12To Evelynn's utmost surprise, the businessman did not delve deeper into the darkest pieces of her past, focusing solely on the aspects Akali related. For that alone, she was wordlessly grateful. That being said, their conversation was far from easy and pleasant, not to mention long and exhausting. But … in the end, her personal feelings and comfort hardly mattered … because, like Mister Winsome kept repeating time after time, all that mattered was Akali's wellness. At moments, this harsh truth was hard for the lawyer to swallow, yet she accepted her role in the grand scheme of things. After all … the teen had stormed into her life and taken everything, even though she still remained oblivious to that fact. Evelynn would have wanted to claim she loved her like a biological daughter, but it would be a lie. Her feelings towards Akali were uncanny and difficult to describe in a way that would make sense. Like many times before, the raven-haired girl became the sole reason the diva's mind ceased functioning correctly, turning into a mess of conflicting and contradictory thoughts. But - truth be told - by this point, she should have accustomed herself to that fact; it was not like it was the first time it happened.
After a long while, Mister Winsome led the magenta-haired woman through a series of corridors into a vastly different section of the complex. Throughout their stroll, many questions popped into her mind, flooding it, but she decided not to voice them, giving the man the benefit of the doubt. To her slight surprise, when the final door parted soundlessly, revealing a neatly furnished office, Akali was there, wholly preoccupied with a laptop and something it displayed. Perhaps a trance would be a good word to describe the girl's state, as she failed to notice their arrival. That being said, the businessman extended his muscular left hand, blocking the siren's path, wordlessly urging her to halt and spectate. Of course, the magenta-haired woman wanted to protest vocally, but one glance at the man's face was enough to choke the flames of irritation that slowly started spreading through her. It was not worth starting a battle blindly, she reasoned.
So … in the end, she did as soundlessly instructed, focusing her attention solely on her protégé. At first, she saw nothing extraordinary, just Akali sitting beside a desk, focused on something she was either reading, analysing or watching. Then, however, she realised that the tip of her tongue was slightly poking its way past her tightened lips, meaning she was in deep thought. This state might have only lasted a few seconds before the dark-haired teen started seemingly furiously typing, her face tainted with a nasty grimace of dissatisfaction. To Evelynn, it stood out as a vast contradiction to the teen's usual behaviour. Even though it would be a massive overstatement, it somehow felt as if she was observing a different person, definitely not a girl she had grown to adore, cherish, and love. Immediately, her instincts screamed, urging the lawyer to act, yet she overruled them, giving herself a few additional moments to formulate her opinion.
Expectedly, not much happened throughout this timeframe, leaving the magenta-haired woman with a decision to make: Should she approach her protege and break this spell seemingly keeping her in place? Frankly, it quickly became apparent that it would be a struggle. No matter how she looked at this supposedly trivial dilemma, she found it disgustingly effortless to find reasons supporting both conflicting stances. Perhaps it was high time for her to disregard this extremely vocal voice that was usually kept in the back of her mind. Yes ... it was something she needed to deal with sooner or later, Evelynn realised. Whether she would make a good or bad decision, the responsibility should be solely on her - relying on this subconscious voice would only lead to inevitable excuses, something she hardly needed. With one energetic shake of her head, the siren wiped out the mess littering her mind. Then, she resumed her observation, trying to focus on things she usually paid no mind to, deeming them below her.
Strangely enough, it helped. Perhaps it was a coincidence, a twisted joke fate randomly threw at her. Still, it should not matter. Whether the change had something to do with the diva's doing, it mattered not. She noticed that Akali's eyes were unexpectedly widened, expressing either surprise, irritation, or terrify. Compared to the previous scene, this one did not dissipate immediately, as if giving a false testimony of its existence. No, the no-so-subtle change remained, seemingly deepening as the ravenette kept typing, giving a clear indication of her growing frustration and irritation. It became painfully apparent that whatever had Akali preoccupied bothered her greatly. Even though - at first - the lawyer restrained herself from approaching the raven-haired girl, she overruled her decision effectively immediately, too worried to let it slide. To her somewhat surprise, Mister Winsome did not attempt to halt her this time, allowing her to act on the premise of her intuition. In what felt like a heartbeat, Evelynn found herself standing right beside Akali, worry written all over her godly-shaped face.
"Akali? Darling ... what's going on?" the magenta-haired woman whispered, gently shaking the teen by her left shoulder.
"Eh?" an incoherent sound came past her tightened lips as the girl turned around. Based on the initial look on her face, she did not recognise the lawyer. Expectedly, Akali shifted slightly backwards to distance herself as much as she could without standing up. But then, something clicked as if an imaginary mist faded away from her eyes. She blinked a couple of times before her eyes got even wider. "Evelynn?" she asked with an evident surprise tainting her voice.
"What's going on, dear?" the diva repeated her question, slightly leaning towards her protege. "What happened that put such a nasty grimace unsuited for your beautiful face?"
"Mhm ..." the ravenette hummed, sheepishly scratching her nape, visibly embarrassed. "I could not solve a coding challenge I was given," she said slowly, lowering her gaze towards the ground.
"A coding challenge?" Evelynn questioned, puzzled. "What do you mean? Who has given you any sort of a task?"
"David, of course," Akali replied after a short pause, raising her head. "He said it should not have been much of a problem ... but it - unfortunately - is," she added much quieter.
"I would not worry about that too much, Akali," Mister Winsome commented, approaching them. "I can only think of a few things David would consider complex or straight-up difficult. If I were you, I would simply consult with him, precisely naming things that you find problematic or unclear," he advised with a slight smile appearing on his aged-up face. "I know it might be daring of me to ask, but why do you not give it a try?"
