Amelie's Point of View
After the two hour long meeting, which half of it including Myrnin's incessant chatter and insults towards Oliver, I went to my office and looked through the folders which had been left on my desk. Most of them were about City Hall and Oliver's coffee shop, but a few were papers about newcomers to Morganville.
I heard someone come up to the door and knocked. "Come in."
My assistant Bizzie stepped in. "There is someone waiting for you outside. She has come to study at the University."
"What's her name?"
"Isabel Taylor."
"Fine, show her in." I said. Bizzie nodded and left the room. I picked up the folders and put them in my drawer.
Bizzie showed in a young woman in dark hair, blue eyes and pale skin. If it hadn't been for her heartbeat, I would have thought she was a vampire.
"Take a seat." I said and sat down after her. "So why have you come here?"
"Well, I live close to here and I have been traveling past this town and I only recently saw the campus and thought it would be a good idea to come and study here. It would be a nice place to stay a while."
"Right. My assistant tells me that you wouldn't like to stay on campus." I said, looking at Isabel's sheet, which I had kept on my desk.
"No... I don't like cramped spaces, so a house with someone would be nice."
"That may be a problem. Unless you know someone here, or find someone willing to share a house with you, I'm afraid you will have to stay on campus."
"Well... Someone said you would know who I could stay with."
"Really? And who told you that?" I asked.
"A tall guy with long-ish hair." Isabel replied.
I sighed. "What colour is his hair?"
"Why?"
"Answer the question." I ordered.
Isabel crossed her arms. "His hair was brown."
Myrnin... "Bizzie, come here."
My assistant appeared at the door. "Yes, Ma'am?"
"Find Myrnin and bring him to me."
"Yes, Ma'am. Oh and Oliver is here to see you."
"Tell him to wait outside. I won't be long." I told her. Bizzie nodded and left. "You were mistaken, Isabel. I have nowhere for you to stay."
"Why do you order everyone around like that? And what's with the Ma'am?"
I ignored her. She will find out soon enough. "Though someone just vacated a house on Lot Street. If you go there and ask Michael Glass, I'm sure he will give you a room."
"You didn't answer my question."
"She doesn't need to." Oliver said, coming in. He handed Isabel a piece of paper with Michael's address on. "Now go."
Isabel took the paper, sighed and got up and left, casting a last glance at me and Oliver.
"What are you doing here? I told you to stay with Claire." I said, annoyed and stood up. I got the folders from my drawers and looked through them again.
"And I told you, I'm not a babysitter. Claire's old enough to take care of herself." Oliver picked up Isabel's sheet. "Where is she going to stay, if Michael doesn't let her in?"
"I don't care. Why do you?" I picked up a sheet asking for an expansion on an office in City Hall.
"I think you should, considering your feelings towards Claire talking to other people." Oliver said. I glared at him. How many times did he had to bring that up? "It's just I saw her getting quite intimate with another woman, before that woman left. She's not the type to go after men."
"Claire's stays in my house. Isabel doesn't know where I live, so you don't need to worry." I said, signing my name and crossing "No" on the sheet. The offices are big enough.
"You called my Lady?" Myrnin asked, coming into the office and pushing Oliver away. Oliver gave him a fierce glare.
"Time to go, Oliver. Unless you have something else to say?" I closed the folder and moved it aside. Oliver to me then Myrnin, then left the room. "Yes, I called for you. Why did you say Isabel could stay with me?"
"Isabel...? Oh right, her. Well technically, I didn't say that. I said you would know where she could stay."
"It's the same thing."
"It's not though, really-"
"Myrnin." I don't have time for his ramblings.
"Well, she could keep Claire company."
A thought came to mind, I couldn't shake off. "Have you seen Claire?"
"Umm... Well. No."
I glare at him intently. "I know when your lying. Tell me where she is."
"Well, she is not at your house. Apart from that, I don't know where she is. Bye." Myrnin said, quickly then hastily left. The guards stopped him.
"No, let him go. I have an idea on where she is."
Claire's Point of View
Sitting in Common Grounds, I thought over what I did. Maybe I should have left a text message, instead of a note reading I'm at the Common Grounds. I might be back before Amelie, so there is probably no need to worry.
I was sitting at the back in the dark corner of the shop, with my coffee. I would have had a mocha as I usually did, but I wanted to see if caffeine still had an effect on me. I had drank nearly half the cup and I didn't feel any less awake. Also I think my tastes haven't changed. Mocha doesn't taste right to me anymore.
As I was quietly mourning never being able to have mocha again, a tall-ish girl walked into the shop. She must be a newcomer because I had never seen her before. She has long wavy dark hair and pale skin, but not vampire pale. I guess she is one of those people, who spend their whole lives inside and turn white like a ghost.
The girl finishes ordering her drink, from the guy behind the bar and pays then looks around for somewhere to sit. She looks in my direction and starts walking in my direction. I pretend to be madly fascinated in my coffee.
"Hello." Someone said. I look up and find its the girl. She has blue eyes and smells nice.
"Oh, hi." I said.
"Can I sit here?" She asked. I nod. She smiles. "Thanks. So what's your name?"
"Claire."
"That's a nice name. I'm Isabel." She holds out her hand and I shake it, trying not to squeeze to hard. "Wow your cold."
She doesn't know. Well, I had been like that once. Anyone on the campus had no idea that vampires existed and the town is run by them.
"Oh... yeah. So um... What... What are you studying?" Why am I stammering?
"Animal Biology. It's very interesting. I just moved in with Michael Glass-"
"Wait wait? You know Michael?" I know it was rude to cut her off, but since when did Michael start looking for new housemates? Was he replacing me? And Eve and Shane?
"You know him?"
