Crisis Of War

{ XXX }

Brandon hands me the last piece that, according to him, finishes my outfit for the meeting with Williams. 

A brown blazer. 

I put it on and keep my eyes on him as he averts his gaze. He has been doing that the entire time. 'You look great.' 

'You're not even looking at me.' I say, moving to the bed. 

I think I know why he's not looking at me and I hate it.

'I am,' He says, still not looking at me, 'and you look good.' 

'Brandon, I promise you. I'm fine.' He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, before holding it for a few seconds, and releasing it as if it washes away something on his mind. 

'You're not.' He walks over to me, still not looking me in the eye, 'You shouldn't be and that's fine.' 

'Brandon...' Someone knocks on the door, grasping his full attention, but I don't care about the person behind the door right now. 

I just want Brandon to look at me again. And not in a way that makes me feel small and weak. 

'Are you guys done?' It's Nico. He's standing behind the door, not opening it until we answer. 

'I think they are!' Victoria shouts, rushing over to the door to open it. 

I keep my eyes on Brandon, for some reason waiting for him to look at me and just smile the way he always does. But he doesn't. 

'We should get going.' Nico mumbles, probably looking at me as he speaks. 'We have four more hours until the meeting, we'll be fine.' 

It's at the hotel in the city and it takes less than thirty minutes to get there, I don't see why he's in such a rush. 

'Nico's right, Neveah. You should probably go. I'll pack your bags so they'll be ready when you get back.' It's not like there's much he has to do... 

'I'm not going anywhere and I need everyone to stop talking like we're giving up.' They both sigh as Victoria runs over to me again, holding onto my legs as she continues to play with one of her dolls. 

'Neveah, let's not do this right now.' Brandon groans, finally looking at me. But as soon as he realizes he's looking at me, as soon as he sees something in my eyes, he looks away again. 'Just go with him, please?' 

I look at Victoria, who's smiling at me, and look back up at Nico. 'Fine, but we'll talk when I get back so don't you dare pack my shit.' 

He rolls his eyes and reaches out to Victoria, trying to lure her away as I follow Nico down the stairs. 

Rio leans against the frame of the door leading to the kitchen and chuckles when he sees me. 'You look very professional.' Is he drunk again?