Chapter 1: Not All Things Are Silver Lined
"So. Looks like this is goodbye." Paisley said as she looked at her old office from the doorway, the former CEO reminiscing over her old passion to pave for the next generations. She carries her final box to her father's truck, having called him for help earlier that week with discreet details of "changing career paths" and some other lies to save him the truth. How could she tell her own father that she had been secretly been causing soulless destruction to the ecosystem? She had never meant to be so reckless. Well, no time to dwell on her past mistakes. She took a breath before leaving Pave Nature Inc., not sparing it a second glance before something snapped in her mind.
Oh God. How would she tell him?
Well, she would deal with that talk later. Paisley knew how dedicated he was to the company. To her dream. To her.
"Paisley? You doin' alright, honey?"
She let out a tiny shriek of surprise when her father's voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked back at the cold building she used to run. A feeling of disgust and shame ran up her spine as she shook her head. There was no more time for her to pity herself. This was her new life after all. I mean, she had finally seen the beauty in nature! Hell, she even made...well...acquaintances with those once dreaded Kratt brothers and their crew. She was still skeptical about them, but what's the worst that could happen now? Well, a lot had happened. Zach had blocked her on nearly every social platform the same day she quit being a villain.
"I'm out of the environmental villain business."
She really didn't know what to feel at that moment. Was it vulnerability? Anger towards her cousin? Shame of unknowingly ruining so many beautiful ecosystems for pointless projects?
"Well, I will never stop taking what I want from nature!"
Those eyes. Those same green eyes that scorched her soul. She had never seen so much hatred on Zach's face. Considering his constant immaturity with anything regarding protecting nature, this was probably the most serious she had seen him. Was this really the same guy she had grown up with? This was no longer her cousin. She could only see a grown man child who would stop at no lengths to feed his insatiable greed for not only wealth, but power.
"Ready to go, honey?" Pearce Paver had asked his darling daughter, sensing her distress just from her tense shoulders. He had an inkling about her inner turmoil, but only chalked it up to disappointment of leaving her life long passion.
"I suppose there's no going back now." She had replied while letting the stinging air free from her lungs. She was forcing a smile for her dad, but she could not deny that while she was discouraged about her paving dreams being snuffed out, she was a bit excited for this next step in her life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Finally I can see her. Who knew I'd ever be excited about Monday?" Rex said aloud to himself as he walked into the building. How could he not be happy? He had been planning this surprise for a good while. As he made his way into the storage unit, he felt only confusion when he saw his understudies packing personal belongings.
"Hey, Alfonso! Why the long face, pal?" He calls out loud to one of the other construction workers. The other man faces him with an almost annoyed expression. At least, it really felt like it most of the time. I mean, he was nothing like these guys. They looked almost like Dabio if not stronger. He was nothing more than a lanky guy with a beer gut that stuck out past his boney frame. Hell, the guys joked around and asked him when the baby was due. Real funny. It didn't help that they nicknamed him "Bones" all because of how scrawny he was besides his extra pooch. Despite this, Rex couldn't help but note how despite the usual annoyance, Alfonso almost looked...concerned?
"Yo, Alfie. You look a bit rough. Is everything-"
Out of a job? How could this have happened so suddenly. Alfonso was one of Paisley's best workers behind him. What could he possibly have done to get himself sacked? Rex feels his senses start to cloud with worry as he looks around the storage unit, noticing other workers packing up while some angrily call their families about leaving this "waste land that not even dogs would go to shit". Not to mention that he wasn't called "Bones" this time. That's a huge sign that this wasn't just a random sacking out of malicious intentions.
"I don't understand! Alf, you're probably one of the most reliable workers at this place! No shade to the others, of course. Wait you didn't...Alfie, I can take you to another one of my therapy sessions! I care about you man and I'll be damned if I lose you to another-"
"Paisley quit, jefe. She didn't want you worrying so she only told me and the guys."
Quit? There's no way Paisley could've quit the company! Well, even if she did, she would at least tell him, right? The sheer surprise and slow building anxiety made Rex burst out laughing. He couldn't tell if he was actually laughing from how absurd the whole thing sounded or if he was starting to freak out.
"Alrighty, Alf! You got me! Ooh, Paisley suddenly gave up paving and left us! Cut the shit, man, what's going on?"
