Other Places 1: Shortcuts (11 page)

She giggled, which had to be fake. No one as old as she was still did that, did they?

"Oh? Well, when I was a girl flowers were a thing a young man picked himself for you, and the lady provided the meal. Sometimes the desert as well." She winked at him. "That bit about the desert... It was a sex reference. I don't want to be too subtle for you."

Zack stared for a second, wondering what she really wanted, then he asked, since that was the way his brain was wired.

"Lenore, something's going on here and it clearly isn't about you trying to pick me up. If you wanted to do that it would probably be a lot more direct. I mean I obviously like you well enough. So what is it?" Before he could wonder too much, she sighed and answered, forcing her face into a wry look that couldn't possibly be real.

"Well, I really
do
need my hair done and would like you to come in Saturday morning so I can do that. Isn't that enough for me to try and get into your good graces?" A cool hand reached out and touched his arm gently, lingering for a while before she spoke again. "Can I count on you to do that?"

He nodded, knowing that whatever was really going on was probably going to bite him in the behind. Or the neck. Things pretty much always did anymore. Close to always. Turning suddenly she walked away, not waving or anything, picking up the phone as soon as she got behind the counter in her own shop. He could see her lips moving, but that was all. He couldn't read them or anything. The Vampire turned away so he couldn't see anyway.

After calling for a meal he had to wait for a bit, Conrad bringing the food for him, two burgers, a large container of seasoned French Fries and a soda that wasn't any brand he'd ever heard of. It was a cola, but that was all he could tell. Really good. They didn't speak at all, the small man just nodding to him and setting the things on the counter, not waiting for small talk or thanks at all.

The rest of the day went smoothly, until about eight in the evening, when Lisa, looking a lot less drugged out than the day before came into the store through the front, trying to use her key in the door, meaning she locked it before looking up to see him. The blonde woman looked baffled by it for a few seconds, as if it was odd that he had the store open, even though it was his job.

Walking in she smiled at him, blinking for a bit.

"Well, I didn't think you'd be here at all. You took off without a word last night. Are you alright?" At least the concern was genuine, as far as he could tell.

"Sure. I mean, sore and like I'm about ninety, but other than that, great. Is there a way that we could get a throw rug?" Walking to the model train display, with its little Christmas village, he pointed out a line on the floor to the wall socket. "If we can cover the cord we can have a moving display. Oh! Music too? Maybe we could just get a radio or something, find a station with seasonal music on it?"

That got her to start walking to the back, waving at him to follow, her cream colored handbag firmly in her grasp.

"We have a sound system. It's in my office, but you can use it. Play whatever you like. Except country music. I can't stand it." Leading the way she pointed out the cabinet with the black and silver thing in it and found a classical music station on the radio that wasn't too bad. It wasn't seasonal, but he could get something from the store soon and bring it in. There was still money left from the decorations after all.

The woman, who smelled like sweet perfume, looked at him frankly then. It was the kind of thing he was used to people doing when they were about to fire him for being strange. That would suck, since he hadn't even gotten paid yet. He tensed a bit, and knew he must have looked funny, since she made a face and shook her head.

"I... hate to ask this of you, since you've been working so much, but could you cover tomorrow too? It's an emergency, another one. I know that I need to be here more, but we have a major dispute on the East coast. Some Shifters getting into a boundary situation with the Vampires there. The problem is that we have 'aid in extremis' agreements with both of the local groups there, which basically means that we
have
to set up some kind of peaceful resolution, since we can't help them both if fighting breaks out, which we'd be obligated to do. It's a rotten situation, since, unless they agree to move past this like adults, we get stuck in the middle. It could lead to war." Her face looked a little hard then. "We don't need that. No one ever does. Anyway, Maddy asked me to go along with her and father. Basically as muscle." She flexed, which made him smile a bit.

"Ah... OK, I can do tomorrow, but I'm supposed to watch Yoghurt World Saturday morning. I don't know for how long. I guess I can do both. Is that alright? I can... I don't know, put up a sign saying that people should signal me if they need help?" It was a horrible way to do business, but Lisa seemed fine with it.

"Would you? That's... You know, we all thought that you'd just... left last night. Maddy said she didn't know how you'd react, because of your past? Especially when Wu-Li explained that you killed a man to save Rebecca. Your friend Troy nearly kicked my Dad's ass you know. It was funny. He, my father, said that we couldn't trust you, since you were an unknown and that meant you might be dangerous. I grabbed his arms and yelled for Troy to get him, but no joy, Troy is apparently too grown up for that kind of thing." Her eyebrows went up a bit. "We don't get along very well. It's... You know that, Deidre and I..."

He rolled his eyes then, "that she's your girlfriend? Also that your drug abuse is getting in the way of your relationship? I got that part of things. Your dad's being a bit of a douche about the whole thing though. I mean, she's great and while you're having some problems, all of that seems to be situational. This is what? A four person job? If I were Maddy I'd start trying to groom you for a higher position too. You're clearly awesome."

Lisa frowned then shook her head.

"You know, that part of you is annoying. Do you always have to just burst out with the truth like that? I know that it isn't Aspergers or anything, you clearly get that I have emotions and seem to have empathy for others. Is that part of the whole kidnapping thing?"

From her body posture they were, he realized, fighting. He nodded though, trying not to lose his job.

"Yeah. At least I think so. I just have a block of missing time, sixteen months. When I left I was normal and could do magic, when I came back I was crazy, and like this. My mirror started talking to me a few years later, that kind of thing. I
have
to tell the truth though. I mean, I can keep my mouth shut, sometimes, or be a little playful and goof around, but it's really hard. Things just come out sometimes. It's always what I think though. That doesn't mean I'm right, since that would be way more useful, just that it's what I really believe at the moment."

