aquamarine dollhouse

When she finished, he made a quick, elegant note on the pad beside him.

"Mason Bridges," Akio murmured, his voice low and smooth. "Arrogant, reckless, and predictable. But more importantly... leverageable."

He leaned forward, resting his forearms against the edge of the mahogany desk, his gaze locking onto Rosalea's flushed, indignant face.

"He used your husband's influence to bury harassment claims from air hostesses," Akio noted, tapping the pen against the paper. "Which means there is a paper trail of settlements, non-disclosure agreements, or payoffs hidden in his private accounts—or your husband's. Bridges trusted him with his darkest secrets to keep his reputation intact."

A faint, sharp smirk touched Akio’s lips as he looked at her.

"Probably more so the Fallon's than him... they can hide things really easily." Like herself for example.

"Ugh. I can't even think of this as a good thing - thinking about him pisses me off the more I think about it." She could still feel the stickiness behind his stare every time he came over; or how he would grab her hand and hold it for a little too long whilst her husband would smile behind them.

"I never went to his home - he'd always come to us; or my husband would go and leave me behind." One of the clauses of their marriage was that she couldn't leave the property.

A quiet, low chuckle escaped his throat at her scrambled logic about ghosts and hauntings.

"Ghosts haunt because they are tethered to things they failed to resolve in life," Akio said smoothly, picking up a heavy fountain pen and resting its tip against the desk. "You are very much alive, Rosalea. And you are going to resolve them."

He tapped a neat, substantial stack of manila folders sitting on her side of the desk, his gaze remaining fixed on her expressive face.

"Those files contain financial records, inventory logs, and personal ledgers from your husband's associates," Akio explained, his voice calm and methodical. "You spent twelve years playing the quiet wife in those rooms, absorbing details you probably didn't even realize were important. Names, dates, habits... inconsistencies."

He leaned forward slightly, resting his elbows on the polished mahogany as he held her gaze.

All the things she knew about herself - was only kept to herself! No one else!

Looking over at the stack of folders; she felt a sense of overwhelming dread. Did she really have to go through all of that tonight? One of her eyebrows twitched in disbelief. There was no way, right?

By the way he was speaking - it seemed it was going to be the case.

Trying to ignore him looking at her and focusing on the pile, she hesitantly reaches up and picks up the first folder atop of the stack, placing it in front of her and opening it up.

The name of the man at the top of the list causes the expression on her face to twist in some disgust.

"Mason Bridges. His family dealt in the luxury car industry - but he had a side hustle on the side with distributing private jets. He was.. an extremely gross man!" She slams her hand down on the page. "He spoke like he had higher power simply because he used air travel for everything! And he constantly was inviting my husband to his private parties on his planes - and then trying to get me to join! To 'stay on his good side' - every time he came over I had to wear open toed shoes or even be barefoot since he had a huge foot fetish! And he only liked the feet of women 20 years younger than him!" She then pointed to herself to emphasize the type of women he liked.

Being given permission to help her was like a dog being given a biscuit: He was elated. Carmichael swiftly moves to pick up her belongings with ease, his happiness apparent on his scarred face.   But his happiness did not deafen his ears to her tone. She sounded tired.  He motions with a turn of his neck for her to follow him. 

"Ah.. thank you again." Watching as he picked up her luggage so easily, she remains partially frozen in place for a few long seconds, as if figuring out if it were okay for her to move at all. Once he did make the motion to follow, she seemed to regain her footing - attempting to match his pace as she strolled alongside Carmichael.

❛  careful, or we're never getting out of this bed.  ❜

❛  you're making it very hard to leave.  ❜

❛  who said i wanted this to just be a casual one-time thing?  ❜

❛  you looked peaceful, so i didn't want to wake you just yet.  ❜

❛  don't get up yet.  ❜

❛  sorry, i didn't mean to fall asleep on you after.  ❜

❛  we should probably talk about what happened.  ❜

❛  can we not ruin this by talking yet?  ❜

❛  i could get used to waking up like this.  ❜

❛  i thought you'd be gone before i woke up.  ❜

❛  don't look at me like that unless you want a round two.  ❜

❛  you're trouble first thing in the morning.  ❜

❛  no need to act shy now, I saw more than that last night.  ❜

❛  you're blushing again.  ❜

❛  i think the neighbors may have heard us.  ❜

❛  it's only awkward if you make it awkward.  ❜

❛  i don't know what's gotten into me last night; i don't usually do this.  ❜

❛  i should probably go now ... unless you want me to stay.  ❜

❛  please don't say this was a mistake.  ❜

❛  we crossed a line last night.  ❜

❛  well, i guess this does complicate things.  ❜

❛  i don't want to pretend this didn't happen.  ❜

❛  are you sore?  ❜

❛  i think my shirt is still somewhere in the hallway.  ❜

❛  how did your clothes end up over there?  ❜

❛  i remember you were very eager to get them off.  ❜

❛  i think i have some scratches on my back.  ❜

❛  i got worried when i woke up, and you weren't there anymore.  ❜

❛  i don't want this to be just one night.  ❜

❛  please tell me you don't regret it.  ❜

❛  last night meant something to me.  ❜

❛  this changes everything, doesn't it?  ❜

❛  were you trying to leave without saying goodbye?  ❜

❛  like you even remember what happened last night ...  ❜

❛  you might want to cover that before anyone sees.  ❜

❛  i didn't hear you complaining last night.  ❜

❛  i liked seeing that side of you.  ❜

❛  you took care of me last night. let me return the favor.  ❜

❛  i think i'm in trouble because i want this again.  ❜

❛  i wanted you last night, and i still want you today.  ❜

His fingers didn't squeeze, but the weight of his hand remained—a constant, heavy reminder of who held the room.

