fall apart twice a day [amrin] [clue event 4]

Nothing is simple, not in the Nox mansion. At least, that is what Amrin has discovered over the last four months.

People made choices that she was sure they wouldn’t make in real life, and Amrin had a feeling that most of it was not on their actual merit. They wanted a taste of the life that were invited into. However, it was clear to Amrin that there were toes stepped on in order to get her.

Shes not the type of person to crush someone under the weight of the earth, but it was clear that Malcom Nox was, and for that, she didn’t know how to feel about it.

Maybe it was because she had spent so much time trying to teach other people the depravities of the world? Or maybe it was because she was worried about what she was going to be eating that day. It was hard for her family to come by things from time to time, seeing as the money they did make could only get them so much food. She had to think about the brothers and sisters she had that would have to split a meal because there just wasn’t enough.

That was why she was here, so none of them would experience something like that again.

However, it was clear to her that this life was not like the one she envisioned in her head. No. It’s a life that she cant seem to see herself in completely, and maybe that was because she was realizing that she did have a heart under all of the ice and snow that made her who she was.

The Ice Queen was melting quickly, but she felt like that was a good thing.

---

Malcom Nox, the prissiest drama queen had told them that they needed to submit three names to be cut from the program, and it didn’t take Amrin long to figure out that her name was probably already dragged through the mud because that was just the type of people that some of them were.

Coralie made everything personal, Beryl was a snake, and Harvey was a wild card.

So she realized that maybe she had three votes against her, however, she had a feeling that Harvey might have just said her name in order to say something. It was hard trying to make any sense of who was being honest here and who wasn’t.

Hell, she even found solid ground with Whitney, which alarmed her to say the least.

It might have been their hatred for Coralie, or it might have been because Amrin had shared everything that she had written about each of the people that they lived with for the last four months.

She took notes, not because she didn’t want to talk, but because that was the best way for her to form an opinion about them. The more they had written in their blurbs, the more that Amrin thought she could be informed, which meant people like Fiora, Whitney, and Indigo had Amrin’s favor. None of them would be voted for, because they had value here. They would do so much for the company, and they would be good choices to take over what Malcom started, but be able to change it to make it their brand, and take his company into the future.

As Amrin stated, she knew that she was not the best, so their was no point in talking herself up. She was smart, cold, calculated. She could see a pattern from a mile away, and she liked to pull things apart by the seams. It made it easier for her to see the big picture when she ripped the little things apart.

The smell of frittata’s in the air as she walked towards Malcom’s office reminded her that she still had a choice to make.

While she knew the three people she wouldn’t vote for, and the three people that couldn’t vote for, she had to pick the three that she needed to vote for.

And so she made her way to Nox’s office, her journal in hand, ready to make the next big decision of the moment.

One that she wouldn’t back down from either.

---

Beryl, Indigo, and Poppy were out, which did make Amrin worry just a bit because she really did not think that Beryl deserved to be here.

He was only around because he was able to get into the pants of enough people to win favor, and even though Amrin was not a sexual person, she worried for the safety of their bodies after a lay with Beryl. She had a feeling to not go near him, not even with a ten-foot pole. She pulled out a pencil and began to underline that statement. She noted the small snakes she had sketched near the corners of his name and she couldn’t help but smile. He truly was one, but he was in a better position than most of them. He wasn’t on the chopping block, which meant that he did something right, even if Amrin didn’t agree with the method to obtain his safety.

Maybe Amrin was going to have to have a sit down with him to get his train of thought.

However, two titans meeting meant calamity and catastrophe for the rest of the world.

Indigo and Poppy on the other hand didn’t have much negatives in what she had written about them. Indigo had done everything that she had said, and out of everyone, he was doing the best. There was no question about that. Poppy on the other hand had a fiery personality, but she knew how to use it to her advantage rather than it be a crutch for her to lean on.

She realized that there was nothing more for her to think about with them, because at the end of the day, they would still be here at the end of the story, and Amrin wasn’t worried about what they would do next.

Well, except for Beryl, but serpents stayed docile as long as they aren’t provoked, and Amrin had no intention of doing so.

---

She flipped the page, looking at each name that she had written in the book along with the paragraphs worth of information that she had compiled of them and the mansion. She knew the place like the back of her hand, down to every door to even place where Beryl probably did something inappropriate in the moonlight with god knows who.

Fiora had made it very clear that she had no intention of voting for any of them, which surprised Amrin for only two seconds. From their conversation the day before the third event, she could tell that Fiora thought she didn’t belong here, but that wasn’t the case, as Amrin had taken plenty of notes of her strengths. She was a smart cookie, one that could see subtle nuances of each situation. However, Amrin did note that she seemed apprehensive still about her attention to detail. Maybe it was the tarot cards that told her to tread lightly. Or maybe it because Fiora had found comfort in the supernatural rather than the land of the living. Amrin could not fault her for that. After all, the shadows held truths that no one wanted to bring to light.

