Chapter 9
Ivy and I had just received our coffee when my phone started to ring. I didn't want to answer it and disrupt our time together but I couldn't stand the ringing either. I pulled my phone out to hit ignore but froze when I saw Trent's number. Suddenly my heart rate increased and I felt myself flush. Geez, I was acting like a school girl. Ivy patted my arm, "I'll go get us some cookies."
As she stepped away I flipped open my phone and pressed the green button. "Hello?" I don't know why I asked it, he was the one calling me.
"Good afternoon. Ms. Morgan, please." It was Trent's secretary, Sara Jane, which ticked me off for some reason.
"Yes," I said letting my frustration color the word.
"Mr. Kalamack would like to set up a meeting with you to discuss the appropriation of funds. When would be a good time for you?" He wants to set up a meeting? That's so . . . impersonal.
Before I could answer I heard Trent's voice in the background. "Do you have Ms. Morgan on the line," he sounded like his normal businessman self. Now I am "Ms. Morgan."
"One moment please," Sara Jane directed towards me. "Yes sir, I was just-"
"No need. Transfer her to my office. I appreciate your assistance but I will handle all affairs with Ms. Morgan personally."
"Yes sir," she sounded like a child who had just been scolded, though I never heard his voice go above a normal office level. "Ms. Morgan?"
"Yes," I tried to make it sound as flat as possible, no need to let her know I heard the exchange.
"I am going to transfer you to Mr. Kalamack. He will handle setting up your meeting. Please hold, thank you." The last was said without a response from me. I heard Sara Jane press a few buttons then the line go silent before office noises filtered in once again.
"Rachel?" Back to "Rachel" now. Trent's soothing musical voice sounded stressed, "I am sorry about that."
"It's not a problem," I said as lightly as I could manage.
"I told Sara Jane that I would be setting up a meeting with you so to keep me updated on all schedule changes and she took it upon herself to call you." He was rambling, that is something new. It makes me immediately feel bad for being upset.
"We need to have a meeting," I inquire trying to get things back on topic.
His voice returns to his normal speech pattern, "Yes, we have a few issues to discuss regarding the Rosewood Foundation."
Suddenly the thought occurs to me, I am working and sleeping with Trent. The ramifications of this could be bad. Either way, time with Ivy seems too important to pass up right now. "I won't be able to come in today," I state trying to sound business like yet not offensive.
"That's not a problem," he says managing not to include any emotions in the statement. "I was thinking tomorrow around 5:30," if I'm not mistaken he is smiling. I know I can't see him nor him me but I swear I can hear him smiling which makes me smile. "My last meeting of the day," he pauses briefly, "afterwards we could get a bite to eat." I blush for some reason.
"Sure, that sounds . . . nice." Oh God, am I flirting with Trent?
I hear a light laugh come from the other end of the phone causing me to blush a deeper red. "Good," he says and I can hear that his smile is wider now. "It's a date," he emphasizes the last word in the same manner that I emphasized "nice." My God we are flirting. I doubt I could turn any redder, but my skin tried its hardest. When Trent speaks again his musical voice that sends a shiver down my spine has changed into a sultry tone causing my shiver to turn into a wave of heat and anticipation, "Tomorrow. 5:30. Goodbye Rachel." The way he whispered my name . . . there are not words to properly describe the things it did to me. If I could have melted into his touch through the phone I would have.
"Bye," I managed to wheeze out before I fumbled to close my phone and put it back in my pocket.
Once my phone was once again securely placed in my pocket I realized Ivy was standing next to me with a cookie extended in my direction. "So you have a date with Mr. Kalamack tomorrow," she teased, smiling brightly.
"Looks like I do," I said as I took the cookie and broke off a bite. What am I going to wear, I thought as Ivy and I started walking once again.
"That nice green sweater," Ivy said and I realized that I had said the last comment out loud.
"Really," I asked. "You think it looks nice enough?" The next two hours were spent in full blown girl mode.
When we finally returned home, I decided it would be a good idea to call and see if Newt had recaptured Nick and to let Al know what little information I had gathered from Trent's FIB files. Ivy and Jenks didn't argue with me speaking to Al, they deal with it a lot better now than they did at first. They understand that he is not out to intentionally hurt me. It makes things easier when I don't have to fight with them over calling Al, though they would not be thrilled if it was any other demon.
I gathered my mirror and headed into the living room, for comfort reasons. Since the sun had set, Bis was awake and decided to join me. There was no real reason for him to be here, but the young gargoyle felt responsible for me. How odd is that? So I let him stay.
