136 Up Close (1/2)

The idea didn't sound so bad. Her will to execute it, did.

She wasn't in the mood for any pestering secretaries after she got down late and honestly just wanted to get to her meeting as quickly as possible. She hated the walls of the place she co-owned herself.

They gave her an eerie feeling, like their existence was just threatening enough to get on her nerves. She couldn't put her finger on why they set off goose-pimples on her skin. They never dared to near her, never dared to close in on her but yet gave her a stifled feeling. Like she was being constricted to one little place where she wouldn't be able to escape from.

She hated that kind of feeling the most. The feeling of being watched.

Her eyes skirt to a camera that was hiding in plain sight, like a little bug attached to the ceiling peering down at her.

A thought breached her mind and she flinches, nearly stopping her stride to look head-on into the lenses of the camera. She wanted to guess who was behind that camera. It wasn't a guess, it was a confirmation.

She knew who was the most likely to be behind that camera but she wanted to test it. She wanted to know just why in the world he would think he still had the power to peer down at her while he sat behind bars. Her jaw slightly clenched but she made sure to keep her emotions in check.

First came the stagger in her movements. Then later came the scratching of her eyes and more staggering.

She walked down the hallway in a drunk/weak manner, her eyes running up and down the walls to spot a camera that would get the most perfect view of the situation. When she spotted it she continued forward, slowly making her movements get looser and looser, and finally, she fell to the ground limply, her eyes shutting tightly.

There she laid on the ground for a moment, her eyes shutting after she twitches and tried to move from her position. She passed out.

At least pretended to.

The ground was cold. It felt frozen, something a hall that held 250 people should definitely not be feeling. The air hung in silence and had this very intense chill in the air. She couldn't figure out what it was.

Somehow, in those brief moments of her being on the ground, she realized something.

In the distance, she could hear footsteps approaching her. They were quick and heavy, clearly rushing to assist her from her position on the ground. Strong arms wrapped around her and lifted her up gently. With stable steps, the person walked down the hallway and into the elevator pressing a button.

She pushed away those thoughts and laid comfortably in the person's arms. She would lash out the moment she reached her location with the person that was holding her. For now, she was going to make use of the fact that her eyes were closed. She was going to sleep.

A few seconds before she drifts off to sleep, the thought hits her again. The coldness of the 5th floor. She had a sickening feeling that if she tried to dig deeper into why the floors of the place felt so cold, she would get an answer she would have predicted.

It wasn't the floor that was cold, but rather her.

*

The first thought Mrs. Cloud had when she awoke was of the work she had yet to do that she left on her office table. Her eyes search nervously for them and a hand pushes it in front of her.

The hand was muscular, just like its owner.

”Here are your assignments,” the voice called out.

Mrs. Cloud's face turned into a scowl as she turned up to look at the man. ”Well look who came to see me.”

The person grinned, leaning in closer to Mrs. Cloud. ”It's always stunning how many times I have to remind myself of who I'm looking at.”

Mrs. Cloud frowned, her face showing genuine displeasure. ”Straight to the compliments aren't we now? Aren't you tired of tasting honey every time you talk, Mr. Cloud?”

The man grinned. ”Not if it's about you of course,”

”If you think you can sweet-talk yourself out of this, then you've met a big challenge for yourself,” Mrs. Cloud growled.

”Hm?” Mr. Cloud cocked his head ”what challenge?”