Chapter Six #2
As we walk through, the lady at the desk looks down at Adrianne and Falon. I smack my hand on the desk in front of her and her gaze pops up to mine.
“Can I help you?” she snarks.
“What’s your name?” I ask her.
“Carrie.”
“Well, Carrie, I suggest that you do your damn job, before I make a call to a man who will take your job.” Her mouth falls open, but I don’t give her time to speak again. “Tell the headmaster, Miss Rossi is here to see him.”
She scoots back from her chair and heads down the hall. When she returns, a man in his mid-forties follows behind her and holds his hand out for me. I take it and shake hands.
“What can I do for you, Amelie?”
“I think this is a conversation best suited to your office.”
Just as he goes to speak Frost joins us.
“Sure, follow me.”
“Frost, watch the kid. Adrianne, let’s go.”
We both follow him to his office and he shuts the door before walking to his desk and taking a seat, gesturing for us to do the same.
“How can I help you?” he asks, plastering on a smile.
“Let’s cut the shit, I know what you said, and before you try and deny it my employee is not a liar.
She has no reason to lie. You were given very simple instructions.
Hold an interview, fill in the forms and say Falon qualified for the scholarship.
Then send through the paperwork to Sawyer Knox and it would all be taken care of.
Were those instructions not simple enough? ”
“Of course they were,” he snaps.
“Is our money not good enough for you? Because being ‘sick of charity cases’ insinuates that you are giving us something. What are you giving me, Paul?”
“A headache,” Adrianne interjects and I hold back a smile.
“I apologise for the mix up. I will rectify it right now.”
“Thank you. I'm going to send Sawyer a message now and tell him to expect the paperwork tonight. That way Falon can start school tomorrow. And I expect no more mishaps.” I stand, and so does Adrianne. She walks towards the door and I lean across his table. “I know you know who I am. Do not think this will go away unnoticed. You will be pulled into a disciplinary meeting soon. You might not like that I’m in charge, but you need to get used to it. I’m not going anywhere. ”
Fear ripples across his face. “I’m so sorry. It will never happen again.”
“Good. I expect to hear good things from Falon.”
I step back and head out the door. I look at my watch and realise I’m super late for school. But as I’m late anyway, it gives me time to track down Baxter.
After we drop Adrianne back off at her motel I call Sawyer.
“Hey beautiful.”
“Hi. I wanted to call to give you a heads up that Falon's paperwork should be coming through.”
“Already received. And sorted.”
“That was quick. Maybe I scared the life out of him. Do we do disciplinary meetings?”
Sawyer laughs. “We do.”
“Good, because I told him he had one. Also, do we have personal shoppers?”
“That we don't have.”
I have a brilliant idea.
“Well, we do now. I’ll get Elsie to help me. I will however need a credit card with some serious cash. I want Adrianne and Falon to go shopping.”
“You know we’ve already gone over budget getting her here. The Order hasn't paid for this, Kalen has. The house, the car, the school. It's all him.”
“Do I have money or authority for money?”
“You do.”
“Good. I need it.”
“Okay, I’ll organise a card that will get them what they need.”
“How much do I have? Out of curiosity…”
“That's something you’ll have to get one of the accountants to tell you.”
“Sounds good. I’d love to stay and chat but I have a pain in my ass to hunt down.”
“Kalen?” he guesses.
“No, I’ll find him later tonight. Right now it’s Baxter.”
“Okay, I love you. Be careful.”
We end the call. Be careful. Baxter wouldn’t hurt me. I wish they’d understand that.
Frost takes me back to school, and Jasper is waiting out the front. I slip out and wave to Frost before he takes off. I think today has been enough people-ing for Frost.
“Over your tantrum?” I ask.
“Give me a break. I like her and she can be impossible. It wasn’t even that she was with someone else. How can she hook up with her after everything she did last term?”
“I get it,” I say. And I do. I really do.
Elsie must be out of her damn mind to hook up with Marcia after everything.
My bestie is clearly hurting, and I need to find out why.
