That early afternoon, the copy room of the Bread Dog office turned into a war room, or a wartime assembly line.
Kaela manned the company's entire network of printers and printed out the full suite of the re-revised "Mk. III" paperwork for the KFP Atlantic Canada portfolio. From there, the keen-eyed Mumei and the meticulous Fauna organized the papers and passed them onto Sana for her signature - granting her authority on each and every page. Then, those signed papers fell upon Irys and Bae who sorted them and packaged them into Bread Dog envelopes.
Together, the entire team hustled and finished the Mk. III paperwork in just over fifteen minutes. Sana signed the last of the papers in a hurry and passed it onto the two new-hires. Mumei and Fauna had worked up a sweat, but Kaela promptly handed them paper towels to wipe their faces.
"We've done our part now, ladies." Sana spoke firmly yet appreciatively, wiping her own brow with the back of her hand, "Now it's up to you to get it to Gura. She'll buy us as much time as she can, but we're up against our competitors here."
"Right." Bae nodded. She slipped the last page in order with the others into her briefcase.
"Don't bother finding parking either." Kaela proposed with a sly smile, "Work in a team. One of you drives. The other delivers. Just like we do back in Indonesia." She clenched her fist and urged, "Go get em' girls!"
With that, Irys and Bae excused themselves and took the elevator down from the eleventh floor. On their way down, the adrenaline of the rush work started to wane. The two colleagues started to get conscious of each other's presence.
"We're really doing this, huh?" Bae commented, feeling the heavy weight of the briefcase in her hand, "You're the driver. I'm the runner. That means…"
"We're riding tandem, I know." Irys folded her arms, acting indifferent to the affair, "It's just business. We're just colleagues doing a rush job." She snorted, "You volunteering my Vespa for the rush job took me by surprise, you know."
"I know…" Bae sighed.
"But…" Irys turned her back to Bae, "You did sound pretty cool when you did it. So I'll forgive you this time."
"Mm…" Bae nodded. But then, she realized what Irys said, "Wait…!"
Before Bae could react, the elevator doors opened and Irys marched through them intentionally briskly.
"Hey, wait up!" Bae grumbled.
She followed Irys out the front doors and towards the building's parking lot. There, she found the peculiar vehicle - a four year old, maroon-colored Vespa.
Bae regarded the vehicle with nostalgia, but her reminisce was interrupted by a helmet flying towards her. She caught the helmet and glared at Irys.
"Safety first!" Irys teased.
"Safety!? You nearly knocked me out!" Bae protested.
"I've knocked you out in other ways." Irys smirked now, "Now put on that helmet and let's get this show on the road!"
Bae blushed, averted Irys' gaze and put on her helmet.
Irys did the same and took her place on the driver's seat.
Bae set her briefcase into the back baggage box. Then, she bashfully sat behind Irys and hugged her to hold on. Holding Irys in her arms like this on the back of her Vespa spurred a torrent of memories to come rushing back to mind, but Bae reined them in.
Just colleagues, remember? Just colleagues!
The engine started and the two of them started their drive out of Purdy's Wharf. Before they could make it to the main road, though, someone called out to them.
"Wait!"
It was Ina.
Irys hit the brakes and let the proprietress of Tako Eats catch up with them. Ina panted heavily, but she passed a brown paper bag to Bae.
"Could I… trouble you girls… to make another delivery? It's on the way." Ina asked in an exhausted staccato, "Sana told me… about your situation." She held the paper bag firmly and urged, "Gura hasn't had lunch yet. Please… give this to her."
"Right…" Bae mused. She took the paper bag, added it into the back box and smiled, "We'll make sure Gura-senpai gets her lunch!"
"Thank you!" Ina beamed, "Now, go!"
Irys and Bae nodded. Then, the maroon Vespa sped out of Purdy's Wharf and weaved through the clogged streets of Halifax in the afternoon.
…
Yellow lights were ran.
Cars were overtaken.
Speed limits were tested.
Gaps between lanes were exploited.
From the touristy Lower Water Street to the glorified avenue that was the Bedford Highway to the infamously congested Highway 102 Northbound, Irys drove wildly. The Nephilim pushed her Vespa to the limit and Bae clung on for dear life.
Third-world driving in a first-world country had its risks after all.
Every time they passed by a Royal Canadian Mounted Police cruiser, Irys hoped and prayed out loud - wishing that the mounties were too busy sipping their Tim Hortons coffees, munching on their birthday cake flavored Timbits or listening to the local hockey team - the Mooseheads - losing to Cape Breton or some New Brunswick team on the radio to pay them attention.
"You watch local hockey, Irys?" Bae shouted over the hum of the Vespa's motor.
"No, but I picked it up just staying around town." Irys explained, "I arrived in Halifax way before you did, you know!" She snickered, "The only Moosehead you probably know is the local beer!"
"Oy…" Bae furrowed her brow.
Another traffic jam suddenly blocked their path before she could retort.
"Hold on tight, Bae." Irys revved up the engines, "This is gonna be a doozy!"
Again, Irys weaved through the traffic on the highway to Enfield.
Private vehicles stuck in traffic honked their horns at the Vespa too, angry at them for cutting a path in between lanes. Filipino-Canadians, meanwhile, got flashbacks of the rowdy motorcycle swarms of their native Manila from Irys' slick maneuvering.
However, Bae trusted her driver. She knew how well Irys rode her Vespa. The countless escapades that they had on that very same vehicle told Bae everything she needed to know. When Irys fell silent, Bae knew that the Nephilim was getting serious.
