APARTMENT 143

11

The room was silent, no one spoke, they just sat there. Xavier had his typical stone-cold expression; Alisha had a million thoughts running through her head and Riven... when I looked at Riven all I could see was fear.

"Why the hell is she coming back?" Alisha shouted, slamming her hands-on table forcing herself up. "She hasn't been around for years; do you understand that? Years!"

"She is still your mother Alisha," Christopher says calmly, not daring to look his daughter in the eyes. "She still has the right to see her children."

"Yeah and why is that huh," Alisha says furiously. "What benefit do we serve her this time? That conniving woman only wants to see us when it's in it for her, the last time she came was five damn years ago and it was to make sure she still had equal shares of your company!"

"Would you please stop yelling," Xavier says rubbing the temple of his head. "We're in a soundproof room and I still think the employees can hear you."

"Oh shut up Xavier," Alisha turned her attention to Xavier as soon as he spoke. "If anyone's excited to see that witch it's you, you are just like her after all."

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean," Xavier says glaring at Alisha angrily. "You think I'm happy with what she's doing? Whether or not I care for it isn't your business, at the end of the day she is our mother and you should learn to respect that."

"Do you hear yourself, she walked out on us Xavier," Alisha shouted, slamming her hands on the table again. "We meant nothing to her and we still don't, she treats Riven like dirt. Why should I respect someone like her?!"

"That's enough Alisha..."

Riven finally spoke and stood up holding his head down, I take a step back placing my hand on his shoulder looking at him with concern.

Riven turns his head back and looks at me, he smiled like an innocent child but his eyes were going blank. It was almost as if he was being sucked into a dark hole.

He looks at his dad taking a deep breath as Xavier and Alisha wait for his response, because if anyone had a reason not to see that woman... it was Riven.

"When is she coming back?"

"Tomorrow night," Christopher says. "We'll have a small get-together with the five of us, but also I wanted to invite Violet."

Both our heads shoot up at the sound of my name.

"M- Me?" I ask nervously. "I don't think I should impose on your family affairs and-"

"I insist Violet," Christopher says with a reassuring smile.

Looking around the room I noticed no one rejecting the idea, Alisha was definitely more focused on Riven but didn't seem as worried hearing me be invited. Xavier's eyes were glued on me making me feel somewhat unsure of his intentions, seeing him made me want to deny even more. However, Riven changed that the moment our eyes met. It was almost as if he was trying to tell me something through his eyes but wasn't able to bring it up here.

Did he really want me to come?

"Well Violet," Christopher asks, breaking our eye contact with Riven. "Will you be attending?"

"I uh- I would love to, thank you for the invitation."

Riven holds my hand and leads me out of the meeting room immediately, he stops beside his dad whispering something but I could hardly make out what it was. However, he nods as we both proceed out of the meeting room and even out of the building.

Riven leads me out of the building where his car is parked waiting for the both of us, I'm able to slip my hand out of his grasp as he turns to look at me.