And help her. “Just tone it down around Onyx. He’s been super on edge since I’ve been back.
Now, if you’re good, I have to go find Baxter. ”
“You mean we have to find him.”
I don’t bother arguing for once. Jasper grins and falls into step beside me.
I set off to hunt his usual spots where he likes to lurk in the shadows. We don’t find him anywhere, and we only stop when I realise I only just have enough time to run to my room to change and get to lunch.
When we get to the cafeteria Elsie is sitting with Kalen and the twins. I’m sure that was Kalen’s idea because the twins are never considerate enough to think to invite her.
When I reach the table, Onyx reaches out for me and pulls me onto his lap. He peppers kisses on my neck. It’s very…un-Onyx-like but I like it.
Jasper heads to the line to get my food and Elsie's eyes follow him the whole time.
“Do you possibly want a job?” I ask Elsie.
“Doing what?” she asks cautiously, like I might be about to ask her to become The Order’s top fire starter or some shit.
“Well, I have someone who needs a personal shopper.”
She claps her hands in excitement and that sets off Kalen, who joins her. Only he looks like a piss-taking demented seal. I cut him a look, and his smile drops when he notices. He mouths ‘what?’ at me and I shake my head. He batts his lashes at me and gives me puppy dog eyes.
“We’ll talk later,” I tell him.
“Looks like we get dibs tonight, Kalen,” Slate jokes, and I backhand him in the chest.
“So when do you need me to help?”
“After school. Sawyer is bringing a card. All I need you to do is make sure the kid gets everything, and I mean everything, a kid his age needs. I'm not up to date on gadgets and whatnot. Clothes for both, and if it's not too much for you, furniture too.”
“Do we have the layout of the house?”
“I’ll ask Sawyer. I'm sure he knows. I want them in their house by the weekend. So make sure you flash the card around and make it happen.”
Elsie smiles at me. Onyx pulls me back into him and wraps his arms around my waist as Jasper puts my food down in front of us. I smile up at him and he goes back to his spot against the wall.
Now that’s all sorted I can focus back on finding new recruits. I didn't want to have to ask the guys for help, but I honestly don't know where to start.
I’m deep in thought over lunch while the others chatter around me.
I can feel Slate watching me, and he knows something is up, but he doesn’t reach out to me.
I try to push those feelings to one side and concentrate on Order business.
I’m looking to recruit half a dozen or so women in.
Yes, we’ll still be outnumbered, but I’d rather have a few women who are strong and capable and able to prove themselves than a whole heap who are useless and make my decision look poor.
I guess I might sort of have Elsie on a casual, temporary basis, and I have my assistant, Adrianne. So maybe I only need four others. That makes the task more manageable.
I think about roles within The Order that would be better suited to women, and as much as I hate Sawyer’s earlier comment about using Elsie for the power of seduction, I know he’s right.
Honey traps are an excellent way of gathering information, dirt, and power over our enemies.
I just don’t want to pimp out my best friend.
Doesn’t mean that there’s not a woman out there somewhere who would like the job though.
In terms of other roles, I need to find out more about what The Order does. There’s no point in hiring or recruiting just for the hell of it. Sure, I could have a female hitman…, hit-person…but with Baxter being the best already, what would be the point?
The bell rings, and I realise I’ve barely touched my lunch. I hastily get to my feet and grab my bag.
“Hey, you haven’t eaten,” Onyx murmurs gently.
“I didn’t have time. I’m fine,” I reply dismissively. His eyes flash dangerously.
To placate him I grab the sandwich off my plate and shove it into my mouth while walking away. My next class is self defense – yes some genius really timetabled intense exercise right after lunch – so I don’t want a full stomach anyway.
“Okay, okay, keep your hair on,” I say through muffled bites of sandwich, grinning at him with my mouth full.
A flash goes off and I blink just in time to see Kalen slipping his phone back into his pocket.
“Fucking stunning, sis! We’re so lucky to have a looker like you,” he taunts.
I flip him the bird and head off in the direction of the gym, calling over my shoulder as I go, “Not your damn sister, Kalen.”