Cecilia
Cael couldn’t remember the last time he wanted a drink so badly. He had been out of the house while he was talking to Cecilia, needing to pull himself away from the blueprints he had been going over just so he could finish the conversation and figure out some sort of excuse to tell his boss so he could get out of work. He wound up going with some bullshit excuse about how he felt like he was getting sick from lunch, and despite the glare of death he got, he packed up his things and headed home.

She was engaged. Her parents had arranged for her to be married, and now she was engaged…

He wound up taking a cab, instead of just apparating, needing time to himself to sort through what he was going to say when he finally got there – when he finally saw her, and the reality of the situation really sunk in.

When the vehicle finally stopped in front of his house, Cael hesitated before finally climbing out of the car, paying the driver, watching him drive off, leaving him standing in the bitter cold autumn weather.

He couldn’t remember the last time he wanted a drink so badly.

Stepping to his front door, he pulled it open, expecting to be greeted by Karma as he usually was when he came home from work. But she never came. His brows stitched together in confusion, but it wasn’t until he hung up his coat and walked upstairs to his room, where Cecilia had been sleeping since a few days after she had arrived, did he understand why the dog hadn’t given him her usual greeting.

Instead, she was seated outside of the closed door, whimpering and nudging her nose against the doorknob. She could sense something was wrong with the girl who was sitting inside. She turned to look at him over her shoulder, and Cael let out a sigh, stepping forward to rub her behind the ears.

“Good girl.”

He spoke quietly to his canine companion, and then finally braved reaching for the doorknob to open the door. Karma trotted in first, lifting her front paws up onto the bed. Cael stepped forward, bringing himself closer to the bed. He didn’t know what to say, so he said the first thing that came to his mind.

“…she’s taken a liking to you.”