Even for me life had its gleams of sunshine.

The morning of the third week she had been in Mr. Odair's company was warm. As she walked along the lane, she felt the slightest perspiration gathering at her neck and made certain to secure her bonnet more firmly on her head. Her hair even on the best of days was thick and almost untamable, which led to her tying it up or wearing it in a bonnet if she could. Though she did not like to spend her wages on frivolous things, she had indulged on a few ribbons and bonnets, for hers had been worn to disrepair. The next thing on her list to get was of course to get her mother new cookware, but that was possibly the last thing on her mind as she made her way past the gate and courtyard and to the center of Riverton Hall where she was met with a strange sight.

"Ah, Annie you arrive again to relieve me of my constant boredom." Mr. Odair said in a stately manner, as he sat on the table in the center of the foyer of Riverton Hall between vases of carefully plucked roses and lit scented candles. He was sitting as if he was imitating a bust of royalty, sitting much like a child with his legs tucked beneath him and his cane stretched across his lap. Annie spied a few maids peaking from the halls, they're eyes alight with panic and dismay at the Young Master's display before giving Annie a pleading look. She was becoming almost infamous among those in the Odair's employ, who fluttered behind her as if she had the ability to calm the Young Master's strange whims though she was coming under the conclusion that there was barely a force of nature that had the ability to do so, and those of Riverton Hall might have to look for divine intervention.

"And what state do I find you in today, good sir?" Annie inquired, resisting the urge to laugh at the strange sight though perhaps at that point she should have been used to his outbursts of strangeness. It was as if his lunacy waxed and waned with the tides of the moon, leaving him affected like a lycanthrope or under some bewitchment of a witch from a tale spun of hysteria. Annie was beginning to expect his states of mind were catered to those in his presence and his singular joy was attempting to make Annie as uncomfortable as possible to elicit amusement.

"I meditate, Annie. As those do from the Far East! I open my mind to the infinite possibilities in the world, and attempt to procure what little understanding I may gather. But as you know, I bore easily. And so I thank the universe for your quick deliverance back to this Hall." Mr. Odair said before quickly standing up on the table, causing the table to groan and the maids to gasp in total fright as he jumped off and landed gracefully on his feet with a tap of his cane.

"Well I'm glad the universe came through on your request." Annie said, "However, I would like to add that I am here promptly at roughly the same time almost every day, depending on the conditions of the road."

"The semantics!" Mr. Odair said before announcing, "I have a request of you, and do not think that I propose something too scandalous."

"I will keep that in mind." Annie said before Mr. Odair gave a grand sort of smile before continuing.

"What is the day today, Annie?"

"I believe it to be Sunday, sir."

"Yes! Sunday! The day of Sabbath, when those pure of mind and good of heart congregate together to offer prayer. Would you say this correct, Annie?"

"I would like to say that is correct." Annie said, not exactly knowing where this conversation was going, but with Mr. Odair that was scarcely a new sensation.

"And you come here early every Sunday, as you have for the last three weeks that we have been companions so that we may go about our usual business and then you scurry off to your father's church." Mr. Odair said before lifting his cane and pointing to her. "This is also true, isn't that right Annie?"

"Yes, that is also right sir." Annie said, gently lowering his cane to the floor.

"Today, if you would let me, allow me to escort you to the hallow halls of your family's church." Mr. Odair said before Annie raised a brow and the maids in the corner burst into scandalized giggles at the utterly preposterous proposal. It was one thing to take a walk, but an unmarried man so brazenly asking a woman of bare acquaintance to Church without her father's consent was utterly out of the question.

"If you wish to go to church, you should go with your mother and father. Unlike you, I do have a reputation to uphold." Annie told him shortly. "Also, I believe you have told me that you do not believe in higher powers."

"No, I do not. I find religion as a whole an utterly preposterous and strange state of mind and have no idea how anyone can tolerate it." Mr. Odair said, "However, what I do find interesting is being in the center of town with many others where there is activity."

"So you will go to church in order to mingle?" Annie asked incredulously.

"I wish to go to church to go into town." Mr. Odair explained, "And I wish to escort you there."

"And why me, I should ask? Aren't your parents in good health and state of mind?" Annie asked him and he just smiled mischievously.

