Chapter 4: Noisy Crow

There was pin-drop silence in the office as each person stared at the other. Finn at Ravenna and Ravenna at the beautiful stranger, while he gazed back at her, before he shifted his gaze to Finn. "I didn't know you were into noisy crows nowadays," the man stated, tucking his hand into his black trouser suit. Finn chuckled lightly, staring at the man strangely as if waiting for something, or rather a reaction, but to his surprise, he saw the man react normally. He was just about to clarify something when he felt the girl beside him hit his shoulder with a stupefied expression. "Did...that mannequin just call me a... noisy crow?" she traced her question slowly with a low voice, while trying as much as not to hit someone. Finn wanted to laugh, but he knew better than to do so, especially with the sudden fall in temperature. He could see the dark look on his brother and for a moment, he was taken aback and, at the same time, relieved that he seemed not to recognize her. If he did, the world would come to an end instantly. "Venna, this is my brother," Finn broke the silence, but the tension between the other two seemed to increase with each passing second. But then... "You're what?" Ravenna abruptly turned to Finn in disbelief. "Brother. My elder brother, Alaric Nightveil, is also the president of the company." Finn observed the changes in Ravenna's face, feeling amused. Ravenna dared not look at the man who infuriated her to the core but also raised wild desires she had never felt for any man before. It's not like she had ever seen a more good-looking person like him in the last two years. His looks were down to earth as if inviting her, the naughty her precisely, to feast on him. She just remained silent to prevent herself from saying anything untoward. "One of your secretaries?" Alaric, who had been silently watching the noisy girl and his brother, asked, sounding calm as ever. But only he knew the turmoil he was in. How long had it been since he experienced even the slightest wave of emotions? The only feeling he ever had was anger towards everything, but now, there was a kind of amusement in looking at the girl's angry face, the face she made when shocked, especially how her eyes went wide open with her mouth. Not only that, but he also felt a slight discomfort watching her converse so closely with Fin, and he almost wanted to pull her by his side. The reason for that, he did not know. He just convinced himself she was just a rare species who had intrigued his interest, and like always, he never liked sharing his things. "No, she's more than that. Oh, her beautiful name is Ravenna," Finn replied, pulling Ravenna closer to him by her shoulder. He knew what he was doing. Ravenna ga, sped then briefly glanced at Alaric before looking away, but that was more than enough for her to see his handsome face under the daylight. He looked more gracious and powerful, but also gloomy, just like the previous night. And most of all, more seductive than she almost wanted to stare at him all through. "Who would have thought it would be this soon, Miss Ravenna?" Ravenna held her breath before releasing it slowly. She could hear the echoes of her name in her head. It sounded so sweet that she wanted to hear it, but then, the whole statement registered in her head quickly. "Never thought I would see you again, Mr. A," She deliberately stressed the letter 'A' and almost wanted to add the S.S. thing after. A.S.S. just suits him the best; arrogant, silent, and seductive describe him fully. That was her thought. "Thank you for hosting me," Alaric raised the side of his lips, forming a creepy smile that did not reach his eyes. "Hosting? Isn't that too modest compared to what you did?" Ravenna flared up again, being reminded of the previous night she spent under the cold, chilly night. "Is it? I was injured, and you were being a nuisance. As expected, his words only made her blood boil extremely. "NuNuisance you say? Huh... You barged into my place and... Wait a minute, shouldn't you be in a hospital bed or a morgue right now, but from the look of things... You seem fit like a horse in heat, ready to argue with me. Were you fooling me so I could allow you into..." "Do you ever shut up?" "No, I don't and never will I. Do you have a problem with that?" Finn watched back and forth as the duo argued endlessly, like they knew each other. Witnessing Alaric utter more than ten words in a day was like a dream come true. All he did was order people around with a single word. He was like an angry bear, and with the slightest provocation, he would make someone wish they had never been born. This scene was one he had never seen for decades or even more than a century now. A surge of emotions gushed inside him, but he remained calm like before, but a smile could not help but creep on his lips, then disappeared as fast as it came. "Will someone explain what's going on here? Do the two of you perhaps know each other?" Finn interrupted their heated argument, and they went quiet. Alaric cleared his throat, realizing he had almost lost his composure, or maybe fully lost himself, then looked at Fn, his expression changing drastically to his usual aloof self. "She's the one whom I told you about," Alaric replied, first giving a side glance to Ravenn, a hwasay, ignoring him. Finn was surprised after he registered what Alaric was talking about. "Venna was the angry, noisy crow you were talking about earlier this morning?" Fate seemed to have already paved the way for them, earlier than he had planned, bringing his brother and sworn sister together. "You too, Finn? How could you call me a noisy crow? Aren't I your favorite anymore?" Ravenna shouted, her eyes glaring daggers at him. Finn pointed at Alarc, and before he could defend himself, Alaric's mocking voice filled the air, "What then? A noisy raven?" "You dirty mule, how dare you!" "Doesn't your throat hurt from shouting?" "I hate you, you bastard!" "The feeling is mutual...noisy crow."