The florist shop was full of vivid red poinsettias. The warm interior was a haven from the freezing temperatures outside. The bright red flowers almost tricked a person into forgetting they were in the midst of winter. Delores had gathered them for their morning staff meeting to divvy out work assignments for the day. Livia was hoping to plant seedlings in the greenhouses again, but Delores liked to rotate duties to keep things fair. So, Livia would likely be in the shop manning the cash register or doing deliveries.

Delores went over to a binder and turned several pages. “We have two deliveries today. Calvin, will you and Florian take the first one? Oh hey! We have an order from Justin in the TARP offices. They want 15 poinsettias. Liv, you want to take that over today?”

“I’d love to,” Livia said.

“I’ll man the register,” Clara nodded.

Delores nodded. “You’ll have to drive, Livia. Take Irene with you.”

“I’m good with that,” Livia said.

“But…” Irene protested. “TARP always orders decorating—”

Delores smiled. “You’ll have to be the creative lead on this one, Irene.”

Irene’s face lit up. “Really?”

“I’m sure you’ll make it beautiful,” Delores said.

Irene clenched her fist. “I will.”

After loading up both the flowers and supplies into the florist truck, Livia drove to TARP headquarters. When Livia strode into the lobby of TARP, a wave of nostalgia brought her to a standstill. She had to stop her brain from shifting into intern gear. Remembering she was here to deliver flowers and put up Christmas decor, she tossed Irene an uncertain smile. “I’m sure we have to check in?”

Irene nodded. “They have to sign this paper.”

Livia accepted the clipboard and approached the front desk. She didn’t recognize the desk agent. He must be one of the new recruits that Justin had hired after Livia left. His hair was tight and curly but cut close to his head in a sharp military cut. The look was distinctive against the sharp angles of his masculine face.

“How can I help you?” he asked Livia.

“We’re here from Delores’s Florist shop. TARP ordered poinsettias and decor services. But we need our forms signed before we can begin,” Livia said.

The desk agent turned to the woman filing papers with her back turned to Livia. “Salina, do we have them on the schedule?”

Livia’s heart sank to her toes as Salina Antonius slammed the drawer shut and turned to face her. Her dark eyes evaluated Livia with arrogant impatience. “I’ll have to check.”

Livia took a deep breath, preparing herself for poor treatment. Her eyes darted to the desk agent, who looked impatient. Then, Livia looked back at Salina again. There was tension hanging between them. She had a sense they were not getting along before Livia got there.

Salina took her sweet time ‘checking’ the schedule. Livia was sure she was being ignored. Livia wanted to say something but didn’t want a complaint filed against Delores. So, she waited, focusing on the feel of the ground beneath her feet, the expansion of her chest each time she inhaled. It was hard, though, after being the master of the command desk for an entire year, to approach as a petitioner and be treated this way.

The agent finally snapped. “Salina, the schedule!”

She huffed and threw the man a glare. The agent didn’t even conceal his look of rage, which a TARP agent would only indulge in on shift after extreme provocation. Livia looked at the door to Justin’s office, wondering if he knew the situation out here. She knew this whole display would make Justin angry. This wasn’t how he trained his staff to run the office.

“Don’t glare at me. This is your deal,” the man spat.

Livia looked behind her and saw five people waiting in line. Justin was strict about making people wait in lines. He did not like it. He wanted all walk-ins to be greeted promptly. It irked her to see the unprofessionalism. She’d taken a great deal of pride in making sure TARP ran like a well-oiled machine.

She wouldn’t stand here and watch that reputation tarnished by spiteful incompetence. She drew herself up and spoke with authority. “I wouldn’t want to report to Justin that he now needs to contact florists in Trent. My employer doesn’t pay us to stand around in lobbies. We have a schedule of deliveries to complete. If this is an inconvenient time for the desk staff, you’ll have to reschedu—”

Salina’s eyes snapped up with rage. “Give me the papers. I’ll sign for the delivery of the poinsettias.”

“I see we are on the schedule,” Livia said with a tone that implied that Salina was too incompetent to look up the information.

The agent’s shocked look held Livia back from saying anything else. Salina ripped the clipboard out of Livia’s hand and signed the papers. Livia reached out her hand to accept the forms, but Salina held them against her chest.

“Congratulations,” she said, with an edge to her tone. “I heard you were dating Corvin.”

“Thank you,” Livia said, with the same edge in her voice. She didn’t see the point in holding the line up with pretend pleasantries. She put her hand out again, silently demanding Salina to hand the papers over.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Welcome to the club of girls who hoped he’d love them. But Corvin has only loved one woman. And will only love that woman until he dies.”

Livia scoffed, “Like you know what you’re talking about—”

“I loved him before you even knew his name,” Salina spat. “He’s not even the same person anymore.”

Livia froze, uncertain how to respond. There was a genuine pain in Salina’s eyes. Indeed, her face held a vulnerability Livia had never seen before. Salina even looked like she might cry. Livia’s eyes turned suspiciously to the desk agent. Had he done something to turn Salina into this fragile version of herself?

Livia decided not to throw more instability into an already volatile situation. Instead, she was proud of how she held her composure and, for the third time, gestured for Salina to hand the papers over.

The desk agent pointed to Salina. “This is not my fault. She’s always like this….”

Livia spoke coolly, perfectly calm. “I’m sure it’s none of my business. Especially since you have work to do.”

An embarrassed look came over his face.

Salina pinned Livia with a fierce look. “You think I’m wrong, but I’m not. If I’m wrong, why hasn’t he sung since Cassia died?”

“Hey,” Alexander’s big voice boomed from the hallway. He entered with Silvanus at his side. “We got a line in here. What can we do to speed things up?”

