Chapter 5: Career Goals
"Haymitch, be nice," Peeta warned. "This is Miss Trinket."
"Effie," she said, extending her hand to him with a smile so charming it must be hurting her cheeks to hold it in place. "Everybody address me as such."
'Effie' was not something he had decided for her but Haymitch took it in stride. Characters were supposed to develop and seeing it before his eyes was an experience in itself.
"Sure, sweetheart," he grasped her hand with a smirk of his own. "How'd you know these two notorious kids?"
"Oh, nonsense, they are lovely," Effie exclaimed. "They are easily one of my easiest clients to date."
"Huh," he frowned, scratching the side of his cheek lightly as he mulled that information over.
It made little sense to him. The timeline did not add up since her character was only written about two weeks ago whereas Peeta and Katniss had moved in for about three months or so, which meant before that, she had not even existed in his work – in his subconscious mind perhaps, because her family did exist during the Dark Days –
The entire situation was becoming a tangled mess especially give the whole "my characters are alive" was impossible in the first place. Not for the first time, he considered talking to a therapist but he was not crazy. He was not. He was absolutely certain that he was not.
He knew his name, his age, where he lived. He could tell the date and the day. All in all, he was of the opinion that he was in perfect control of his mental faculties. Just because an insane, unexplainable situation was happening to him, it did not make him crazy.
"Do you happen to know Finnick and Annie?" Haymitch asked out of the blue, if only because he needed some sort of confirmation that all his characters were connected to each other.
"Certainly," Effie nodded with enthusiasm. "Who did you think close the deal for – "
"Their seafood place," he finished her sentence. "That was you."
"Yes," Effie smiled and turned to look at Peeta. "I am doing the same for Peeta. Soon, he will have a space for his own bakery. Isn't that marvellous? It is making me rather fond of this town."
"Lots of houses here... If you like this town so much then get yourself a property and stay," Haymitch said in a matter of fact tone and at the surprised look both Katniss and Peeta tossed his way, he shrugged. "Seems logical."
Effie laughed lightly at that. "You make it sound so very easy. I do like the view," she let her gaze wandered over to him. "I would love it dearly to see this town grow and flourish, and know that I am a part of it. How tempting…"
"Right," he said curtly and rubbed the back of his neck.
He could not quite explain the way he suddenly felt self-conscious standing in front of her unshaven with his shirt crumpled with stained from his spilled whiskey. Hell, he probably event smell from having not changed his clothes since yesterday. He almost felt sorry for Effie Trinket. Meeting your maker shouldn't be such a disappointment but since she didn't know it, then it didn't make a difference.
His gaze shifted to Katniss, fidgeting restlessly. The conversation held little interest to her but he took great pleasure in watching the girl shuffle from one foot to another impatiently, even if she kept throwing him pleading looks. He was not going to help her get out of the situation, not when she spent her time telling him how much he had disfigured her squirrel two days earlier.
"Haymitch is right," Peeta piped in with much enthusiasm. "You told us on your way over that these ten houses here are now under Capitol Homes."
"What's Capitol Homes?" Haymitch frowned.
"The real estate company I work for," Effie answered. "Recently, they purchased the land here which means all these houses, including yours, belong to them. Did you not get the letter informing you of the same?"
Her question went unanswered.
The Capitol was a place he remembered creating; a magnificent city by any standard. This current twist to the narrative however, was making him feel slightly ill. Since when was the Capitol a real estate company?
There had to be a sound explanation for this but currently, the one he had made little sense to him.
"I have been assigned to ensure that the other ten unoccupied houses in this Village will have tenants or buyers by the end of the year. So... Since this area is under my care, I supposed you will be seeing plenty of me," she flashed a smile and tossed her hair over her shoulder, exposing the side of her neck to him.
"What's that – your career goals?" he queries, forcing himself back to the conversation at hand.
The best course of action right now was to find out as much information from his characters as possible before he jumped into any conclusions. The fact that Effie Trinket was writing her own narrative, in a manner of speaking, was something he was curious about. Real estate was certainly not what he had in mind for her. He had pictured something more glamourous, something that would give her fame. Then again, in his excitement, he had only really ever written her attitude, her personality and her physical description, nothing more than that.
"We all need goals in our lives and I intend to achieve mine," she declared. "This Village will be occupied and it will prosper."
His face morphed into one of disgust and displeasure.
"I liked it better when I'm the only one around," he scowled. "Now you come here and you want more people to move in? Come on, sweetheart. Help me out here, Katniss."
"You should take it up to the Capitol," she muttered. "Wouldn't suggest it, though. They might throw you out of your home and get someone else to move in."
"Katniss, dear, do not frighten him so," Effie chided. "No such thing will happen, Mr. Abernathy! The land's title deed merely changed hands but I assure you that your lease on the house still holds. No revision to the terms will take place. Nothing will change except... there will be more people. It might even be good for you."
"You don't know me enough to know what's good for me," he retorted.
"Well, then, I hope we will have plenty of opportunities to get acquainted."
It was a challenge if the sparkle in her eyes and the way she tilted her head at him was any indication; a challenge to the town's recluse.