128 CEO (1/2)

Vixen stood for a second and shuddered, shivering all his unsettled nerves away before pressing a button next to the door.

A tune rang in the air and a voice called out from inside the room, ”Come in,” to which Vixen flinched, his nerves coming back.

It had been a while since he had heard that voice. Maybe days, maybe weeks but most likely months. It had been a while since he heard it's coldness, straightforwardness, and calm voice of his mother.

It wasn't like he hadn't seen her in the last months but he hadn't spoken to her. They met once, in which they had locked eyes with each other before she turned around and left. He remembered calling her name and running to her side, just to be blocked by her bodyguards before reaching her. He shoved and pushed to get to her but nothing worked.

The worst part was that she didn't seem to care. She heard his screaming, she heard his begging but didn't stop her steady stride once. He remembered asking if he was being punished, if he did something wrong for her to just walk away but she didn't stop and continued to walk down the hallway to the elevator.

Quietly, she had gotten in the elevator and stood there, her eyes facing forward. The bodyguards finally gave in and he ran down the hallway to the elevator but was seconds late as the elevator door slammed shut before he could reach her.

He had stood there in front of the elevator, his distressed face slowly melting away into a blank expression. He didn't cry, he didn't get angry. He just turned around and walked away from the elevator. It was not a nice memory to recall.

Vixen looked up at the door before him and pushed down on the handle, pulling the door open.

He's almost immediately met with a cold blast. The feeling of desertness just hang in the air but yet the room was not empty. There in the front of the room was his mother, her eyes glued to her books.

”Mrs. Cloud, you summoned me?” Vixen asked, bowing in front of Mrs. Cloud.

The woman's hand does stop moving for a second and Vixen looked at his position in the room. He was far too close to the door for her to acknowledge him. Vixen stepped closer, stopping beside the cushion to the right of his mother's desk in the middle of the room. In front of the cushion was another, a long, short table separating them from each other.

”Forgive my manners, ma'am,” Vixen bowed his head again in apology.

There was silence after. He couldn't tell if she even heard him.

Moments after her hand stops moving and she looks up at Vixen. He nearly walked a step backward for her sudden movement.

”Take a seat,” Mrs. Cloud smiled.

Vixen continued forward. He knew that smile was a fake, simply a formality that she had learned to build over time. He knew that what she said was an order rather than a simple suggestion. But even though he could read through her movements, they felt so foreign and distant, like a mere worker being summoned to the CEO's room rather than a mother meeting her son.

Vixen took a seat on one of the cushions, sitting on the left one at the edge of its seat closest to Mrs. Cloud's desk.

Quietly, Mrs. Cloud stood up from her seat and walked over to the chair placed in front of the long, short table, directly in front of her desk.

”I'm sure you know why I have called you here,” Mrs. Cloud continued, her heels making an unnerving click against her marble floors as she neared Vixen. Ever so quietly, she took a seat at the head chair and picked up the tea seated on the table, raising it to her lips for a taste.

She placed the tea down and looked up at Vixen, their blank eyes meeting with each other. ”Care to explain?”

Vixen didn't flinch and didn't move for the time of eye contact with his mother. He was suddenly reminded of where the violet shine came from. In her piercing cat-like eyes were a deep violet shade in a stare so harsh and stiff that it felt like he was looking straight into the eyes of an emotionless stone.

The familiarity in her eyes was so frank and frightening. No wonder she was his mother, it felt like he was looking straight into a mirror, like he was looking into the eyes of himself.

”Where should I begin?” Vixen asked, not daring to pull away from their eye contact first.

”From the beginning, if you will,” Mrs. Cloud ordered, taking a sip of her tea again. ”I'm quite interested to hear about the incident in the morning.”