Neon Lights

50

Walking into the meeting room was a feat in itself. From rushing into the elevator with a crowd of people pushing them to a corner of the small box all the way to finding the meeting room with Rye dragging his feet, but the time they made it, Callisto felt like he was ready to collapse on the floor.

Pushing past the door and walking inside, there were already recognisable faces in the room. Jean and Angelo were two of them.

Callisto glanced over his shoulders and held his breath when Rye walked into the room, a frown on his face.

"Ah," Angelo said, breaking the silence. "I didn't expect to see you here, dear Rye."

From the corner of his eyes, Callisto could see his friend's shoulders squaring. Without dignifying a response, Rye took a seat, as far as he could from the two Fourniers. "Just so everyone is aware," Rye said, catching everyone's attention. "I don't know anything about this project. So, if there is a high chance I'm not useful, please allow me to remove myself from this project."

Callisto took a seat next to Rye, his throat drying at the bold statement. The quiet that followed suit after that had him nervously glancing across the table. His heart almost stopped beating when he noted Jean's eyes boring at the person next to him — Rye.

"You don't want to be here?" Jean said, his voice seemingly loud at the deafening silence.

Rye turned his body slightly to face him then. "Why do I want to be here? I know nothing about this project."

"You do," Jean said, furrowing his eyebrows. "You know a lot about this project."

"I do not." Rye sat straighter. "Cal here does. Not me."

"Cal?" Jean said, frowning.

"My friend, Cal," Rye said, almost hissing at Jean.

"Rye," one of their colleagues spoke up, "that's no way to speak to someone we're working with."

"Why? Because he's a Fournier?" Rye said, earning a slight gasp from a female coworker sitting next to Angelo. "Because that means nothing. We're working on a project with the worst—"

"Maybe!" Callisto said then, standing up to stop Rye from continuing with that sentence. "We should start our meeting."

"No." Jean's voice was authoritative and halted everyone in the room. "No, I would like to hear the rest of that sentence, Rye."

Rye huffed a breath. "You do? It's not flattering, you know."

"No, I'm curious too," Angelo said, placing his right elbow on the desk and had his chin on his palm. "It's been a while since we've seen you and the first thing you do is curse at us." He glanced at Jean. "Oh, sorry. At my brother, specifically."

Callisto didn't know what to do in this situation. He had thought Rye would speak to Jean in private. Not come into the meeting with his guns out and ready to start a war.

"I was just saying," Rye said. "That working on this project with the worst of humankind is just not my cup of tea."

"Rye, please," Callisto said, looking down at his friend. "This isn't the right time or place for this."

"Worst of humankind," Jean said. "I haven't heard that one before. You only ever used that in the context of my father."

"And yet, here we are," Rye said, not even heeding Callisto's pleas. "So, if you'll excuse me, I hope you'll request for me to be out of this team as soon as possible. I refuse to work with your kind as much as I'm sure you do not want to work with me."

"On the contrary," Jean said, his lips now quirking upward and there was a certain glint in his eye that had Callisto sitting back down slowly, his heart racing against his chest. "This will be interesting."

"Enough," said one of the female employees in the team. "I'm not sure what has happened here but I think we should be maintaining our professionalism while at work." She tossed a glare at Rye. "We pride ourselves for being able to separate work and persona life matters and bring the best outcome in any project we undertake. I expect this project to be handled with the same care."

It was clear those words were aimed at his friend. Callisto chanced a glance at Rye and noted that he was now glaring at his desk, his jaw clenched. "Fine," Rye said in the end.

There were no more exchanges after that as the meeting officially began. But sitting next to Rye gave Callisto enough insight that his friend was unhappy with the situation. Angelo and Jean however kept their distance throughout the discussion. Callisto couldn't remember half of what they discussed. The logistics of who does what was the primary objective of the meeting and while he had nothing to properly contribute at the moment, the tenseness in the air was enough for him to want to clock out immediately.

When people began filing out of the meeting, Callisto was ready to follow them when Rye grabbed his wrist. Jean and Angelo at the same time also stood up.

"I would like to speak to you," Jean said the second Rye stood up.

"And I don't," Rye said, his grip on Callisto's wrist tightening.

"But you will," Jean said. Rye glared at him from across the room. "Won't you?"

Callisto was completely out of his element at the moment. It was only when he met Angelo's gaze that he realised he had another thing to worry about.

"I need to speak to Cal here," Angelo said, smiling. "I believe you owe me an update."