Chapter Text
Elain
“Mr. Rosehall will see you now”
Elain gets up from her seat in the lounge and follows the receptionist through the hallways. The receptionist, Nuala, a tall, dark, beautiful woman, knocks the door. Her hair is the purest black and her skin shimmers with an ethereal smokiness.
The whole building is mostly glass. Even the panels of each individual room are glass. It creates a sleek modern and open atmosphere. The glass has that blurring effect so you can’t exactly see who is inside, but you can generally see if it’s empty or not. Quite convenient for hot desking probably.
They stop in front of a glass door. The plaque reads
Azriel Rosehall
Chief Financial Officer
“Come in” a low voice calls back
They step inside. Azriel is sitting behind a desk at the far side of the office. He’s looking to his right to welcome them in. Away from the large curved screen in front of him. The office is beautiful. Large windows behind him with a stunning view of Velaris. There’s a large mahogany table close to the door with six seats. One wall is a large bookcase with many different books, binders and other documents. Some stray plants and a few decorative items are scattered throughout. The opposing wall is all glass and seems to lead to an open plan office space.
“Good morning. Thank you for coming” Azriel says
“Good morning, Mr. Rosehall” Elain replies politely
“Can I get either of you anything to drink? Coffee, tea?” Nuala asks
“Do you have mint tea?” Elain asks
“Yes, we do. You?” Nuala looks at Azriel
“Coffee please, thank you, Nuala”
“Please. Sit” Azriel gestures towards the table
Elain takes up a seat and he takes the one across from her. They’ve met before but aren’t exactly friends. They’ve seen each other at birthdays and Christmases over the last three years and of course the mortifying day that he helped her move. When she’d been a blubbering mess and Feyre had called in Rhysand and his best friends to help her out. She represses the memory and focuses on now. She’s here in a professional capacity. This is what she’s good at.
He is dressed differently than how she’s seen him so far. He’s in a meticulously tailored suit. It’s dark navy in that classic hue all men wear. Completely unlike the all-black he wears in his free time.
“You’ve signed the Engagement Letter?” he asks – straight to the point
She pulls the papers from her bag and lays them in front of him. He flips through and sees the signatures at the bottom. Both Helion, the firm’s partner who’ll work on the case, and hers as principal and project lead.
“Excellent” he says quietly and then looks back at her “So, you’ve read the news I suppose?”
“Yes, Mr. Rosehall. I read the formal notice of the bid”
“Please, call me Azriel, we’ll be working together a lot over the next few months. And I mean, we know each other” he says with a friendly face
She nods and smiles a bit awkwardly. She’s not sure what the appropriate amount of familiarity is in this situation. Better start off too polite and then mimic his behaviour.
“Well. Rhysand obviously doesn’t want it. Him and Mor are the main shareholders, but they only hold about thirty-five percent of shares and the remainder is free float. Hybern – I mean Hybern Industrial Services – would be able to purchase the majority and that would mean the family loses control. We can’t have that”
He looks quite distressed. He even has a shadow of dark circles beneath his eyes.
“I saw the bid deadline for the last day of August, I’m assuming you’re expecting the majority will want to sell?”
Azriel nods with a pained expression. Obviously, they fear that, otherwise they wouldn’t have engaged her already.
“Have they already sent an information request list for due diligence?” Elain asks
“Yes” he scoffs “But I don’t want to give those assholes anything. They’re our competition. Chinese walls, clean team, whatever they say, I don’t trust them with our data”
“We can classify as much as possible as commercially sensitive. They’ll have to get court orders for everything. But we won’t be able to deny them everything”
“I know” he sighs “Do we have a chance?” He looks at her with a pained expression. The bid is very high. There’s no way the other investors won’t take it. They both know it’ll be tough because it’ll hinge on the external approvals.
She offers him a weak smile “Honestly? It’ll be hard. I think you have a chance if we focus on the concentration risk. The Prythian Competition Authority is our best bet”
Silence. They both know how that is the last authority they want to depend on. Feyre’s ex-boyfriend Tamlin works there. Their break-up wasn’t on good terms. Feyre basically dumped him the moment she laid eyes on Rhysand.
Elain continues “Do you know Lucien Vanserra? He’s a friend of Feyre and I know him as well. He works there too. I can contact him and hopefully we can get him or a nice colleague on the file”
Not Tamlin she leaves unsaid.