"Because, my dear Annie, I prefer your company to anyone else's in this world."

"What a bold statement." Annie observed, "Do you have such little love for Mrs. Cohen?"

"Oh, my love for her is overflowing! But I prefer your company, for your wit is quick and you always make your feelings known to me. Also, you walk quickly and I do dislike those walk without the slightest bit of haste." Mr. Odair explained, "Do you dislike my company so much that you would shun my request without further thought? Perhaps the injury to my heart would finally rid me of this wretched body!"

"You sir, are dramatic and uncompromising." Annie conceded before saying, "I shall not have it on my conscious that I give you injury, real or otherwise. Is this all that is all you wish for today?" Annie asked, and Mr. Odair smiled.

"That is all that I wish for today." Mr. Odair said proudly and Annie sighed.

"Very well, Mr. Odair." Annie said with a defeated shrug. "If that is what you wish, then as your teacher and companion I shall accompany you to Church this morning."

"Wonderful!" Mr. Odair announced, "I knew you have it not within you to deny me such pleasures."

"That is simply because these pleasures seem to be all you have, sir." Annie dissented, crossing her arms over her chest as if to protect herself from the utter embarrassment she would soon be receiving from the town.

"True enough, dear Annie. If anyone should approach and give you trouble, shall I pretend to be dumb as well as blind?" Mr. Odair asked before Annie resisted the urge to scoff.

"No need. I am just simply doing my Christian duty. But please refrain from calling me Annie whilst we are in proper company. I shall not have a scandal on my hands." Annie told him sternly.

"You shall not hear a single word otherwise, Miss Cresta." Mr. Odair said, reaching for her hand, taking a moment to find it before holding it in his silk gloves, and saying before kissing it, "So slender and small, but so vivacious. You hold such powers over me that I believe it to be a bewitchment. For your pleasure and convenience I shall bend to a will not my own for the first time in my life."

Immediately she felt her face flush red and her palms begin to sweat, as he looked up at her with that silly smile and those brilliant eyes, however unfocused. Immediately, after having been stirred from her daze by the maids who released an audible gasp she snatched her hand back to hold it over her wildly beating heart.

"What in God's name are you doing?" Annie hissed, completely bewildered at the situation while Mr. Odair gave a chuckle.

"I believe that one of your silly rules is that you shalt not say the Lord's name in vain." Mr. Odair announced gleefully before beginning to walk forward. "Church will start rather soon will it not? Shall I have a maid call forward the driver? I know my parents were in town and were going to Church from there."

"I shall do it." Annie said hastily, rushing out of the manner and pressing her hands to her burning cheeks, hoping that the spring air would help cool her face and steady her nerves.

Unfortunately, she found that even when the driver was called, her heart was still beating at a rapid pace.

"Annie, who is this?" Her mother asked, her tone tight obviously wrought tight by total disbelief and outrage as the whole township stared at Annie and Mr. Odair, who was smiling pleasantly on her arm. Mr. and Mrs. Odair rushed over, obviously flushed with injury.

"Finn Nicholas, we discussed that you are not well enough for trips to the town and on your teacher's arm without escort! Miss Cresta I'm sure my son has done you some injury, please forgive him for his transgression!" Mrs. Odair said, obviously distraught before the young Mr. Odair gave a wonderfully pleasant smile that Annie was beginning to associate with Mr. Odair attempting to get his way by disarming his adversary with feigned politeness.

"Forgive me, mother. You see, Miss Cresta and I were reading, and she realized that she was going to be late for Church. I of course needed to take responsibility, so I escorted her unthinkingly for which I have already apologized profusely. You know how sometimes my absentmindedness takes hold of me." Mr. Odair said, weaving the story with complete ease instead of telling his mother the truth of the matter, causing Annie to look at him incredulously while the obviously outwitted Mrs. Odair's face went pale and Mr. Odair smiled tiredly, obviously used to giving into the young Mr. Odair's requests.

"As long as there was no injury made, there is little to worry about. Very well." Mr. Odair said, "Now come along, dear wife. Fretting so is not good for your nerves."

Mr. Odair led his wife away, while others in the community ogled at the spectacle before them before the young Mr. Odair looked towards Annie.

"I imagine from the sensation I am getting that there are many people looking at me." He said rather privately as they began to walk.

