Page 16 of April's Fool
I often found my thoughts drifting back to the demon. What it was about him that had caught my attention, I didn’t know. There was something aside from the perfect fashion sense, hot body, and charming personality. Perhaps it was just how clearly he loved my friend. He was so accepting that I couldn’t help but feel jealous. I’d found myself wanting some of Mori’s attention on me. My skin buzzed when he made eye contact or we touched.
Austin made me wait a full minute in the corridor outside his office after I knocked. This was a power play on his part. Pretending he was much too busy working to deal with an underling. He knew it was his lunch because I heard his assistant call him. I’d also heard her curse his name after she hung up. Yeah, she wouldn’t last in this job for long with that attitude.
“Come in,” Austin finally called.
I entered the large corner office that was supposed to be Cody’s, finding that Austin had already put abunch of tacky personal touches to the space. The decor was nineties wall-street, flashy and fake.
Austin looked me up and down, then dismissed me, immediately snatching the tray from my hands and uncovering the dishes.
Nothing that he ordered was that extravagant. A simple salad and tomato soup, which looked like it was going cold. There was a fruit compote with greek yogurt for dessert.
“Dismissed,” Austin muttered as he lifted a spoonful of soup to his lips. He slurped it off the spoon and grimaced with distaste. He tried another few before pushing the bowl away. “Fucking cold.”
He must have sensed my continued presence because he looked up at me. “You can go.”
“No, sorry, sir. I have to check that it is to your liking. The kitchen said they’ve had complaints and want to fix them.”
No word of a lie there. Austin’s list of complaints was long and varied. He huffed, but ignored me and picked up his fork to try his salad.
I had paid little attention to what was in the salad, only that it was going to have an extra ingredient this time.
It must have passed muster, or he was starving because he devoured it. Within minutes, he was tossing his fork down and reaching for his dessert.
Worry filled my gut the longer he went on eating his food. I was glad that there was little to no trace in the salad, but I began to doubt that I’d picked up the right one when it started.
Austin’s eyes went wide, his spoon halted halfway to his mouth. He scratched at his throat with one hand. The spoon fell and clattered on his glass desk. His eyes went wide, then bulging.
He fumbled for his desk and opened it violently. I knew he wouldn’t find what he wanted in there.
“Sir?” I asked, faux concern filling my tone. “Are you okay?”
“Allergic. Help!” Austin got out.
Playing the role perfectly, I rushed to the door. “Help! He’s having an allergic reaction!” I yelled.
The assistant stood. “There’s a pen in his desk!”
I turned to look at Austin. His lips seemed to be going blue. It was a good look on him. His face was red and sweaty. He shook his head.
“It’s not there!” I shouted at her. Hiding my glee was hard. Never in my time as a hitman had I enjoyed my job so much.Time to get out of the business, I thought vaguely to myself.
“Shit!” She got up and ran to the break room. In a matter of seconds, she was back with an epi-pen. I knew that the company had a stock of them on each floor since Austin wasn’t the only one with a seriousallergy that worked there. They were also practical enough to know that having a healer on staff was expensive and this place was cheap.
The assistant dashed into Austin’s office and went to use the pen herself. Austin snatched it out of her hand, un-capped it, and sank it into his upper thigh while she called for an ambulance.
We waited, Austin’s lips getting more and more blue, his eyes bloodshot, his tongue thick.
Nothing happened.
In front of me, Austin died. I was sure he caught my smirk before he passed out.
“Oh, my god! Fuck! Is he—?” The assistant went into a panic. The phone slipped from her hand, the call still connected, as I stood stock still.
“I think he’s dead.” I infused my voice with shock.
“Oh, shit.”
The ambulance and what seemed like half of the management team arrived minutes later. Just after them, the police arrived and allowed the body to be taken away.