Or that Lucien has been interested in her since they met. He was a friend and colleague of Tamlin. She met him at Feyre’s birthday years ago. Elain was still doing her master’s and Lucien had started as a lawyer at the PCA. It was quite impressive. Not everyone got in to the Prythian Competition Authority. Lucien was from a good family, but he refused to go into corporate law. He wanted to be on the side of the people. Tamlin got the job because his whole family had been in the public law industry. Many men in his family had been ministers and judges.
Ever since that first birthday party, Lucien searched her out. Since she moved to Prythian, he kept inviting her to legal social events in town. He always hovers around her when she shows up. She sometimes considered skipping events to avoid seeing him. Not that she likes those god-awful networking events. It’s an introvert’s nightmare. But she has to. If she wants to make partner one day, she’ll have to suck it up and mingle.
She lost Graysen over it. She has to make partner. Has to prove to him and everyone else that it was all worth it. She knows both of her sisters think she’s boring. All she does is work. Long hours studying. Long hours working. In her free time, she takes care of her urban jungle, bakes and reads. She doesn’t really have friends in Velaris. She’s friendly with a few colleagues – that’s about it.
It’s not like her sisters are social butterflies either. Feyre simply integrated herself into Rhysand’s life. Her best friends are literally his best friends and his cousin, Mor. Nesta didn’t have friends back home either. It had always just been the two of them. When Nesta moved to Velaris for work, she made some friends, Gwyn and Emerie. Nesta met them at a dancing studio and they partied together a lot. Feyre even worried she was taking it too far. Velaris can do that to people apparently.
Not that Elain knows. She’s never really seen that side of Velaris. She liked the city. The beautiful large parks that ran across half the city. She loved the vintage markets that she dallied at on Sunday afternoons looking for some cute pottery. But she never had seen the side of Velaris in which Nesta almost drowned herself. The techno basements where the beat was loud and the light was low. Or, how Elain saw it, people doing drugs to handle the horrible music. Not her cup of tea.
The good-looking receptionist comes back and places their drinks in front of them. Fresh mint tea, she notes. Each with a buttery cookie on the side.
“Thank you, Nuala” he says and then looks back at Elain “Would be great if you can contact Lucien. I’ve met him, but don’t really know him. Let me get you some stuff to get started”
Azriel is off grabbing documents from his desk. He’s squatting down and leaning to grab something from the bottom drawer. She can see a little swirl of his tattoos peak over the collar of his shirt. He’s managed to cover up well. In his casual wear his tattoos are much more visible. All over his right arm and at the start of his neck. She wonders how far the tattoos run.
“Here it is” Azriel walks back and hands her a few documents. “Something to get to know the company better. I’ll have Nuala get you your own office and access to a data sharing platform on our server”
“I usually work at the firm or at home” It’s very unusual to stay with the client on premise. Maybe he’s just being polite to give her that option.
“Our data is very sensitive. We supply to the defence industry. Both me and Rhysand would feel better if you only access it from our server” he states firmly
“I’ll have to discuss with the partner, but I’m sure it’ll be fine”
“Great. Now you’ll have to excuse me. I have a meeting in ten minutes with my head of accounting. And I still need to read her email”
Elain gathers all her papers into her backpack and walks outside. Nuala is already waiting for her there and leads her to a nice private room. The set-up is perfect. Desk with an adjustable height. Large monitor. The keyboard is from a good brand. She hates those flat wide ones. Can’t type as smoothly on those. No plants though.
Azriel
What a week.
Ever since Hybern launched their bid Azriel has been working non-stop. And all of that right before their half-year report is due. At least Cerridwen has it under control. What would he do without her? For a CFO he really hates accounting. He likes the part once the numbers are done. To look at what they mean. To figure out what they should improve in the business. Help Rhysand and Cassian make their plans. That was his role. To give them all the information they need to their jobs well.
Cerridwen started as a financial controller. When his previous head of accounting left, he promoted her. She’d done a stellar job ever since. He never found a mistake. Never needed to ask for a more detailed analysis, because she had already prepared it. His team also liked her. She was calm and professional. The only thing she had ever requested that was unusual, was to get her sister a job interview at the firm. For any job she said. Any.
Thank the heavens that Feyre got Elain on the project. She has an excellent reputation. God knows he needs the help. This is way out of his usual scope. Rhysand keeps telling him he trusts Azriel to solve it, but he’s not sure he can solve this. This won’t exactly go away on their own.