"It must make you happy, I know you do love being at the center of attention, no matter who is the audience." Annie remarked causing Mr. Odair to chuckle down the pathway to the Church, the rest of the township looking at them in utter disbelief as the rich folk of the city filed in behind them.

"Miss Cresta, you wound me. I have little regard for what men think, I prefer the company of women." He said in a hushed tone.

"Most women here are from farming families who young or already married, I doubt your parents would be happy for you to keep their company. They only tolerate me because I am educated." Annie told him pointedly and Mr. Odair chuckled, leaning close into her ear.

"As you have probably noticed, I do not usually mind what my parents bid me." Mr. Odair said rather slyly.

"How your parents let you get away with that disrespectful attitude is beyond me. My father would have taken the rod to me." Annie told him, unimpressed. As if taking her tone into account, he decided to enlighten her on something she had previously wondered about.

"You doubt my abilities, Miss Cresta. I have been told that I have quite the silver tongue. A vow as flimsy as marriage is hardly an obstacle when it comes to my fancies, why else do you think I've been without a governess or tutor for so long? My parents have yet to find a young woman who could resist me, or a man who can stand me. And we both know that my parents let me go on as I will, it is much less effort on their parts." Mr. Odair told her, and Annie resisted the urge to gasp at the complete audacity of his statement.

"Mr. Odair, I shall have you know that marriage is a sacred vow that should not be taken lightly." Annie berated him quietly before Mr. Odair's smile became all the more seductive and she felt his thumb circle slowly and lightly upon her forearm causing Annie to flinch as they entered the Church.

"That of course being the biggest issue I take with this religion. This God of yours states that humans are meant to strive to become pious and moral creatures, but such a state is unnatural. There are no promises that people will not break when it comes to bear the slightest inconvenience. Even you my dear Annie, I am positive, wishes to taste what pleasure life may offer to you." Mr. Odair whispered, Annie's face becoming red hot in embarrassment as she deposited him by the pew in which his parents sat.

She could barely focus on the sermon, and Annie was sure that her distraction was noticeable to her sister who sat next to her, giving her looks every couple of moments. But Annie was certainly not the only one who was distracted, for as she looked around she noticed many of the girls casting glances towards the young Mr. Odair who just looked blissful as her father continued the sermon of things that she simply could not think of in her state of complete dismay.

Surely Mr. Odair got a laugh out of her discomfort. That had to be the only reason for his odd advances to her. Annie had no experience with love beyond that of the familial love she knew from her family and even that at times was held back in favor of the stern practices and the rigidity of their religious practices. Life was not pleasurable, it was work. It was the work to solidify faith and do good deeds, it was work to gain an education and an income, it was work to have a family and to have a good and fruitful marriage, and it was with those works done and daily prayer said that God would judge a person in righteousness. That was simply human's curse from the original sin for as Genesis put it best "By the sweat of your brow you shall eat bread, Until you return to the ground, from which you were taken" (Genesis 3:19-21), Annie concluded. Perhaps it was just the way Mr. Odair had been raised that caused the deviation in their thinking. He was a young master, an ill young master, who had been tended to like a delicate piece of art. He had only know pleasure in his life, so of course he would believe that life offered pleasure and the sordid stories of love that fell from his lips were simply a result of that. But Annie knew better, life offered no pleasure, just opportunities. And it was only the achievement of goals and pursuits that gave Annie temporary satisfaction and drove her to the next obstacle.

People could not be truly changed, Annie thought, but Mr. Odair was not a fickle man. In fact he had proven time and time again to be in possession of shrewdness and incredible intelligence. If Annie could, she would conform his thoughts to be more oriented towards the good for he was certainly set on a path of destruction. Annie was his teacher after all, and a teacher's goal was to guide the students through life in order to be in a better position. Perhaps it was her mission to try to save Mr. Odair from his folly, but it was more likely a fool's errand and Mr. Odair was simply her foil.

Annie would attempt to help Mr. Odair but she had little hope. Most likely all she could do was attempt to contain his oddness and redirect them in an appropriate fashion, Annie thought.

After her father's sermon just as a couple girls of the township, including her own sister ran up to her, faces flushed and lips twittering with giggles.

