Page 173 of Drama Queen

Wilson winced. “My apologies, Ms Bailey, I had forgotten that little peculiarity of lion shifters. I will find you someone suitable.”

“Actually, Zeke suggested someone called Roly. He sounds amazing on paper, and he’s supposed to be showing up at some point. If he gets here in time, then I’m hoping he can show me to my suite.”

“Uh, that would be me,” said a quiet voice from the doorway. “But I’m afraid I don’t know my way around the upper floors. I’ve never had cause to go up there.”

As soon as Charlotte laid eyes on him, she knew the man was going to work. Yes, one eye was distinctly cocked to his left, almost like he was trying to look over his shoulder, and if what Zeke said was correct, he could probably do that anyway. The other one, the darker one, was directed right at her, and while his posture was slightly stooped, as though he was trying to avoid notice, his gaze was fixed upon her, unwaveringly. It was almost like a challenge, like he was daring her to lookbeneath the surface and see the treasure he was, and from the intelligence she saw glittering in just one eye, he was going to be the find of a century.

Slowly a smile curled across her lips. “Welcome to the team, Roly.”

He gave a slight head bow of acquiescence, but if she hadn’t been watching him so carefully, her owl enhancing her sight, she would have missed the slightest flinch that preceded it.

Roly entered the room, joining her and Wilson where she stood, clutching her laptop bag to her chest.

“Do you even like being called Roly?” she asked, guessing at the cause of his discomfort.

“It’s a nickname,” he replied neutrally.

Charlotte shook her head. “You’re a smart man, Roly, or so I’ve been told. If you’re going to work for me, Roly, then I need you to be honest. I think we’re going to get on like a house on fire, Roly, our friendship is going to be the stuff of legends. I know I have no right, and I know it’s early in the game, Roly, but I’m going to need you to trust me to have your back. So when I fucking ask you a question, Roly, I expect you to answer it.”

Yep, she was right. Every time she said that name, his body gave away his dislike of it. It was a flicker of an eyelid, a twitch of his lips, the slight hunching of his shoulders. This name, this nickname, was associated with whoever had tried to put him down here, and there was no way she was going to be associated with that.

“How about Fitz?” she asked him. “I like Roland, it’s a good name, but I think you and I have to have something a little more personal than that. When it’s just us, you can call me Char, and if you like it, then I’ll call you Fitz.”

The man watched her carefully, clearly thinking about her offer. “I can work with that,” he said finally.

“Good. Then your first task is to work with Wilson here to get me a guide until the two of us can learn our way around where we have to go. Does he stay on site here too, Wilson?” she asked.

“No, ma’am. His residence is secure, and any threat against him would be at the same level as someone not working in the building. He’s a shifter, that’s target enough.”

Which was sadly far too true.

“Alright then, I’m going to work on the speech of my life, I’m going to be crabby, demanding, and a real bitch. Just remember, I don’t mean a lick of it. I’m simply stressed out. If you don’t mind, I take my coffee white with one sugar. No creamers, can’t stand the stuff. Don’t let me drink more than four a day, or you’ll regret it. If you get me one now, please, that will be number two.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said, with a degree of resignation.

“Oh, and Fitz?”

“Ma’am?”

“I’ve had less than an hour to become accustomed to the idea of having an assistant. Until this morning, Iwasan assistant. So, cut me some slack. I promise, you are not a dogsbody, I will not chain you to a copy machine, but right now, I need people to do things for me, even basic things, until I can get my feet under me and really get going.”

His dark eye brightened a little, and he gave her a more enthusiastic response this time. “Yes, ma’am!”

Charlotte

“Ma’am?”Fitz said, hovering at her shoulder. “It’s time. If you want a shower, you need to come now.”

“But there’s still an hour left,” Charlotte protested.

Fitz glared at her. “Shower, hair, makeup, and then we have to get there through rush hour traffic.”

Fine, he had a point. “Alright, read this, make sure there’s at least three backup copies just in case. Give me any final edits after the shower, and then it goes to the teleprompter people.”

She followed him to the doorway, where a slender woman awaited them. Before she left, Charlotte had one more thing to do. She turned back to the room they’d all spent the day in, eyeing the tired governors, their aides, and now the cleaning staff who had arrived to take away the dirty dishes and full bins. Dinner would be available soon for any who stayed, but their jobs, for now, were done.

“I’m proud of you all,” Charlotte told them. “An odd sentiment for someone who was a grunt this morning, but you need to know it. This is a crisis. This is the biggest crisis our people have faced since we first revealed our presence to humans. What happens now, tomorrow, and over the followingweeks, will change and shape the way we relate to, and interact with humans. Today you’ve put your ego’s aside in the name of national security, you’ve put your minds where your hearts are, and you’ve dug in deep.”

There were several nods of acknowledgement around the room.

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