Eliza's POV

Mr. Richtofen burst through the door around three o'clock today, taking me by surprise. Abruptly, I arose from my sitting position and rushed toward his form.

"Mr. Richtofen, is there something wrong?" I asked in a genuinely concerned tone. Consequently, he began pacing the room, running his hands through his hair and ignoring my question. I listened to him mutter things in German. Though I could not fully understand his native language, I could tell that he was clearly stressed out about something.

"Nein, nein, nein ... was habe ich mich da eingelassen? Nein... Nein, Nein!" Suddenly, Mr.Richtofen began to tremble, his legs and arms shaking.

"Mr. Richtofen!" I called, rushing toward the man, trying again to snap him back to reality. "Mr. Richtofen! Please snap out of it!" I yelled, nearly in his face, beginning to panic myself. Still the man would not respond, turning away and heading the other direction.

"Calm down, Edward... Calm down..." He spoke softly to himself.

Losing my wit, I marched over to Mr. Richtofen and grabbed his hand, placing my hand on his back for comfort. I couldn't bear to see him suffering this way, so different from the calm and collected man that once was there. I led him to the massive living area and pushed him onto the couch, where I pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him. He stared straight ahead, seemingly paralyzed.

"Richtofen!" I cried, forgetting the formal address which he was meant to be called. Suddenly, the life in his eyes returned, and he broke his stare, now gazing deep into my blue orbs. For a moment too long, he remained, until I stood up to fetch him a cup of water. What have you done now, Eliza? I thought, pouring the purified water into the clear glass. I inhaled deeply before walking back into the room.

"Here you go, sir," I sat the cup of water down on the end table next to Mr. Richtofen. Though he still seemed to be in shock, he also seemed to have regained his wits. Shakily, he picked up the glass of water and took a sip, and then a gulp.

"I'm... t-terribly sorry, Eliza," He stuttered, clutching the glass as if it were his prized possession. A heavy pink shade appeared on his cheeks, and he hung his head. "Something happened today."

I wasn't sure if I should attempt to find out more about this subject. Maybe I could relieve some of the man's stress by being a listener, but then again, I didn't know. The last thing I wanted to do was make him angrier.

"What happened, sir?"

Mr. Richtofen put his head in his hands, exhaling loudly. "They... gunned a man down in the street... He tried to flee but it was too late, they surrounded him... and..." He shook his head in disbelief, unable to go on. A flicker of light from the chandelier reflected off of the water pooling in his eyes.

"It's alright, Mr. Richtofen. You don't have to go on."

But he continued anyway. "And in the last moments of his life, his eyes met mine... and those eyes begged me to save him. Begged me to end his pain as the steel pumped his flesh," A single tear dropped from his eye, landing on the fabric of the couch. "But I could do nothing."

I sat in silence, trying to devise a way to comfort the man, but to no avail. This was the first time I had ever seen a man cry, and it surprised me so.

"I'm sorry, sir." I said, laying a soothing hand on his shoulder, disobeying one of Maxis's most important rules.

He looked up at me again and I removed my hand, thinking I had offended him in some way.

"Eliza," He said, barely able to muster a word.

"Sir?"

"Please call me Edward." His voice was in a low, hurt, but pleasing tone.

My eyes widened slightly at his suggestion. It didn't seem to be against the rules, as he did request... however, it didn't seem right to address him as anything other than Mr. Richtofen.

"Very well..." I said, blushing slightly, "Edward." I couldn't help but smile.