I nod, continuing with my work.
She doesn’t move away, but that’s fine, this is her office after all, and I don’t mind her standing there.
“Don’t you need to take a break?”
“No,” I reply, continuing to type.
“Do you only answer direct questions?” This time, her voice sounds a little sharper, and that makes me frown.
I lean back to face her properly. “As opposed to…?”
Her brows rise, then she murmurs a quick, “Okay then…” before pointing to the screen. “How is it looking?” She seems to remember something as she adds, “The systems, the cameras, all of it.”
I glance down at my notes, scanning them over before summarising with one word. “Inadequate.”
“Sorry?” She sounds a little shocked.
I take that emotion as a cue that she needs me to say more.
I look up from my notes and meet her wide eyes. “Your systems are inadequate. Nothing is segmented. I was able to hack into everything because they’re all on the same switch,and it seems a few people have before me. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of your data has already been stolen and sold on the dark web. But the one positive of having bad CCTV is that people are less likely to watch it—no one wants to live stream anything with such poor quality.”
When I finish, I realise Revea seems to be breathing a little heavier.
“Are you okay?” I ask, because her face seems to drain of the soft pink blush I remember.
She doesn’t answer. Which is strange because I’ve asked a question, and you’re supposed to answer. Unless…
“You look unwell,” I say.
She just stares at me, or maybe through me. She doesn’t seem very focused, and her eyes look a little cloudy.
Suddenly, she closes her eyes tightly and turns away from me. “I’m fine,” she murmurs, but she doesn’t sound fine.
It’s too quiet, like she had to force those words out, and she isn’t looking at me anymore. Why did she turn around?
I start to stand, I’m not really sure why, but she’s already walking away as she says, “You’re right, I don’t feel very well. I’m gonna go home early.” And with that, the office door shuts behind her.
I sit back down, staring at the door, frowning. That was… strange.
I find my gaze darting to the glass wall so I can watch her walk through the lobby. When she disappears around the corner, I go back to the CCTV footage. She’s walking quickly, but a woman with strange half-glasses stops her. They have a quick conversation, the woman rubs Revea’s back, then I watch her leave through the back exit, walk across the car park, and into her car.
She doesn’t leave straight away, but five minutes later, she does.
And for some reason, something in my chest feels tight. I let myself acknowledge that sensation for a while.
I’m about to go back to finishing my report when the office door opens again.
“Syl, what happened?” Luciano asks, and I can tell he’s trying to sound calm, but his tone is too low for that.
“With what?”
His jaw grits, a sign I’m familiar with, one that means I’ve irritated him, but I don’t understand why. He’s the one asking vague questions.
“With Revea, Sylvan.” Valentin steps in. He’s always much calmer than his brother, and he’s much better at being specific too.
“Nothing happened.”
They both frown at my words, which means I’m missing something.
