Page 88 of Signed, I'm Yours!
“Well? I’m waiting,” the Joan Cusack impersonator, who I assume is the infamous April, says.
Leave it to me to get us into hot water and in even bigger trouble. Why did I think sneaking into April’s office and hacking her computer would be a piece of cake? All I’ve managed is to get caught and delay poor Jack’s escape from my evil clutches.
“I can explain,” Jack stutters.
Even hearing his voice hurts. Seeing him cower before the digital presence of his boss. And I’ve put him in that position. If it weren’t for me, Jack would still be a clueless little CREEP doing his work, and I…I’d be my usual old self. Cheating, stealing, and scamming my way through life like I’ve always done.
“You don’t need to say anything.” I reach for the pen in my pocket and twirl it in my fingers like the weapon it can be. “You must be April.”
I put my hand on Jack’s shoulder with authority and confidence I don’t even feel in my pinkie and push him away from the desk. The chair rolls to the end, and I lean forward, focusing on the central monitor above the glass desk.
“Who are you?” she asks, her sour expression turning sourer. More sour? Whatever. She’s practically a lemon.
“I am the Sinister Seomyeong.”
“Sinister Seomyeong? I’ve never heard of you.” She raises an eyebrow.
I gasp.
“You’ve never heard of me? How is that possible? I’m the biggest supervillain in New York City.”
Jack rolls back into view and addresses the same April I’m looking at.
“He’s not a supervillain, April. He’s hardly even a villain.”
“H-how dare you? My supervillainy knows no bounds.” I stare at Jack for a few moments before I turn to April.
“Well, your reputation must be marginal at best if I don’t even know you. And believe me, Mr. Seomyeong, I knoweveryone.”
Everyone, huh?
“Mr. Lewis, may I please know what you’re doing affiliating with a purported supervillain? In my office, no less?”
Damn it, Jack. If he hadn’t rolled back to “defend” me, she wouldn’t be questioning him right now.
I kiss my teeth, and in one swift motion, I step back and put my arm around Jack’s neck, using my free hand to point the pen at the spot behind his ear.
“Mr. Lewis is my prisoner, and if you don’t do as I ask, I will hurt him.”
Jack huffs.
“I’m not a prisoner,” he says.
“Yes, you are!” I tug at him. Why isn’t he playing along? Does he want to get in trouble?
“I’m not. And you’re not going to hurt me.”
Oh, Jack!
“I don’t see how he could. He’s holding a pen,” April says, not a hint of emotion in her expression or voice.
Is this woman a robot?
“I’ll have you informed my pen can be lethal. I am the Sinister Seomyeong!”
Her eyes narrow.
“You keep saying that. Am I supposed to think or feel something when you do?”
