MiniStark: You sure?
ProfessorX: 100%
MiniStark: ok, thanks bro. Btw, stop changing my nickname to Ministark
ProfessorX: Not my fault if you're the smallest of the pack. I'm sure I'm almost as big as you now (when I'm sat in my wheelchair :D )
MiniStark: Stfu. Go to bed now, it's like 3am in the Uk.
She sighed and smiled at her stupid brother, and put her phone in her pocket.
This was really weird. 515 Essos Blvd wasn't one of the fancy flats on Essos Boulevard with the big windows and the designer furniture. It was the Gourmet Restaurant at the very end of the Boulevard.
It was quite an impressive thing from the outside, with columns and marble stairs. Curiosity had pushed her to take a look at the ridiculously fancy menu, on which the prices were not indicated. It said it only opened for the public on Tuesdays and Fridays evenings. Today was Friday, it had only been four days since the email but it felt like an eternity. Surely this place would be crowded in a few hours. According to Google it was a three stars restaurant, the place to be seen in, where powerful Oriental rulers and rich pop stars go eat too on special occasions. Apparently the waiting list to get a table was longer that the huge Boulevard it was situated on.
But that didn't solve her problem.
How could her email come from that place?
Maybe the Chef was a friend of Jaqen's, or his brother in law or whatever. But how could he have been in Germany at the exact same time they were? She had checked on the internet and it was not specified that the restaurant had had a recent vacation.
So it couldn't be the Chef who had followed them and taken pictures of them. But who else in this freaking institution would've had enough time to stalk on a comedian and his student at the other flipping end of the world?
Maybe she should knock and ask to see the person in charge of the emails. But how stupid would that be? Little old her in her stained sweat-shirt and her dirty snickers walking in that fancy restaurant in which the tiles are probably shinier than her future, asking to see a person she wouldn't even know what to say to.
Ugh
She thought about leaving for an instant.
I mean, I will probably not like whatever this person has to say to me, if they do have something to tell me…
But at this moment a guy in a truck opened a big electric gate on the side of the building. Arya wasn't entirely sure that this gate led to the inside of that fancy restaurant, but she had to try it. So she sneaked behind the truck and entered with it.
It drove down a small alley and entered a little courtyard. The dim light of this day of December was obstructed by the tall trees and the high walls, which made the small courtyard look like some kind of bubble ostracised from the world. She hid behind some bushes. What the hell had she done now?
The guy got out of the vehicle and a few other people came out of the back-door of the building (which probably led to the kitchen, Arya guessed) and helped him get the crates of vegetables out. She shivered in her hiding place.
Fuck
What kind of stupid idea was that
How the hell would she get out of here now?
Maybe I'll wait for him to be done delivering the food and follow him out again through the electric gate, she planned. But a part of her was disappointed. She would never know about that freaking email.
Who the hell in this place would be crazy enough to fly at the other end of the world just to stalk-
Her eyes caught a familiar face walking at the other end of the small courtyard, and it was like a strike of lightning in her mind.
The annoying blonde from Germany
She processed for a few seconds. What the hell was she doing here?! And why would she be in that freaking restaurant? And-wait… now that she saw her face again… that girl did look a lot like the wife on Jaqen's wedding picture. But something about their faces wasn't strictly identical. She would've gladly gotten her phone out to be able to compare directly, but she was too afraid to make some noise by ruffling the leaves surrounding her.
Maybe she's the sister of Jaqen's wife…
That'd explain… why she was so mad about seeing me when we met during our trip, the teenager realized.
The blonde disappeared behind a wall, and Arya was too eager to know more. She threw a quick look around. The guys were inside with the vegetables. She sprung out and followed her on the other side of the building.
Her heart beat fast, her breathing accelerated.
What the hell will I say should someone ask why I'm here?
But that wasn't what troubled her the most.
Why the hell is she here? Is this some kind of comedian's secret meeting place or something?
Careful about staying out of sight, Arya followed the young woman. They went down some stairs, and she was able to catch the door without a sound and enter the underground part of the building. There were cold neon lights inside, and shiny tiles on the ground, and it looked more like a dentist's cabinet than a restaurant. The woman looked like she knew exactly where she was going in this labyrinth. Arya struggled to follow her, cursing herself because there was no way she could get out of here on her own now. She hid behind a corner when the young woman stopped and talked to a guy who crossed her way.
