who: @leonard-lautz where: velvet & wine
𝐢𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 bee hated, it was having to go to leonard fucking lautz for help. with anything. despite them running in the same circles — both aligned with imani, both cleaning up messes for a living — he often made her want to throw a draft beer bottle at his head. and that was on a good day. still, she wasn’t stupid. leonard knew how to kill a problem before it grew legs, how to snuff out a scandal before it ever reached her desk. which was exactly why she’d asked him to meet here, choking down her ego.
the soft glow of candlelight caught his face as she approached, her four-inch spike heels clicking sharply against the polished floor. “oh my god,” the words spilled out the second she got close enough. “that smug little look on your face just spiked my blood pressure.” she paused, gaze narrowing as she weighed the merits of leaving versus continuing the conversation. “if i walk out and come back in,” she went on, gesturing vaguely toward the door, “do you think you could…i don’t know, workshop a different expression? maybe something less insufferable?” almost as if she were incapable of pleasantries or civility for 0.2 seconds.