"He's not kidding, boss." Another worker, Camilo, had spoken up, having the same serious tone as Alfonso as he looks down.
"She left earlier this week. Some hippy shit about being on nature's side from now on."
Rex looked ready to pass out when he realized they weren't joking. But why would Paisley quit? He had helped with her dream since they were both in middle school! The lead construction worker felt his heart starting to race as his chest grew tight. Fuck. He was having another hypertension episode. He could barely hear Alfonso and Camilo calling out to him as he grips his chest.
"Oh God, is he having a heart attack?!" Camilo had yelled, having never seen Rex in such a panicked state. Not even an unsuccessful paving day had warranted such a reaction from his higher up.
"It's his blood pressure. Let's get you seated, jefe-" Alfonso had begun as he grabbed a chair for Rex before the other raised a hand up in silence.
Rex had already started walking to Paisley's office albeit while leaning against the walls of the corridors for support. He hadn't even noticed that his nose was bleeding from the stress.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Didn't think I'd be back so soon..." Paisley mumbled to herself as she comes back into the building, feeling a small sense of danger in her stomach as she goes into her office. Out of all the things she could've forgotten, it had to be her...wait. Is that?
"Rex?" She whispered with a small sense of dread in her tone. She told him that today he could stay home. It was pretty in character for him to refuse and come to work, but why did he seem so distressed?
"Oh my, Rex...you're bleeding." She said with a small quiver in her voice, already fumbling in her suit jacket pockets for a spare napkin before the construction worker cut her thoughts off with a scoff.
"So. You quit." He started, his voice calm yet laced with a slowly escalating anger Paisley could not deny.
"Rex, I didn't tell you because-"
"Out of everyone you could've hid this from, why me, Pais? I've been here with you from the start! What about all our projects? You're just going to throw it all away without giving a damn if I know about it? Did I mean nothing to you?!" He continued, Rex's tone getting a bit more agitated by the second. Oh God...it was happening again. She could barely register anything else Rex was saying. It was like Zach again. She wouldn't let herself be shut out again just because she had decided to change her life. If only she could have stopped herself before her mouth opened and every bit of stress from that week poured out like a cruel river of venom.
"I DIDN'T NEED ANYONE, ESPECIALLY A SHADOW LIKE YOU!"
...no. Did she really just...
"...I'm surprised, Paisley. Y'know, I thought you were different." He said, looking down at her with the same disgust someone would have for a splotch of scum on a pristine marble floor.
"Rex..." She whispered, feeling her pale green eyes starting to water up, the regret washing over her like a wave. She never meant it. So why did she say it?
"I really am an idiot, aren't I? Putting trust in someone who just saw me as another ladder to their success." He couldn't think straight. His world was falling apart right in front of him. He hardened his gaze at her as he forced himself to start walking, stopping in the doorway as he looks back at her one last time, unable to see the woman he once loved.
"Rex, please. I didn't-" Her voice was breaking. She wanted nothing more than to pull the construction worker back and hug him tight. To apologize for everything that led up to this moment. So why couldn't she bring herself to move?
"Save it. Seems your loyalty lies with yourself rather than the valuables right in front of you. Goodbye, Miss Paver." Rex said in a detached voice, dropping a small item behind him as he walked out of the building.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paisley walked out of Pave Nature Inc., her legs trembling with each step she took back to her father's truck. Her father looked at her through the rearview mirror with immediate concern as he swings the door open.
"Honey? What happened? Did something happen in there?" Pearce asked worriedly as he gently grabbed his daughter by the shoulders. God, he hadn't seen his little girl so distraught since she came home from school after another incident with her bully.
Paisley shakily looked up at her father with bloodshot eyes and trembling hands, gently cupping the item Rex had dropped before collapsing into his arms. She cries into her father's chest as her mind plays back every event. The crew. The coral reef. Zach. Rex. Every word played back in her mind as her hands loosen, the little peridot engagement ring falling at her knees as she protectively wraps her arms around herself.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Author's note: Hey guys! A Henchman's Loyalty is finally in the works! I have most of the plot down already so now it's a matter of writing! So, be on the look out for Chapter 2! Later, babes!)
discoholicmusic
dailybridgerton
origamiaround
titsay