She couldn't hear what they were talking about, and after a few seconds she realized it didn't sound like English.
Damn it- what a stupid idea I've had
What should I do now?!
She discretely looked out to make sure they were still here, and analyse the situation.
When she's done talking to him him I'll go over to her and ask her if she knows anything about Jaq-
"Hey, you!", the guy yelled after they made a quick eye contact.
Fuck
"How'd you get in?!"
Fear caught her guts. She thought about running away but she wouldn't find the way out of this maze.
Shit shit
Well, at least she still had the email to show them that she had a reason to be here, but she wasn't sure if she could explain why she was kissing that old guy on the pictures if they asked to see them.
"I uh- I'm looking for-"
"She's with me.", the blonde intervened. She looked calm, which struck Arya.
The man shot her a confused look and shook his head. He examined Arya some more, and sighed, as if he were… disappointed. Arya felt like slapping him, but she was too confused herself to do anything.
"Elle ne devrait pas être ici. Le chef sait qui elle est. Rien de bon ne lui arrivera.", he said.
Damn it- was that French? Ugh- she should have studied French a little more seriously in elementary school. What the hell did he say? Something about her, that… the chief knew her? And that nothing… tasty would happen to her? What?
"Je sais. Je vais la faire sortir.", the woman answered.
"Fais le avant qu'il ne la voie.", he said before leaving, his face cold, and the woman caught a tight hold on Arya's arm.
"What is-", Arya tried to intervene.
The woman pulled her through another corridor and spun her to face her.
"How did you get in?", she asked, but she seemed…impressed, this time.
"I uh-", she blushed. Would she kick her out?
"I followed you."
She looked confused.
"I'll go, just, I have to-"
"You're Arya Stark, right?"
She frowned and the blonde let her shoulders go. She had an incredible strength for her size. She was barely taller than Arya and she looked like a waif. Also, she didn't look nearly as pissed as she did when they first met in Germany. She looked way more serene and… kind.
"How d'you know me?", Arya asked.
"Did you send me this-"
"You should leave.", she said, alarmed this time. She caught her sleeve and dragged her back. The brunette was barely strong enough to resist her grip.
"Come on! Quick, you have to go-"
"No! Who sent me this email?! Was it you?!"
The woman looked around, breathing a little heavier, as if she were fearing that someone see them.
"Yes, it was me. It's for the best. Stay away from him, he'll stay away from you, and everyone will be happy. Now, please, you have to g-"
"No! I-", Arya clenched her teeth. So it was real. He was married.
"I don't want to mess around with… his marriage or anything-"
"Shhh", she said.
"I just want to know-", the teen continued, whispering.
"Please, tell me her name, I need to know."
"What? Why do you want her name?"
"I need to know, please, just tell me and you'll never see me again I swear, I just-"
There was the sound of footsteps in the corridor, and Arya heard the woman curse under her breath.
"Run, now!", the blonde seemed to be freaking out.
"Wait!", the teenager scoffed. Why was she so eager to kick her out? She looked like a character of some arcade game. She pushed her through the corridor towards the door but Arya tried to fight.
"Just give me five seconds, and I'll be-"
"Sister!", a voice called from a far, resonated against the walls.
"Fuck.", the one called sister whispered, closing her eyes. Her hold on Arya relaxed, and the sound of footsteps approached.
"Would you be kind enough to introduce our visitor?", a tall man with dark skin and a very chic suit said, assessing the young one from crown to sole. Arya blushed, feeling uncomfortable and very out of place. Damn it- what would she tell him? Was he the chief, or some important figure in that ridiculously fancy restaurant? How could she explain that she came here to know about a man's marriage, who he probably never heard of?
"Hmm…", he seemed to be examining her, and she lowered her eyes, freezing in place.
"My apologies for this welcoming, miss. Our sister lacks manners."
Sister?
The blonde sister lowered her gaze, and seemed very embarrassed. What the hell was going on? Oh god I hope I'm not getting her fired or something, she wished quickly. She seemed too strong and easily angered according to their confrontation in Germany, Arya didn't want to get in trouble with her. Well, considering the brunette's size, there were a lot of people she did not want to get in trouble with, but that had never refrained her from getting in trouble anyway.
