The man carefully eyed Julien for a moment.
"If you want her."
What kind of response is that?
If she wasn't his, and she wasn't Julien's, then where'd she come from?
More importantly, why was she even here?
As Julien's thoughts jumped from one crazy theory to the next—
"Boss?"
The man spoke, tapping the counter lightly to get his attention as though he were a standoffish cat.
And catch his attention he did.
"Don't call me that."
The words tumbled out harsher than intended and Julien cursed at himself internally.
Fuck me.
He was trying to be as nice as he could muster given the circumstances, but it was proving difficult when the longer they spent alone, the more irritable he became. The man may've been an unwanted 'gift' from his sister, but he was still a guest, at least for now, so he had to be… amiable.
Ah. Her. I forgot about her.
Clearing his throat, Julien tried to dissipate the awkward silence caused by his outburst.
"Just use my name, thank you. You do know my name right? You must've heard it from my darling sister beforehand, no?"
Andrew's eyes drifted away in thought before returning to match Julien's gaze, he nodded.
"Understood."
Calm as a cucumber this one.
"So, are you gonna tell me your name, or do I just keep calling you," He motioned with his hands, moving his wrist in a circular motion to indicate the other.
"You?"
He crossed his arms.
"It's not like you came with an item description."
Unless you count the completely unhelpful set of letters she sent.
The man tugged at the collar around his neck and his upper lip twitched down briefly as if he was…confused, about something.
What could he possibly be confused about?
"I thought you knew?"
Was I supposed to?
No one told him a damn thing until the guy was already standing outside his door—like a stray waiting to be let in from the rain.
"I don't. Is your name in the room with us right now?"
Julien lazily raised his arms as if he was performing a séance.
He felt like he was being forced to talk to a spirit through a ouija board, except he was the one moving the planchette.
Do I need to summon the words out of him too?
That's when the man moved his hand to caress the metal pieces hanging off the side of the offensive object around his neck.
"This is it."
Julien frowned as he leaned into what the man was holding. Instantly, he felt a violent flush of embarrassment rise from his neck and he cursed at both the awkwardness of the situation and in anger at the culprit behind it.
His knuckles turned white.
Of course there was a fucking name tag. I should've known she'd pull some shit like this.
Right there, engraved in the boldest luster, was a name.
His name.
"Andrew."
Julien felt his heart leap saying the unfamiliar name aloud, and the man matter-of-factly replied to his call in turn.
"Julien."
He felt faint.
If that's what he thought, why on the gods green Earth did he actually wear it!?
His sister was weird enough for buying it—though he was more than 1000 percent sure she'd done so just for kicks—but this guy was downright strange as well!
Hell, he could imagine it now, his sister kicking her feet in joy the second she heard about the mysterious dog he'd picked up from gods only knows where while plotting the 'perfect purchase.'
And what did that make him as the person that threw it at the man? A de facto pervert?
Frazzled as he'd been, he hadn't looked closely at the damn thing, and now look what happened.
You can't be serious.
"Are you alright?"
The man, Andrew, asked with a slight tilt to his head.
If Julien didn't know any better, he might've mistaken the carefully blank look on the man's face as entertainment.
But there's no way right?
Looking anywhere but at him Julien limply shook his head.
"Just hand me whatever it was my sister needed me to sign and leave."
Even if I say that… he's not going to, is he?
If that was the case, then before his remaining energy could vacate his body through the nearest soul-sucking industrial grade vacuum cleaner, he needed to clarify a few things.
"She did actually give you something right?"
The man stood up and threw the remnants of his meal in the trash.
"I gave it to you."
Julien frowned. He didn't remember being handed any—
Wait.
There was one thing.
"The letter?"
Julien looked up, only to see the other man missing for the second time that day.
How is it possible for such a big man to be so, so sneaky!
Julien heard a reply from behind him and quickly turned around. At the same time, Andrew turned on the faucet and washed his hands.
"It's proof that you received it."
Andrew turned the water off, grabbed a paper towel, and patted his hands dry as he threw a glance at Julien.
"And that I arrived properly."
'Can't you just text her that yourself?'
Julien grumbled, dragging a hand over his increasingly exhausted face—both to think and to calm down.
He had no idea where he'd put that damned thing given the clusterfuck that was his morning.
And he wasn't going to look for it either.
Julien gave Andrew a long look. Analyzing the man before him as he busied himself about the kitchen, Julien sighed when he didn't find what he was looking for.
Whatever he was looking for.
