DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN ARTEMIS FOWL AND I'M NOT TRYING TO MAKE ANY MONEY OFF THIS !!!! (Author: Eoin Colfer)
(this story takes place after the 5th book and before the 6th - which I am still trying to forget exists)
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The King of Ice, Queen of Hearts
Chapter 3
It was pouring by the time Artemis got out from the office, though he hardly felt the rain. His mind was busy churning heatedly away; he had no time to think of where he was going and what he was going into – besides, it wasn't as if Butler didn't already have the umbrella open and above them. The nerve of that hack, who dared call himself a world-renowned psychiatrist! Artemis bit furiously, shoving his hands into his blazer pockets. That useless man had called Artemis --- he didn't even want to relive it. No. No, he wouldn't allow those words to give him rise. That would mean the psychiatrist was right.
The hack doctor wasn't right. Artemis was sure of it, and was sure he would prove the man wrong.
Out of the corner of his eye Artemis caught a fury of movement, but continued to stomp onwards, eyes fixed on the Bentley across the street. He wasn't in the mood to deal with any form of human that dared to cross his path. Idiots, the lot of them. He had stolen gold from the faeries, and had gotten away with it no less, when he was but a child. He was not an imbecile by any means, and he was not a socially incompetent failure as a human. The hack was just nervous, that was all, he was rambling away at the mouth trying to find buttons to push since Artemis had his number from the start. And he'd pushed the right ones, a small niggling voice whispered in his ear. Artemis fought the urge to furiously stomp his feet, such a toddler action was not tolerable, and instead shook his head angrily.
"I wish to return to the Manor immediately, Butler," Artemis barked.
He stopped moving towards the car, and hung his head. That had been certainly uncalled for. Ashamed, he took a deep breath and continued on a softer tone, "to have a nice long chat with the elder Fowls about That Hack they sent me to."
Butler did not seem to have noticed the err and, with a hardly visible smile, nodded.
"Yes, sir, promptly."
The car door was cold to the touch, and for a second Artemis recoiled before taking firm hold on the handle and opened the door. The weather must have been more frigid than he had thought, though he had hardly noticed. It would be best then for him to pull out a warmer jacket for the next time he went out. Artemis furrowed his brow slightly, he was sure he had something more to do today that was outside the Manor grounds.
"Ah – ah – excuse me, sir?"
A small voice sent his thoughts to a screeching halt, and he turned rapidly around. Butler too seemed shocked, he turned his massive form towards the door to allow both Artemis and himself a better view of the owner of the voice. A little red flag went up in the back of Artemis' mind as he stared at the girl. She seemed vaguely familiar but he was absolutely certain that he didn't know her.
Her face seemed to be pleading, the upward arch of her eyebrows, the downward tilt of her eyes, the deep dark circles under her eyes; she seemed seconds from breaking out into tears. And her clothes: her clothes hung limply to her frame like a second sagging skin, her umbrella turned uselessly inside out, her hair ragged and soaked like the rest of her. She was the embodiment of a pathetic human, and she was daring to talk to him.
"I don't do charity cases, and I will NOT give you any money," Artemis said sharply, and with a fluid motion opened the door, stepped inside, and slammed it shut behind him.
Artemis watched through the tinted glass as Butler hovered for a moment, though his motivation was unknown as his back was to Artemis, before stepping off the curb and to the driver's side door. Again, Butler paused, as if uncertain, as if caring for the scraggly looking girl with blonde hair and black tips. That was it! Artemis realized, she was the girl in the waiting room, the one who had come out from the psychiatrist before him. He hadn't noticed how pitiful she looked, and how sickly. She was practically skin and bones, and her flesh had a pallor to it that neared deathly ill.
Butler stepped inside the car, shaking out the umbrella as he went. He turned towards Artemis, mouth open as if to say something, but changed his mind and started the car.
There was a tapping on the window. Artemis turned to see that the girl was still there, and was looking adamantly through the glass. There was the hint of fury along her forehead, as it bunched ever so slightly together.
"Lets go, Butler," Artemis commanded, staring strait out at the road and refusing to give his side window a second glance.
Butler did not say a word while they pulled out of the parking space and into the street. Artemis was sure that Butler wanted to say something about the girl, but was quite happy that he didn't. There was no need to discus such an unusual event as that. He only hoped that Butler didn't inquire as to how the psychiatrists meeting went, since Butler had not been allowed past the office door. He had been required to turn around and return to his seat. Something about client confidentiality. The Hack probably didn't want the threat of Butler's fist and the inevitable connection to his delicate face.
"Artemis," Butler began as they pulled up to a red light, but he stopped short. There was a furious pounding at the window.
Artemis turned his head sharply to see the soaking girl glaring daggers at him from the other side of the window. Artemis pulled back from the glass and attempted to turn to Butler but was stopped by the passion with which the girl hit the glass. He decided that in turn he would glare back. She had the persistent nerve to run after the car? She must have been desperate.
Artemis' attention was suddenly pulled to the side of the window, where the girl had flattened her hand against the glass. There, under her hand, was a familiar looking oblong shape. Something with a screen and numbers. Something that looked vaguely like --- Artemis jumped at the blunt force of the shock. He scrambled around his pockets and yet he couldn't find what he was looking for. He then turned back to the window and knew that the girl held his phone under the palm of her hand.
"Butler, pull over." Even Artemis found his voice a little strange; it was strained and slightly off pitch.
When they had pulled over, the girl now triumphantly running beside the side of the car, Artemis wound down the window.
"Before you dare accuse me of stealing, I will let you know that YOU left it in the psychiatrist's office and I had the kindness to not only hold it for you, but also wait for you to come out and give it to you," the girl stated angrily, taking the phone out from the meager protection of her jacket sleeve and and placing it firmly into Artemis' open and outstretched hand.
There was something self-righteous in the way her face contorted itself, as if she was both pleased with returning the phone and intensely pissed at having to return it to him, that it made Artemis draw aback. He wanted to snap back, to verbally tear her to shreds and show her who was really the inferior idiot, but he knew deep down inside, though he would never admit it, that it was him that had just been an idiot.
"What if it hadn't been mine?" He had to ask, both to himself and to the girl.
She blushed slightly and then furiously, as if the notion of her being an idiot was unseemly.
"But it was," she responded, and with that turned with a pleased smile, and walked away from the car and towards the bus stop.