She looked at the man. They looked nothing like siblings, the man was old and black and the woman was so pale she looked like some Russian top model. But… maybe they were adopted siblings. After all, she too had an adopted brother with whom she shared no blood.
But that seemed weird. That woman looked at least twenty years younger. If not forty, actually.
"What's your name miss, if I may?", he asked, his tone calm and reassuring.
"Please-", the woman intervened, a distressed look on her face that Arya did not understand. She was hushed by a raised hand from the man. He called her sister but he looked an awful lot like her superior. Her superior's superior, even.
"I uh…", Arya began to answer, not sure what to do.
"I'm Arya Stark."
She looked around, maybe for a way to escape this weird place.
The superior smiled and bowed his head in a manner that reminded her a lot of Jaqen. So much it almost made her uncomfortable. Yeah- they had to know each other. But she didn't know if that statement sparkled hope or fear in her.
"Well, Arya Stark, you could not be more opportune."
He turned his heels, and she looked at the woman, frowning. Her gaze was far and empty.
Opportune? What, they were expecting me?
"Uh… I'm sorry, I should-"
"Come.", the man said.
"Let me offer you a cup of tea."
A… cup of tea?
She threw a look at the woman again. She inclined her head, seemingly implying that she should follow him.
Oh God, she thought as she walked behind the old man through the neat corridors. There were quite a lot of them, and they were all white and clean, so white and clean they looked like a hospital. They even smelled like a hospital, which was very unsettling.
What the hell is this place? And should I really be following him? They look like really weird people…
Fuck, I hope they're not some psychos luring me to some weird room to kill me and make my body disappear-, the questions kept fusing in her mind. She even quickly imagined how easy it would be for them to make her body disappear in a freaking kitchen. They only had to bake her in a pie or something, and no one would ever find out the consequences of her-
Why in the world was I stupid enough to follow him?!
They entered through a double door, in a huge room with chandeliers and draped tables and fancy chairs. The restaurant.
In the meantime the woman had disappeared, it was just that old guy and her now. Arya gulped down and sat where he pointed that she should sit. Her fingers tried to find her bullet necklace to toy with it to get her nerves to cool, but she had forgotten to wear it today. That had happened a lot since she had met Jaqen, somehow he made her forget about Jon. She should probably start wearing it non stop again, now that they weren't… a thing any more.
She toyed with the bottom part of her shirt in proxy of her necklace, and her cheeks were red.
"Forgive me for the way you have been welcomed, miss.", the man said. His voice was deep and calm.
"How do you drink your tea? Green, with milk and sugar I suppose?"
"Uh… yeah, thank you.", she said, not further asking herself how he knew. Her British origins must be written on her face, she mused.
"I will be back in a minute.", he said, leaving her alone in that too fancy place.
Her dirty converse shoes contrasted with the red and gold carpet on the floor, and the daylight was hidden by heavy curtains, red too. The cutlery on the tables was so neatly displayed it looked like whoever did it used a ruler to dispose the forks and everything. But despite all of that, she wondered why all the fuss was about this place. Like, in the end it's just a restaurant.
The man came back, two pretty mugs in hands. He served her before settling down in front of her, and crossed his legs. He looked very posh. Surely this place belonged to him if he was free to drink tea in here whenever he wanted.
"I'm sorry miss. I suppose you are a bit confused by this masquerade.", he began, and she shook her head timidly.
"I believe you are close to the man who teaches you theatre. That would explain your presence here."
"I'm- I'm sorry for arriving here out of the blue. You see, I just wanted to know… well… I needed to know-"
He raised his hand to hush her, cutting her babbles. She blushed harder and lowered her eyes. This was a stupid idea-
"I am not here to judge you miss, or to give any explanations about him. It is for him to explain all he has to explain you. When the right time comes, I will make sure he does. Now, I am only here to propose you something that might interest you."
He took a sip of his tea.
"As you may have noticed, I am in touch with some comedians, as well as people from an artistic background. Your teacher, the woman you saw before, and a fair amount of others. We are all interested in human behaviour, and together we form a group who research and analyse characters. More specifically the behaviours of criminals during public cases."