"That is the man you've been helping?" Charlotte demanded her bosom straining against her dress as she heaved with obvious emotion, "He is so handsome, Annie!"

"He doesn't have a handsome disposition." Annie answered quietly, feeling strange under the scrutiny of so many other women.

"But he escorted you to Church today! You wouldn't let any ordinary man do so." One of the other girls, Vivien said in utter shock. "Annie, you must be holding out on some details."

"He's odd and what he did was incredibly rude. He simply wouldn't take no for an answer, even though I'm sure he nearly caused my mother's heart to stop and went against his parents' wishes." Annie explained before Madge, the eldest daughter of the town's lawyer giggled.

"Oh I would certainly allow him whatever he wished." Madge laughed, "Annie you are so very lucky."

"That is certainly one way of stating the facts." Annie said shortly, and if sensing Annie's discomfort, thankfully the topic was changed until Annie caught a glimpse of Mr. Odair confidently strutting towards her, cane helping him forward. He gave her a charming smile before saying to the rest of the ladies in attendance,

"Ladies, may I please have a moment with Miss Cresta?" Mr. Odair said, before the rest of the girls scattered, while Annie began to sweat as she surely felt the eyes of almost all in attendance turn to them yet again. "Your father is an extremely good speaker."

"Enough with the flattery, what is it that you require, Mr. Odair?" Annie snapped, causing Mr. Odair to chuckle wholeheartedly.

"My, what a sharp tone. I am almost wounded. I certainly don't require anything at the moment. I am just simply tired of hearing my father drone on with other men about business deals and outdated philosophies. I came for a breath of fresh air, and company I can stand."

"Mr. Odair we both know your ego is quite sturdier then that." Annie said in a warning tone, before Mr. Odair tapped his cane. "Now truly, what is it?"

"I was simply wondering if you would do me the honor of having dinner with me this evening." Mr. Odair requested and resisted the urge to shake her head and instead crossed her arms over her chest.

"I am not feeling particularly well." Annie said, "You will have to forgive me but I decline."

"You do not have to eat, but I would still like to have dinner with you." Mr. Odair said shifting closer to her, still an acceptable distance but immediately Annie felt her throat dry and her heart begin to race again as she looked up into his godly face. He was so much taller then she, so breathtaking that she had to keep herself from getting weak.

"Why would I have dinner if I am not hungry?" Annie demanded of him, digging her nails into her sleeves.

"Miss Cresta, if today was the last day of the earth, if tonight was the very last night, would you have dinner with me?" Finnick appealed to her, his voice dipped low and almost honeyed in quality.

"For what purpose?"

"Perhaps it is because I enjoy your company more than I have ever enjoyed anyone else's company."

"Mr. Odair, you ask too much of me." Annie told him sternly. "You've caused enough trouble for one day."

"What sort of trouble?" Mr. Odair asked curiously, and Annie just stared at him incredulously.

"You went directly against your parents' wishes, made me a figure of notoriety, and to make things stranger you seem to wish to continue on for the day."

"Is it such a crime to wish to spend more time with you?" Mr. Odair asked her, and Annie balked at the utter insanity of what he was saying to her.

"Gain control over yourself. I am an employee of your family, not someone of your class with whom you should be socializing. Now please start viewing our relationship in a proper manner." Annie warned him.

"Stubborn and annoyed. How consistent of you, Miss Cresta. I put my request in an absurd and insolent form. Miss Cresta, I bed your pardon. The fact is, once for all, I don't wish to treat you like an inferior-" He cleared his throat before clarifying, "That is that I claim only superiority as must result from a single year's difference in age and a century's advance in experience. It is by virtue of this superiority and this alone that I desire you to have the goodness to talk to me a little now and over dinner and divert my thoughts, which are galled with complete boredom."

Mr. Odair had somehow deigned an explanation, almost an apology, and Annie did not feel apathetic to his condescension. However, this was simply not enough to her. She could not excuse the strange happenings of the day.

"I am willing to amuse you, if I can sir-quite willing. That is why I am within your company often enough, is it not? But I cannot follow this order." Annie said apologetically before curtsying. "I shall see you in two days' time, Mr. Odair."

And it was on this note that she turned on her heel and went to rejoin her sister and the other girls, and claiming illness she was excused and Charlotte accompanied her home, and she did not look back at Mr. Odair until she was well on her way up the lane.

