Chapter Text
Chapter 1: Parental interference
The coffee this morning was bitter, more bitter than usual, Violet’s face scrunched in disgust as she attempted a second swig before pouring the rest of it down the drain. A faint buzz from her phone pulled her attention away from watching the coffee grinds as they pooled in the sink. She pulled out her phone and saw that she had several missed calls and even more unread texts, avoiding them all she cleared the notifications and was about to shove her phone back into her pocket when it vibrated angrily in her hand.
‘Dain Aetos’ lit up the screen. Violet considered answering it, if only to tell him to fuck off and leave her alone. Instead, she dismissed the call and quickly put her phone away. She knew that the other messages would be from Mira, and probably her mother maybe even one from Rhi reaching out. She needed to be away from the background noise right now, needed to keep her head down, and get on with her work.
The pit she had in her stomach had been following her around for two weeks now. She and Dain had been friends for longer than she could remember and the sting of his betrayal lingered in a way that was both physical and emotional. Tairn nosed at her palm reminding her to take her morning meds, she looked down at the black Labrador at her heel and smiled a tired smile, she shuffled slowly towards her medicine cabinet, and pulled several bottles out, and popped three pills with some water. Violet pulled in a deep breath as she bent down to pet Tairn before pulling on his vest which signified that he was a medical alert dog.
“Not sure how much longer I can keep doing this.” Violet whispered into the top of Tairn’s head before rubbing between his ears and slowly standing up straighter. Dain and Violet had both been going for the same promotion at work and Violet had gone for drinks with him as friends and the next morning she’d been called into her mother’s office to be told in no uncertain terms that she was no longer in the running for the position. Violet could not for the life of her remember what had happened and Dain had been tight lipped but when she’d seen him there was guilt in his eyes that spoke volumes.
She’d quit the day after which is where she found herself right now unemployed but desperately trying to find something. Her mother had forced her to go into the family business but that hadn’t worked out so well so Violet was going back to her roots. She had an interview for an archivist position at 11:30, she was over qualified for the position but really, she wanted it more than she had ever wanted to work for her mother.
The journey to the archives involved a train and two buses, Violet braced herself as she exited the second bus and made a slow and steady walk towards the large and imposing building. The exterior was decorated with columns and gargoyles which looked remarkably like dragons. Tairn stood obediently at her heel patiently waiting for Violet to make the first move, her pulse quickened slightly as the anticipation of walking in hit her.
Tairn whined slightly in response to her pulse, “Yeah, yeah,” she batted away at him and inhaled deeply in an attempt to calm her errant pulse, “come on then.” she took a step and then another as she marched towards the main entrance to the archives. She headed toward the main desk at the front before realising that she knew that young woman who was sitting there, the brown-haired girl before her beamed as she too recognised her friend.
They had been on the same course at university before Violet’s mother had decided that she needed to ‘focus’ and realise her ‘true potential’. So much for that. Violet signed towards her friend, “Jesinia. I didn’t know that you were working here!”
Jesinia smiled before replying verbally, “It’s a new assignment actually. I’ve only been here for a month or so.” her smile grew wider still as she looked at her friend’s shock to hear her voice for the first time, she turned her head slightly to show that she had a cochlea implant, she then began to sign, “I prefer signing, but it can sometimes get me into trouble around here.” she finished looking around for other staff to see if anyone had noticed.
“Well, you’re always welcome to sign with me.” Violet told her with a conspiratory wink, “Today however, I’m here for a job interview.”
Jesinia nodded and tapped a few things into the computer in front of her, her smile faltered slightly, “Oh, umm Mr. Markham wants to see you straight away.” She then proceeded to explain to Violet where she needed to go in order to find his office. Violet was suddenly nervous again the way Jesinia’s face had dropped had her feeling like it wouldn’t be good news if she set foot in the office of Mr Markham.
She made her way through the building, Tairn still close at her side nose bumping her fingers periodically, she wasn’t sure if he was telling her that her heart was elevated or if he was reminding her to slow down. She found her way to the office, Jesinia’s directions had been easy enough to follow, she lifted a hand to knock before she managed to bring her fist down onto the wood the door was suddenly pulled open and she was face-to-face with her mother. She narrowed her eyes at her mother accusingly before glancing over her shoulder at the man in the room beyond, “Please tell me you haven’t done what I think you’ve done.” she ground out through gritted teeth. Her mother wouldn’t have sabotaged her job opportunity, would she? She wouldn’t have come here to try and force Violet to come back to her in some weird manipulation attempt?
“Violet,” the voice of Lewis Markham from the room beyond was exhausted and more than a little resigned, Violet knew that tone, she knew that look, her mother had done exactly as she suspected, “please step into my office.” Lilith stepped to one side to allow her daughter to come in. Once Violet and Tairn had stepped into Markham’s office Lilith Sorrengail closed the door once more. “Your mother has been explaining your situation to me.” Violet wondered what situation he was referencing, was it her health issues, or the issues relating to her previous employment or simply that she was soft like her father.
“My mother,” Violet ground out again, “should leave me and my business alone. She doesn’t own me, nor does she speak for me. This is incredibly inappropriate.” Violet was struggling to keep her tone level and more than that she knew that her heart rate was spiking, her hands had started to shake, the last thing she needed now was to pass out before she was able to clear up the awful mess her mother had made. Violet carefully made her way to a chair and lowered herself into it trying to make it look like a carefully considered action rather than one that was designed to stop the haze that was creeping into the corners of her vision.