Knowing Andrew wasn't really the one he should point his frustrations towards, he took a deep breath.
"Give me a moment."
Standing up, he circled the counter and headed straight for the ajar double doors just a few paces away. Shutting the doors behind him, he sat down at the wooden desk and synced his Tith to the holographic cube at the end of it—leaving a mildly confused Andrew behind in his wake.
He was going to have a nice long talk with the true culprit behind this entire operation.
__
Laughter echoed from the hologram in front of him.
"You're laughing. You left me with a stranger and you're laughing."
That only got her to laugh harder.
Julien was currently on a call with 'Her' after locking himself in the study, very much so holding himself back from storming her office right then and there.
If only because she likely wouldn't be there anyway.
"Where are you? Send me your location and I promise I just want to talk, really, completely safe."
He raised his right hand.
"Scouts honour."
He was lying, of course, and was ready to go at a moment's notice, unfortunately, it seemed she wasn't going to let up that easy.
The borderline evil cackling continued on the other end of the line.
「Ha! Somehow I don't believe that.」
She laughed so hard she started heaving.
「I can't breathe!… Lori, Lori, get me some water, I'm dying!」
She kept going for another couple of minutes, smacking her desk and causing whatever papers she was working on to go flying all over the place. When she finally calmed down enough to speak—
「Phew. I take it you didn't like my gift?」
"Hardly."
He gave her a pointed look, impatiently tapping his finger on the mahogany surface of his desk.
「You're no fun.」
Loretta returned with a glass. Theia took it, mouthed a quiet 'thank you' and took a sip as her secretary exited the frame.
Her face slowly lost its vigour and an eerie calm settled in its place, as though she hadn't been laughing like a maniac just seconds prior.
「I'm not taking him back.」
She took another sip before putting the glass down.
"And why is that?"
Leisuring flicking through different planetary settings on the expensive spinning globe on her desk, she landed on Mars and opened her mouth.
「So you didn't read the letter?」
"I did."
Pressing the tip of her manicured finger into the globe, the surface began to ripple.
「I don't want you to be lonely once I'm gone.」
She wasn't looking at him at all.
"You talk as if you're dying."
She smiled.
「Would you miss me if I was?」
Julien shook his head.
"But you're not right? Stop beating around the bush and just tell me the truth."
Despite his words, he did suddenly feel a little worried.
She's not actually dying, right?
Eyeing him for a second, she shrugged and leaned back, taking an incomplete Rubix cube with her in the process.
「I just thought you'd enjoy the company.」
So a 'bodyguard' is supposed to be good company?
"Let's say I believe that and decide to hold onto him out of 'loneliness'," He raised his fingers in quotes. " What's the point of sending him here now? You're leaving after Thanksgiving aren't you?"
「I am, but he himself was in a bit of a rush. Besides, most of the important stuff was already done anyway.」
Her fingers slowly shifted the pieces of the cube.
「So I let him go early.」
"Do you know why?"
「Ask him.」
Frustrating.
"Huu, this isn't why I called."
It was, but there was something more pressing at hand.
Julien brushed his hair back.
"He's not really going to be living here, is he?"
「So you did read it afterall.」
He clicked his tongue.
"Why?"
「More convenient.」
"Dog included?"
She clicked the puzzle into place before randomizing the cube once more.
「Only if you want it.」
Did they rehearse that line together or something?
"Bloody hell."
He furrowed his brows.
「It's not as if you don't have extra room.」
"That's not the point Theia, besides, have you seen the other rooms? Unless you want me to give him yours. It's not like you'll need it."
「Then where would I stay when I visit?」
I hope you never 'visit' again.
"You're not here that often anyway, you'll live."
He leaned back in his chair, matching the image of his sister on the screen.
"You couldn't have asked me first? Before you invited a random man to live in my home?"
「Would you have let him stay? No, would you have even opened the door for him in the first place if you knew about it?」
Julien sighed and met her gaze.
No, I wouldn't have.
"Huu, at least tell me this,"
He muttered, as he massaged his eyelids.
"How long will you be away?"
Placing the completed Rubix cube back on the desk, she gave him a mischievous grin.
「A few months.」
He stared at her.
「6 months.」
"Half a year."
「It sounded nicer when I said a 'few months,' right?」
It would've sounded 'nicer' if she hadn't sent him a babysitter just because she was going away for a 'few months.'
"Where are you even going?"
「If I tell you, will you promise not to come looking for me?」
"No promises."
