Syn

One Year Later

I sat on the bed and lit the cigarette as I looked around at the messy bedroom floor. I was never in my room for these things, but I hated people making messes. I felt the bed move behind me, and I rolled my eyes before taking a long drag of the cigarette.

"Come back to bed, baby," the woman spoke from behind me. My jaw clenched at the intimate nickname and I ignored her completely. I had told her multiple times that I wasn't okay with her calling me anything but my name, yet she always managed to let it "slip".

Those were names I associated with relationships, and that was something I never involved myself in after...her. I'd had countless meaningless flings, but nobody had ever been able to replace her. After a year of waiting and hearing nothing from her, I forced myself to move on, but there was no one remotely like her in any way.

I knew it was fucked up for me to search for her in other women, but what was I supposed to do? I would unintentionally end up in bed with women who made me think of her in the slightest, and it continued until I realized how unhealthy it was. Since then, every single thing that reminded me of her would be pushed into the furthest corner of my mind.

These measures of course were taken after I looked for her. I'd never be with another woman if I felt like there was a chance she'd come home. But looking at where I was now, you could imagine my loss of hope...laying on the bed, in the shape of a naked woman that wouldn't leave me alone.

Her hands moved to my shoulders, but I grabbed her wrist and faced her. She jumped at the touch and I wondered why she was in bed with a man she feared. My face being all over magazines in Juva as the most eligible bachelor seemed to make me an object for a lot of the women I'd come across, but they didn't see me.

And I didn't see them.

I could hardly even remember the name of the girl that was touching me at this exact moment. "Get out," I said. Her frown deepened and she slowly removed her arm from my grip.

"Why?" She asked. "I like you and I think that we would—"

"You think that we would what?"

"Be good together," she muttered with a shrug.

I sighed as I pushed her platinum straight hair behind her ear, and I heard her heart slow to a calm one. "In what world would I be with a girl I've met less than seventy-two hours ago? When I met you, I told you not to expect anything."

"I mean you say that to a lot of girls," she whispered. "But I'm not them. I'm-"

My snicker cut her words off, and she looked at me in confusion. I would've listened to her bullshit if I didn't know the next dumb shit words was about to utter, and I couldn't help myself. "You should leave before I hurt your feelings."

"You could never hurt me," she said as she reached out for me. I quickly moved my hand away before she could touch me and I removed the cigarette from between my lips.

"Fine then," I said. "Were you about to tell me that you're different?"

"I am," she nodded. "You never see anyone more than once."

"And you believe that your being convenient makes you special?"

"Excuse you?"

"No, excuse you," I said. "For thinking that you're any different than anyone I've seen before. I want nothing to do with them, just as I want nothing to do with you."

"You're an asshole." She hopped out of the bed quickly and began putting her clothes on as I rolled my eyes.

"You knew that," I mumbled. I stayed to myself until she was gone, and when the door slammed, a wave of disgust flared in my body. I immediately rushed to the hotel restroom and turned the water onto its hottest temperature. I got into the walk-in shower and ignored the scalding sensation in my skin. The only thing keeping me from turning it down was knowing that I was practically burning the woman's touch away.

The Next Morning

I typed away on the laptop and responded to work emails. To most, this part of ruling the Underworld was possibly the most life-draining and grueling, but I liked it. It wasn't better than torturing souls or managing my club, but it was a step up to sitting around all day.

The door to my office opened and D scurried in with a large cup of coffee and set it down in front of me. "There you go, black coffee," she said.

I looked at the cup of coffee that was a toffee color and I looked back up at her and raised a brow. "That's black coffee?"

"Well," she started. "I added three creams and four sugars."

"Dimitri," I said in annoyance.

"What?" She exclaimed. "I felt like you needed it to taste good for once."

"I don't drink black coffee for the taste," I muttered. "I drink it to fucking stay awake."

"And you can 'fucking stay awake' while it tastes good. Try it, dude," she said.

"Mia never said 'dude'."

"Well, Mia can kiss my ass..." she said. "Respectfully. Bless her soul." I let out a breath of annoyance and turned back to my computer screen. "Syn, I also need to leave an hour earlier. I have therapy."

"Hmm, maybe you and Mia are more similar than I thought."

"Oooh, you're fucked," she laughed. "That was good...but you're fucked up. See you later, man."

"Before you leave, send me the schedule for the next month, push my meeting with Cadence for Friday, and send me the Synners police reports from the past month."

"So you're just telling me to basically fuck my mental health, and cancel my session," she said.

"D," I warned.

"I'll have that all for you within the hour," she said as she raised her hands and walked towards the door. To keep in with the Mia act, Dimitri had to work for me just as Mia worked for Queen. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to fire her every single day.

I relaxed into my seat and hesitantly picked up the disgusting concoction made. I was sure it was going to be gross, but I needed caffeine before I went insane. I took a sip of the steaming hot drink and was shocked at the sweet taste. I slowly took another sip to make sure that I wasn't going crazy, and when I had the same reaction, I put the drink down.

