186 It was my fuck-up
“Why am I learning about this only now?”
Daria’s question was simple. Yet, just like Mathew wanted to mention before, it was also insanely hard to answer.
“That’s…” Mathew opened his mouth and even started speaking, all to close them back up as he realized he had no idea what he should say.
“Can’t answer, huh?” Daria pointed out, leaning her head to the side.
‘What is this interrogation?’ Mathew whined within his thoughts. He then pursed his lips and took a breath to calm down. ‘No, that’s not the point. I’m getting annoyed because she is pretty much correct with her point.’
“I’m sorry,” Mathew finally said.
“Is that all?” Daria asked, raising her hands only to cross them over her chest while raising her right eyebrow. “I didn’t touch this subject to hear your apology!”
“I know,” Mathew raised his face back up and looked directly at Daria’s face. “But that doesn’t change the fact it’s my fuck-up here,” he added.
‘If you make a mistake, own the hell out of it,’ Mathew thought, swallowing his saliva as he reaffirmed himself in his decision.
“It was me who stated that I don’t want you guys to just blindly follow me. And yet, it was also me who held back my ideas of what is going on. I know why I did it, but that doesn’t mean I was right with it,” he stated, looking Daria directly in the eyes only to then lower his head.
“That’s why, to all three of you, I wish to apologize,” Mathew repeated the very meaning that he started his reply with. “But what would be an apology without making proper amends?”
Nadia raised her eyebrows. Leila sighed only to take a quick look around.
“I’m glad that didn’t turn out into an unnecessary argument,” Daria said before breathing out. Then, her entire body relaxed, as if it lost the tension it gained when the girl first brought up the topic.
“But I don’t think this is the right place nor time to talk,” Leila then chimed in, turning her head around as she looked at the survivors still bustling around with their jobs.
They managed to gather all the cores they were left after the fight. They even managed to move most of the corpses to the ditches that the other part of the group dug out. And yet, they were still a long way from cleaning the entire area properly.
“Guys, don’t slack off!” someone from the survivors’ group shouted. “If we leave even a single puddle of blood unattended, that’s equal to inviting a disease!”
‘I’m glad someone gets it,’ Mathew thought, turning his eyes towards the survivors only to move his eyes on Norbert. “Can you find us a place in the building that’s away from everyone?”
Norbert closed his eyes and froze in his place. He then breathed in and out a few times before opening his eyes back up.
“Second floor, the recording room to the right of the end of the corridor,” the officer quickly obliged.
“Thanks for your understanding,” Mathew then thanked in a seemingly strange way. Yet, rather than explaining it to anyone, he simply turned around and started heading towards the staircase… Only to glance over his arm and stop in his tracks when he saw two people he didn’t invite follow after him.
“Guys, I will say this again,” Mathew said, stopping in his tracks and turning around only to cast a meaningful glance at both Norbert and Daniel. “I thank you for your understanding.”
Everyone stood down right where they stood.
Nadia didn’t appear to care much about the situation as she simply walked a few steps more to stand by Mathew’s side. On the other hand, Leila smiled lightly as she looked at Daniel and Norbert, eager to see how they would react.
ALl in all, only Daria appeared not to care at all, if not for a slight annoyance that flashed behind her eyes when everyone stopped.
“I…” Norbert opened his mouth, only to close it back down when Daniel rested his hand on his shoulder.
“We understand,” the older of the officers said before pulling Norbert back by his shoulder. “We will be waiting at the bottom floor and I will make sure Norbert won’t intrude upon your privacy,” he proclaimed.
“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Mathew said and nodded his head in cold grattitude. “It will save Daria the effort of being on a lookout,” he then added before turning around and picking up the slack.
“Was this really necessary?” Nadia asked when their group climbed up the first set of stairs.
“What do you mean?” Mathew asked, not exactly sure what part of what happened Nadia wasn’t so sure about.
“Antagonizing them like that.”
” I didn’t antagonize them,” Mathew refused to accept Nadia’s take. “It was their choice to distance themselves from us. Now it’s time for them to bear the consequences of their actions,” he explained.
“Isn’t this…” Nadia attempted to refute Mathew’s words, yet before she could properly do so, she ended up closing her mouth instead.
“Feel free to speak your mind,” Mathew encouraged his crush. “Holding my thoughts to myself is the mistake I made. There is no point in you to follow in those faulty steps of mine.”
“Isn’t this quite small-minded?” Nadia asked while averting her eyes.
‘It seems she still remembers our previous argument,’ Mathew thought. He then took a deep breath. “In a sense, it is,” he admitted. “But in the grand scheme of things, it’s necessary. But let’s keep this topic aside for now since we are going to have a proper talk soon anyway.”
There was no point in discussing something that could potentially rip their greater group apart while they were still vulnerable to some randoms eavesdropping on them.
Thankfully, for how big the media building was, moving around it was pretty convenient. As such, it took Mathew and his girl only a few moments to reach the recording studio Norbert pointed them out towards.
“I will leave the lookout job to you,” Mathew said, glancing over at Daria.
“Sure thing,” the girl replied with a nod before going to the corner of the room so that she could have its entirety within her sights.
“Now then,” Mathew reached the middle of the recording studio only to place his entire arm on the main table before shoving everything from it directly on the floor. He then picked up a stray chair before placing it by the desk and sitting down. “Let’s start with what I believe is going on right now.”