"Like… amateur detectives?"
"I prefer the term criminal onlookers.", he smiled. He look very kind and poised.
She waited for him to continue his explanation, but he didn't. Yeah, that was a lot like Jaqen too. She also had to push sometimes to squeeze some words out of him. She was tempted to ask about the German again to get the answer she had been so eagerly looking for, but considering the old man's previous statement and his resemblance to him, he might do just like Jaqen and ignore her question, or turn around it and answer something totally out of place and make her forget about her inquiries.
"So uhm… what does that have to do with me?", she asked, unsure if her question was stupid or not.
"Well, considering your interest in matters of theatre and your liking for discretion, as I've heard, I thought you were a perfect profile for our little group. We study people and their behaviours to build a chart and better be able to detect criminals and prevent unfortunate events."
He finished his mug, and set it down delicately on the table.
"Before you ask for further explanation, I would like to add that this little job pays off. Quite well, at that. I know students your age struggle with money sometimes. Working with us for a short hour each night could provide you enough to live comfortably on your own, or properly help your family."
She thought about it. It would be nice to bring some money home. Jon and Sansa both had a job at her age. She wanted to be independent too.
"I uh… I don't know, I'd need to talk about it with… my sister. Is there some kind of contract or anything, also I'm not eighteen yet, I'm not sure I-"
He raised his hand, hushing her again.
"This is why discretion is one of our main criteria of recruitment. This business is resting on a beneficial exchange for both sides. You gift me your work, and I gift you a check in exchange. You need not to worry, all of this is legal. But since our locals are here, in this restaurant where I employ people for real, the line between what is legal and what is not sort of blurs out. Surely I can count on your discretion, miss Stark?"
Her eyes were round, and she shook her head to approve.
"Yes, of course."
Yeah, it would be nice to bring some money home. Arya remembered that Sansa always came home very late and was exhausted because of all the shoots she had had recently. Surely one more monthly check in this household would help her rest a little.
"Agreed, then?"
She shook her head again, and his smiled seemed satisfied.
"I shall address you to a man who will first show you what the job consists of. Of course, your trial period does not engage you to anything. Don't pressure yourself too much of course, but this is serious business for me, and considering the cheque that comes along at the end of the month, a reasonable amount of work will be expected of you."
He stood up, and she did the same.
"You shall meet him every day at seven until eight at the electric gate on the side of the building. He will open the door for you at first, but when your apprenticeship will be over, you will be able to come here whenever you want."
He led her through the corridors towards the back door again.
"You start tomorrow. Oh- and, miss Stark-"
"Yes?"
"If anyone asks, you shall say you work as a waitress here.", he smiled again, and disappeared.
Before going out again, she sighed, confused but determined.
What did I engage myself into?
The next day she was in front of the electric gate five minutes early. It was Saturday, everyone was out on Essos Blvd. She had skipped theatre again on the morning, both her private course and the main course. Of course, she hadn't gotten any text from Jaqen. He probably doesn't care that his puppet is missing his classes, surely he has others to play with, she had thought, angry to not see her phone light up at a worried message from him.
Ugh, she should slap herself each time she thought of him.
But she didn't get any more time to curse herself. She saw a shadow approach from the other side of the gate, and then a comely face greet her with a formal smile. She followed the man silently through the alley, then through long corridors. He was quite handsome. His hair was thick and black, his eyes looked like a cat's, and he looked about thirty years old, and somehow she felt like he was an arrogant teen inside.
They reached a small room, with white tiles, white walls, two white plastic chairs, and strange pictures on the walls.
"I'm Chameleon.", he simply said after letting her take a look.
Chameleon?
Is this a joke?
"Uh… I'm Ar-", she stopped when he shook his head frantically.
"We don't use names here. You'll get a codename once you've learned a few things about this place and the work we do."
Codename?
Wow, these people are really taking themselves way too seriously, she mused, mocking them inside. Whatever, they could be ridiculous if they paid her. She'd keep her cynicism inside.
"For now you're just my apprentice. I know this is weird, but this is the way we work. It'll make sense once you'll understand how we organize ourselves.", he smiled.
