Arch laughs. “Oh shit, you sat in Gav’s seat. No wonder he wanted to beat you up.”
Luca turns and glances at Archer. “What is so special about the seat?”
He shakes his head. “Nothing other than the fact that Gavril sits in it and no one else. It’s as simple as that.”
Sophia nods. “I made the rookie mistake of sitting there my first day.” She swallows hard, glancing in my direction, and shudders. “Never again.”
I make a tutting sound. “All I did was tell you not to sit there again. You’d think I’d dragged you out of it by your hair.”
She hugs her arms around herself. “Might as well have.”
“So dramatic.”
“Who is being dramatic?” Oak asks, coming through the door.
“Sophia.” I grab my coffee flask out of my briefcase, which evidently isn’t filled with coffee, but something a little stronger.
Oak eyes it warily, as if he knows exactly what’s in there, but he doesn’t say anything. “Dramatic about what?”
“Her first day when I told her to not to sit in my seat again.” I swig the whiskey. It burns on the way down. “She’s acting like I physically assaulted her.”
Sophia huffs. “I was mentally scarred from that day.”
Oak nods. “I remember. You were pretty intimidating.” His eyes narrow. “Why are you discussing that, anyway?”
I glare at Luca. “Because your math substitute made the same mistake.”
Luca ignores me as he sits in the armchair in the corner, flipping through a newspaper, whistling nonchalantly.
The little punk is asking for it, but I know better than to pick a fight right now, especially with the brother of the girl I’m fucking.
A girl who I corrupted. If he knew the truth, he’d no doubt try to kill me.
“Keep it civil, alright?” Oak says, eyes pinned on me.
I take another swig of whiskey, enjoying the burn as it moves down my throat. “Always.”
He shakes his head and grabs a few things from the fridge before heading out of the staff room without another word, leaving Sophia, Arch, and Luca.
At that point, Elaine Jasper walks in and sits down next to me. “How are you, Gavril?” she asks, as she gets out a sandwich from her bag and starts to eat.
“Fine,” I reply, not bothering to enquire how she is.
“Are you certain?” she pushes.
I glance at her then, noticing the anxious look on her face. “Oak put you up to talking to me, didn’t he?”
She shrugs. “He asked me to assess your mental health.”
“Motherfucker.” I clench my fists. “If he wants to know the state of my mental health, tell him to ask me himself the coward. I’m going to therapy just as he wanted.”
Elaine nods. “Of course.” She takes another large bite out of her sandwich. “So, you’re not going to talk to me, are you?”
“Not about my mental health.” I take another swig of whiskey.
We fall into awkward silence as Sophia and Arch chat at the back, sitting at the dining table with coffee, and Luca smirks at me from his seat.
That boy is asking for a beating, but I control the rage inside of me, knowing that Oak is concerned for where I’m at in my head.