Sera stayed there for a while before she finally retreated to her room to listen to loud, angry music.

"Good idea. I've got the booze." Damien held up a bottle of whiskey, along with two glasses. "Ice or no?"

Rose dreaded going in to work on Monday. She knew she was going to need to take all sorts of paperwork around to all of the departments, like she did every Monday, which meant she was going to have to see Damien again. She wasn't sure if she was ready to face him.

Taylor tried to treat Monday like an other day, but he knew his life was about to become hell. After all, Sera worked under him now, and he wasn't exactly sure how that would go.

Damien busied himself with his work, feeding and taking care of all the cats. He half-hoped he didn't see Rose today.

Sera got into work early but didn't say a word to Taylor. Instead she simply moved into the back room, cleaning everything until it sparkled, and then making sure everything was organized, stocked, and the refills were in easy reach.

Rose went around to the other departments like usual, although she saved the cats for last. She hoped she would be able to get in and out of the office again without seeing Damien.

"I know you're ignoring me on purpose," Taylor said as Sera threw herself into the morning work. "I wasn't trying to lie to you. I DID say it was easier to deal with animals on a daily basis than people. A lot of people are a distraction." Even if she didn't respond, he knew she heard him.

Damien stayed out of the office all day, instead doing extra work outside and making sure everything was really clean. Rose knew where to find him if she wanted to talk.

"Yes, I suppose having to go through all the possibilities of whose pants you can get into and whose you can't would be distracting," Sera said bitingly in reply.

Rose stayed well away from the enclosures. Just the thought of how he'd lied to her dampened her mood and made her want to wedge herself into a corner and bawl.

"It's not like that," Taylor replied. "It's like... like the Greek legend of Tantalus. Eternal hunger and an entire feast laid out in front of you, and you can't touch it."

Damien tried not to think about Rose, since it made him sad and snappy. And the last thing he needed was to get snappy with people.

"Uh huh." Sera glared briefly at him. "And you weren't thinking of making me a midnight snack?"

"Not unless you wanted me to," Taylor said honestly. "Even then, probably not." He sighed. "You're different. I haven't fed myself properly since I met you, and I got really pissed off when someone else fed off of you."

"Wait, someone else fed off me?" Sera asked, fuming. And not at him. For the time being. "Who is the bastard and can I kill him?"

"Take a number," Taylor replied dryly. "Remember that day you got sick while you were here, a couple weeks ago? You and Rose had to go home? Some guy claimed to be passing through, but he was poaching and feeding off of people as he went by. You and Rose got hit pretty hard. Damien and I ran him out of town."

"Huh." Sera glared at him again, but it wasn't quite so harsh this time. She turned back to her cleaning swiftly. "Well, not as good as killing him, but I suppose it works."

"It was easier to run him off," Taylor replied. "No body to worry about that way. If he comes back, he'll die." He smirked a bit at the memory. "Damien was absolutely furious, not that I blame him."

"Hmph." Sera got out more syringes and put them in the proper place. She briefly debated if she could get away with turning on music in the back room, where she was staying.

"And you're back to not talking to me," Taylor said dryly. "Great. You do realize that nothing has actually changed, right? That I'm still the same person I was last week?"

"I'm still mad at you," Sera informed him, going back to stocking things. "You have about thirty seconds before I start getting really mad."

"Really mad about what?" Taylor asked. "I haven't done anything, I'm just trying to understand why exactly you keep looking at me like you want to stab me in the face with something."

"They're called lies, they have a nasty habit of coming back to bite you in the ass." Sera stopped and looked away, folding her arms over her stomach and clenching her fists.

"I didn't lie to you," Taylor replied. "Or at least, I didn't mean to lie to you." He sighed. "Would you have even believed me if I had said it straight out? Or would you have called me a liar then, too?"

"I would have called you insane," Sera replied. "Trust me, I know better than most how well little things can ruin a relationship."

"Great," Taylor sighed, sitting down. "I'm either a liar or insane. You know, completely ignoring how much fun you seemed to have on our dates..."

"You're not really helping yourself right now," Sera said, frowning at him.

Taylor sighed, but didn't comment. She was right, after all.

Sera kept herself occupied for the rest of the day, not talking to him again after that.

Taylor let her have her space. He might know a few things about pleasing women, but he was just like every other male on the planet when it came to how women think.

Rose kept herself in the research department all day. She knew the other women in the department noticed her mood, but they were more intent on gossiping about the attractive men around them. Rose tried to tune them out for a while, but eventually the gossip turned to Damien, and she had to leave the room. It just hurt too much, and she didn't want the other women to see her.

Sera stayed in the back all day, and slipped out the back door for lunchtime, going to go collect Rose so they could go to a little cafe across the street.

Around that time, Damien left the panther cage and headed over to Taylor's office, already tired. This was going to be a long day. Or week. Or however long it took.