Mister Arlington

26

Once I exited the cafe I searched the road for Julian, however, a chuckle from a few steps next to me drew my attention. There he was leaning against the wall as if he were waiting for me to walk out after him.

"Hello," he greeted with a smirk.

"W-what are you doing here Julian?"

"I was just passing by and happened to see you, I thought I'd give you a visit since it's not every day you see such a beautiful bird out of her cage."

"I'm not a bird Julian nor am I stuck in a cage."

"I'm just saying it how I see things, darling," he explained, pushing off of the wall and walking in the opposite direction of me.

"H-hey, wait!" I called, closing the distance between us until I was beside him. "Where are you going?"

"I'm leaving, don't you have a lunch date with your friend?"

"Well yes, but..."

"But what?–" he asked, looking down at me as a smirk appeared, "but you want to hang out with me, is that it?"

I frowned, "no that's not it."

He raised a brow, waiting for my explanation but I gave none for the reason that I didn't even know why I had chased after him, or why I was here by his side right now.

"Well for whatever reason you're here I'm glad you are and with that being said we should go to the park, it's a lovely day and I'd hate to waste it."

I nodded hesitantly, "all right then."

"Great, I can assure you I'm much better company than Tobias."

I frowned slightly, unable to decipher if he was joking or if he was serious.

He caught my expression causing him to chuckle, "It was a joke, darling. Although, I do find myself much more charming than he is, don't you think."

"It would be inappropriate to answer a question like that, he is my boss and you are his close friend and colleague."

"Don't you think it's inappropriate enough your here with me now–" he paused a moment, letting me walk a step ahead of him so he was able to lower his head to my ear, "–all alone."

I jerked away from him, surprised at the sudden closeness. However, he was right.

"How long have you known Mister Arlington?" I asked, hoping to change the subject.

"How long? Well, quite a long time, long enough for me to consider him a brother."

A brother.

Then why does Mister Arlington look at him in a way that makes it seem Julian's feelings are one-sided?

I didn't voice my thought, I felt as if I had pried enough.

"Enough about Tobias, how about we talk about you."

"Me!"

"Of course, I don't know anything about you."

"The same g-goes for you."

"Well, I'm an open book, darling."

I frowned at him, "what's with the nickname?"

He smirked in response, "Don't act as if you don't like it, your face turns red every time I call you darling... It intrigues me."

"M-my face doesn't turn red!"

"Maybe your not as good at hiding your attraction for me than you thought."

"At-traction!"

He smirked, "If you weren't attracted to me you wouldn't have run after me like you did."

I scoffed, "dont be so full of yourself."

He shrugged, "I guess we'll see."

A car screeched to a halt in the middle of the road, drawing my eyes to commotion. They widened a moment later when Mister Arlington stepped out of the car, ignoring the car behind him that honked in protest as he walked towards Julian and I.

"Mister Arlington! W-what are you doing here? I thought you were w-working?"

"Mary's injured herself, we have to hurry back."

"What!"

I jogged towards him, surprised when he placed a hand on my shoulder, leading me to the car after he acknowledged Julian who waved at the both of us when I turned my head over my shoulder.

"I'll see you soon, darling," Julian called as Mister Arlington pulled away from me, allowing me to round the car by myself.

I hadn't even buckled myself in when Mister Arlington sped off, throwing me into his side as we turned a corner.

I looked at him, searching his face as I reseated myself. His expression didn't hold the worry in it that I would expect if Mary was hurt.

"Was Mary really injured?"

He didn't answer me instead, he continued to wear that cold expression of his as he drove. It wasn't until we were out of town did he speak.

"I allowed you to leave the house to spend time with that friend of yours, not Julian," he scolded, his voice deep and almost feral.

"Mary's not hurt is she," I stated, realising what this was.

Again, he didn't answer me.

"Isnt it clear to you, Angelica? I don't want you around Julian."

"Why?" I asked, raising my voice slightly.

"Because you barely know him and the things he's done."

"And I know you!? I have no idea who y-you are still and that goes both ways, you have no idea who I am."

Though I was trying my best to stay passive and professional my emotions were rising to the surface. In my case it was dangerous, if I let my emotions past the wall I had built I would explode from all that I have bottled.

He chuckled darkly, as if he too were suppressing his emotions. "No you don't know me and I you, but I'm all you've got."

"And I should trust you because of that reason alone!"

He huffed out a long sigh. "Fine do whatever the hell you want, if you die it isn't my problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I said, Angelica."

"This is about Julian, so why did you start talking about my death?"

He shook his head slightly, not bothering to answer my question.

I looked outside the window at the fields we passed by, resting my cheek on my palm. "If anything I'd be more likely to die with you than him," I mumbled.

Either Mister Arlington hadn't heard me or just ignored me it didn't matter much to me, though the tension between us was enough to make the air around us stiff, which bothered me even more so than our conversation.