Chapter 10: Oh, Brother

Mia's POV "You should leave," I whispered to Sol as I eyed the clock on my nightstand. The two of us were still laying entangled in my bed. It had been about an hour after he had come. "Five more minutes," Sol grumbled as he tightened his grip around my waist. "I remembered you have some business things to deal with. When?" I asked him when he didn't respond to me. He only grunted in response. When I pinched his side, he rolled over slightly and answered. "I can move my plan to later or even tomorrow," he told me immediately. I felt his arms tighten around me. I huffed a laugh at his antics. I felt the way he brought his nose to my neck and listened to the pulse beating there. "You have to go," I told him as I pushed his head away. "You can't ignore your responsibilities." "I think it would be irresponsible of me to leave you alone, you know, in your stricken state," Sol said softly. I only rolled my eyes at him. "My stricken state?" I mocked his answer by repeating it. I felt him nod against my chest, feeling his cold breath against my neck as he spoke. Surprisingly, I felt warm. "My boss is very particular about leaving frightened women alone in a big house. I'm sure he'd understand as to why I had to take the day off." I deadpanned, "Sol, you're your boss." "Exactly." I watched as he lifted his head from my neck and gave me a wide cheeky smile. "That's why I think I'm more than capable of understanding– Oof!" I flicked his head and pushed him away from me, watching as he caught himself before falling off the side of the bed. He pointed an accusing finger at me when he recovered. "That was mean. You're a very mean little human." I shrugged and gave him a small smile before turning over and bundling myself up in the sheets. "Go to work, you lazy vampire." I squeaked when I felt my entire body being lifted, sheets and blankets and all, and placed onto Sol's chest again. I glared up at him from beneath the white sheets. He looked down at me with a wide-eyed grin. "If I recall correctly," he tapped his chin, "I do remember hiring you to be my personal assistant, didn't I?" My mouth fell open as he spoke. "If I'm right, now correct me if I'm not, the job of a personal assistant is to follow the boss along during the workday." He looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't it?" I puffed out hot air into his face and watched as he laughed. Snuggling myself into the blankets again and into his chest, I said, "Okay, maybe five more minutes." "What are you going to do to deal with your work during the daytime?" I asked him after a moment passed and realized I didn't know what exactly I would do for Sol. "Usually, I drive to the company before sunrise. The first thing I have to do is attend a meeting at one of the companies." My eyes fluttered closed as he played with my hair. "It won't take long." "And then?" I mumbled. "Then, I have to visit some of the other sites of the establishments I own to check if everything is alright." "What establishments?" I asked curiously as I lifted my head and looked at him. "Company buildings, nightclubs… That sort of thing." My eyes widened at this. I couldn't stop my curiosity from peaking, "You own nightclubs?" "Mostly for the baby vampires," Sol said with a nod. "The older ones don't do much clubbing anymore, but it's a good business to get into." "Oh," I said as I paced my head back down. "Sometimes I forget some of you have lived for a very, very long time. You must find it a bit boring, huh?" Sol turned to look at me and asked, "Bored of what?" I waved my hand loosely. "Just… Everything. How many times can you build an empire before you get tired of it?" I felt his chest rumble beneath me as he agreed to what I was saying. "Then again," he tugged at my hair lightly, "my life has become somewhat interesting lately." "Oh?" I replied as I laughed. "Well, I have several classes today. I will be back at around six maybe." "Then, I'll probably deal with some documents at home and wait for you there. We will then go to my company together, my assistant." I nodded. 'Okay, thank you for reminding me I was your assistant.' The day passed smoothly. It was well into the night when the two of us managed to head to his company. I saw Serin and Sarah in the lobby area waving as they approached us. "Fancy seeing you here," Sarah greeted me with a hug and pulled me over to the couches. "How's it going? Good?" I nodded along with her and answered her questions. Sarah was an energetic and bubbly woman, and I found myself relieved and happy when speaking with her. I turned my head to see a slightly distressed look on Sol's face before he went to the meeting room. I remembered he mentioned he had a video meeting. "Is everything alright?" Sarah asked me as we sat down on the couch together. I nodded my head slowly. "Yeah, Sol has just been acting a bit strange since earlier tonight." I felt a pat on my leg and saw Sarah smiling at me. "Work has always been busy, even with Serin around to help. I bet he's just stressed about some things that will blow over soon." "You think so?" Sarah nodded. "I know so. Apparently, ever since they were kids, he's been like this. Serin told me he used to be much worse. He'd skip meals and even work through the day when he was just starting." My eyes widened in shock. "That's horrible." "That's business." Sarah shrugged. "He's much better now. Didn't he tell you any of this?" "He didn't mention it… I'm just his assistant. It's not like he should tell me that. Well, he doesn't seem like...." I shook my head, not being able to get the thought properly out of my mouth. But Serin seemed to understand what I was trying to say, "No," He said with a light laugh, "He doesn't, does he? He's managed to work his way up to the very top of vampire aristocracy, amassed a large pocket within the city, and owns several large firms as well as nightclubs in the city." "You wouldn't say it," Serin continued, "But Sol is lonely." That part wasn't shocking to me. I had noticed that part of him when Sol had told me how old he was in the kitchen. Despite what he said, it seemed to seep off from him. "Or rather—"Serin corrected himself, "He was. Until he met you." I scoffed and rolled my eyes at the statement, "Please," I asked, "don't make it sound so dramatic. Sol always had you and Sarah, didn't he? I doubt whether he was desperately lonely or not." Sarah shook her head from beside Serin, "It's different. I mean, yes, we were there for him, but… I don't know. Staying with you is different. Maybe it's only something you could feel when you've known him as long as we have." I didn't have time to ponder over their words when noise sounded out from behind us. I followed Serin and Sarah's lead as they stood up and turned around, and that was a different Sol I hadn't seen before. Sol's hair was messed up lightly by the way he kept running his hand through it, his tie was loosened around his neck, and a deep frown settled on his face. He was frustrated, I could tell just from looking at him, but over what I had no idea. Serin stepped first with a concerned looked, "What's up?" He asked Sol, "What happened?" Sol sighed loudly and looked behind him once, and then his eye caught mine before he looked away and answered Serin's question, "Yeah, I just had a meeting with my brother." ###