Let Me In (Au) - An Ereri Story

~46~

As much as I'd have loved to not work my notice, I had no choice. I had to go back and hand it in officially.

I just hoped Levi had the decency to not show his face around me.

I hardly made the effort to make myself presentable, I wore my usual suit and my hair was an unkempt mess but the effort ends there. It's not like I was keeping the job anymore.

Or that I had anyone there I wanted to see me looking good. Not anymore atleast.

I sigh to myself as I adjust my tie in the mirror, I pick up my phone and wallet and head downstairs.

"I'm off, Kas. I'll see you later." I call out.

"Where are you go--?" She steps into the doorway of the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in her hands and takes in my appearance. "You're going back there?"

"I don't have a choice, Kas. I signed a contract and I need to work my notice." I shrug my shoulders.

She gives me a sympathetic smile. "Make sure Connie looks after you, then yeah?" She says pointing her spoon at me. "And stay away from Him."

"Don't worry, I won't be going anywhere near him if I can help it." I lean toward her and give her a quick peck on the cheek before I open the door and leave. "See you later."

"You too!" She calls after me as the door shuts behind me.

~~~~~~~~~~

I had managed to get through the full morning without seeing him. Erwin had tried to make conversation but I kept it strictly business talk. I gave him my notice letter almost as soon as I got in to work and had told him to pass it on for me which he had agreed to do.

Connie stuck by my side for the most part of the day, and if anyone had noticed my absence or knew anything about it they didn't let on. Everyone kept to themselves, as did I.

It wasn't until Connie and I were sat eating our lunch that my peaceful morning came to an abrupt end. The double doors to the cafeteria opened and there he was. Strutting in without a care in the world.

He wore a grey suit, an emerald tie and crisp white shirt underneath, his brown loafers were polished to pristine condition and he looked impeccable. Of course.

I averted my eyes quickly, feeling bile rise up I threw down the remnants of my sandwich and took a sip of my coffee. Hoping to not be noticed, I kept my eyes downcast and stayed silent.

Eventually I couldn't stop myself from looking back up just to see if he had left yet or not, and my eyes instantly found his.

Shit. I looked away immediately regretting my decision and gulped down the last of my coffee.

A shadow suddenly engulfed me, and a pair of brown shoes were in my field of vision. I sighed and brought my eyes up slowly to meet his steely grey ones again.

"Eren..." He breathes out.

"Mr. Ackerman." I chew the inside of my cheek nervously and get up from my seat.

The sudden height difference between us causes Levi to take a step back and regain his composure. I discard my rubbish and keep the paper coffee cup in hand for a refill. Instead of making conversation I walk away to get myself another drink.

I can hear his footsteps following me. "What do you want, Levi?"

"I just want to talk." He says softly as I place my cup under the machine. "Can you meet me in my office later?"

"I don't know if that's a good idea." I sigh in response and press the button.

"Please? I need to explain. And not like I did last night." I shake my head and go to grab myself a sachet of sugar but he's beaten me to it, he holds one out to me with a smile.

I take it from him with a scowl, our fingers brush ever so gently but it's enough to send a shiver down my spine. "Levi--I--" I start but end up shaking my head again. "I don't know what you want me to say."

The machine beeps, signifying my coffee has finished so I remove it from the stand and rip open the sachet of sugar. "You don't have to say anything, just listen. Please?" He reaches out for me but I just glare at him and he quickly pulls back.

I pour the sugar into my coffee and give it a quick stir. "Fine. When?"

"I have a meeting in half an hour but it should be done within the hour. So, 2 o'clock? Is that okay?" He replies earnestly.

"Okay. Fine. Two it is." I reply and walk away with my coffee.

I take a seat next to Connie again and breath a sigh of relief and feeling my shoulders relax when I know Levi has finally left the room.

"What did he say?" Connie asks, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"He wants to talk." I say.

"And?" He says, giving my shoulder a squeeze.

"I said okay. I'm meeting him in his office at 2." I shrug and take a sip of my drink.

"In his office? Is that a good idea?" His hand slides off of my shoulder and he leans forward in his seat.

"It's better here than anywhere else, Con." I say with a sigh. "Atleast here if he tries anything I can just leave."

He nods as a reply, knowing I don't want to talk about it anymore and he makes light conversation with me instead.

The rest of our lunch is spent having comfortable conversation before eventually it drifts into silence. I sit there stewing over what he could possibly want to say to me to make the situation even remotely better.

Eventually, our lunch ends and I can return to the studio to atleast try and get my mind to stop thinking of endless scenarios entailing Levi and Eld in various disgusting acts.

The lull between 1 and 2 is almost endless. I find myself looking at my watch every two minutes, wishing for time to go faster but begging for it to slow down.

At ten to two I get up from my desk and head over to Erwin's. "Mr. Ackerman has asked for me to meet him at 2, so I'm going to head to his office now."

Erwin looks up from his paperwork, with his mouth agape and just nods. "I hope everything goes alright, Eren."

I give him a small smile and reply. "Me too, Erwin. I just want some answers." I shrug as I walk towards the door.

"Then I hope he gives you the right ones." He returns the smile and then gets back to his work.

With a sigh of resignation I trudge up to the elevator and make my way to his office. I look at my watch again, it's now five to two and I just know that when I enter his office at two o'clock either everything is going to be on the way to being mended or everything is finally over.

For good.

*A/N - I'm really killing myself writing these chapters.

21k reads. 21k reads! 21K READS!!! OH MY GOD. THANK YOUUU

Yo, I wrote this with the above note 2 nights ago and it's been 3 days-- just 3 days since I last updated saying "nearly 20k reads" and I'm already at nearly 22k?!

Are you guys for real?! That's 2k reads in 3 fucking days. My mind is blown.

Guys, I wrote the above note literally last night. It's now at 22.2k reads. Shit.*