It was then she watched as Mr. Odair simply stood as a singular figure in a courtyard full of people, before his parents came to lead him away.

The following few days, the countryside was washed by a cold rain that kept her from traveling to Riverton Hall. When finally subsided, the roads were in little shape to be walked, and it took much effort to call forth a driver and to make her way to Riverton Hall. She was surprised to see a carriage already leaving the property, and a man who she recognized as Mr. Cato Fields within looking downright enraged. His attention was obviously on the bleak environment before catching Annie's eye for a moment and smiling a hard and viscous looking smile and moving on, the whole silent exchange sending a shiver of foreboding down her spine before she entered the gates and made her way to the center home.

Unlike usual, when the halls were decorated with Mr. Odair's antics, that midmorning the hall was eerily sepulchral. A maid who was not Mrs. Cohen escorted her in almost nervously, and she was brought into the kitchen where Mrs. Cohen was busily preparing a kettle of tea. Unlike her usually jovial attitude, Mrs. Cohen seemed tired and terribly bothered, for her eyes were ringed with darkness and the stress had affected her posture. However in sighting Annie she brightened up considerably.

"Miss Cresta, oh it is wonderful to see you!" Mrs. Cohen said, her voice excited as she grasped Annie's hands, as if Annie had just delivered her a miracle through her own powers. At the peak of her confusion, Annie finally asked,

"Was that Mr. Fields I just saw? I thought he was in London."

"Yes. Rude boy he is, came in demanding the Master to give him a loan. The master denied him rightfully, and I hope he does not return." Mrs. Cohen said before fanning herself, "Dear me, all this excitement is making me dizzy!"

"What is happening?"

"The Young Master is running a fever today. But I'm sure he'll appreciate pleasant company. I'm sure all the yelling Mr. Fields and Mr. Odair did hasn't helped either." Mrs. Cohen said regretfully and Annie frowned.

"Is he truly ill?"

"The Young Master is almost always ill. It was a miracle he survived when he was young, but it has left him weak. He used to be so energetic, Miss Cresta. It still hurts to seem him like so." Mrs. Cohen bemoaned, as if her master's pain was her own pain, her eyes nearly on the verge of tears. .

"How did he come down with such an illness so quickly? He appeared in good health a few days ago."

"Would you believe he stood outside in the rain? Oh of course you would, you have witnessed the strange things he does. Perhaps he slept walked, but in the morning when I called on him, he was soaked to the bone and shivering, in nothing but his sleeping gown. We called on Dr. Abernathy, and thankfully it isn't anything more than a fever, but he still considerably ill." Mrs. Cohen said worriedly, "He had been so happy, dear, and so much more robust! I hadn't seen him so excitable in so long. Did he say anything to you, Miss Cresta?"

"No." Annie lied, because certainly his decline in health could not be because of the row they had gotten into at church. The possibility chilled her to her very essence, as Annie had thought him to be in possession of more mental fortitude. Perhaps a more gentle approach was necessary when it came to handling the strange Young Master, like soothing an overtired child, Annie thought.

Mrs. Cohen finished preparing the tea, and Annie quickly followed her up to Mr. Odair's bedroom. Mrs. Cohen tentatively knocked, but did not need to wait long for a response,

"Come in." A rough voice called, and buried underneath the sheets was Mr. Odair, his teeth chattering and body shaking, while his face was flushed and his unfocused eyes were glassy he looked visibly surprised. "I recognize those steps. Is it Miss Cresta?"

"It is I." Annie said gently, any bitterness she had from their fight dissipating from her demeanor, while Mrs. Cohen fixed Mr. Odair his cup of tea and then promptly excused herself. It was only then that Mr. Odair addressed her again, sounding quiet and withdrawn.

"Annie, you shouldn't have come today. It was raining and I wouldn't wish for you to have been bothered."

"Nonsense." Annie scolded, before grasping a quilt from a nearby chair and draping it over Mr. Odair's other layers as with shaking fingers he lifted the cup to his mouth, taking a gulp before setting it down and nearly collapsing back into bed, as if all his strength had been taken by that simple movement.

