Sorry, still bad at this. (SEQUEL) (LAPIDOT HUMAN AU)

Chapter 25

-Two weeks later-

Two weeks have gone by, and Lapis and I have been quite distant since that one phone call. The amount of messages and even calls had plummeted dramatically. There was something that admittedly concerned me a lot...Lapis normally tries much harder. It seems that she puts a great amount of energy into grabbing my attention, but it was much different this time. Even when I would ignore her, she'd send me frequent messages, pleading for any updates or anything. I'd barely received any messages from her at all lately...she's not trying.

She isn't...making efforts anymore. I couldn't stop thinking about that realization I made. It seemed so out of character for her...at least recently. Of course, I'm not the greatest at this either...so I haven't tried to reach out to her. Maybe she's waiting for me to reach out? Should I even bother? How would I even go about that? What would I say? My mind was racing as I was sitting before a coworker during an important conference.

The mentorship with Spinel has been going well otherwise, and she seems to be a quick learner. However...sometimes she seems to get a bit too dependent on other people. Her aura radiates borderline desperation at times, and I sometimes wonder what she has really been through. Spinel likes to talk about her life in her new home at Steven's beach house...but I noticed that she had avoided quite a few things. She only seemed to talk about the positive things going on...but from the brief occasional conversations I've had with Steven himself...the bad has been sort of outweighing the good.

According to Steven, the beach house has been 'a bit crammed, but nothing terrible', and Spinel and Lapis had been 'getting into it' here and there. Apparently they haven't been getting along very well, which is a very unsettling thing to know when you have no control over the situation. I hope Lapis is okay. It would be unprofessional of me to pry anything out of Spinel, so I always just played dumb for the time being. My train of thought was interrupted when someone suddenly peeked into the conference room, stopping the presenter.

"Excuse me for the interruption, but someone is here to see you, Peridot." the woman looked to me with a nervous smile, and I arched an eyebrow in confusion. Someone is here to see me? I don't even...what? "Are you...sure it's me you're looking for?" I asked in a hushed tone of voice as I approached her. She nodded in response, and stepped aside for me to exit the room. I huffed, closing my eyes and walking out in a hurry. I fixed my tie, and slightly adjusted my glasses just in case this was an important client, manager, or type of worker.

As I walked to the front, I froze in my tracks as I spotted who was standing there waiting for me. She looked over at me with a blank expression, and I was wondering how she could react so emptily to the sight of me...after weeks. It was in fact Lapis Lazuli. I, on the other hand, was screaming and having a breakdown in my head. I could already feel my cheeks heating up, and I clenched my jaw tightly. I speed walked over to her, and folded my hands behind my back, switching my gaze back and forth. "What're you doing here?!" I whispered to her, attempting to maintain my professional expression.

The bluenette only stared at me with empty-looking eyes, and she furrowed her eyebrows. Beads of sweat formed on the back of my neck, and my stomach harshly lurched. The environment around us was very hushed, yet it was bustling. Before I knew it, I felt Lapis's hand snatch my wrist and tug on it. I sharply inhaled, then held my breath as she stormed across the lobby. "Lapis! S-stop!" I hissed through gritted teeth. I could tell we earned a few looks...maybe stares from other workers. I hope Spinel isn't around.

She was headed straight for a utility closet, and I looked around frantically to see if anyone was watching us enter through this door. Everyone was tending to their own phone calls and work, except for a couple of workers at the front desk. I scrunched my eyebrows up in embarrassment, and before I could save any bit of my reputation, I was violently pulled into the closet. The door swung closed, and it was nearly pitch black in there. "LAPIS! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" I asked, panic-stricken. "Peridot, I need to talk to you." she coldly stated. "Couldn't this have waited?!" I hissed.