It wasn't much of a plea for his job, but then, it seemed, she didn't require begging from him. The woman wiggled a finger in front of her mouth, sighing and then making a funny blubbering noise with her lips.

"Great, so I get Deidre riding me about stuff at home and you here. I don't need two wives, you know." There was a dark smile to go along with the words at least. "You'll take over here though? Just for a few days? It might be longer..."

"No problem. Hey... Um, I don't want to be a pain, but, how do I get paid here? Does a check come in the mail or..." They hadn't even talked about
what
he was paid at all, much less when he was supposed to get anything.

She held up her right hand and shuffled to the back, her steps springy enough it was clear that she was hyped up on something. It might piss her off to hear about it, but she was so clearly addicted it wasn't funny. She might not want two wives, but the idea she didn't need them was ridiculous. Really, what she needed, was rehab. It was pretty clear that she wasn't going to be doing it for a while.

She was way too busy for that, wasn't she?

Maybe he could get with Bob and work something like that out for her. Secretly. So she wouldn't know to stop it by firing him. Otherwise she was going to burn out or die and then where would he be? Back to eating nothing but Ramen noodles and rationing even that. He was so skinny now that he looked anorexic and could hardly lift a small child anymore. Zack doubted he'd survive doing that again anytime soon. Not if it happened before he could build back up some.

"Here you go! The top envelope is your pay to date. I know it isn't a lot, but it's in cash and we don't actually pay taxes here. The bottom one is for store expenses while I'm gone, or to supplement your pay if things take too long. I'll leave my cell number and you have the big blue book, so you can get in touch with anyone you need. You might have to deal with some situations here, or people trying to put in petitions to the guild for various things. That's pretty paperwork heavy and we don't have time to go over it. Just call if anything comes up and I'll walk you through it."

Then she headed to the back office and from the sound of things was making phone calls. Whatever her job was, a lot of it seemed to be done that way. Talking on the phone. He hid the thicker envelope, the one for the store, under the counter in a small basket with folded bits of silk in it. He glanced in the envelope that held his pay and counted it. Twice.

It was nine hundred and sixty dollars.

For a second he wondered if he had the wrong envelope, since he figured that he'd get maybe three hundred and change. Sure, he'd put in a lot of hours, but minimum wage didn't add up that fast. It was the right one though, unless he was supposed to have a little over five thousand. When Lisa came out he asked, not wanting to ruin it, but not wanting her to get into trouble either.

"What? No, you
were
getting ten an hour to start, and then you gave yourself that raise, remember? More to the point, you started doing work as a guild official too, so you get more. It's not even close to what the job actually pays, but it's all I can reasonably take out of the budget right now without getting it cleared first. I'll get with Bob and see what we can do."

She waved and took off then, marching out quickly, digging for her keys as she did it. That caused him to look up in time to see that Lenore was back, across the way, busily putting on an apron. She was dressed differently, in far more modern clothing, which included tan slacks and a brown blouse. Edom was still there, as well as a dark haired girl that was awkwardly putting an apron on as well. Zack didn't have to go over to see that this woman was not at all pleased to be there. The frowning was a dead giveaway. Plus the crossed arms and tension in her neck as she busily stared at the back wall.

After locking up and tucking his pay into the inside pocket of his worn jacket he walked over, smiling as he did. It was at least something new, and he was in enough discomfort that he doubted that sleep, or even rest, was going to do a lot for him in the next day or so. At least this was something that might help keep him distracted for a while.

"Hello." The others nodded when he spoke, except the new person, who was pretty, but scowling and looking down instead of at him. Glaring at the floor now, as if it had personally wronged her.

"Good evening Zack." Edom walked around the counter and shook his hand firmly. "Great to have you aboard. This young lady will be training with you tonight. Barbara, this is Zack Hartley. He's going to be taking the morning shift at times for Lenore. That means that he outranks you, since he'll be in charge of the embassy during those times. If you try to drink from him, for any reason, I'll lock you in a box and not feed you for a month, understood?"

"Oh, come on Ed!" The woman rolled her pretty blue eyes and then grinned at Zack. "Kevin just thought I was being kinky and I didn't take much... I only formed a link..."

"Enough!" There was real anger in the man's voice then, a low growl that was deeper than a human could go. "You weren't made last week, I expect my people to be in control at
all
times, and to not bring their hungers to work with them. Mr. Hartley doesn't
just
work here, but at the Mage embassy as well, which you should have noticed, if you were paying attention. Angering him might well lead to hostilities, and that would lead to your death. Possibly my own, so think before you speak."

It seemed a bit over the top to Zack, but also like a family discussion, not something for him to get involved with. Lenore smiled at the other two and held out a spiral notebook. It had a clean brown cover on it, done in fabric.

"Please read this when you get a chance, or if you get stuck on how to do something. It has almost everything in it. First I'd like to go over how to properly care for, and clean, the store. If you have time to lean, you have time to make certain no one with supernatural senses finds anything wrong with my establishment. That means constant attention to detail, including ones that you probably won't think of as important."

The next hour was spent on pretty basic things, including how to run the register. Then there was a lesson on how to make the basic frozen treat set.

"Barb, you need to make the spiral tighter. We don't leave air gaps in our products. People coming here should expect quality." She glanced at Zack's which was a chocolate caramel creation, the plan for it being the third one listed in the book. She started digging in it and then dumped the whole thing in the sink, examining it as if it were something dead and she was the coroner. "Not horrible, but it was a little messy on the top. Three perfect lines of each drizzle, side by side. Do it again please."