Infatuation Of Darkness

Fire; rapid oxidation of a material in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products, she thought, looking at the fire blazing in the mantle. How could a single spark caused by friction of two stones have such a complicated definition?

She wondered how there were always two sides to a situation, just like a coin. Good or bad, tough or easy. There were always two impacts. How complicated situations we're and how more complicated did we make them? Did we even think before acting? And how stupidly did we act to escalate the situation to something far more troublesome?

And to begin with, a fire burning in the mantle escalated her thinking to this. A fire caused by rubbing a matchstick or with a click of a lighter. Wasn't life full of surprises?

She sighed sipping her scotch that she took from Angelo's cabinet. It was filled with good liquor and she was sure that we would raid it more often. The door opened and footsteps followed but immediately slowed down to a standstill. Seemed as Angelo had noticed her sitting and waiting for him.

"I see you helped yourself to my scotch." He commented, standing behind her. "Did you close the cabinet?"

Men, she rolled her eyes.

"We are a couple, we share things." A tightened smile resided on her lips. "Things like liquor come into the sharing category too."

"Is personal space then into the sharing category authorised by you, too?" Raising an eyebrow she asked. He had taken serious offence to this.

"I didn't come into your personal space." She frowned. She always maintained a respected distance from him.

"You took my liquor which I saved for special occasions!" He accused. Looking at his face Alexis could not help but chuckle. He was like a kid.

"Honey, I am marrying you after you kidnapped me and tortured me. I think I can help myself to some."

"Whatever," he waved his hand around, dismissing the matter as he did not want to talk about it anymore. "What are you doing here?"

"You have invested in a dying firm, Angelo and that too, recently." She started putting the glass down and pointed out her observation. "For your other investments, I noticed that you had acquired the one with profits."

Angelo felt the need to clap for her. He wanted her to notice it and she did. But he knew she won't be able to figure out why and that was where he came in. But it was commendable how she came to him about it and questioned it.

"I didn't hear your question." He sat down after pouring himself some. If anything, she had to be more communicative.

"My question is, why? Surely you knew your investment would go waste there. No profits are going to come from it. The financial statements show the profits being lowered by 20- 40% every year. It's a total loss."

Angelo smiled after hearing her. She felt so hot in talking business, economics and investments. "Dying firms cannot be saved love unless you want them too and it rakes too much of manpower and money. So that's extremely costly. But with dying businesses come desperate employees who want their jobs so they work harder than anyone else. I am a major shareholder and I plan to buy it back, eventually taking over the business and starting something new." He explained.

"Why not just start something new?" And not apply so much brain. If it was going to take many em many terms of manpower and money then it was costly, especially when already in deep losses and debts.

"Because my name and organisation's business is often assumed to be illegal even if it is not. So, this particular method acts as a cover to what is happening underneath."

"And what is happening underneath?" She whispered clearly in a trance of interest. Things that sounded forbidden were always so attractive to her.

Angelo smiled, he'd love to tell her but some things were to be kept from many and many included her. She was an abused soul and given her morals and love to do the right thing she would try to either report things or try to correct them. Both of them were direct challenges to his authority as the Don and he could not have his wife stand against him. 

"Things," his vague answer made her frown. She had excepted him, to be honest, and open after the progress they had made. Or now seemed to have made. Reality asked her. He trusted her but that trust was not enough to have him tell her what happened in the mafia. 

"Huh," she commented. "So that's it? That's all you're telling me?" He could tell her more. She was making efforts and she was marrying him after all the things he had done to her. It seemed fair that he could at least tell her what was going on. "I can't leave. You would kill me for it and you can not even tell me what's going on?" She slightly raised her voice but after realising, she lowered it where to where he could understand that she was angry or frustrated with his choice. 

"Yes, that's it. I would suggest that you stop wasting your breath on it too. I am not telling anything on this topic."

"An for how long?" She quietly questioned him. Something made is felt more empowered when she spoke in a calm and collected manner. "Or are you ever going to tell me to begin with?" 

He gulped down his scotch and slammed it on the table. "Finish your drink and close the door on your way out." After that, he got up and left without bothering to answer her. 

As if, she thought. The moment Alexis had entered his office she had thought of snooping but decided against it hoping that he would tell the truth anyway. She had trusted him. 

She drank her scotch but didn't think of anything in particular. She got up from the couch and sat on his desk chair, then turned it around so she could skim through the rows and rows of files piled up on the wall behind the desk. She knew the ones that he could reach by hand were probably the ones more important. They were placed on the shelf behind him that meant that he didn't want to waste time and that meant the files were important. 

"Madam?" A knock came through and Alexis jumped a bit. Damm, she knew that snooping was bad but the jumping in fright meant she was unprepared to get caught. 

Agatha was already standing there, watching Alexis. "Please don't." She pleaded.

"Don't what?" She acted innocent. She was not going to agree on whatever was going on in Agatha's mind. 

"Snooping is one of the biggest crimes Madam and if you do it, then the punishment will be very harsh. Come on, let's leave, there are things to be done." She didn't move rather she waited on her. "We can—no we should never talk of it again."

Alexis looked back to the bookcase longingly. Some other day then, she sighed, got up and left. Maybe it was for the good. What if she was caught by someone else?

Agatha walked one step behind her which irked Alexis. They were walking towards the living room.

"Hey," Nikita immediately greeted her on entering.

"Hi. Are you going somewhere, you're all dressed up." Alexis asked. Nikita was the one that didn't get out of her pyjamas until truly necessary.

"Silvano and Angelo came for a few things. He called before, meaning he excepted me to greet him." She explained. "I'm going to change into sweats now. Although, it's too much work. Changing in and out of clothes." 

Alexis watched her walk away at a slow pace. Nikita was the definition of a human sloth. She gave a tired sight and decided to go to her room.

"Would you like to see your room, madam?" Agatha asked, standing behind her.

"I've been living there since the beginning. Did you change something?" She commented, still feeling a bit off. That might have been her chance to find leverage on him. 

"No I meant the room you'll be staying in," she hesitated a bit. "You know, after marriage."

"Oh," she hadn't thought about that. "Do I necessarily have to shift with him? Can't he give me some more time and space?" She could only hope. 

Agatha stilled for a moment. The woman had no idea about what was about to happen.

"Madam," she breathed in deeply and held Alexis's hand for comfort. "You have to move in with him, you can't deny him anything, even the consummation of the marriage."

"You don't get a 'choice' anymore." She whispered and Alexis heard it again and again.

_________

Don't forget to comment and leave a review (no pressure).