"Forgive me, Annie. I believe I have been a seriously rude to you. I was quite expecting to never see you again." Mr. Odair said, "As you can imagine, I am used to this. If you are here to give your farewell, it would serve me better if you just left now."

The utter defeat in his tone was so bewildering and concerning that it caused her to pause her actions and truly look at him. Normally, Mr. Odair was so big. Not completely in his physical sense. His charisma filled a room to its brim, but now he was just like the silhouette from afar, a single shadow within an empty courtyard. Was the performance and the grandeur simply a façade, and was this the man underneath? Or was this perhaps another mask Mr. Odair would slip on when it pleased him?

Either way, it did not matter to Annie. She would still continue to come to Riverton Hall as long as her resolve held firm.

"I am not going anywhere." Annie told him firmly, "Though you may not believe this, I know that I could never just leave you alone."

"Oh." Mr. Odair said, sounding in awe and slightly embarrassed before Annie looked at Mr. Odair expectantly as she sat beside his bedside.

"Is there anything you should like me to read?" Annie asked, and Mr. Odair smiled at her.

"I should like to read nothing, for as of late I find myself too excitable." Mr. Odair said before saying, "I wish to stay in this moment forever, methinks. Stand still, you ever-moving spheres of heaven, That time may cease, and midnight never come again!"

"Come what come may, time and hour run through the roughest day." Annie combated pouring herself some tea and taking the liberty to freshen Mr. Odair's cup. He smiled at her wickedly before saying,

"So it is Shakespeare you prefer?" Mr. Odair inquired, "And Hamlet nonetheless! I would have thought you to be more enamored with Romeo and Juliet."

"It shows how little you know me by." Annie said as she sipped her tea. "But that you should choose Doctor Faustus to quote upon your sick bed just emboldens my opinion of you as a whole."

"And what exactly is your opinion on me?" Mr. Odair inquired, "Of my looks and of my habits and of anything else you please to tell me. I often find myself wondering of your opinion for you are an enigma."

"Sir, your presence and at this request you have given me, I find myself thinking that very few masters would trouble themselves to hear a paid subordinates feelings." Annie stated, causing a riot of laughter to bubble from his throat.

"Ha! My paid subordinate! That honor belongs to my most distinguished and beloved father. But no matter, on that mercenary ground might I have an answer? Do you think me handsome?"

Annie should have deliberated so that she could have responded to the question by something conventionally vague and polite but instead with a slip of the tongue she said, "No sir."

"Ah! By God there is something singular about you! A quality in which no other woman in all the land is in possession! I often in my head cast you as I do ecclesial music, somber and grave and simple. You sit with your hands folded neatly on your lap and sit with a posture of regulation. And yet when one asks you a question, or makes a remark to which you are obligated to reply you state a rejoinder which, if not blunt, is at least brusque. You stun me into submission, for you are perhaps the first in all my life to say that of me!" Mr. Odair exclaimed with fervor, causing Annie's embarrassment at the exchange to heighten.

"Sir, I was too plain and I beg your pardon. I should have answered more diplomatically, and have reminded you that beauty if very much a subjective thing."

"You attempt to soothe my injured pride, but I will have nothing but the truth! Go on, what fault do you find in my appearance? My lack of vision may be grotesque, but I have been told my eyes are a fair color. I have all my limbs and other necessities, they all work accordingly and all the features of any other man. So what is it that you find so revolting?"

"Perhaps to others you are undeniably beautiful, but for me outer beauty has little to do with worth. It is what is within." Annie tried to explain, "I only meant that I crave friendship with someone of similar qualities and values."

"Qualities and values! Are my qualities and values different than yours?"

"Markedly, sir."

"Then name them and I shall try to rebuke."

"Very well, sir." Annie said, "You are self-absorbed, unrelenting, mystifying, and purposefully vexing. You do not respect others as you should, nor do you seemingly care of their feelings. Why, however I find perplexing. For either you do it because you are utterly unaware, or you do it because you want admiration, or some other cause that I cannot put into form or words, for obviously you are sensitive and thoughtful."

"By God you see into my soul!" Mr. Odair exclaimed, "Are you sure you are not a supernatural being?"

"Quite, sir. I am only commenting on my observations, for which I have no evidence for but experience over these past few weeks."

"Has it ever occurred to you, dear Annie, that I may perhaps just be lonely?" Mr. Odair asked her softly and she blinked.