I sat on the couch Indian style and settled the wine tinted glass in my lap. It still felt slippery, but I was getting use to the feeling and it no longer blew the top off of my creep meter. I set my hand instinctively on the correct glyphs; I still don't know exactly what will happen if I place my hand in another manner. The line that runs through my yard was already humming in me. I didn't even realize that I was connected to it, which worries me a little. Opening my mind, I enter the collective to be met with the constant jabber of all the demons just hanging around in there. "Rachel calling Al," I said out loud so that Bis would be included in the conversation as much as possible.
He picked up immediately, surprising me, Yes? That is strange; he didn't have his British accent on as strong as normal. May be his is distracted.
"Hey Al, its Rachel."
Well who else would it be Love? The accent was there as strong as normal now.
Great he is calling me love, what is he upset about. I decided not to answer the question seeing as it was probably rhetorical anyways. "I wanted to check on the Nick situation." I hated how my voice and thoughts radiated hesitation.
The feeling of humor and disappointment rolled through my mind, And what situation with Nick would that be? Hmm? It was thought sarcastically and a little angrily.
Oh crap, I forgot I hadn't talked to Al about Nick yet. I winced and I knew he had felt it as his wave of emotions switched to amusement. It figures that Al would be upset about me not talking to him, he is a little possessive like that. "I'm sorry," I hedged. "Geo contacted me and I had to call Newt."
Mmm, and what did Newt say Love? At least he is only calling me love and not one of his many other nicknames that would mean I was in more trouble. "Love" trouble I can get out of easily.
"Look, I am sorry," I tried again. "It has been a crazy couple of days. Newt was supposed to capture Nick and tell me."
And what part do you play in this little transaction? You trying to save the little booger again?
I didn't try to hold back my amusement of him thinking that I was doing this behind his back to help Nick, far from it. "No Al."
What exactly do you find so funny, Dove? I know you have a nasty taste for little men like him. Really, you need to improve your pallet. I'd be happy to help with that as always.
I could not stop my eyes from rolling at his usual sexual comments. We both knew it was never going to happen, but I think he honestly likes allowing his filthy mind to control his mouth. "Stop Al. You know I hold no positive feeling towards crap-for-brains, he is the reason Ceri and Pierce are dead." May be the reminder of Ceri and Pierce would help him remember just how much I would like to see Nick dead.
I felt a flash of anger, that I believe was directed towards Nick, and grief at the mention of Ceri's name. Al really did care about her, even if he kept her as a slave for a thousand years. Ok, so what is it my Itchy Witch has to talk to me about?
"I think I know some of what Nick was up to this side of the lines."
And that matters to me because?
"What he was after he couldn't use or do by himself." The conversation went smoothed out and Al was not happy about Nick's newest acquisitions.
He must be getting help from someone.
"That is what I am thinking, but who would be brave enough to use Newt's familiar for something like this?"
I don't know, but I am going to find out. His anger was strong, stronger than I had expected it to be. Did Al care if something happened to Newt?
We discussed the possible end game based on what had already been taken. Nothing for sure that we could tell, but nothing good either.
I stumbled around my room searching for the matching shoe to the one I had on, somehow they had ended up separated. I could wear a different pair, but I was going for kickass sophisticated not closet roulette. I had put on a black tank top and a pair of slacks the pixy children had done my hair into a nice loose braid, the green sweater Ivy suggested I wear was laid out on my bed waiting for me.
"Finally," I mutter to myself as my hand touches the second shoe, hidden under my bed. I pulled on the half boot and looked at my feet. Yup, looks good but still able to run and kick someone's face in. Feeling sassy, I pranced over to my dresser and selected one of the only perfumes that I had that was not an experiment to cover my scent from Ivy's instincts, light with a hint of floral to accent my naturel redwood smell. I sprayed into the air three times and twirled into it. I didn't want the artificial scent too heavy, just light enough to make him wonder. The thought brought a smirk to my face. I can't believe I am actually getting "done up" to go see Trent . . . for a date. And I am excited about it. Go figure.
With the light perfuming done, I slipped on the green sweater and moved to my long mirror to evaluate the outfit as a whole. The sweat was a loose V-neck that could be adjusted to show as much skin as I wanted. That's what I liked about this top, multiple looks. I played with the positioning till it sat a little crooked, exposing more neck and shoulder on my right side. Hmm, a little too forward for walking into his office. I blush at the truth in the thought before adjusting the sweater to sit more center. There.