Lilith cleared her throat but allowed Mr Markham to speak, “The position that you applied for was filled this morning Ms Sorrengail, I’m sorry for any misunderstanding. Your mother being here was merely a coincidence, the Tauri family are our most generous donators and your mother was here on their behalf offering another donation.” The explanation was weak at best at worst it was downright insulting. What Violet wouldn’t give to be able to storm out of this office right now, she knew however that if she stood, she would probably end up either back in her chair or on the floor.
Tairn’s paw landed gently on her knee, he was definitely signalling now, Violet took a few deep breaths before levelling a glare at her mother, “So what now exactly? What do you expect me to do?” Lilith glanced over her shoulder and Violet could practically feel Markham shrink slightly as he excused himself from his own office.
“I expect you to come to your senses, Navarre needs you.” Violet dared her mother to say ‘I need you’ so that she had the opportunity to laugh in her face, “You are being childish, I will see you in the office on Monday.” and with that she turned to leave as if she assumed the conversation was finished.
“And if I don’t show up?” Violet bit back with more than a little venom in her tone.
Lilith half turned as she reached the door, a single eyebrow raised in disdain as she regarded her daughter carefully, “Believe me, you will.”
-
There was rage, and then there was the rage that Violet Sorrengail felt whenever her mother meddled in her life. It was white hot and burned like a brand across her chest. Violet wasn’t sure how she had managed to get back home without either passing out or bursting into tears. The moment she stepped through her front door, she pulled in a few ragged hiccupping breaths as sobs threatened to take over, Tairn began barking loudly as he watched her sink to her knees. Her heart was racing and the edges of her vision blurred with tears as she felt consciousness leaving her. Fuck . Was the last thing she thought before fully passing out. She came to again a few minutes later to the feel of Tairn’s tongue on her cheek, she weakly pushed him away before rolling slowly onto her back.
“Hello?” a tentative almost nervous voice came from her doorway, had she not even managed to close the front door when she managed to get home? Violet tried to reply but words were difficult to come by, Tairn barked again this time in warning at the man who had apparently dared to take a step into the apartment, “Oh...are you okay? I umm, I live next door, I heard your dog barking and wanted to check on you.” Violet lifted a hand to cover her eyes embarrassment burning her cheeks, the number of times that friends of hers had found her like this was innumerable but to be found like this by a stranger was mortifying. She dared to peek through her fingers at the man who was peering down at her, he was tall with light blonde hair, she hadn’t noticed him around before, he must’ve moved in fairly recently.
“It’s been a day.” Violet managed to mumble as she tried to sit up. Tairn moved to her side to allow her to lean into him, “Sorry, he barks loudly when he’s worried. I- er...” she waved her hand weakly at herself and huffed a sigh, “this happens a lot. He’s a service dog. I guess you could say he want just doing his job. But I’m...” she had been about to tell him that she was fine, that she didn’t need his help and that she would manage on her own but the concern on his face made her stop, her hazel eyes met his blue ones and she smiled, “If you could help me to the sofa that would be great.” She had an open plan living area, mostly because it made her life easier, she’d even joked with the realter that there was plenty of space for her to faint without hitting anything. He had not found her joke funny.
The young man, her kindly neighbour, nodded and took two steps closer before pausing as Tairn began to growl.
“Oh, leave him alone you grumpy old man.” She chastised the dog gently and smiled as he immediately stopped growling. She reached a hand out to him and he did the same, as he slowly helped her to her feet. She stood slightly hunched over for a moment as her vision turned into television static and the ringing in her ears intensified tenfold.
“I...I’m Liam by the way.” Violet huffed out a laugh, this was one hell of an introduction to a new neighbour.
“Violet. Me. I’m Violet.” She muttered as her vision started to clear and he walked her inch by inch over to her couch. She slowly lowered herself into a sitting position and breathed slow and deep until her hammering heart calmed enough for her to thank the young man in front of her, “Sorry about that.” she gestured vaguely about herself, “Thank you for your help, I owe you a beer or something. Welcome to the building I guess.”
The headache that usually followed one of these episodes was beginning to pound behind her eyes, she needed this kind stranger to leave so that she could curl up into a ball on the couch and cry. She wasn’t sure how to ask him to leave, she could always tell Tairn to show him out.
“So...I...I’ll be okay now. Thanks for your help but...if you could-” he cut her off.
“Oh of course, I’ll let you get some rest. I’ll ummm leave my number so you can call if you need help again.” He picked up a napkin and a pen and quickly wrote down his number. Violet cringed slightly hoping that he didn’t have any ideas about something more than friendship she would be disappointed if he turned out to be just another creep looking for something in return for his good deed.
Pushing that thought aside Violet spoke up again, “Thanks again.” she said looking up at his retreating form, she smiled to herself as he closed the door behind him with a soft click. Tairn had watched him go before he jumped up onto the sofa again, he laid his head into her lap and huffed out a heavy sigh of his own, Violet patted his head as the tears from before filled her eyes and blurred her vision. Violet wondered once more what she was supposed to do, her mother had ruined her chances of working anywhere except at Navarre and she expected to see her on Monday bright and early. There had to be something she could do.