Page 18 of Seer
Craig was in the lobby covering the front desk team’s lunch breaks, so our office was quiet. I’d made good progress when my cell phone rang. I hoped it wasn’t Lloyd. He was supposed to be taking Silvia on a lunch date. He’d texted me four times this morning trying to decide what to wear and where to take her.
Thankfully it was someone else.
“Taylor, how are you? It’s been a while since we’ve spoken.”
Taylor’s parents had settled in the Austin area over thirty years ago, way before I’d taken over the District. They all had stable jobs and owned their homes, so I rarely interacted with the family outside the quarterly socials I held.
“Hello, sir. How’s it going?”
I sighed. “Taylor, I’ve told you not to call me sir. It’s weird. I’m not your boss, and I’m not even older than you.”
“You’re the DM,” he said stubbornly. “That deserves respect. You’re our sheriff-slash-social worker-slash-guidance counselor. But it’d be weird to call you ‘Sheriff’, and ‘District Monitor’ doesn’t roll off the tongue. So you get to be called ‘sir’. Sir.”
I blew out a breath and decided it wasn’t worth the argument.
“What can I help you with today, Taylor?”
“Um, I saw on Discord about the new Cassandra?”
“Yes?”
“And Delphia said his name was Cal, right?” Taylor didn’t sound like he was really asking.
“Right.”
“Yeah, I ran into him this morning.”
I stood up, my desk chair sailing toward the wall behind me. “What?”
“I was at Pour Some Sugar on Me, you know, the coffee shop and bakery over on Oakworth?”
I made a grunt of acknowledgement.
“It was strange. My bear was looking around, kind of sniffing, which is weird for him. He usually just naps unless we’re outdoors. Anyway, he was real interested in this guy ahead of me in line, but I couldn’t get a good look at him until after he ordered. He went over to wait for his drink, and when he turned around, I could tell he saw my bear.”
“Holy shit.” My mother saw people’s second selves, but she’d told me when she’d spoken to Cal last night he’d only talked about his visions. Good for him for holding something back. He was either suspicious or smart or both.
“Hah, that’s exactly what Cal said, sir. My bear really liked him, by the way. But based on Cal’s reaction, I’m pretty sure I was the first Wonder he’d ever seen in person.”
“Oh, crap.” I ran my fingers through my hair and gripped it.
“Yeah, I felt kinda bad for him. But he didn’t scream or pass out, so that’s something. Oh, and I had to run off this douchebag who seemed to know Cal from when they werekids or whatever. Kept calling him an insulting nickname and tried to gay-shame him.”
“What?” Rage filled me, and I tensed. I half-crouched to lower my center of gravity, jerking my free hand out of my hair and making a fist in front of my chest like I was getting ready to punch someone. “Who was he?” I bit out.
Taylor chuckled. “I guess your mom’s right about you nesting, sir. But don’t worry. Cal wasn’t paying any attention to the guy, and I scared him off. He had some bougie name and had made the barista write ‘the fourth’ after it on his cup.”
I stalked around my desk and paced between Craig’s desk and mine. I forced my fingers to unclench. My breath was coming in huge puffs. I wasn’t quite in combat mode, but it was close.
“Sir, I tell you what,” Taylor said with a suspiciously indulgent tone in his voice. “How about I go by Pour Some Sugar on Me every morning for the next week to see if either of them shows up. Will that help?”
It did, in fact, help. My heart rate slowed, and my muscles relaxed. “I’d appreciate it, Taylor. Thank you.” I could also warn Ellis and Shane, since they were coming to town this weekend to see if they resonated with Cal.
“You should meet him. He has my bear’s stamp of approval. We’d all like to see you with someone, settled down and happy.”
“I’m not nesting, but thanks.”
“Um... well, just in case, I put in a good word about you with Cal. So hopefully he’ll pick you anyway.”
