Repeat and Retribution

Chapter 61

It was a good day for Crystal since she and Lorraine had managed to go on a morning jog together. Enjoying the crisp morning air and the warm touch of its early sunshine. Somewhat reinvigorating both of them.

After their little activity, they went back to their gym, took a shower, and changed clothes. It was a good thing that the place was near their office, so Lorraine did not have any qualms going with her each morning.

“I really enjoyed our jog and I’m really looking forwards to our next yoga class this Saturday,” Lorraine squealed remembering it.

It seems the woman had suddenly had a liking for their instructor, adding to her motivation to go to the said class.

“Me too, though I never expected you to be so flexible,,” Crystal teases remembering how amazing her friend was when they were doing some stretching.

She was happy that the woman seemed to enjoy it more than her and was truly devoted to their morning routine since they started it.

It was only seven-thirty a.m. when they got to the office so there weren’t a lot of employees there yet, giving them plenty of time to play around and chat as they walk within the hallway.

They also decided to just buy some subway sandwiches and coffee along the way so that they could enjoy it in their office. Their conversation ended when they saw the lights on Larse’s office.

“Uhm, he’s early today?” Crystal’s brows furrowed quite surprise that the man was there before them.

“I don’t think he went home,” Lorraine said in a weak tone as she seemed worried about her brother.

“Why don’t you go on ahead while I check on your brother,” she nudges her to continue to their office.

“Okay, I’ll see you there,” Lorraine nodded taking her paper bags of snacks.

Crystal decided to at least check on the man, thinking that all of this might be because of what she said yesterday.

Knocking several times on the man’s door, she finally just went inside after a few moments, since there wasn’t anyone answering her.

“Larse, are you here?” she calls out seeing as the room was opened but there was nobody there.

It was only until the swivel chair was behind the man’s large desk spun that she was able to see the man, slouched in it.

His hair was disheveled like his tie and his nice white shirt had its top buttons undone. He did a stretch with his arms and legs, yawning as he was suddenly disturbed from his sleep.

“Oh, hey Crys,” Larse groaned as he started wiping his eyes.

“Everything all right?” she could not help but ask, seeing as the man seemed a bit stressed out as the circles under his eyes were starting to show.

“Yeah, I was just taking a nap,” the man gave her a forced smile as started fixing himself.

Feeling a bit worried she walked towards him, placing the cup she was holding in front of him, along with the box of sandwiches that she got.

“Here, this ought to wake you up,” Opening the lid of the cup, the smoke from the still piping hot drink quickly escaped, letting out an aromatic, strong, and nutty smell all over them.

That quickly jolted Larse awake taking in the delicious and bitter scent of the black coffee.

“Thanks! This ought to get me going,” Larse was finally able to let out a genuine smile as he took a sip.

Opening the box of clubhouse sandwiches for the man, Crystal carefully prepared it, placing it on the man’s left side to make sure he would be able to continue with work though he was having breakfast.

It seemed that the man had been there the whole evening as there were almost no documents or folders on the man’s table, having been able to clear it off within the whole night.

“I’ll be in my office if you need anything okay,” she gives him a quick tap on the shoulder to get the man's attention as he still seemed half asleep at the time.

“Thanks, Crys,” Larse just gave him a simple smile before nodding.

“Take it easy now,” she even reminded him as he started walking for the door.

“Yeah,” Larse chuckled, as was now able to fully awake.

For some reason, Crystal was now having second thoughts about her silence, as she was starting to worry about Larse. There was a part of her to just take Brittany’s advice and just tell the man about all the things she had managed to find out, but there was another part in her mind that kept saying she needed to stick to the plan is she wanted this to work.

Being so deep in thought she didn’t notice that she was already inside their office, until she almost hit Lorraine who waiting in front of the door, brows furrowed since she seemed to be as worried as she was.

“How’s Larse?” the woman quickly asked when their eyes met.

She couldn’t hold her sigh as she felt that the man was facing a dilemma and must have been drained from all the thinking and guessing about some things.

“He seemed a bit distraught and I think you’re right about him sleeping in here,” she tells her.

“That’s weird, he’s never done that before?” Lorraine suddenly held both of her own hands because of the sudden rush of panic upon hearing the news.

“Done what?” she asks a bit confused.

“Not go home, never once have I seen him sleep in the office, even though when he’s too tired to drive he’ll find a way to get home, so why this all of a sudden?” Lorraine brushed her fingers on her chin, trying to think of the possible reason for it.

“Maybe he had some things that he forgot to do and just decided to pull an all-nighter,,” she butts in to get the woman’s attention.

Wanting to at least keep the man’s current status and situation hidden as she knew it would not be good if the so-called gossips and news would be traced to her since she was the one who did give the man the idea about it.

“I don’t know. You know how my brother is, he’d usually stay quiet whenever he has problems, not telling anyone about it. I think it’s just his nature to try and isolate himself whenever he was facing a problem,” Lorraine quickly says after a few moments of silence.

“I noticed.” She could not help but smirk.

Crystal now felt bad when she finally noticed the little changes that the man was going through, it was obvious that she had a hand in it, after telling all those things. So she was unable to just shrug off the man, knowing full well how it felt as she had experienced almost the same problem a few years ago.

“I wondered what happened this time?” Lorraine’s shoulder fell in her disappointment as she was unable to think of a way to help out his brother.

“Well, that’s Larse’s problem, not ours. I think he’ll be able to work something out sooner or later,” she tells her with confidence wanting to assure and alleviate the woman’s worries.

She greatly believes that Larse, just like her, would be able to get through this and turn into a much stronger and better person afterward.

“I hope so,” Lorraine pouted lowering her head since she wanted to hide her eyes from her.

“Well, let’s not worry about that anymore, since we have a deadline to catch,” sensing that she just reminded the woman about all the things they had planned to finish by the day.

That made Lorraine quickly change to her serious yet cheerful face after hearing those words.

“Oh yes, I almost forgot about that,” Lorraine gasped, scuttling back to her desk to continue with the things that she was doing before.

Since the two of them were so engrossed with their work, that both of them were unable to notice the time, up until her secretary came in and informed them that it was already lunchtime.

“All right time for a break!” she moans as she stretched her arms and legs.

“Oh, you seem to have an email, you better check that first, I’ll go get the plates in the pantry while you’re at it,” Lorraine told her after hearing the noisy chimes on her computer.

“Okay, be with you in a minute,” she tells her as she began clicking her mouse to check what was sent to her.

Her eyes literally grew wide as she began browsing the contents of the said email that she got. She could not help but swallow hard as she felt a sudden jolt of pain in her chest and a sudden loss of breath. As her blood boiled and she felt so broken, suddenly feeling so much empathy and sadness for Larse because of it.