Salina finally handed over the signed papers. Livia turned away; lips pursed with frustration. Alexander caught her gaze before she completely turned around. Livia tried to hide the anger in her expression but knew that Alexander saw it. “Silvanus, see that Livia has everything she needs. I’ll give Salina and Apollon a hand over here.”

Silvanus followed Livia back to Irene. “Liv—”

“Go back to the desk, Silvanus.”

“You sound upset,” he said.

“It’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“Liv—”

“Really, Silvanus, your time is better spent helping Salina. She’s not okay.”

“Well, we’ve known that for a while now. Doesn’t make it right for her to mistreat you.”

Livia growled. “She’s ruining my department.”

Silvanus laughed. “As I understand, Justin had his arm twisted to hire her. It has been an adventure, but we’ve made progress.”

“Let me do my job, Silvanus.”

“You sure you don’t want to come back to TARP?” he teased. “Justin would be so happy he’d probably promote me if I talked you into it.”

“And work with Salina?” Livia asked. “Not on your life!”

Silvanus looked concerned. Livia waved him away.

When he left, Irene greeted her with a worried look. “Is everything okay?”

“Salina is just being herself,” Livia muttered.

Irene sighed. “Her life isn’t that easy, you know?”

Livia pinned her with a dark look. “Don’t talk to me about having a hard life.”

Irene’s eyes widened. “Okay.”

Livia took a deep breath. “We’re here to do a job. So let’s do it.”

Irene and Livia walked out to the truck and started carrying the poinsettias and decorating supplies inside. Irene kept shooting her glances and acting like she wanted to say something.

“What?” Livia finally asked.

“Nothing.” But her eyes traveled to Salina at the desk. Livia followed her gaze. The line was gone now. Alexander and Silvanus were nowhere in sight. Apollon was making himself busy working on paperwork. Salina was watching Livia with a dark look on her face.

“What now?” Livia muttered.

Irene sighed. “She’s been planning to get back together with Corvin.”

“Back together?” Livia asked.

“They dated before Bella,” Irene said.

That explained so much. But why hadn’t Corvin mentioned this when she’d come up the other day? Livia didn’t enjoy feeling like he’d deceived her.

“He broke it off with her like he always does,” Irene said. “He says he wants to be married and have a family, but he never commits—”

Livia looked at Irene. Her tone sounded like a warning. “Do you know what reason he gave Salina?”

“Not the details, but everyone assumed it was a done deal,” Irene said.

“Did they sign papers?” Livia asked.

Irene sighed. “No, Salina was willing to agree with everything he wanted, and then he backed out of signing them at the last minute.”

“She didn’t try to renegotiate?” Livia asked.

“She’s still trying,” Irene said in frustration. “Corvin won’t even have an honest conversation with her about it.”

“Perhaps he knows they aren’t compatible,” Livia said.

Irene shot Livia a sharp look at this statement. “His mother is the same type of empath as Salina. His parents have an amazing marriage. If Corvin married Salina, he’d be replicating the same magic formula.”

Irene said this with a heavy tone of disapproval as if she thought Corvin was insane not to want the same type of relationship that his parents had. Livia studied her face and wondered if people knew that Aurelia struggled. Had Livia’s interactions with Corvin’s family over the fall festival provided her with privileged information? Was Aurelia and Lars’ relationship really considered a ‘magical formula’ that would lead to happiness?

“I see,” Livia said, deeply empathizing with Corvin’s entire family.

“That doesn’t bug you,” Irene said with surprise.

Livia shrugged. “I can’t imagine Corvin would want to marry his mother. That’d be disturbing, wouldn’t it?”

“I never thought of it…” she pulled a face. “Now I feel…ehhh—”

“Probably healthy,” Livia commented.

Irene glared. “So, you’ll be healthier for him, then?”

Livia studied her face, trying to understand the girl’s resentment. “How about we leave that determination to Corvin and talk about something else?”

Irene looked surprised. “I expected you to brag. Say you were better than Salina.”

“I’m not going to be able to hide the fact I dislike Salina,” Livia admitted. “But she’s better than me at a lot of things.” But not at running the TARP front desk.

“So why would Corvin choose you over her?” Irene whined.

Livia glared at her, completely done with the conversation. It was odd for a Rattus to be so wholly obtuse. She must be trying to hurt Livia on purpose.

Livia had to look away to disguise her hurt. Probably futile with a Rattus. “Again, I’d rather not discuss Corvin with you. At all.”

“Fine,” Irene snapped.

They decorated most of the time in silence. Livia handed bows and ribbons up to Irene and made sure the ladder she used was steady. Eventually, Irene said, “I’m an empath, you know?”

“You are Rattus,” Livia said with as little emotion as possible.

“I can tell you’re upset with me.”

Livia closed her eyes. Rattus. She’d had her fill of them for the day. What rude thing would Irene say next?

“I think you should feel more compassion for Salina,” Irene said.

“Why?” Livia asked, trying to be as toneless as Corvin would in this situation.

“Cause she’s my cousin, and it’s not fair that she won’t get to marry someone just because she’s patrician.”

Livia rolled her eyes. And Livia? Wasn’t she also patrician? How was she any less deserving than Salina? Livia shouldn’t be cynical, but she couldn’t help herself when faced with this much disrespect. “Don’t worry, Irene, she’s probably better off without a man.”

This earned Livia a stern glare from Irene. “If you’re against men, let Corvin date someone who deserves him.”

“Are you deliberately provoking me?” Livia spat. “Or are you really this stupid?”

“I’m just telling the truth,” Irene said. “Salina deserves to be with Corvin more than you do. Eventually, Corvin will come to his senses. It’s only fair to warn you. He’ll realize being with you is a mistake.”

Livia dropped all the decorations in her hands. “Have your cousin drive you home. I’m done.”