"I'll get our stuff. I'll be right back.", he said before disappearing through the door.
She examined the pictures. The room smelled like a hospital too, and a weird ambiance was making her quite uncomfortable.
She had brought a block-note and pens with her, not really sure what else she would need to work on human behaviour. She was expecting a lot of reading and maybe some heavy books about psychology. She was quite looking forward to that, actually. Psychology interested her more than she had expected.
The man came back with two empty plastic bags and a suitcase.
"Please, hand me over your jacket and your bag. All we need to write and do our research is in this suitcase. Since we're not really allowed to speak about the work we do here, it would be unfortunate if a relative stumbled on notes you took here, do you understand darling?"
She frowned, but obeyed and ave him her jacket and her bag. She wanted to pick out her phone, but he shook his head and took it along with the rest of her stuff. He disappeared again and came back a minute later, opened the suitcase and gave her a blank block-note and a sharpened pencil.
He settled down on a chair, and sighed, examining her.
"So… you are the girl my brother has been getting into trouble for."
Arya frowned and didn't know with which question she should start. Why are they all calling each other brother? Is this an organization to study crime or some kind of sect?
"He's in no trouble. Nothing happened. His marriage is perfectly safe.", she said coldly.
He scoffed, and that truly infuriated her. How could he scoff at her miserable love life? So, apparently he knew she had fallen for a married man, the people of this freaking place had threatened her for it, and now she was in a weird place with a stranger about to do some weird job, and all that jackass could do was scoff.
"You still believe this stupid marriage thing? I thought he'd fall for a smarter girl."
She frowned harder. What?
"And taller.", he continued, casually.
"I thought you'd be taller. According to his history of women. A bit older, too. But who am I to judge, eh?"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Wow, calm down, princess. Alright. You should sit down.", he took her shoulders and gently pushed her to sit. She wanted to punch him in the face but she was able to restrain the urge.
"What I'm about to reveal will change how you perceive this entire world. Or not. Most likely not, but listen anyway."
She was getting pissed but she feared that if she spat at him to hurry the hell up he might not take it very well and decide not to tell her what seemed so important.
"They've been taking you for an idiot."
"What? Who?!", she boiled up.
"The people who work here. My colleagues. My sisters and brothers. Especially Iris, the blonde woman you've met.", seeing her confused expression he clicked his tongue, casually put his hands in his jean's pockets, and went on with his explanation.
"Well, when that sly fox first talked about taking a student with him in Germany, they all feared that if he would get too close to you he might forget who he's working for. I told them they were being crazy. I mean, I don't mean to make him sink even lower in your esteem, but he's been with a fair amount of women before. I thought he was just playing, which he probably was, the job gets a little boring sometimes, you know. But my sisters and brothers, they preferred to play the safe game. Surely it was the chief's idea. He gets paranoid really easy, you know. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes it leads to this. He sent Iris over to watch over you two and report anything curious. Apparently she took a liking for you and tried to scare you away rather than include you in all of this mess.", he looked at her decomposed face.
"Looks like it didn't work."
"What the hell are you talking about? How does the job have anything to do with my… private life? And why do your sisters and brothers care who he's going out with?! And-"
She did her best not to fume. What the fuck was going on? Did these people have nothing else to do with their lives than set up freaking farces for her?! And where did that wedding picture come from if Jaqen wasn't married?!
The teasy expression on the Chameleon's face melted, and his smile died. She cooled at the gaze of pity he now granted her.
"Oh boy.", he said in a low voice, his eyes gloomy.
"Have you got any idea what you just engaged yourself in?"
A knock on the door interrupted his pity glance. The old and posh black man from yesterday ( probably the one he called chief) entered the room. Somehow she felt the urge to stand in his presence.
"Please, miss, remain sat.", he said, a kind smile on his face.
"I only came to see if Chameleon was doing his job right.", he joked.
"Always, chief.", Chameleon said, but there was something tense in his voice.
The chief inclined his head, and looked at her with eyes that reminded her a lot of her father's.