He checks the folders he prepared for her. Some more information on their markets and products. In their contract he put it very strictly that no data should be accessed outside of their servers. That’s why she got her own email, her own laptop, her own log-in, everything. He also explicitly requested to have no team work on it. Just her and the partner. One junior could be discussed if she really needs one – on premise too.
He opens up Teams and types in her name to send her a simple message
Azriel: Hi Elain, hope your account is working and you can read this. Let me know if there’s anything you need. Azriel
The sound of new message rings immediately
Elain: Hi Azriel, thank you for your message. Nuala has helped me set up and I’m able to access everything. I’m currently reading your corporate presentation. Please feel free to send any additional materials and I’ll get started. Elain
He clicks back to his folders and adds her to the group he prepared for the project. Right now, it’s him, Cassian, Rhysand, and Elain. He’ll probably add Cerridwen too. She’ll be able to supply a lot of relevant documents to Elain.
Azriel: I have shared a folder with you with more information. Please remember this shouldn’t be copied or shared outside of our own organization.
Elain: Thank you. I will treat this with the utmost caution and confidentiality
She is a lawyer, of course she’ll understand confidentiality. He doesn’t need to micro-manage her. He returns to the figures Cerridwen prepared. They had a good month. Cassian had done a fantastic job in Vallahan. Their growth was double-digit and based on their order book they’re looking at an excellent next quarter. He’ll have to tone it down of course. If he’d let Cassian write the forecast it would be a disaster. Underpromise and overdeliver was Azriel’s motto.
He knocks. No reply. He peaks through the glass. Clearly, she’s sitting at the desk. He knocks again. Still no reply. He grabs his phone and opens Teams
Azriel: Hi Elain, I’m going to have lunch now. I see you’re in your office and wanted to ask you to join me. I knocked but don’t want to disturb you if you’re busy.
He hears a scuffle from the other side of the door and the she opens. Headphones around her neck.
“Sorry! I was just focused and I had them on noise-cancelling. Sorry. I shouldn’t have done that” she says apologetically
“No, don’t worry about it. Nice ones. Are they symphonicas?” he says as he’s eyeing the pink headphones around her neck. Looks like last year’s model.
“Yes” she says with a smile “I love them”
“Me too. I have a pair here and at home. Just to make sure I’m never without”
“What do you listen to?” she asks with a kind smile
“Techno mostly” he says
He’s such a fucking stereotype. Like everyone in Velaris he listens to electronic music, specifically techno. He loves it. At home, in the gym, at work. There’s nothing like crunching data in excel with some good trance techno blasting. He sometimes changes it up and listens to house when he’s cooking – not that he eats at home much. Or on a lost Sunday morning he might put on some of his mother’s jazz. He can tell that she thinks it too – how unoriginal his music taste is. Dime in a dozen.
“You?” he asks so she doesn’t need to comment
“More like singer-songwriter, indie, pop, that sort of thing”
Fits. She seems like she’d listen to mostly female artists. “Can you focus with lyrics?” he asks “I struggle with that when I work”
“I don’t really listen to the lyrics when I work. I just like the melody” she laughs shyly
She has a nice smile. She’s good-looking in general. He noticed the first time he met her at Feyre’s birthday years ago. Feyre’s sisters were both blessed in their looks. Elain had a boyfriend then. Though according to Rhysand, the guy was a piece of shit and Feyre had been happy when they broke up a year or two ago.
Azriel realizes she’s probably waiting for him to do or say something, when she cocks her head at him
“Lunch?” he gestures towards the hallway
She follows his lead as they head over to the company canteen. Azriel explains the different options and how it’s included for everyone. They have excellent food. Rhysand was a bit of a health freak so the food was all very healthy. Lots of vegetable dishes, salades, curries. Plenty of fruit too. They both get their food and he looks around to see what table to join. He usually joins either his finance team or sits with Cassian and Rhysand if they’re around. He can’t see the last two so he heads over to sit with Cerridwen.
He gestures for Elain to sit across from him. “Everyone, this is Elain. She’ll be helping us with the Hybern bid. Elain, this is my finance team”
They all politely greet Elain. Welcoming her. He’s proud of his team. They’re friendly, professional people. Elain is looking at Cerridwen puzzled. In between bites he notices she keeps glancing at his head of accounting.
“Elain, is it? Nice to meet you” Cerridwen says, probably after noticing her stares too
Elain cocks her head and looks even more puzzled “We… We met? You literally helped me set up this morning?”
