The Little Crow

Chapter Thirty Five - [Marble Slab]

Today was the big day.

It was the day that Thea had been preparing for for far too long.

And she was panicking.

As she paced back and forth in her office with Milo, reviewing all her notes, she tried to ignore her racing heart and the rather intrusive thought of Adrien. Any time Adrien would show up in her mind, she did absolutely everything to get rid of him, reminding herself of her conversation with Niall the night prior.

She would be fine.

Right?

Whatever the case, when it was time for them to head to the top floor of Achlis, a floor that Thea had only visited one time on her first day here when Julian had given her a tour, she was already shaking.

The top floor of Achlis was the most beautiful floor in the building and it was quite clear why, seeing as this was where all the major State Officials had their offices, including the Secretary of Defence. Thea also knew that the President had an office here too, though he never spent any time here at all.

As she and Milo walked down the quiet hall with the marble floors, beige walls accented by beautiful marble statues, chandeliers lined all along the ceilings, and gorgeous paintings sprinkled here and there as well, Thea also realized that if Niall were to ever be promoted, he'd be up here too.

He'd hate it here.

"This is it," Milo whispered, stopping in front of a pair of large white double doors.

"No one is here yet?" Thea looked at her wristwatch, forgetting that her hand was still shaking. Sure, they were fifteen minutes early... but no one was here yet?

"A few people may be inside already," Milo responded before reaching out and taking her shaking hand in his. He held it tightly, smiling at Thea. "You're going to be fine," he said. "You're going to do an amazing job."

Thea smiled at him, though nervously.

She hadn't had the chance to tell him about the fact that Adrien was most likely going to be at this meeting, but that was mostly because she couldn't even get herself to say it... and that wasn't factoring in the fact that she was trying so hard to not think about the man at all.

So yes, maybe she would do well. Maybe she did have the potential to do well, like Milo said... like he believed. But what about the new variable of Adrien?

How was his presence going to affect her?

Well, she knew well what it was going to do. What was important now, was to try and get past it... to remember what Niall had said to her the night before.

He had her back.

Almost on queue, she heard the elevator ding before the gate clattered loudly as it opened, and when she turned, she saw both Julian and Niall begin to make their way towards them.

Unsurprisingly, Niall looked rather stressed, his brows low and his expression rather tired with bags under his eyes, despite looking absolutely spotless and pristine in every other way. Thea always wondered how he managed to look so put together despite being so exhausted. She herself had struggled this morning to get dressed, knowing well that she had to look her absolute best.

She woke up hours early, getting into her best, freshly ironed white blouse and dark green skirt. At first she considered wearing trousers, seeing as she was going to be in a room filled with men, but her dark green skirt was her absolute favorite skirt and she decided she'd be more comfortable in that. Besides, she didn't really like the idea of having to dress a particular way to be taken seriously.