"Um, yeah I was his housemate, but I moved out." I took a gulp of the still hot coffee.
"Oh, really? It's a shame we could have shared a room together."
I choked on the coffee and coughed a bit. I recovered and saw Isabel's worried look. "I'm fine. Sorry, I just remembered my uh... Phone. I left it at home."
"Oh right. It's fine, you don't need it, right? You could stay a while." Isabel said. Was she flirting with me? Amelie would kill her, if she found out.
"Oh, no, yeah I really need it. My um... Big sister calls me like a lot to check up me. She's protective like that." I downed the rest of the coffee, without choking and stood up. Just when Oliver is walking through the door.
Isabel follows my gaze and hmphed. "He cut my appointment with the Founder earlier. We were going through some stuff." She looked at me. "Could I tell you something and you have to promise you won't judge."
"Um..." Oliver was talking to the guy behind hind the counter. I needed an excuse to get out. Either Amelie is looking for me or she will come in and find me talking with another girl who she will possibly kill out of sight. "Yeah sure." I sat back down.
"I'm not really attracted to pale people but she's... really pretty."
I fiddle with my hands nervously. She is flirting with me. I need to get out of here. Coming out of the house was a bad idea, she will probably stalk me and then she will only end up dead. I had nothing against Isabel being attractive to other women, I just really liked her as friend.
"Um, Isabel, I'm sorry I really have to go. My big sister gets jealous when I talk to other people. You see, she can't talk because of-"
"Claire has to go now." Oliver said. I almost jumped. I hadn't noticed he had sneaked up behind us. Isabel jumped as well.
"Do you mind making a bit more noise when you come next time? Jeez..." Isabel said. Her heatbeat had sped up quite a lot, unsurprisingly.
"Sorry, but Claire is taken." Oliver said, picking up my empty coffee cup.
"Yeah, by who?" Isabel asked.
"By Oliver." I blurted out, before I could stop myself. Dammit, why did you have to say that?
After a fierce glare, Oliver said, "Yes, she's with me. I would mind if you didn't flirt with her."
I stared at my lap, so intently, I thought I would burn a hole.
"Oh, right well sorry. You can have my number Claire. We can meet up anytime. I hope we can be friends though." Isabel said, passing across a piece of paper with her number on. I took it and mumbled a "Thanks."
Isabel let out small yelp and knocked the table a bit. I looked up and my heart sank a bit, when I saw Amelie standing there. How long had she been there? "That's twice you sneaked up on me. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"I believe you were leaving." Amelie said. Isabel nodded and collected her bag, then left quickly. "Can I have that?" She asked. I looked at the piece of paper and felt my heart sink more, but I knew it was this or Amelie would literally rip it out of my hand. I handed it over and Amelie crumpled it. "What are you doing here?"
"Not here, Founder. The humans do love to stare." Oliver said. Amelie cast a glance at the people at the other tables, who quickly went back to what they were doing.
"Outside, now." Amelie said and walked out. I stood and picked up my bag and followed her, but not before Oliver grabbed my arm.
"Think, before you speak next time." He said and let go. I nodded quickly and left the shop at a quick pace.
Outside, the guard opened the door and I hesitated before getting in.
"What were you doing in there?" Amelie asked again.
"I wanted to get a mocha, but then I changed my mind and got a coffee. I was bored, so I went to see Oliver." I said, looking at the ground.
"You were talking to the girl. What about?"
"What she is studying at the University." I shrugged. "That's it. She wasn't flirting with me, if that's what your worried about."
"Well that's what it looked like."
"So what, I can't talk to other girls now? First, I can't talk to Michael, or any other guy and now it's girls. You can't keep me locked up forever!"
"I can. I've been too lenient with you, letting you talk to Michael at first. You were always at my house, so the amount of guards were lessened but now you are sneaking out. How do you know Isabel isn't like your stalker or... the ghost?" Amelie asked.
"Because she's human and she's nice. Not everyone is out to get me, that's what paranoid people think."
"You think I am paranoid?" Amelie asked. I was stuck for an answer there. I couldn't say yes, well I could but it wouldn't end well. "Answer me."
"Well... No. But keeping me locked up all day and night is not how to treat someone you love."
"So I should let you wander around, as you please and possibly get kidnapped and killed?" Amelie asked. "I am not paranoid, I just want to keep you with me, so nothing will happen to you. I've already told you many times how important you are to me."
"I know. But I'm not going to find someone and go off with them. I've told you that lots of times. Just let me talk to someone other than Oliver and Myrnin."
"People change, Claire. You may not think it now, but maybe later you will be attracted to Isabel and go and move in with her and she will possibly turn on you. I'm just stopping that from happening."
Is she serious? "Do you hear yourself? That's what paranoid people think. Isabel is just a friend nothing else. Stop being so jealous!" I near shouted, frustrated that Amelie wouldn't understand that I would never leave her.
Amelie's eyes swirled red and she grabbed me by my neck and slammed me against the car window. The window cracked but didn't shatter. "I told you." Amelie said, quietly. "I'm not jealous."
"You act like it sometimes." I said, in a choked whisper. I grabbed Amelie's wrist and struggled to get it off, but of course to no avail. "You won't let me speak to anyone."
"I have explained my reasons." Amelie said. Her grip got tighter and a moment of panic clouded me.
"Amelie..." I whispered, then I couldn't take in any air to breathe. I saw something in Amelie's eyes. She blinked and the red faded away. She let go and sat back. I gasped in air and held my neck. Ow...
"Please just stay at my house." Amelie said. She looked upset for a second, then regained her composure. "Am I clear?"
"Yeah." I nodded. "But you cannot keep me locked up forever."
Well, Isabel shall be showing up more often :) This is just the start *evil laugh*
Is she just a friend? Or... Something else?
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