Not unless they had too.

Amrin though saw the resolve in Fiora, which made it easy to check off her name from the list of twelve. She deserved to be here, even if she thought she didn’t. She was quick on her feet, which would prove useful to Nox at the end of the day, and she sought help from unconventional means, so to Amrin, that was more useful then most people would see it. After all, this whole internship was about the future of the company, not the current state of it.

She was safe and sound.

---

Whitney caught her eye, and at first, Amrin would have been quick to throw her roommate under the bus. It was clear that their personalities did not mesh, and Amrin personally hated it. Someone who was perpetually happy or hopeful had no place in a business environment after all. Hell, if Coralie and Beryl didn’t open their fat mouths, Amrin would have probably picked Whitney to be the worst of the group. Being kind did not work out in business, or at least, not in the business that Malcom Nox was involved in. Being cutthroat was the only way to go for most of them, and Amrin just wasn’t sure if Whitney was up to the task.

However, after their conversation during the last event, things changed. Amrin could see behind the glass door that was Whitney Leblanc and there was something of value there. She was loyal to a tee, and that meant the world to Amrin. They started over after that day, and they had been cordial and kind ever since, a friendship that she didn’t expect to come out of nowhere. At least, if they could call it a friendship.

After all, they were vying for the business position of a lifetime.

Whitney Leblanc did not deserve to be sent packing before the rest of the interns could see what she was made of, and so Amrin put a check mark next to her name as well. She would not mention her name to Malcom.

She couldn’t speak for the rest of them however.

---

She passed another page, noticing each name and what she had written about each of them. She had to think of a way to justify the three people she was going to submit to send home, but Amrin was having a hard time doing so. At the end of the day, they all did have their strengths, but some of them had less then others. It was clear to Amrin that apparently she had less as well, but she was working to change that.

Violet, Harvey, Adrien, Blaine, Coralie, Adam

Three of them would have to be her choices, and two of them were obvious to her.

Blaine had done pretty much nothing since he had gotten here. Harvey too was an enigma, but at least he had a bit of grit to back himself up. Weighing options at this point was hard, but it was becoming clear that some of them deserved to be here and some of them didn’t.

Amrin just had to make sure that she was covering all of her bases.

Blaine had done nothing to make her worry, but that was just it, he had done nothing at all, and so maybe that was something to worry about. Maybe he was secretive, maybe he was quiet, or maybe he was just trying to protect himself from the mess that was about to erupt.

Whatever it was, Amrin was worried about him, and so that was enough for her to put a star next to his name.

Coralie, she needed no thought. She was going to be a name on her tongue, just like Amrin was sure that she was a name on hers. She would probably say something like, “its not personal” or whatever, but Amrin knew better, and she had a feeling that Malcom Nox also knew better. This is what he wanted after all. The lot of them at each other’s throats, and that is what he was going to get if he kept this up.

Oh well, Amrin was just going to make sure that she was out of the crossfire.

Coralie was getting named, and that was the end of the story.

A big fat star went right next to her name to signify it.

---

So that left Adam, Adrien, Harvey, and Violet.

All of them had done very little for Amrin to remember, at least, that was at first. However, three of the four had made waves in different ways for Amrin, and she didn’t realize that each of them had a different side of them.

Adam Taupe had been Beryl Serpents plaything, but after the second event, it was clear that he was not like the boy that was plowing him. There was something kind behind those desperate eyes, and Amrin could see it from a mile away. A sweet talker sure, but Amrin could tell that he thought about the words that left his mouth, that was more valuable than the rest of the interns she had to choose from combined.

She walked and put a check mark by his name. He did not deserve to go home.

Violet on the other hand was certain that she was going to be voted out. And maybe that was because she thought she wasn’t smart enough to be here. Amrin though saw the bleeding heart that she had, to which Amrin wished she could emulate that. Amrin was cold and callous to most people, but Violet was carefree and whimsical, two qualities that could take the company in interesting places. Violet was the queen of self deprecation, Amrin could tell that much about her personality. She needed a vote of confidence. After all, even an Ice Queen can be nice when she wanted too.

She also got a check mark. She wasn’t going to go home because of Amrin.

That left Adrien and Harvey, one of which had left nothing to the imagination, and the other had thrown her under the bus the moment he got a chance to actually speak up.

Amrin paused for a moment, standing in front of Malcom’s office and flipping back and forth between both of their names. Both of them hadn’t stood out to her, but Harvey had the balls to call her out during the last event. He tried to explain himself, but Amrin wasn’t one to take criticism well. At least not from someone that didn’t even know her.