"Because... because," the girl stuttered for a few moments. "It makes me look stupid and frankly useless," she continued hesitantly. "Why would this issue be any less challenging for David than me?"
"Girl, take a step back and think about what you just said," the businessman remarked, clearly amused. "David is an artificial construct whose basic knowledge is based on what your father knew and learnt throughout his whole life. On top of that, he never truly stopped broadening it. Considering he has unlimited access to verified data banks, David skims through them out of sheer boredom," he explained.
"I know," the raven-haired teen whispered. "But ... it hardly makes it easier to accept my shortcomings."
"Darling," the lawyer decided to wrestle back the lead. "Nobody's perfect," she said quietly, resting her right hand on Akali's shoulder. "You'll most likely meet people openly claiming that they're perfect and pristine. But ... in reality, they're lying to themselves," the lawyer paused for a moment. "I appreciate your strive to improve ... yet it's important that you recognise this process never ends. You can always be better, but it doesn't mean you have to constantly run towards that unreachable goal of perfection. With each step you take, you're progressing - what's important is that this progress takes place at a comfortable pace for you."
At some point, they returned to Evelynn's mansion. Although the whole day could be marked as a relative success, as the matter with Mister Winsome was finally concluded, the silence between them was heavy, seemingly putting the world's weight upon their shoulders. This feeling was overwhelming, preventing them from voicing the thoughts that kept unstoppably flooding their minds. Oh ... there was so much to discuss, but neither Evelynn nor Akali could muster enough courage to formulate these pieces into coherent sentences. Hence, the silence was allowed to wrap them like a warm blanket throughout a cold winter night. It provided an illusionary comfort both women realised, yet straying from it was difficult.
"It was a wild day," the raven-haired teen finally said, shattering the seemingly comfortable aura around them. Her voice was quiet, oddly steadfast, and deprived of emotions.
"It was," the magenta-haired woman agreed vaguely, tightening her grip around a colourful mug filled with coffee she held. "Doesn't it overwhelm you?" she asked without much thinking. "I mean ... if I were you, all of these facts that Mister Winsome and David threw at you ... I would've felt overwhelmed and conflicted," she hastily added, stuttering more than slightly.
"No ... strangely enough, I feel a mix of contentment and a pinch of sadness."
"Explain ... please?"
"I met my father today," the girl stated confidently, turning around to face her guardian. "Even though David is only a cheap of the man he was ... I found solace in our conversation," she continued, allowing emotions to taint her voice. "It was such an effortless discussion ... as if we knew what the other would say before the words sounded. Honestly, I never felt this way before," she confessed, pausing.
"What's going on?" the lawyer asked, putting down her mug so she could approach her protege. But ... in reality, it was only partially the reason behind the woman's action. Her hands were trembling, threatening to give up.
"I wish ... I wish I could meet him in person," Akali said as she closed her eyes and lowered her head. Her voice was tightened and filled with sadness. "David represents a fragment of my life that was ripped out of me," she added after a few moments of silence filled with increasingly heavier breathing - she was visibly struggling to contain her emotions. "But ... what makes this meeting immeasurably tragic ... is the fact that I am nowhere as brilliant as my father was," she stated in a pained voice.
Without wasting a moment more, Evelynn closed the gap between them, pulling the girl into a tight hug. She should have expected Akali to do something like this; after all, the ravenette always tried to find problems inside her, deflecting all the blame towards herself.
"You know that's not true, darling," the diva whispered, unsure how to handle this situation. "You're a brilliant young woman with a world of opportunities ahead of you," she added, confidence beaming with each word. "Please ... don't blame yourself for something like this," she pleaded quietly.
"I can not," this short answer cut deeper than a razor blade.
"Akali ... please think about all the things you can achieve now," the magenta-haired woman continued. "With the resources your parents left and their connections, the world stands open for you. Not to mention ... I don't think your father was any more successful than you when he was your age."
"The problem is that he was," the raven-haired girl commented. "He was a prodigy, unlike me," she added hallowly. "If I want to follow his steps, there are many things for me to learn."
"These aren't unachievable goals, darling," the siren tried to reassure. "With time, effort, and patience ... you'll surpass these - I'm sure of that."
"Maybe ... maybe not," Akali retorted vaguely. "Can we stay like this for a little longer?" she asked with her eyes still closed.
"Whatever you need of me, dear."
"Thank you ... thank you for looking my way, Eve."
Author's notes section:
The main focus for me remains the rewriting of "My home is where my heart lies". That being said, I know fully well that this process will be long and painful for me, so in the meantime, I will be dropping smaller updates of various stories.
Hey, here's the preview of the next chapter. I hope I can do this chapter a little justice.
Oh ... I'm so sorry that it took so long. I think I need to start posting only completely finished chapters, as currently if I leave you with a WIP I have a constant noise at the back of my head that urges me finish it. And ... I feel like because of it the recent chapters are too short and perhaps not so good. Anyhow ... it's a lesson for me for the next time. For now, please try enjoy the chapter :)
Please note that the dialogues written in italics are thoughts.
As always, I would like to thank you for everything. See you soon :)
Changelog:
[2024-12-10] - A preview was released.
[2024-12-20] - A major update applied and the final revision released.
References:
- Yakuza 0 - Judgement
- Bonnie Tyler - Making Love (Out of Nothing at All)
- Linkin Park - Numb
- The Lord of the Rings - The Road Goes Ever On (Epic Metal Cover by Skar)
End of the author's notes section.