「Then I'm not telling you.」
Leaning forward and interlocking her fingers in front of her face, she whispered in a low tone like she was telling a secret. The mischievousness of a cheesy 1900s cartoon villain was painted very clearly behind her faulty blockade.
「Did you see it?」
Taken off guard by the abrupt change in atmosphere, he cautiously asked.
"See what?"
She stopped hiding her smile and pointed towards her neck.
「A collar. Big, red, with a nametag on the front, or maybe the side. It was among the other stuff I sent. Ring any bells?」
That fucking thing.
"I did."
Julien looked away as embarrassment entered his face. Not one to let her pull one over on him, he shifted slightly, mimicking her and hiding his face behind a hand.
Unfortunately—
「How'd he like it?」
"Ask him."
She noticed.
「How'd you like it?」
"Disconnect."
"Call Time: 18 minutes and 52 seconds"
Julien wasted no time cutting the call.
He could almost hear the sound of her raucous laughter ringing in his ears. His head throbbed from the phantom sensation.
"She avoided my questions again."
But he didn't have the energy nor the willpower to continue the fruitless questioning, and… Andrew was still waiting for him in the kitchen.
Probably.
Giving himself a moment to relax, Julien took a deep breath, put a small smile on his face, and got up. Leaving the study, he walked right past Andrew and dutifully ignored the man's intense stare as he started rifling through the 'supplies' his sister had so kindly sent him.
He needed to decompress before he did or said something stupid.
Andrew opened his mouth to speak, but the sound of rustling bags made anything he tried to say fall on deaf ears.
So that's what these were.
Pulling out some kibble and a pair of dog bowls, he filled one with water and the other with what he thought was an appropriate amount of food before placing both on the floor. Only then did he acknowledge Andrew's presence.
Kind of.
"Where is she?"
Andrew gave him a blank look.
"Up there."
He pointed towards the stairs with a thoughtful look.
Or maybe he was just zoning out.
Julien didn't care either way.
"Thanks."
Halfway up he paused and turned back towards Andrew.
"She can eat the dry stuff right?"
Andrew glanced at the bowls and after a few seconds he nodded.
Great.
Upon reaching the second floor he turned towards his bedroom—the most likely hiding spot for a nervous animal—and gently called out to her.
"Puppyyy, tsk tsk tsk, puuup."
He wasn't sure if she'd know he was calling for her but he was placing his bets on the noise being enough to draw her in.
Luckily, he didn't have to wait very long.
A faint rustle came from under his bed. Dropping to his knees, he lifted the lopsided blanket and peeked underneath the frame.
There she is.
Using his phone flashlight to illuminate the space, her pallid eyes reflected back at him. Angling the light away, he carefully looked her over for the first time.
She was alert. Apprehensive, but curious.
Her patchy shaven fur revealed an emaciated frame, her paws were greasy, like someone put some kind of salve on them, and she wasn't all that big either.
He frowned. Though he'd never owned any pets before, he was sure something was wrong with her.
Did… Andrew do that? Or someone else?
He doubted it was the man downstairs, but you never know.
Setting the thought aside, he beckoned her again.
"Come out, please?"
He tapped the floor but she only shrank away, retracting her tiny frame even further out of reach.
Seriously?
Just as he was considering his next course of action—
"She'll come out when she's ready."
A husky voice reverberated off the wall behind him, causing Julien to sit up with a start, hitting the back of his head on the bedframe as he turned around.
I'm just racking up injuries with this guy.
Rubbing the fresh bruise, he frowned.
"I didn't say you could come up here."
Andrew was standing in the doorway like an anatomical model, both arms to his sides, perfect posture, and a limpid gaze. Julien didn't hear him coming this time either.
It was really starting to freak him out.
"Got it."
Andrew took a step back towards the stairs, placing his right foot on a lower step but leaving himself just slightly in view.
"We haven't talked."
Julien dismissively waved his hand and stood up.
"Later."
He ushered him down.
"But I'm a bit tired right now. No thanks to you."
Andrew didn't respond until they got back to the kitchen.
"When will you not be?"
Julien's left brow twitched.
"In an hour? Maybe two."
He motioned to the group of bags on the counter—both to the groceries and the 'supplies' his sister had sent—as he made his way back upstairs.
"Make yourself busy and put those away, I don't know what most of it is, but it's yours."
Julien looked at Andrew, resignation clear in his eyes.
"Do whatever you want otherwise, I'll deal with you later. I can't kick you out anyway."
Julien rubbed his tired eyes.
"Just make sure she eats and don't make a mess, will you?"
Then he left before even hearing his response.
"...Understood."