บท 2: The Golden Lion

Dust particles floated around the room, tickling Camille's nose and causing it to twitch.

She let out a soft sneeze as she grabbed for a tissue out of the box on Neil's desk.

'Why can't he at least keep this place clean? They have an abundance of money. Hiring a cleaning crew shouldn't be an issue. If I have to be in this hell, I'd rather at least not come out of it looking like a sniveling mess at the end of the day.' Camille thought as she placed her head in her hand and stared out of the giant floor to wall windows to her left side.

Neil had departed on yet another hunting trip, leaving Camille behind to man his desk.

Still, he had left her with no work to do, and all she had done was sit pretty behind the intricately hand carved desk and sneeze for the past week since his absence.

'Maybe….' Her right eyebrow perked up as she slowly glanced around at all the clutter, "….maybe I can clean up just a little bit…'

Documents were sprawled out all over the place, pens were tossed carelessly, some hidden underneath papers and empty paper cups that once contained coffee were littered all over the place with a few even spilling coffee onto the floor.

His office already smelled musty enough as it was, now the smell of week-old coffee was added to the mix.

Neil refused to allow any outsiders into his office without him personally being there – Camille was the exception.

Typically, he hated when she would try and tidy the place up, yelling things like, "These documents are important! You're going to mess up the order!" or "Stop that! You're going to ruin everything! Will you be responsible for billions of dollars lost?!"

Now that he wasn't here to scold her and there was no one else monitoring her, it was the perfect opportunity.

'I'd rather be scolded in a week or two than sit here bored the entire time. Maybe I'll feel like less of a prisoner.'

Camille stood up and grabbed the over-flowing trash bin that sat on the floor next to his desk. She picked up a few of the crumpled-up pages and dirtied napkins from busy lunches and shoved them back inside, pushing the rest of the contents down to make room for what was on his desk.

'How disgusting….can't he even let a janitor in here at least while he's working?'

The next few minutes were spent cleaning up the empty coffee cups, careful to make sure no more spillage occurred.

'I'll have to smuggle in some cleaning supplies tomorrow to clean this up,' she glanced over at the window again, dust was piling up on its mullions and smudges clouded its panes, 'and those as well.'

Having to stay indoors all day with nothing to do, the window had been her only solace and view of freedom.

The fact that this would be her life from now on – cleaning in secret and sitting on the sidelines doing nothing but looking pretty – was suffocating.

She'd wanted to do so much more with her life, she wasn't sure what that was exactly, but she knew it was much more than this.

However, she hadn't even been able to dream or explore her options due to her sudden engagement to Neil.

As she gathered up pens and neatly placed them into Neil's pen holder and created tidy stacks of documents (ensuring they were in the correct order), Camille found herself missing the old Neil.

Part of her wanted to imagine what her future would like, what her present-day would look like, if he had grown up to be the same man he once was, but the other part of her wouldn't dare allow it.

'It's no use crying over spilt milk. Let's not harp on things we can't control or waste energy on 'what ifs.''

She'd remind herself of this every time the thought would try to sneak up on her.

Just as she was tying up the almost-bursting trash bag, the giant double doors to Neil's office swung open.

Camille jumped, knowing no one should be entering the office except for herself and Neil – who wasn't due back for another week or two.

"Well, well, well! Look at what we have here!" A cocky and familiar voice echoed throughout the room.

Camille looked up.

Waltzing into the room, head held high, and arms stretched out, in an expensive looking suit was none other than Neil himself.

"N-Neil!" Camille gasped, dropping the trash bag to the floor. Her eyes were wide.

"I had brought a gift for you, but now that I see you've been disobedient, I think I'll keep it to myself." He smirked as he kicked the garbage bag to the side.

"Go ahead. I don't want a gift from you. I'd much rather sit in a clean office than this disgusting mess you've created." Camille crossed her arms as Neil wrapped his around her shoulder.

"Act more feminine. You're going to be my wife, stop acting out," Neil squeezed her briefly as she rolled her eyes, before clapping his hands together, "Bring it in!"

A group of six, buff men wheeled in a large box covered with a red velvet curtain with golden fringe.

It was taller than them, probably twice their height, and required each of them to push it with all their strength.

"Put it over there!" Neil pointed to an empty space by the window as the men heaved and ho-ed, struggling to get the box to move.

When they finished, they lined up a few feet away from it, sweat streaming down their faces and staining their clothes.

"That's all. Now, get out!" he pointed towards the door, his eyebrows furrowed as he screamed at them.

"What are you yelling at them for? Have some grace and at least give them the opportunity to follow your orders before being rude to them." Neil placed his arm around her shoulder but she shrugged him off.

Neil fixed his tie and twisted his neck as he cleared his throat.

"Well, well. Come and see your present. No doubt you'll enjoy it."

Neil placed his hand on the small of her back and led her over to the box, keeping her at the same distance from the workers.

"I don't want it." Camille said flatly, glaring at Neil and the box.

"Shush. Keep your mouth shut until you see it." Neil swiftly grabbed one of the corners of the curtain and yanked it off before quickly retreating to Camille's side.

The item underneath the curtain was not a box at all, but a cage, and inside it lay a large golden lion, unlike anything she had ever seen before.

Her eyes lit up and sparkled as she stared at the magnificent beast.

Instinctively, she took a step towards it.

"Hey! No! Don't do that, it's dangerous!" Neil grabbed her arm and yanked her back, causing her to stumble.

"What is this…?" She was confused. Its stomach raised and lowered. Was it real? Was it an animatronic? It didn't look like any lion she had seen before.

"It's the golden lion. I've captured it just for you. Don't you have something to say?" he said with a confident smile plastered on his face.

Camille glared at him, "Why would you think I want a caged lion? This animal should be in the wild and free, not in a cage collecting dust in this filthy office!" She motioned towards the rest of the space.

Neil stared, completely baffled.

"Wh-what do you mean? You love animals and lions are your favorite! You always complain that I kill them, so I brought you one alive. Where is my thanks? Where is my kiss? You're supposed to be all over me right now."

"I do love animals, Neil, and lions are my favorite. He's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but he belongs in the wild. What are we going to do with a wild animal in here? This isn't what I want."

"Well then what the hell DO you want?! You're absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to please, nothing makes you happy. I give you a high paying job where you don't have to lift a finger, you get to stay in a nice, air-conditioned office all day instead of outside in the sweltering heat or freezing cold, hell, I even brought you your favorite animal and you're still unhappy!"

Neil counted on his fingers all the things he believed he was doing for her as she just stood there rolling her eyes.

"You only ever half-listen to me Neil, and don't understand who I am as a person, and that's the problem!"

"So you're rejecting my engagement gift to you?! After all I have gone through the past few years to locate it? After everything it took to then capture it and bring it here? For you?! I could've brought it back stuffed. You need to learn where thanks is due."