"As you may have understood miss, I'm the chief. You shall call me so, as everyone else in here. This is your first course, Chameleon shall show you some cases and evaluate your skills to better decide which aspect you will later work on. This evaluating period will last eight sessions of one hour. Then, you will be attributed a mentor, who shall teach you in the field you are the most likely to succeed in. Once the mentoring is done, your mentor will become your partner.", Arya shook her head approvingly throughout the explanation, sometimes throwing a glance at Chameleon, whose empty eyes were on the ground.
"After every session here, you must come to my office to take back your clothes and your bag. And once you are out of the building, you musn't talk about anything you do here. You are also forbidden to meet with your mentor outside, as well as any person you will meet here. If you happen to cross paths with someone, which is unlikely but plausible, you shall only greet them casually as anyone would a colleague, and not start a conversation. Understood?"
She felt that he was strangely serious for a project he presented as a simple hobby, but she shook her head again nonetheless.
"About your cheque at the end of the month, it will depend on how much effort you put into your work. But considering that you seem to be at least averagely smart, you should earn around two thousand dollars a month."
She did her best not to gasp.
Two thousand dollars?
He must have seen her pale because she saw a corner of his mouth lift.
Two freaking thousand dollars for one little hour a day?!
There's no way I'm ever getting a real job, this shall be my life now.
"Now that this is settled, I shall let Chameleon proceed. Oh- and since this is your first course, you shall spend ten minutes with our sister Iris for a medical check-up before you meet with me. I hope that agrees with you?"
She wondered why for a second, but for two thousand dollars she'd let them do all the medical check-ups they wanted.
"Sure.", she smiled.
The chief went away, and Chameleon's gaze was blank when she turned back to face him.
"What's wrong with you?", she asked.
"Nothing.", he said after he woke up from his little trance.
"Here, fill this up please.", he said handing out a sheet of paper.
This was some strange test, with questions she had to answer. At first she thought it was a joke. The first question asked to copy a sentence, like in some elementary school exam. But she did it seriously anyway. She answered the other questions, filled up the cases. Most of the questions were about what she would do in a certain situation, so she figured this was probably a personality test, since they all focused on human behaviour.
When she was done Chameleon handed her another test, then another, and another. The more she filled up, the more the questions became personal.
"Here's the last one. I hope your wrist isn't too tired.", he joked, but the amusement went away when his eyes lingered on the questions on that last piece of paper.
"Something's wrong?", she asked.
"Uh…", he looked up at the ceiling. Only when she looked up too did Arya notice that there was a camera. Probably a microphone too. That freaked her out a little. But after all, he'd only been watching her fill up paper sheets. Why was he so nervous?
"No… no, it's fine. Hurry, you still have to meet with Iris."
She took the paper and examined the questions that seemed to bother him so much. And the first one was indeed oddly specific.
Would you say you share a special kind of relationship with your theatre teacher?
What?
What did that have to do with her personality?
And why did they care?
She was about to ask Chameleon, but somehow thinking that there were a camera and a microphone in this room held her from doing so. She ticked the "No" case. It was not totally a lie, they had only kissed a few times. Yeah, nothing special about that, a cynic voice in her mind intervened. But she paid it no mind. She didn't want to have a special relationship with him anymore. The last few days spent depressing over his potential marriage, added to everything she had discovered here had led her to the awful realization that she truly knew nothing about him. And if a relationship with him involved these weird people stalking on them wherever they'd go, she'd remain as far from him as possible. Even if it tasted rather bitter when she thought back on that sly grin he always wore, the one that made her blush and bite her lower lip
She filled up the rest of the last sheet, weirdly personal questions about her closeness to her siblings and her classmates. She handed the piece of paper over when she was done, and Chameleon nodded.
"Good. Iris must be waiting for you now. To go to her office, walk all the way toward the end of this corridor, turn right, then take the third turn left, it's the first door on the right."
She nodded, and said goodbye.
This is really a weird place, she thought on her way to Iris' office, loosing herself in the clean corridors. It's crazy how you can't guess that there's a restaurant upstairs, it looks so much like some kind of lab
But two thousand dollars? This sounds like a joke.
Maybe she should be careful, she thought. It wouldn't be the first time a young girl finds herself in some pretty precarious situation involving blood-thirsty psychopaths who take advantage of her naiveness. Isn't that how all the scary movies begin? But somehow the thought that Jaqen was somehow related to this group reassured her, even despite all that had happened in her head recently, and the fact that they all refused to speak about him.
