A Mad Vampire Fell for Me

Keep the Job

A quiet day, smooth. Dorian had gotten the pace of the work and noticeably lightened everyone's load.

Susan did her usual check. "Good work today. Everyone out."

"Good work, boss!"

"Good work!"

"See you tomorrow!"

"Bye!"

"Take care!"

Dorian said his goodbyes one at a time, pulled on his bag, and walked to the bus stop.

He sat by the window. The crowds, the lights, faces surfacing for half a second before the bus pulled past and left them behind.

He rested his head against the glass and let his mind empty. Nothing to do. Nothing to think.

The road from the bus stop to the Vane estate was quiet at this hour. Dorian walked alone, his shadow long under the streetlamps, bleeding into the dark.

"Sir."

Patrick met him. "Shall I have the kitchen prepare a late supper?"

Dorian checked his phone. Eleven thirty. Later than he'd thought. "No. Where's my father?"

"The master is in his study. The lady and young master have retired."

"Alright. Thank you."

"It is my duty." Patrick dipped his head.

Dorian found the study door and knocked. "Dad. May I come in?"

"Enter."

Edmund looked up, then went back to his work. "Handled?"

Dorian held quiet a moment. "I want to keep the job. The banquet, in two days. I don't have to go."

Smack.

Edmund's pen flew and hit the wall. Ink burst across Dorian's shirt in a long diagonal streak, a blade-stroke splitting him down the front.

Some had caught his jaw and cheek as well, probably.

Dorian considered this from a distance.

"The banquet is being held for you and you say you won't attend! Get out! Get out of my sight!"

"OUT!!!"

Dorian retrieved the pen and set it on the desk. His voice came out level, entirely unaffected by Edmund's eruption. "Then I'll take that as permission."

He turned. He'd gone two steps when Edmund, still seething, grabbed the nearest stack of papers and hurled it. The bundle caught Dorian square in the back of the head.

"Ill-bred thing! I should never have brought you back!!"

The insults rolled on. Dorian felt a quiet, confirming relief. So that was it. That was what they'd been thinking.

The noise from the study had reached the two people preparing for bed. Eleanor and Julian rushed in. Documents littered the floor. The room was wreckage.

Eleanor passed Dorian without a glance. She went directly to Edmund and began smoothing the air around him.

"Dad, why are you this angry?" Julian picked his way around the scattered papers and came to stand beside Dorian, facing the desk.

Edmund stabbed a finger in Dorian's direction. "Ask him! Ask him what he just said! Unbelievable!!"

"My lord. Don't upset yourself."

Eleanor soothed Edmund with one hand and turned on Dorian with the other. "What exactly did you say to him? To get him like this!"

"I said I'm not quitting. And I'm not attending the banquet."

Dorian summarized his case.

Julian gasped. "Brother! How could you! You're breaking Mom and Dad's hearts!"

Even Eleanor, whose composure was her defining trait, had lost it now. "If you don't go, who does? Do you think a banquet is something you throw together on a whim? The announcement is out. The invitations have been sent. The guests are prominent people making a point of showing the Vane family respect. And you, the guest of honor, won't appear?"

"You're old enough. You understand responsibility. This is not something you can simply decide to skip! Where do you think the Vane family's reputation goes after this? If you don't attend, how do we face anyone?"

"Do you have any idea how much manpower goes into a banquet? How much money? How many processes, how many people? You want to throw it all away over a nothing part-time job?"

This was more to Edmund's liking. He shot Dorian a look. "You hear your mother?"

Dorian's response was the same. Removed. "I'm going to work. I'll wear a mask. No one will recognize me."

"You're still thinking about that worthless job!!" Edmund roared.

Eleanor rushed to calm him. He looked on the verge of something medical. "DORIAN! Did you absorb a single word I just said?!"

"Quit the job. Attend the banquet. Is this difficult to understand?"

"I've been clear as well. I want to keep my job." Dorian did not give ground.

"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT!!"

Edmund was braced against the desk, screaming. Spittle flew. His face was red, his neck engorged. The ugliness of him was on full display.

Eleanor had lost her restraint. She shouted too. "Dorian, leave! Now!!"

"Ah Yao! Get him out of here! Don't let your father see him!!"

"Yes. Yes."

Julian reached for Dorian's arm. Dorian shook him off, turned, and walked out. The motion was fluid, unhurried, entirely unbothered. He closed the study door behind him on the way out.

Julian stood frozen a moment, then hurried after. "Brother. You have to stop provoking Dad. If he throws you out, that won't be good for you."

Dorian stopped walking. He turned to face Julian beside him. He was half a head taller. Even with a face that beautiful, the pressure was tangible.

"Isn't that what you want?"

Julian's voice jammed. "Ha… haha… Brother, what are you saying? Why would I want you gone?"

"Oh." Dorian resumed walking, his tone entirely indifferent. "You'd better mean that."

Julian's jaw tightened. "Brother, I think you've misread me."

"Mm. Maybe." No interest whatsoever.

"Stop following me. I'm going to sleep."

He opened his door and shut it. The bang nearly caught Julian's nose.

Alone in the hallway, Julian's face warped. He pulled out his phone and began typing furiously to Cedric, recounting the night's events with strategic embellishments. Cedric's disgust with Dorian thickened. Julian collected his fiancé's sympathy and affection, sweet as honey.

In the study.

"Look at the son you produced! How did this kind of character come out of you!"

Edmund's fury found a new target. Eleanor absorbed the injustice of it.

"My lord, we didn't raise him. If he'd grown up under our care, how could he have turned out this way? Look at Ah Yao. So well-behaved."

She invoked Julian to settle Edmund, patting his chest, soothing his breath.

"Let him keep the job. He's only just come home. He hasn't adjusted. He's still clinging to that low-grade labor. Once he's lived well for a while, he'll lose the taste for it on his own."

"Force him and he'll only push back harder. He's not close to us. You've seen his temperament yourself. Stubborn. Ignorant. In any case, we're only providing for him. He doesn't need to produce anything. If he doesn't know how to behave, so be it. But perhaps we should hire someone to teach him basic etiquette?"

Edmund frowned. "What etiquette? He shows his face at the banquet and that's the end of it. He won't have another opportunity like this. After that, he can do whatever he pleases. As long as he doesn't embarrass the Vane name, I won't waste my energy on him."

Eleanor understood. "And the job?"

"Tell him to keep his face covered."

Permission. Granted.

Eleanor stayed a while longer, calming him, then left the study. She paused to instruct Patrick to clean up the mess, then went to find Dorian.

Patrick had heard the noise from downstairs and was already waiting. The moment Eleanor gave the word, he led two staff members up.

Eleanor stood at Dorian's door. "Dorian."

He opened it. "Mom."

She paused, briefly dislocated. Had he always been this much taller than her?

"Mom?"

Dorian's voice recalled her.

"Yes. Your father agreed. The condition is that you keep your face hidden."

Dorian wasn't surprised. "Alright. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

The exchange had begun in stillness and ended in stillness. Dorian, it seemed, was still at all times. Even in the chaos of the study, he had been no different.