear that she was easily replaceable. Without that qualification, the woman may begin to think she was special in some way for getting the job with little to no merit. Putting the pen he had in his hand down, he pulled out yet another file, leaving through the pages quickly before placing this before her.

“This here is a list of everything your job entails. It goes from bringing me coffee to managing clients and hospitality services. You may not be familiar with all but you said you learn fast, so we can go ahead and see how fast that is. If I get any phone calls from my father, do not put him through and say I’m in a meeting. On the off chance I get anything from any of my other family members, you are to do the same. Only person you put through to me is Tevia Burke. Anyone else who is not family, you ask me first and I’ll tell you whether to put them through or not. Apart from that, anyone wishing to make an appointment to meet with me must first submit a proposal, so do not schedule any meetings unless they have submitted the proposal and it has been approved to come through me. If someone does come to see me, please inform me first and then I will tell you whether to send them in or not. That is all.” Having finished, the man gave her one more look up and down before returning to his papers.

[bradleygrainger]

“That’s what you think” He thought, knowing his words wouldn’t affect Wrenly’s ego at all. “I think I’m much more like Chandler” And he embraced it with a big smile on his face. If he had to compare Wrenly to a tv character he would probably use the bad guy from a movie, any movie, to be honest, since it seemed like it was a role that he would gladly enjoy. “I just never imagined you’d choose Friends of all topics” He shrugged, not minding the tv conversation at all.

[exiledburkx]

Wrenly could safely say he was probably a mix of a few different characters from the show. He had the sarcasm that Chandler was accredited and the looks and nature of Joey. Of course it wasn’t until recently that he started sympathizing with Ross and his multiple unplanned pregnancies and sudden fatherhood. That was something that no one needed to understand of course. As for the man before him, if anything he figured he was the quintessential Joey. Maybe a little smarter but was just as much of a goof and really though he was older, Wrenly sometimes felt he was less mature than the 26 year old rich boy. “Really? I think you are pretty much the reincarnation of Joey. But I always preferred Chandler so it’s understandable to wish to be like him.” Friends wasn’t really the conversation topic anyone would have expected from Wrenly but in that moment, it was the best comparison he could make to his situation. Maybe one more drink and he’d even find it humorous.

[ethankindell]

He knew the place and thought it was a really nice place to meet up. He felt immediately more relaxed, knowing now where they heading made things easier since he could plan ahead and not be thrown by surprise to some unknown adventure. He was a very predictable man, after all, and the only unknown that he enjoyed was up in the skies, hiding in the universe and certainly not in his every day life. “Yes, sounds good” He agreed, finishing his coffee and standing up. “So I guess I’ll see you later today. Seeing as I have plans now I should actually get going” There was nothing like having something in mind to make him order his time, and he was already listing everything he should do before allowing himself some free- and hopefully fun- time tonight with Wrenly. It was weird, but he actually felt excited about the events of the night, and for a second we wondered if this as the reason why Nate always insisted on him having a social life. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, after all, to loosen up a little and give himself the opportunity to enjoy his time doing something completely out of his comfort zone.

[exiledburkx]

Wrenly simply nodded along with the other’s words, excited in his own right to see how this night would play out. There was only so much excitement drinking could bring and with his parents watchful eyes over his shoulder, the man couldn’t go out and do as much as he would have liked. So in this town, it seemed this was going to be his only form of entertainment from now on. Besides, it wasn’t that bad. Surely Ethan wouldn’t care that his good friend Wrenly Burke set him up on a date, though the person with whom he would be meeting was the devil. Perhaps he’d take issue with that and his sister would essentially be the end to this blooming friendship. “I’ll see you at 7 then. I’ll make a reservation in case I’m late.” The reservation would be made and he’d be sure, but he would be a little more than late. He’d be completely absent, watching from a few tables away to see how the whole thing played out. Perhaps this was childish of him, but since when had Wrenly ever been mature. Allowing the man to attend to his own plans, Wrenly’s attention was back on the paperwork before him.

[clairebaileys]

“Holy shit, he’s brilliant.” That was meant to be a thought, but instead the words fell from her lips as vomit would –– you feel it coming, but you really aren’t expecting it to come out. With her parents being out on summer vacations, her four-year-old son Harry stayed with her that weekend, unlike many other weekends, where the pair would claim the boy as their property and would take him off for trips, ‘to get some weight off her shoulders’. Yes, it did annoy her that her pair of extremely spoiling parents, both towards her and her son now, freely assumed that the boy was only a nuisance. But still, she didn’t have the heart to tell them no, so Harry was usually out during the weekends. However, that one weekend he was not, yet Claire’s usual routine did not change –– after the boy drifted off to sleep, the blonde had turned on the television, logged into her newly acquired Netflix account, and pressed play on the Netflix Original Series, Better Call Saul. And after thinking about it all day, almost all night too, as the boy attempted to build a sandcastle with his little hands nearby and she sat down on one of those blue benches, half watching over him, half thinking about the show, she got it. A normal human being would be embarrassed, or perhaps expecting her to be ashamed like she guessed the person next to her would –– but she wasn’t. The blonde turned her head in their direction, astounded by her discovery. “You know, his real name is Jimmy McGill. But Saul, Saul! Goodman! ‘It’s all good, man’! Do you see it? He’s brilliant!”

[exiledburkx]

Wrenly went to the beach whenever he needed to think and recently he’d been doing a lot of thinking. Things in his life were not as simple as they used to be and that much was for sure. When he found out about Viola’s pregnancy he had wanted to leave the country once more. Pretend that little fact hadn’t been revealed and just turn and walk out. His parents would have been shocked after all the times he begged them to let him back into the country. Oh the expression on their faces would have been priceless but he hadn’t done that. Instead the man turned to the guidance of alcohol to help him soothe his troubles and at that point, he was faced with yet another issue at hand. His grandfather hadn’t actually had a simple heart attack. No it had been the plan of someone all along and who that someone was had yet to be discovered. And so now his family was embroiled in some high stakes, life or death conspiracy that Wrenly would have absolutely enjoyed did he not have his own secrets that needed keeping. The baby was here and so far no one in his family had found out. Tevia had gone off on some trip before he could tell her and there was no one else in his family that he would bother bringing it up to. So all in all the secret was safe.

But now their father had gone ahead and hired someone to look into the sudden ailment of their grandfather meaning there was some random investigator looking into everything concerning the family. And it wouldn’t be long before things turned towards the Burkes themselves, and the last thing he wanted was for his family to find out about Rosemary and made a huge commotion. Wrenly was managing to keep the whole thing secret, the two of them being on the down low for the most part, but the tension of juggling so many problems was getting to him. Ever since returning to Eastbourne, it seemed that all he had was problems upon problems. As the woman spoke, Wrenly’s eyes flashed over to the blonde. The unfortunate part about the beach was that if it was even slightly nice everyone would come out to enjoy it. And then here she was making small talk with a stranger about god even knew what. “Yeah he’s a real Einstein.” The man replied with sarcasm clear in his tone.

[exiledburkx]

Veronica  ✉ Wrenly

Veronica: That technically wasn't...

Veronica: Nevermind

Wrenly: Why are you getting a motorcycle?

[exiledburkx]

Birdie Burke ✉️ Banshee Burke

Adelaide: You know you're an adult and don't need supervision on your play dates, right?

Adelaide: See you tonight.

Wrenly: My friends will be coming after you leave. I'd rather they not have their souls sucked by you.