Cerridwen laughs “You must have met Nuala. We’re twins”
“Oh! That’s why you’re wearing something different. I already wondered why you changed your outfit”
“Yeah, I don’t wear those dresses like she does. I prefer jeans” Cerridwen says lightly “I’m Cerridwen. I’m head of accounting”
“Nice to meet you” Elain says
Cerridwen engages in a friendly chat and Azriel can just sit back and listen. Cerridwen is usually quiet like him, but she’s making an effort to welcome Elain. They’ll be working together too, so good for them to meet.
It’s already late, but he noticed the light was still on in her room. He knocks on her door and this time she opens immediately.
“Hi” he says
“Hi” Headphones around her neck. She’s taken off her blazer and the thin dark blue material of her dress has a flowy fit. She’s not wearing shoes. She sees him look at her feet and blushes
“Sorry. I got a bit too comfortable” she says flushed. “Wait” She turns around and squeezes herself into her heels and puts on her jacket again.
“It’s late. Shouldn’t you go home?” he asks
“Could say the same about you” she says lightly
“I have to review the half-year presentation, so I’ll be staying late. I was just heading up to the canteen to get some of the leftovers for dinner. I noticed your light was on”
“Can I join?” she says hesitantly “Normally, I’d just order food in the office with my colleagues”
Well. No. She shouldn’t be working this late. There was no need. But he also doesn’t want to be rude. It’s not a very serious request after all.
“Of course” he says
They head there together. He slips into the kitchen and opens the fridge. He finds a well-filled bowl of the beetroot salad and there’s still some mushroom lasagne left. He grabs a few more things for her to have some options.
“You’ve done this before” she says
He laughs dryly “Unfortunately, I’m not that good at managing my work hours”
“Me neither” she replies guiltily “lawyers, right?”
Lawyers did have that reputation. Especially lawyers like her. Corporate law at a prestigious firm. She was a principal. That’s known to be the most gruelling and demanding level in a firm. Close to partner, but not quite there yet. All the pressure, none of the perks.
They both make a plate and he heats them up in the microwave. They find a spot in the totally empty canteen and eat their meal in silence. It’s not uncomfortable, she seems to not be bothered by silence either. Both are processing their work day and everything that still needs to be done.
“Dessert?” he asks, when she’s finished her plate
“I love dessert” she says brightly
He gets up and finds a hidden piece of carrot cake in the back of the fridge. Nuala must have saved it for him. She knew he had a sweet tooth and questionable work-life balance. He cuts it in two and walks back with the two small plates.
“Carrot cake!” she says happily “There was a time when I made this almost every day”
“Every day?” he asks surprised
“In college I used to work at a bakery before class. It worked well with my schedule, because it started very early in the morning”
“Did you like it?”
“I loved it. I’ve loved baking ever since. Don’t have as much time for it now, but I try to bake regularly”
They chit chat and he explains his own jobs he had during college. Security and bouncer at clubs. He still has contacts at many of the good ones. He could get in everywhere he wanted. He got Cassian and Rhysand into a few that without him they wouldn’t have stood a chance. Especially Cassian. The man looked too much like a golden retriever. A big and strong one, but he just exuded too much… goodness?
It’s getting late. They’ve been talking for over an hour when this was supposed to be a quick bite. He still has a shit ton of work to do, but he enjoys getting to know her. She’s explaining how her sisters and her grew up in the south, outside of Prythian, far away from Velaris. Between the lines he can read more truth. They’d been poor, just like him.
Him and Cassian came from poor backgrounds. Why Rhysand befriended them was still baffling. Initially him and Cassian didn’t want to have anything to do with the posh-looking prick. But he’d grown on them. They met through rowing during their university years. Being in a boat for hours on end every week creates a bond. Especially when they started to do it competitively, they became inseparable. Spending all their time together training, eating, partying.
“We probably should get back to work” she says softly
He cleans away their plates and they both head back to their offices. He sits behind his computer and sighs. So much to do.
Elain
Elain is standing in front of the mirror. Fussing with her hair and her outfit. She always wears dresses to work. She has an entire closet filled with work-appropriate dresses. Some she would pair with blazers if the weather or the air-conditioning called for it. Ramiel Industries’ office was a nice temperature though. And her own little office could be temperature controlled so she will crank it up to exactly what she likes. Obscenely warm.
The dress she’s wearing is a little tight. The purple colour a little bright. It wasn’t her most formal dress, but she did like it a lot. She knew she looked good in it. Which was entirely irrelevant and frankly unwelcome sometimes.