She found Iris' office (finally, after almost getting lost twice), and before she had a chance to knock, the pretty blonde opened the door and gently pulled her in. Her hair was in a ponytail, and she was wearing a white blouse that made her look a lot like a scientist.
"Hi-", Arya awkwardly greeted her.
"We don't have much time."
Arya frowned, and first thing she did was check for cameras.
"There are none here. Nor microphones.", the blonde said. She looked at the clock on her wrist, nervous.
"Come on, quick. The quicker we do this, the longer we get to talk so I can explain you."
"Explain me what?", Arya frowned. She didn't get an answer, and Iris pulled out another piece of paper to fill in.
"You'll see when this is done. Answer as precisely and truthfully as you can. This way we can get on with it. Natural hair colour?"
"Uh-", Arya blabbered, a bit confused.
"Brown.", she obeyed.
"Eyes?"
"Uh… grey?"
Iris looked at her, which made her uncomfortable.
"Blue grey. Weight and Height?"
"113 pounds, 5ft1"
The questions kept fusing, about her blood type or her numbers of tattoos and piercings, which she had none. After 10 minutes, Iris had filled up twenty pages and said they were good to go.
"Why do you need all of this?", Arya asked, frowning again.
"Just protocol.", the pretty blonde answered. On her face had been the same blank expression she had seen on Chameleon's.
"Alright, now I get to tell you some stuff. But you have to promise you won't repeat it. Ever. To anyone. It's very important that the chief doesn't learn that I tell you this, understood?"
There was a distressed sparkle in her eyes, and Arya nodded meekly. What the hell is so important now? And why do they all seem so afraid of that old guy?
"I'm the one who sent you this stupid email. I thought it'd scare you away from him, but-"
"It didn't work.", Arya was furious again.
"Why did you do this?! You- you followed us when we went out?! Don't you have any better to do?!"
"Shh-", the blonde was calm yet tense, and not at all picking up Arya's provocations.
"I had to, the-… the chief, he's afraid that if… uhm, how could I say this? The chief said if the F...uh… if your theatre teacher gets too close to you he might loose his job as a teacher and compromise the… studies he does here. So the chief asked me to get more info about you, to see what was making him interested in you and maybe hire you, but I… I thought it might be better for you to uhm… to stay out of this."
"Well, you screwed up real bad then.", the teen answered dryly.
"But why would you keep me out of here? It's…", Arya lowered her voice.
"The Chief is offering a lot of money."
"I know, I know he is, I just…"
A bell rang, making the walls shake slightly.
"Damn it-", the blonde cursed.
"You have to go to the office now.", she said, panicked.
"But when you're done, go to the classroom, he's waiting for you. He told me to insist, even if you didn't want to talk to him-"
"What? What classroom?!", the young one asked while being pushed out of the room.
"I don't know. He told me to tell you to meet him there. Please, go, this is important, you have a lot to tell each other. And you might not get another chance to do it.", she pushed her through the door, and the white lights were a bit blinding.
"Oh, and whatever happens, don't tell the chief.", she quickly finished, before closing the door.
Arya blinked a few times in front of that closed door before she started to wonder what the fuck was wrong with all of these crazy people.
She clenched her teeth, and started to walk back towards the chief's office to get her stuff back and leave this freaking rat hole. That cheque better be a big one.
She pondered while getting lost in the long corridors. She wasn't sure yet if she wanted to go to that theatre classroom and listen to whatever this strange redhead had to tell her.
And she still hadn't understood what this whole thing with the wedding picture had been. What the hell? If he's not truly married, then why is he dressed as a groom, and why is that woman dressed in a wedding gown?!
She got out of the building as quickly as she could once she had gathered her stuff. Outside, the air was sharp and cold, perfect to clear her thoughts. She stood in front of the marble stairs, fancy cars passing by and dropping some fancy people for them to begin their fancy evening. Arya wanted to scoff at their stupid clothes and their fake laughs and their lips filled with botox.
She took a breath in, looked at the dark sky above her head, not filled with much stars. The light of the city made them hard to see.
And then she started to walk towards the theatre classroom.