Adrien on the other hand had remained elusive, and that worried Amrin more than Harvey did. That told her he was a ticking time bomb, waiting to explode at any moment.

She played the last event back in her head, thinking about sitting across of both of them as they said their pieces about the people they liked, and the people they didn’t. It was clear, one of them had eyes that could see through the fog, and the other had eyes that emulated the reason why they were all here.

Adrien and Malcom had more in common then they knew after all.

Amrin had written most of it down, all speculation for the most part except for the look in their eyes when it came to the people that were here. That was the dead give away to Amrin. That’s how she knew there was more here.

Amrin sighed as she closed her notebook, her decision changing every few seconds.

She worried that there was more behind closed doors that she didn’t know about, but there was no time to figure out all the options. She only had the research that she did available to her, which meant that she was going to have to use that to come to a decision.

She just hoped it was the right one.

---

She pursed her lips, realizing that it was time to walk in and face her fate.

Amrin tucked her notebook into her sweater pocket, hoping that it wouldn’t come into question here. She wanted to show Malcom everything that she had been doing for the last four months, but she knew that didn’t mean anything here. Malcom Nox was living his dramatic daddy drama eleganza and Amrin could not stop him from his own choices.

She wondered if he had already made up his mind even, and this was just all a formality that he could throw against them in order to get them all riled up.

She wondered if anyone was lurking in the shadows.

She bowed to Malcom as she entered, remembering the manners that her mother taught her when she was in the presence of someone important. She made her way to the seat across from him, realizing that the stench from his pipe was pungent. He had just lit it, which meant that she probably didn’t have long until he was going to get bored of whatever she was going to say.

So she had to make every word count.

”You’ve tasked us with three names to cut, to which, I have an answer for you. However, I’m starting to wonder if there is an ulterior motive here Mr. Nox.” Amrin stated calmly, pulling out her notebook, realizing that this was her leverage.

”First and foremost…” she started, realizing that the order of these names could be important as well. She flipped a page and stopped at her first name. ”Blaine.” She spoke clear. ”From the notes and research I have gathered, he has done almost nothing since he has arrived here. While that might not be a bad thing, as some people come into their own over time, someone who remains stagnant isn’t the right fit to take over a company, especially when you want the person who does to grow it in ways you could only imagine.” Amrin didn’t waste time with her explanation, always quick on her feet. She spoke the words as they popped into her head, a talent that she had learned from her mother when she was young. It was how she was able to pep with the most intimidating people.

Hell, it was why people thought she was intimidating herself.

”Second…” she started, realizing that the next name was going to be a bit controversial, however, she had a good reason for it. ”Coralie,” she could feel Coralie’s eyes roll into the back of her skull. If she was near her, she would have asked her to look for the brain she claimed to have, but that was besides the point. ”Shes on the other side of the spectrum. She has money already, shes had a taste of the world that you live in. Whose to say that she wouldn’t just sell off your company just to add to her already staggering fortune as is? And even if she didn’t, whose also to say that she would change your company so much that it would be almost unrecognizable. Which in the short and long term would be bad for business. ” Amrin had thought about these thoroughly after all. ”Not to mention that entitlement and Coralie go hand in hand. You should pick someone who is working from the ground up. Someone who is moldable. Someone who wouldn’t make excuses.” she realized that she might have been going on a tangent.

”Lastly.” Amrin flipped another page and put her finger on the last name that she had check marked. ”Adrien Nox.” Amrin said eloquently. ”However, not because he isn’t the right fit to be here, in this moment. No.” Amrin stated quickly to make sure that she covered all the bases. ”When I look into his eye’s Malcom, I see yours, which isn’t a bad thing in the short term. But growing a company, especially after a takeover is important. Adrien might run it just fine at the beginning, but when faced with change, I feel like he is the type to avoid it.” Amrin spoke, feeling the same beats in that statement. ”I might not be one to talk myself, being stubborn as an ass, but Adrien doesn’t avoid change because he is stubborn.” She takes a breath. ”He avoids it because he is afraid of it. Afraid of disappointment. Afraid of what the world could be or should have been for him. That tells me that he would run your company the exact same way you would, which means that it wouldn’t grow into anything more.” Amrin closed her book, feeling like she said her piece.

”Blaine would do too little, Coralie would do far too much, and Adrien would shy away from doing anything at all. I hope these answers are more than enough.” Amrin stood from the seat and made her way to the door.

”I might have been silent Mr. Nox, but that did not mean that I wasn’t listening. If you want to know more about what I have written in this journal, you know where to find me.” Amrin offered as she made her way out the door.

She felt vindicated, even if she went home at the end of the night.