She waters her plants before leaving and heads to her new workplace. Helion hadn’t minded at all. Whatever makes the client happy he’d said. Whatever makes him money, he meant. Elain likes working with him. He was a good boss. Smart and cunning. Exactly what you’d expect from a law partner. Unlike some of the other, mostly male, partners he always treated her with respect.
She steps into the office and sees Nuala at the reception
“Elain! Will we see you every day?” the vibrant woman asks her
“Probably. Azriel prefers me to work from here. Confidentiality and all that”
“Well, be sure to stop by every now and then when you need a break. I’ll tell you all the gossip” she says with a wink
Elain smiles back at her. That does sound fun. She heads to her little room and installs herself. She brought a small cactus with her. She needs to have something alive in the room with her. She logs in and gets to work. She’s been dreading it, but she clicks to write a new email.
Dear Lucien,
Hope you’re doing well.
I’ve been engaged on behalf of Ramiel Industries in light of the Hybern Industrial Services public bid. Without going into details, the company believes there are significant competition risks related to the potential acquisition. Would it be possible to get in touch with you or who else will work on the case?
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Kind regards,
Elain Archeron
Principal at Day Legal
She gets up to get a coffee. She’ll need it. She stayed way too late yesterday night. It didn’t help that she had a dinner break of more than a full hour. Unacceptable. But it was with the client. She couldn’t just walk away. This was an essential skill if she wanted to be partner. Azriel was CFO at a prestigious tech company. A highly valuable contact for her.
It had also been quite enjoyable. How she ended up talking about her youth was a little embarrassing though. That wasn’t appropriate office talk. Of course, they did know each other already. Not well. A few birthdays and Christmases don’t exactly make them friends. He was always so quiet. Like her.
Their shared friend and family group was very dominant. Cassian and Feyre took over any event, especially after a few drinks. That combined with the extraverted Mor and smooth-talking Rhysand or a sharp barb of Nesta, she never got in a word. He rarely did either. They all laughed, joked, got very inebriated. That wasn’t her. She never joined them when they went out to party either.
“Good morning” a female voice says from behind her
She looks back and sees one of the twins. Probably Cerridwen, because she wears pants.
“Good morning” Elain says as she grabs her coffee cup from the machine and makes space at the machine.
“Azriel asked me to sit down with you and go through some of the numbers you might need. Would you have time today?” Cerridwen asks friendly
“Yes, anytime. That would be great”
“After lunch? Around two? I’ll send you an invite”
“Perfect!”
Elain sits back at her computer and sees an unread email in her mailbox
Dear Elain,
I’m so glad to hear from you. I’m doing very well. You too? Would love to catch up over coffee.
Yes, we’ve heard about the bid. I’ll be taking the case myself. We can have a chat about it while we catch up?
Looking forward to seeing you.
Kind regards,
Lucien Vanserra
Senior Legal Officer at Prythian Competition Authority
She answers back with some slots to come over to their office for a coffee. He replies with a slot for tomorrow, outside of the office. Elain sighs. She does not want to have coffee outside of the office with him. She should stay on his good side though. He’s been nothing but helpful ever since she moved to Velaris. It’s just coffee.
Elain gets back to work. Preparing for her meeting with Cerridwen later today. They’ll have to present good data to argue why a merger would result in an undesirable level of monopolization in the market. Hopefully, they can find enough good arguments for that.
A knock on her door
“Come in” she says as she takes of her headphones
Azriel steps in. Another dark navy suit, but this time a light blue shirt underneath “Lunch?” he says
She looks at the clock on her computer. It was already one. She completely lost track of time. She nods and quickly gets up to follow him to the canteen.
The food is fantastic. So much better than at her own firm. They always had simple sandwiches and one pasta dish. Here they had everything. She really liked the soup selection. They head over again to the finance team. She now recognizes more of the people. They scoot over to make space for them. Elain takes up the spot next to Cerridwen. Something about the woman is so welcoming.
“Elain”
Elain looks up and sees Nuala. She can only guess based on their outfits. Their faces look identical. Maybe over time she’d be able to tell them apart, but the dresses or jeans thing was very convenient. She wonders if they do it on purpose to help everybody in keeping them apart.
Nuala slides on the little window sill and crosses her legs. “How are you settling in?” she rests her hand beneath her chin and looks at Elain interestedly
“Good” she replies “Everybody has been friendly. Especially you and your sister have been so welcoming. I saw her this afternoon and she’s really helpful”
“Yeah, Cerridwen is like that” she nods “And everything good? Want any gossip?”
