[OTA] Beware of Greeks bearing gifts
Zoe's twenty-first birthday had started well enough, with murmured birthday wishes from Victor and a promise of dinner tonight before he left to start his day either in his office here or the one over at Club Castle. And it had, for a few hours at least continued well. She dropped in on the accounting office to check on Penelope - she might be taking the day off, but her assistant was still new enough that she liked to check in before disappearing for the day. Then she'd dropped into the Head of Finance's office to hand over the expenditure reports for September and smile at Edison's side-eye. He was a Six, after all, and had some idea that Zoe had plans to challenge him at some point, but there was little he could do about that.
And he wouldn't be wrong, anyway.
The day only went south when she headed down the hall and found a pair of Heart Twos with a box. The library was quiet this time of day, and she hated to let people into Victor's rooms, so she nodded in that direction, letting them put it on a table deep in the stacks and dismissing them before she opened the note. She recognized the handwriting, after all.
Darling, Happy Birthday and a belated congratulations on your impressive achievement of Five. Of course, if you'd stayed put, you could be a Nine with your dear, dear brother by now, but I'm sure you're intelligent enough to not realize that.
I'd hate to leave this day unacknowledged. These are some things I thought you'd enjoy, dear.
Charlotte Huntly Kattalakis
Well, Zoe thought as she picked up the yellowed letters and unfolded the first. They ran the gamut: letters from Charlotte, letters from Aunt Maggie, letters from someone named Maria. Correspondence of a more...professional sort - off-Deck jobs, compensation for them.
It was all supposed to upset her, Zoe thought. And it...didn't, really. She'd known even if she'd pretended not to, what kind of man her father had been. She'd seen things, she thought, and then she blinked when she saw a black velvet box tossed carelessly in the corner of the box, reaching over to pick it up. Inside were earrings, and a note old enough that the paper had started to yellow.
Για Ζωή, για εικοστό πρώτο έτος της ηλικίας της.
"Papa," she murmured, and leaned back in the chair as she looked down at the jewelry. Would he be upset with her for what she'd done with her life? Did it matter? It shouldn't, certainly, especially not after this summer, but...
Well.
Maybe it did, a little.
[Translation: For Zoe, on her twenty-first birthday.]
And he wouldn't be wrong, anyway.
The day only went south when she headed down the hall and found a pair of Heart Twos with a box. The library was quiet this time of day, and she hated to let people into Victor's rooms, so she nodded in that direction, letting them put it on a table deep in the stacks and dismissing them before she opened the note. She recognized the handwriting, after all.
Darling, Happy Birthday and a belated congratulations on your impressive achievement of Five. Of course, if you'd stayed put, you could be a Nine with your dear, dear brother by now, but I'm sure you're intelligent enough to not realize that.
I'd hate to leave this day unacknowledged. These are some things I thought you'd enjoy, dear.
Charlotte Huntly Kattalakis
Well, Zoe thought as she picked up the yellowed letters and unfolded the first. They ran the gamut: letters from Charlotte, letters from Aunt Maggie, letters from someone named Maria. Correspondence of a more...professional sort - off-Deck jobs, compensation for them.
It was all supposed to upset her, Zoe thought. And it...didn't, really. She'd known even if she'd pretended not to, what kind of man her father had been. She'd seen things, she thought, and then she blinked when she saw a black velvet box tossed carelessly in the corner of the box, reaching over to pick it up. Inside were earrings, and a note old enough that the paper had started to yellow.
Για Ζωή, για εικοστό πρώτο έτος της ηλικίας της.
"Papa," she murmured, and leaned back in the chair as she looked down at the jewelry. Would he be upset with her for what she'd done with her life? Did it matter? It shouldn't, certainly, especially not after this summer, but...
Well.
Maybe it did, a little.
[Translation: For Zoe, on her twenty-first birthday.]