The scenery was different, but the certainty in Bae's heart was the same.
They were going to make it.
Bae knew this for a fact.
True enough, Irys and Bae arrived at their destination in record time - a seven story office building in Enfield, a cannon shot away from the Halifax Airport.
Unfortunately for them, they weren't alone.
A black sedan with a gaudy logo and the name 'North Elysium Insurance' had stopped ahead of them in front of the office. A well-dressed man with fiery, spiky orange hair and red highlights stepped out of the sedan with a briefcase in hand. The ID card he wore at his hip read the name 'Syrios'. He saw the Nephilim and the rat-girl and remarked.
"So, the cheeky Bread Dog buggers are here, ah?" He grinned, speaking with a thick Australian accent like Bae's, "KFP Atlantic Canada's gonna be ours!"
Without further ado, the fiery-haired man ran into the building with his briefcase in tow.
"Bae!" Irys spurred.
"Got it!" Bae replied.
The rat-girl grabbed her briefcase and the paper bag from the back box and rushed after her competitor. She sprinted after the fiery-haired man, but he reached the elevator first and closed the door behind him.
"Shit…!" Bae cursed.
Her eyes swept through the lobby. Then, she found the stairwell.
"The things I do for love!" Bae growled.
She barged through the stairwell and ran up the staircase as fast as her legs could take her. Fatigue threatened to trip her up, but she powered through all the way up to the top floor. Then, she emerged in the reception of KFP Atlantic Canada.
There, a tense Gura and an impatient Kiara Takanashi, the orange-haired owner of KFP, were waiting.
"Bread Dog Insurance Limited…" Bae croaked, raising up her heavy briefcase, "I've got the docs."
Just as she said this, the nearby elevator dinged and opened. The fiery haired man came out triumphantly and showed off his briefcase, "Ayo~! North Elysium Insurance is here to…!"
"Your services won't be needed this time, North Elysium." Kiara Takanashi spoke without even turning to him, "Bread Dog got here first. Try again in three years."
The man's jaw dropped. He turned towards Bae who gave him a defiant grin.
"G'day, mate." Bae teased.
Crestfallen, the man slipped back into the elevator. But, before the doors closed, he turned to Bae and called out to her.
"Well played, Bread Dog." He applauded her with surprising sportsmanlike composure, "Well played."
Bae cleared her throat and sent her defeated foe, reciprocating the respect.
"My thanks to you, sir." Bae tipped an imaginary hat to her defeated opponent.
The elevator door closed and Bae heaved a sigh of relief.
She had a feeling that that wasn't going to be the last time her company would compete with North Elysium Insurance, but today was theirs. Kiara took the Mk. III package from Bae's hands and retreated to her office.
"My office will review the paperwork." Kiara declared to Gura and Bae, "We'll call you when it's time for final signatures. Please stay here until then."
"Of course." Gura accepted graciously.
Once Kiara disappeared behind her office door, Gura turned around and hugged Bae.
"You did it! Holy cow, you did it!" Gura cheered, hopping up and down with Bae.
"We saw how much work you put into getting that deal together, senpai." Bae praised, "The whole office pitched in to rush that Mk. III. We're not gonna let all your effort go to waste." Then, Bae brought out the small paper bag that she had been carrying for Gura to see, "And that's not all! The Tako Eats lady sends her regards."
"Inya…?" Gura's blue eye sparkled.
The shark-girl took the paper bag from Bae. Then, she fished out the contents and gasped.
"My salman bagel!" Gura nearly cried tears of joy, "She really kept one for me."
Gura held the salmon bagel close to her heart and smiled warmly.
"Ina ran after us on our way out of the office building." Bae recounted, "She caught us in the nick of time."
"Thank you so much, Bae. You don't know how much this means to me." Gura spoke tenderly. Then, she stuck out her tongue and winked, "Plus, I'm so fucking hungry right now, I thought I was gonna go feral."
Bae laughed all of the KFP ads with pictures of delicious fried 'phoenix' in the reception area made Bae sympathize with her starving mentor.
And so, Gura and Bae found seats at the reception area. Gura happily chowed down on the salmon bagel while Bae rested her tired legs.
After a short while, Kiara emerged from her office with a smile and called on Gura.
"We're going to proceed with signing, Miss Gura." Kiara declared, "We're sorry for the sudden revisions, but you know how it is."
"Oh, we do, Miss Takanashi. We do." Gura sympathized. She wiped her lips down with a napkin, stood up from her seat and spoke graciously, "We look forward to doing business with you for the next three years."
"Likewise." Kiara replied.
Gura excused herself and left Bae alone in the reception hall. Bae leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, feeling the rest of the rider's high seep out from her system. Riding that Vespa again wasn't something Bae expected to do when she moved to Nova Scotia, but she wasn't about to complain.
There was one strange knot in Bae's mind, however. The last time she rode that Vespa was over a year ago, but her body seemed quite used to the ride.
Maybe it's muscle memory.
Bae paused.
I didn't ride a Vespa recently, did I?
Then, Bae's cellphone buzzed.
It was a text from Irys.
" How did it go? " Irys texted.
Bae sat upright and typed up her answer.
" We kept the portfolio. " Bae texted, " Three more years. "
Irys didn't reply after that. Instead, she reacted to Bae's message with a nonchalant heart emoji.
Bae's cheeks flushed red. She set down her cellphone and closed her eyes again.
"Don't give me hope, damn it…" Bae grumbled.
She said that, but a triumphant smile lingered on Bae's lips.
…
Nowhere With You
Push It To The Limit
…
To Be Continued