“What gossip?” she asks curiously
“Well. To be honest. You’re the biggest piece of gossip right now” Nuala says teasingly “Everybody keeps asking me who the pretty new lady is”
Elain blushes. Maybe the purple dress was too much after all. She should know better by now that it wasn’t an advantage.
“Don’t worry. Everybody knows Azriel will kill them if they bother you” she laughs
Elain cocks her head in confusion
“Oh it’s a poor joke. Sorry!” Nuala waves away the words “He made it clear that you’re helping us with the whole Hybern crisis. That everyone should treat you with the utmost respect. Plus, someone figured out you’re part of the CEO’s family.”
Elain feels her blush brightening. To know he talked about her like that.
“Sorry. Didn’t want to make you uncomfortable! I’ll tell you some other gossip. Ianthe from HR got caught yelling at Larian from IT about watching inappropriate things on the company laptops”
Elain gasps. That sounds bad.
“Yeah. Rhysand was particularly shocked when he heard it was a documentary about birds”
“She yelled because of a bird documentary?”
“Oh yeah” Nuala chuckles “So don’t worry. Ianthe is such a drama queen. She’ll create gossip every week”
“Thank you” Elain says quietly
Nuala gets up and gives her a wink “Anytime, Elain. Just stop by”
“Elain”
Lucien steps forward and kisses her on each cheek. Yuck. She still couldn’t get used to the Prythian practice of men kissing women in greeting. Back home no one would do that in a professional context. It wasn’t even common in a casual context either. Only for special occasions, by people close to you. For your birthday, graduation, maybe holidays. But here it was normal.
“I’m so happy to see you” he says as they sit down
He picked a nice café. It’s cozy and it smells nice. Like fresh pie and ground coffee. They order drinks and she can feel his intense gaze on her. That smile. It is too kind. Too warm. Too needy.
“How’ve you been?” he asks
“Fine. Just busy with work. You know how it is”
“Yeah me too. Don’t know if you saw the Prythian Times? I worked on the Spring - Wall case” he says proudly “Yeah. Couldn’t allow that merger to happen”
“That was very impressive” she says politely
He asks more about her private life and she answers as concisely and limitedly as possible. She tries to steer the conversation towards the project, but he keeps asking about her family. Him and Feyre kept in touch even after their break-up. Elain always thought that was a little weird. She couldn’t imagine staying friends with Graysen’s best friend Jurian. She wanted to forget everything that had to do with her ex.
Azriel
Azriel is lying in bed scrolling his phone when he should go to sleep. Watching endless snippets of techno shows, funny cat videos and the occasional multi-video science explanation ones. An outlook notification pops up. He clicks to see the email.
Dear Azriel,
I’ve prepared a summary of the case I think we should argue to the PCA for the short track. Would appreciate if you’d find the time to take a look and let me know your thoughts.
Please note this is not a blocker. I’ll be able to work on other documents until you find the time to review.
Kind regards,
Elain Archeron
Principal at Day Legal
It’s close to midnight. He opens up Teams and scrolls to find her name
Azriel: Pretty sure you should be sleeping now?
Elain: Apologies. I shouldn’t have sent it that late. Please ignore until the morning!
Azriel: It’s my fault for having my notifications on. I’ll take a look first thing tomorrow morning
Elain: No rush. Like I said, I have other things I can work on.
Azriel: Or you could relax?
Elain: Haha
Azriel: Is that funny?
Elain: Would it be funny if someone said it to you?
Azriel smiles. How did she get him so fast? Like knows like probably.
Azriel: Yes
Elain: I’ll relax if you do
Azriel: I won’t relax until we get this Hybern bid resolved
Elain: Then so won’t I
Azriel: Try to sleep, Elain. Good night
Elain: Good night Azriel
He closes his phone and plugs it in the charger. Something about her words comfort him. Maybe he doesn’t need to do this all alone. He doesn’t want to mess this up. Rhysand’s trust is so important to him. Without Rhys he would never be where he is. A guy like him would never become CFO. He didn’t have the contacts. Didn’t look right. Everyone could tell he was from Illyria with his size and tanned skin tone. Him and Cassian both. Let alone the other things he’d done that would disqualify him from any decent job. He had confessed everything to Rhysand and still Rhysand offered him the job a few years ago. He’s been eternally grateful for it.
He falls asleep easier than he’s done in days.