"You are listening, Rosalea," Akio murmured, his voice dropping into a low, smooth cadence as he tilted his head slightly. "But you are still fighting. Finding loopholes to quiet your mind while your body stays rooted."

His thumb traced a slow, deliberate line along the side of her throat, feeling the quiet pulse beneath her skin before his hand finally slid down to rest lightly over her shoulder.

"I brought you down here because I have no intention of letting you hide away in that room, wallowing in thirty years of unsorted noise," he said, stepping back just enough to give her space, though his dark gaze never left hers. "If you are awake, you are present. Take a seat at the desk across from mine."

He gestured calmly toward the sleek chair, turning to walk back around to his side of the room.

"Is it bad that I'm fighting? Even if I have to be a ghost - or whatever, that sort of thing - they still haunt people and make noise- and are unruly - all that stuff-" Her argument was clearly her trying to clutch her pearls to put something together; even if it were nonsensical.

As he did finally step away her posture seemed much better; as if his looming presence had caused her to be doing the opposite of what he said, but the moment he stepped away she could straighten herself up again.

"Huh?"

So she didn't need to stand in the corner of his office?

Walking over to where he gestured, the raven haired woman takes a seat at the desk, with the same confusion on her face shared with a person whose first day it was ever working some office job.

A faint, slow smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"I care about your compliance, Rosalea," Akio murmured, his voice impossibly smooth, completely unbothered by her accusation. "Your feelings are entirely yours to manage."

He leaned in slightly closer, his dark eyes locking onto hers, unblinking.

"And there is no contradiction here. Expecting you to stand properly isn't demanding perfection—it is demanding presence. I do not want a doll, but I will not tolerate a slumping, petulant child in my office."

His fingers tightened ever so slightly against her chin, just enough to command her absolute focus, before slowly sliding down the curve of her neck.

And it seemed that would be the situation for a while.

All she could do in that second was stick her tongue out at him. If he was going to call her a child; she'd just behave like one.

"Is it not enough that I'm standing here right now? I told you I'd listen to you, and I am."

It was a simple loophole in her mind. She stood where he wanted but Roselea could rattle off whatever she wanted.

Hearing the sound of his demeanor change slightly did ring some alarm bells in her head, frowning upwards at him as he continued to speak. Whilst she still wanted to go at him, with that hand pressing against her neck she decided to at least try and reign it in a little for the time being.

"You speak as though your husband's standards still apply here, Rosalea," Akio murmured, his voice cutting smoothly through her indignant protest. He rose slowly from his seat, towering, immaculately composed, and without a single sign of fatigue despite the hour.

He stepped around the desk, his stride measured as he closed the distance between them, stopping just a breath away.

"Your husband gave you an hour because he was content to wait," Akio continued, his gaze locking onto hers with heavy, suffocating focus. "I am not. When I call for you, five minutes is five minutes—disheveled, half-awake, or otherwise."

He reached out, the cool tips of his fingers catching her chin to tilt her face up slightly, his thumb brushing over her jawline.

As he stood up, she still remained rooted in the place she was ordered to be, fists clenching tighter as her nails dug into the palms of her hands.

"If you want me to arrive on time then, it'd be best to not make comments on my appearance. Do not wake me up and call me down within five minutes and then say that I look like shit. Do you even care about a woman's feelings?"

She pouts when he takes her chin, staring up at him with unblinking eyes.

"Yes! Yes! Do you not enjoy such a past time yourself? Watching as such beautiful creatures flutter about from their day-to-day! Yes! It's so delightful!" He couldn't think of any reason why the other would find his hobby odd. To him, it was perfectly normal! Although in today's case - perhaps his location for doing such a hobby was abnormal.

Seems he had passed some sort of secret test, standing himself up from the ground after the dramatics from earlier, brushing any loose bits of grass from his trousers as he adjusts his posture to appear less pathetic and more friendly as per usual.

The returning smile on his lips grew at the remark, laughter quickly escaping him. "Ah! It seems I'm transparent as anything with you!" Whilst he could physically make himself look like a human, if someone could sense magic - then his true form was evident. He didn't put any effort into suppressing it; as most of his time was spent around humans in the first place he didn't want to waste his energy on something unnecessary.

Why I'm digging through the trash is none of your business.

We can introduce ourselves after it's safe to stop running!

So did you get suckered into helping as well?

I think I might be in the wrong class…

Sorry I almost ran you over.

Okay I don't mean to be nosy, but I have to know. Why are you buying 50 boxes of mac and cheese?

Excuse me, can you help me reach that?

I think your bag is on fire. Just thought you should know.

Well that was a dramatic entrance.

Why do you assume I'm to blame? You don't even know me.

You’re not supposed to be here, are you?

You know usually burglars steal valuables, not leftovers.

I think I accidentally got delivered your package.

I promise I have a perfectly legal explanation for this.

You might want to start running, this place is going to explode soon.

Do you know how to hot wire a car?

Hey, do you have a charger I can borrow?

Thanks for the help stranger!

I'm so sorry, I'll buy you a new coffee!

Quick, I need you to pretend you know me!

So is this your first time as a bank hostage or….

I think we're supposed to be running away from the scary noise.

Sorry about the window, I'll pay for it.

Uh…could you pretend you didn't see anything?

Oh hey, you're the one from the rumors.