Drei, who had reappeared
overnight, didn’t want me to go; he insisted I shouldn’t press my luck. It
wasn’t a surprise when I objected; I had to go. When the day proved sunny, he
attempted again to talk me out of going. Then, relenting, he brought out an
umbrella and made me swear I wouldn’t forget to use it. Though his worrying
seemed like it was because he thought I was incapable of managing myself, I
knew it was because he loved me and he worried.
He wasn’t coming with me,
despite my asking, and it was because he was still working on his secret
project. I promised myself if his project wasn’t done by the time I had brought
everyone together for a first official meeting, I would ask—and when I did, I
would have an answer.
At first, it was strange walking
through the streets with an umbrella—something came up and I assured Ian I was
fine walking there. But after a while, I realized people didn’t care; they
weren’t staring at me. Most of the people who even glanced at me probably
either questioned my sanity or suspected I had a heightened threat of skin
cancer or something to that effect. It made me grateful for the city.
Caroline was waiting in the
lobby when I arrived.
“What’s with the umbrella?” she asked,
gesturing to it, her lips scrunched to the side in disapproval.
“Direct sunlight is detrimental
to my health,” I said, shrugging. “Shall we meet your lawyer?”
After eyeing me a moment longer,
perhaps hoping to lure a better answer from me, she conceded; “Angeline’s
waiting for us upstairs.”
It wasn’t long before Caroline
was leading me into Angeline Baxter’s office, which may have been poor timing
on our part as she was angrily talking into her speakerphone about someone
named Brommer.
“…And you know what he did
today? He had the nerve to assume how I make my coffee every morning. So, not
only does he show me up in success rate—which doesn’t even make sense since he
doesn’t have nearly as many connections within the system as I do—now he’s
trying to get to know me?” she complained, pacing behind her desk as Caroline
and I sat down. “He makes me so angry.”
Caroline let her rant on a short
while longer before clearing her throat—more from boredom than irritation.
“Oh, I’ve got to go. My twelve
o’clock is here,” she asid, and the person on the other end assured her they’d
talk more later. “Sorry about that.” Angeline sat down, composing herself. “It’s
great to see you again, Caroline. Nothing wrong, I hope.”
“Not at all,” Caroline assured
her, sitting back and lacing her fingers together in her lap. “I’m actually
here because my friend, Leirba Jones, is looking into beginning an endeavor and
wanted to make sure she had legal backing.”
“You must be Miss Jones,”
Angeline noted, facing me. A strand of her brunette hair fell free from her
careful pinning; she shoved it behind an ear, her hazel eyes scanning me to
figure out what kind of endeavor this was exactly and how much quick thinking
she was going to have to do.
“It’s nothing necessarily
illegal,” Caroline offered, studying her nails now.
“I’m starting a revolution and I
need to make sure what I do won’t be slowed down with legal problems,” I
elaborated, sitting upright, my hands folded in my lap. “Caroline tells me
you’re the best.”
“Caroline told you right,” a tenor
voice said from behind us. Caroline and I turned to stare at the stunning young
man entering the room. He was easily five eight and of a slender build, dressed
in a brown three piece suit. His hair was clean cut and auburn in color, and
his dark gray eyes glinted joyfully as he approached the now standing with her
hands on her squared hips Angeline. “Miss Baxter is the best. It’s an honor to
work for the same firm as her.”
“What’s this about?” she
demanded defensively as he stopped just before her. She tried to stand
straighter to appear taller than her five foot six height—with heels—but she
only succeeded in seeming slightly flustered. “You have no right to interrupt
my meeting.”
“I just wanted to see what kind
of new clientele you were attracting,” he said, glancing a moment at Caroline
and I before turning his eyes back to her.
“You could have seen from the window
instead of interrupting us,” Angeline snipped, though I had the feeling it was
more for show.
Caroline was disinterested,
studying her nails again, waiting for it to pass. I couldn’t help but wonder if
Angeline was always so easily distracted. Though watching her and whom I
assumed to be Mr. Brommer, I was beginning to see why he bothered her. That
wasn’t the only thing I picked up on, though. There was something about Mr.
Brommer that was different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it but I knew he
was here for a reason.
“You’re both hired,” I stated,
standing up.
The two stared blankly at me,
their prior conversation forgotten. Mr. Brommer spoke first; “What?”
“Both of you will be my legal
consultants for the duration of my movement,” I elaborated to catch him up. “I
want you to work together.”
“But—” Angeline began.
“Are we done then?” Caroline asked,
looking up from her nails for the first time in five minutes.
“Justin Brommer,” he introduced,
shaking my hand, then Caroline’s. “I’d be delighted to work with Miss Baxter
for you.”
“I know,” I assured, smiling
kindly. “We’ll be in touch.”
Caroline added, “Charge my
account for payment. It was nice to see you again, Angeline.”
In the elevator, I said, “You
don’t have to cover the costs.”
Facing the elevator doors,
Caroline replied, “I want to.”
“I don’t want you paying for
everything, Caroline.”
“I’m going to, whether you want
me to or not,” she said in her annoyingly level voice. There was no way I could
convince her otherwise.
Shaking
my head, I relented the argument. Some things would never change.
No comments:
Post a Comment