Lust Or Love

Chapter 1: Orders

Despite the fact that the sky was completely clear, it seemed to be unseasonably chillier out than he'd expected. Sure, he could take into account that the heat of the city normally got trapped by the clouds, but it was just easier to blame the sky for how cold he was and move on. Pulling the sides of his coat tighter around him in futility, he closed the car door and looked up at the manor before him. It was large, with pillars that stretched toward Heaven and more rooms than would ever be occupied as far as he knew. The brown windows with the light colored tan brick brought him flashbacks of a lifetime ago. A life time he rarely, if ever, let himself think about and yet it controlled his every waking moment.

Sighing and watching his breath as it was whisked away in a cloud by the unkind breeze, he headed inside the building. Once the large panel was closed, he looked round and found a few things interesting. The first was how bright the inside felt now. Over the past few decades, the inside of this house had felt cold, dark and distant. He'd only come here occasionally and it was always to get orders from the owner; his father. Over the last few years, he'd found himself coming less and less, only because he would get any orders over text or through a phone call. The few times he had stopped by, he had noticed the slow shift from the once dimly lit home it had been, to the now bright and lively place he stood in.

The room was well lit by the overhead crystal chandelier rather than the sconces on the walls. On the console table in the foyer, which had previously been empty save a decorative statuette, sat a large bouquet of fresh flowers that matched the season. Today's was a design of chrysanthemums, sunflowers and dahlias, all in varying colors of yellows, reds, and oranges. Leaving the foyer, he headed down the hall to the right and kept going until he came to the end, where a large oak door stood in his way. Taking a deep breath, he raised a fist and knocked as hard as he could in the hopes that it made it through the panel. Waiting outside the panel was one of the harder things he had to do. Not that he had anything do when he got home besides work and sleep anyways.

The minutes passed by and he started to get antsy, knocking once again. He could hear the faint mumbling from beyond the wood, and that made him question the silence even more. Another few minutes and he was lifting his fist to bang on the door again before pausing at the voice. "Come in!" Straightening his back and clearing his throat, he pushed into the room. The space wasn't small, at least it wasn't to him, but it was set up to be comfortable. The large cherry wood desk in the center of the room had various trays, folders and binders for file organization, a lamp that leaned over the center, and a few other knick knacks placed around like pictures and a cup of pens. Around the room, there was a large fireplace on the far wall that was lit and casting out the cold with a wash of warmth that filled the room. On either side of it, there were two large book cases filled with all kinds of literature in all different colors of spines, and along the wall across from the desk, there was a giant couch befitting of his father.

Sitting behind the desk in the black leather chair, was the man who had called him here in the first place. The owner of the house and everything in it, as well as the most well known Overlord of Drugs; Don Henroin. His father. The man was a mountain, standing almost three times his own height and just as wide. His eyes darted over the man's shoulder and he caught sight of the tail that was held there, the stinger of it roughly the size of his forearm, and held in a ready position. "Sit down." Henroin pointed to the couch across from him, his eyes still looking down at the desk top as he shuffled through a few papers. Nodding, he did as he was told and sat down on the fluffy sofa. A few minutes passed by and nothing was said. The impatience he'd felt moments ago gone once he was face to face with the scorpion. Looking around the room, he tried to get himself to focus on something, anything, that might keep him distracted while he waited for his father to be done.