I rushed out of the office and to the receptionist's desk where D was sitting and reading a magazine. I should've pointed out how she was doing the opposite of what I told her, but instead, I slammed my hands on the marble counter. She jumped and looked up at me worriedly and the people in the office turned to us.

"That coffee," I said. "Is amazing."

"Yeah," she said slowly. "That's how normal people drink it, man."

"Like that every day," I commanded as I backed away from the desk and back into my office. A ding sound from my computer let me know that I had another email and I sat back in my seat and turned to the computer. I frowned when I saw the subject of the email and I sat back once again. What is this?

Mommy and Me Membership Confirmed

I opened the email to get further details and I became more intrigued and sat up as I read it.

Thank you for starting a membership with us, Ms. SinClaire. We can't wait to meet with you and your son this weekend for our class. We welcome both of you with open arms and are excited to finally meet you!
Down below is the emergency contact information you've filled out with us. If we've made a mistake, please contact us at your earliest convenience.

Date Filled Out: April 27th, 2023

Child Name/ Sex / D.O.B:
Saint SinClaire/ Male/ May 10, 2021

Guardian 1 Name/ Contact Information:
Queen SinClaire/ (xxx)-xxx-xxxx or [email protected]

Guardian 2 Name/ Contact Information:
Syn SinClaire/ not applicable: no recent # for him; [email protected]

Notes, Questions, or concerns:
Hi, Saint's father and I are estranged and I'm not sure if that email works for him. I don't think he will be receiving any news of this.

Oh, but I did.

After almost two years of not hearing or seeing anything from Queen, this felt surreal. A feeling that I hadn't had since she left began to flicker around in my chest and I ran a hand through my hair. What the fuck do I do?

My body seemed to reply a lot quicker than me and before I knew it, I was searching up the address of the class she sighed up for. The search only took about a second, but my nervousness made it feel like it took hours.

My eyes immediately landed on the state she was in, and I smiled slightly. What are you doing in New York? I didn't know what it was about a state that made me so happy, but I'd never gotten this far in my search for her. She was seemingly extremely careful over the past few years.

I picked up my office phone and called D into my office. I paced as I waited for her to come, and when the door opened, I gestured for her to hurry up. "What's the rush?"

"I was just curious about something."

"What?"

"Do I have any...contracts or meetings in New York?" I asked.

"Umm," she said as she moved her fingers along her tablet. "You have quite a few, but they're all next year because of the renovation for Pulse nightclub."

"Shit," I muttered. "Is there anything going on sooner?"

"Let me see," she mumbled as she focused on the tablet. After a few moments of looking, she smiled victoriously and looked up at me. "In a month you have a meeting with Wallace Sage. Remember he wants to discuss the rise of Demons in New York City and Manhattan."

"Why is it in a month?"

"Because you've been pushing it back," she shrugged. "He's been wanting to meet for months, but you said...and your words exactly...'I don't want to talk to his weird-ass, push it'."

"I didn't say that," I said. "Did I?"

"Yes," she said. "You said it like this, 'I'm too good to ever associate myself with his weird-ass, push it. He's desperate enough to believe I'll come one day." She tried to mock my voice, but ended up with a monotonous fake deep voice and I looked at her blankly.

"Okay, I didn't say THAT."

"Eh, that's what it sounded like to me," she shrugged.

I sighed as I thought about what to do and I began pacing. I shoved my hands into my pockets as I thought about what to do and I crossed my arms. I wanted to see Queen, but I'd have to practically stalk her to be able to find her in such a large city.

"Ooh," D cheered as she looked at the tablet. "Saint's birthday is coming soon. Are you excited?"

"Very," I said with a smile. "But he'll be with Queen for it since I had him for his first birthday."

"It's amazing how the both of you are raising him like this without speaking," she said.

"Well, we have a lot of intermediaries between us," I said. "Besides picking up Saint and sending him back, there's no messages they relay to either of us."

"As long as he's okay," she said.

As if possibly seeing Queen wasn't a big enough motivation for me to go, Saint's birthday was around the corner. It was Queen's year to have his birthday with her, but I wanted to be with him as well. Even though we switched every month, I hated being apart from him for so long. I had no idea what dangers lurked in the dark for him and I just had to have blind faith that Queen would protect him.

"D," I started. "I want you to move all my meetings and contracts in New York forward."

"To when?"

"Do it sporadically for after this Friday."

"Got it, sir." She moved to the door, but as I looked back to my desk, I remembered something else I would need.

"Wait," I called and she turned around. " also I need you to book a flight for me to New York City."

"When do you want to leave?"

"Tonight."

꧁꧂

Author's Note
Oh to be that coffee cup!😩

But oh..my..Syn, damn.
Looks like Syn is going to New York👀. It's been almost two years since he's seen her. Is he right to go? Or should he stay his ass in where he is?
Lmk your thoughts ✨