Ivy was waiting for me out in the front living area. I stepped into her line of sight and circled once, "What do you think?"
She smiled, "Perfect." Rex decided that a little bit of cat hair would be a nice accessory as he twirled around my ankles.
"Really, you think it's alright," I probe needing a little more than a one word answer to be sure.
Jenks flew in right as Ivy answered, "I'd bite you." She winked at me and I rolled my eyes in response.
"We all know that," came Jenks's huff from above our heads.
"What are you looking for," I ask as he flies from beam to beam.
"Oh you know," he begins in a voice that I know if half distracted but still capable of pulling off some good smartass responses. "Your dignity, a piece of twine, and some honey. May be an old moth or two" I don't even know if I want to know where his jab is going.
Choosing to ignore any of his further comments, I look back to Ivy to see a whimsical look in her eyes. Ok, I officially think someone has replaced Ivy with a fake. "You ok?"
She quickly recovers and realizes that I had seen . . . whatever that was. "Yea," it was short and to the point.
"Ok," I hesitate, "I'm off then." I move to give Ivy a hug and she braces me harder than I had expected. Jeez, I'm just going out with Trent. Ok, true that statement would be cause for worry two years ago, but not now.
"Aw, that's so sweet I could fart fairy balls." Ivy and I both sigh but refrain from smarting off at the little man as we end our hug.
I spent the majority of the drive out to Trent's place wondering what he was expecting of me and how things would go. Needless to say I was getting myself pretty worked up in more than one way.
My nerves cracked up a notch when I reached the security house at the gate. They knew my car and waved me on through with a "Good evening Ms. Morgan." My heart rate steadily increased as I wove my way through the line of trees that didn't fool me as anything but planned. Slowly the building came into sight and a walking guard flagged me down. "Good evening Ms. Morgan," he beamed at me. "I was asked to direct you towards the garage where Mr. Hansen will escort you to your meeting with Mr. Kalamack." Oh no, Quen. I smiled sweetly back at him and thanked him before pulling off to the left and into the garage area.
I had been in the garage enough times to know where to go and how to get to just about anywhere in the compound from there. Quen knew this, so I was betting he was wanting to speak with me about Trent's newly dissolved engagement. Fun. Though I do wonder what he had to say about it, I was betting he was not going to be happy.
As I parked in one of the empty spaces, I saw Quen emerge from one of the exits. Here we go. It was hard to read emotions on Quen, I guess he is where Trent learned it from, but if I had to estimate his current state I'd say he was not happy. I took a deep breath to steady myself and exited the car. "Hi Quen," I tried to sound bubbly, which I sucked at, but may be if I presented a happy front so would he. "How are the girls?" Another safe and happy subject we could choose to talk about instead of whatever is rumbling through the mind of yours.
"Good evening Rachel. They are good as always." Nope, it didn't work. He sounded grumpy.
Let's try a different tactic. "I am surprised to see you working. I figured you would be chasing the little terrors around." It worked a little better; he smiled at my tease about the girls.
"Mrs. McAvoy is watching them. I wanted to speak with you." Crap, his grumpiness just increased. He held out his hand and motioned for me to go ahead of him indoors.
I resigned myself to my fate and remained silent as we made our way into the building and down one of the business like halls. "Trenton informed me that he and Ellasbeth will not be getting married," it was a statement made with just enough question in his voice that it demanded I nod in response. "This worries me."
There was no pressing need for me to speak so I remained quiet. Out of the corner of my eye I saw him glance at me before he started back up, "There are many things I want for Trenton, and his happiness is one of them. But the needs of our people have to be put ahead of any one person's desires." I nodded my understanding. "If there is a way to accomplish both I hope the two of you will find it. As it is, we are standing on the cusp of an Elven war." It was not said threateningly but the warning was there.
I looked up to meet his eyes and saw the truth of his statement. "Is Trent aware?"
"My Sa'han knows of the danger," he bowed his head. "But I fear he does not fear it."
"I see," I didn't know what else to say at that point.
Quen stopped and placed a grabbed my arm to pull me to a stop facing him. "You have to understand, this goes far beyond the two of you. I want nothing more than to see the two of you happily together, but there has to be another way." Quen's eyes held more panic than I had ever seen in him before. "You must find a way to prevent the war. Trenton's marriage to Ellasbeth may be the only way," his last statement was said dreadfully and his eyes sagged with sorrow. "You have always found a way to make the impossible possible," his dark eyes searched my face. "Do it again."
Words escaped my mind and all I could do was muster the strength to nod once before we began walking again.