POV — AZAZEL
"The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven."
My afternoon was excellent, but my evening was hellish. Milton came to my mind too—just as he did to Betty. What's more, it's a well-known quote. Even those who haven't read the entire work encounter it and think about it. That's a good thing.
Well, I'm trying to talk in a focused way, but hell has taken the place of my mind.
Number One didn't check in all afternoon. Lucifer didn't ask in the evening either how things were going with Betty.Suspicious.
Maybe Gremory has already brought him out of Pandemonium, and he's trying to sabotage me with Betty right now.But why would he? This is his business, after all.
Every ten minutes I checked whether Betty was online, then every five minutes. Then I couldn't take my eyes off the phone at all.Of course, I didn't message the WOMAN.
I never missed the human world, but once again I love being here among them. And Betty is here too, and I feel good with her.It's not right that Lucifer could take this away from me at any time.
1. Undermines me with the WOMAN
2. Takes me off the case
I feel good here, so this is already my case—not Lucifer's.Uhhh… this realization made me happy and uneasy at the same time.Because of Lucifer, of course.
I wanted to carry the case through. My own case.Today I should have at least held her hand. Then I'd be sure this wasn't the friend zone.Tomorrow I'll secure myself.
I only stopped staring at my phone and thinking when Betty sent me a picture.Just like that, casually. She was smiling in the photo with her sister. She spent the evening with her—cooking, baking, preparing for the birthday of Betty's other sister's little daughter.
"We missed this today. We could have taken a selfie together!"
"Not friend zone, definitely not," I thought.
"Paula would have burst if she'd seen us this afternoon."
"Friend zone. This is definitely friend zone," I reconsidered.
Number One still hadn't checked in, but I was now sure he wasn't interfering with Betty at the moment. Reassuring.
I don't want to be pushy, but tomorrow I'll secure myself with Betty.
However, I won't make the same mistake I made ten thousand years ago. I showed humans new "toys." At first they celebrated me for it, then they hated me. The price of light is darkness.I got too close to them.
"What is it in humans that's so peculiar?" I wondered in my room when Marduk got home.I don't know where he spent his day and evening, and I didn't care either.
Later it occurred to me that Betty originally had plans for tomorrow—the birthday of her sister's little daughter. She wanted to secure herself too. Naberius's lecture wasn't in her plans. She worked it into her day because of me.That's a good thing.
I fell asleep calmly. Hell vanished from my mind.
In the morning, even before breakfast, I went to the senior managers and submitted a request to be reassigned to the Rrr-Take project.They reviewed my work so far. I'm glad I worked hard—they had no objections.
"But what about the workplace relationship?" Selma asked anyway.I could see they took this seriously.
"A self-fulfilling prophecy. I was talking about work with Betty when Paula showed up yesterday. In the afternoon, I went out for coffee with the girl."
Why wouldn't I be honest? Betty quit the company, and we don't have a relationship. Unfortunately.The workplace ethics issue was no longer an obstacle. Because of the serious work I'd invested in the project, I got Rrr-Take back—and with it, Paula as my boss.
I wished Betty could have seen Paula's face.I had her decision overturned, and once again I was right on her neck.
Tamara was happy I was back; the others received me neutrally.I will knock Paula out of the boss's chair—the one who makes her subordinates' days miserable.
Paula already played the workplace relationship card. If she tries to remove me again, she'll have to attack my work. And I won't give her any reason for that.
The workday passed quickly. I worked at full throttle.
At home I only had time to change clothes, but Marduk stepped in front of me.
"Why the—"
I won't detail all the things I called Marduk in my head. He chose this moment to be in the way, when I had to rush to meet Betty.
"Where are you going?" he asked with a wide grin.
"You know, I'm on the case," I tossed back casually.
It felt wrong to call Betty a case.
"Well, I've already solved it," he bragged.
That was impossible—he arrived the day before yesterday. I'm not saying he couldn't have found a woman, but this case is a bit more complicated than that.He must have seen on my face that I thought he was lying.
"This is the twenty-first century. Surrogacy exists."
I was stunned. Marduk hadn't thought this through properly.
"And who's going to raise the child?" I asked indignantly.
"I will."
So Marduk had thought it through after all. Will he be a good father? Who knows.So that's what he'd been arranging these past days. He was the first to complete the task.
"Bye," he said as he left.
I was rid of Marduk's company. For now, he returned to Pandemonium.I got ready quickly to meet Betty—who, to me, was not just a case.