"Why no, sir. You have everything and more than most shall ever have." Annie answered dutifully and he simply took another sip of his tea as he pondered his answer.

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, But in ourselves, that we are underlings." Mr. Odair quoted but did not elaborate. He simply lay there, looking exhausted and pale, his eyes unfocused but trained upon her with intensity, until he stated, "I would rather be happy, then to be dignified Miss Cresta. To me, it is my happiness that is most important. If that be the cost of other's happiness, then so be it. Life is too short but to waste but a second upon trying to make others happy."

"And you truly believe that?" Annie demanded, feeling her hands shake and her heart race in indignation. "Because for me it is certainly helping others that gives joy!"

"My philosophy is still true for you." Mr. Odair observed, "Just as promises are for the keepers and marriage is for each individual's happiness and religion allows people to sleep at night. Humans are really such vain and selfish creatures."

"Then why bother with me?" Annie said, standing up, "What is the use of all of this?"

"Because it makes me happy and it makes you happy. What other use exists in the world? If you truly believe that others cannot achieve happiness without your help, you are self-righteous." Mr. Odair said, "Even though I do not think you are."

"Then what do you think of me?" Annie asked him, feeling suddenly so tired.

"I think you are an admirable woman." Mr. Odair answered immediately.

"How could I be admirable if what you said of humans is true?"

"Because you really believe it." Mr. Odair said, "You really believe that being on this earth is for the benefit of others. That is why you deal with me so beautifully. That's why out of the whole of this Earth, I respect you the most."

"I hope I can change your mind." Annie said with conviction through her tears. "That you can help others and do great things and not just survive on this fake happiness."

"I hope so too." Mr. Odair agreed looking towards the window even though he could see no light, "I hope so too, Miss Cresta."

Not long after their heated debate, within a few minutes of silence Annie got up and made her departure, trying not to see the way Mrs. Cohen frowned so sadly. Annie walked back home despite the weather, hoping that the crisp air after the rain would calm her stinging eyes, but it was to no avail. Annie returned home crestfallen and unsure of what to do.

It was to be a long night, she thought as she blew out her candle. For she knew she was without the promise of sleep.

Hello my lovelies! It's been a while. I had to deal with some family emergency things and returning back to school, and since this was the fic I had most worked on it is being updated first. LS will be updated soon as well.

If anyone thought Annie was overreacting in the whole church scene, in Victorian Era England what Finnick did was totally improper. It would be today's equivalent of showing up for a date 2 hours late, spitting in your date's food, and insulting her parents with slurs on the way out the door before asking when the next time they can meet up and do it again is. But Annie also did something uncharacteristic and refused Finnick's demands. Something rather unheard of for the time, since women occupied a very precarious situation in society.

Also if anyone is wondering about the odd characterization of Finnick, I mostly based it off the fact that in my head cannon Finnick (and in actual canon) often had to play roles based off of the people around him. Having been stripped of his rights as an individual obviously would have left him bitter and pessimistic on the whole about humanity, while he put on a carefully crafted mask of seduction and outrageous behavior that eventually became somewhat of a coping mechanism. But it's never argued that there isn't good inside of him, and his real emotions often slip through the cracks. In this fiction, his rights are stripped also by a force outside of his control and he acts out in ways so that he can to cope. Thus it's funny how he quotes not only a man who is damned to go to hell, but a man who is damned to be betrayed, and he is quoted at with the story of a man seeking a vengeance that will be his undoing.

Well…that's at least how I think about it. A little insight into the thought process of Green.

And talking about damning and whatnot, references include:

The Bible

Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Julius Caesar, all by William Shakespeare.

Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe (or better known in contemporary society as the Faustus and Mephistopheles story)

Sherlock by the BBC (yep, for anyone who thought they were going crazy, I actually snuck one in there)

And obviously Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte and HG by Suzanne Collin

Obviously I don't claim to own any of these, but just hope that if you're curious to why I used what quotes where, read! Or…use Sparknotes. That too.

On another note, the plot to this story has been written out and will only be five chapters, or six depending on how the cookie crumbles. But in any case, I hope you all enjoyed, please leave of review/fav/alert to let me know you care. And until next time ~OMGitsgreen