Isobel Brandt \\ Persephone (praxidike) wrote in paxletalelogs, @ 2017-05-27 11:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | persephone |
and, oh, after the love is gone
Who: Isobel.
What: Bryan exacts revenge.
Where: Pax Letale, #104.
When: The early morning hours of May 27.
Isobel's eyes blinked in the darkness, her vision blurry as it centered on the red, digital output of her clock: 4 a.m. Her phone buzzed, and had well been buzzing for the better part of a half hour. She'd ignored it, trying to sleep, but then Hanni started whining, and it seemed the universe was against her when it came to ignoring things. A hand reached out, scrambling for the device on her night stand, and Isobel sat up proper when she saw it was Sheila. She hit accept call and held it to her ear, her other hand rubbing her eyes.
"Sheila? Wassup?"
"God, Isobel, I'm sorry to wake you, but when the security team couldn't get ahold of you they called me and--"
"Security?! What?" Isobel suddenly snapped completely free of the last remaining dregs of sleep, sliding out of bed to put bare feet on the cold floor. "What's going on?"
Sheila sighed. "A fire started at headquarters, the fire department's there now, but with the way the blaze is going, they think it's arson. I think it's...they think it's gutted."
Isobel froze, the information sinking in slowly. It was surreal, and the long pause made Sheila ask if she was still there. Isobel's mouth gaped for a moment until words finally found their way out of her throat.
"Yeah, yeah, I... Did they arrest anyone? Do they have clues?"
"No, not yet. I think they're still getting the fire under control. It started earlier this evening, and I think once it's out they'll be able to start investigating--"
Sheila kept talking, asking about files and records on Isobel's personal work laptop, how they would handle orders and reaching out to insurance and figuring out what needed to be dealt with next. Isobel listened passively, nodding and making noises in the appropriate places, but her thoughts were focused entirely on who she knew was responsible for the fire. Knuckles curled in her comforter, trying to hold on to something as she felt tears threaten.
"Isobel? Do you... Are you still there?"
"Yeah, sorry, I..."
"I know this is a lot. If you want me to handle...?"
"No," Isobel immediately asserted. She'd put too much on others for too long. She rose from her bed, moving across the room to her closet to start pulling out clothes. The heel of one hand pressed into her eye, and she sniffled. "No, I'm going to get some clothes on and start making calls. If you can get together the latest orders that were there, physically in the building, we can take stock of what we need to get done. I'll.... I'm going to reach out to the insurance company, try... Try to see what can be done."
She could almost hear the emphatic nod on Sheila's side. Isobel silently thanked whoever or whatever had sent her this woman. "Got it. I'll email you a list and I'll reach out to everyone else so they know not to come in." She paused. "I'm sorry, Isobel. I can't imagine who would have done something like this."
Isobel moved a few hangers, pulling out clothes without really looking at them; Bryan's name lingered on her tongue, but she needed to focus on one thing at a time. Deal with the fallout of his most recent actions, make a detailed report to the police, and then.... And then? That was something she didn't want to think about.
"We'll get it dealt with, Sheila. Thanks for calling me. I'll call you back in a bit." After hearing the woman's goodbye, Isobel hung up and tossed the phone back at her bed. Hanni pounced on it, putting little paws on the small device as he watched Isobel throw clothes after the phone.
For the moment, she'd focus on what she could control, which seemed to be very little. She could feel anxiety creeping up in the back of her mind, but she'd work to keep it at bay for as long as she could. Her eyes fell back on the phone once again, cupped under Hanni's paws, wanting to see if Obed was still awake like he had been a few weeks ago following the strange dream. Then she decided against it. This was her problem, not his. She'd broken it off for a reason -- she was going to deal with her issues on her own, and prove that she wasn't just running from person to person, looking for a savior.
Pulling her bed shirt over her head with a heartfelt sigh, she started getting dressed as though she were putting on armor, trying to mentally prepare for what she had to deal with.