Page 444 of Savage Bosses

Jenn rolled her eyes. "Cory got sick and called me in to replace him.

"That sucks. Oh, I'm about to let my friend into the building."

"Go ahead."

Tati opened the door of the condo building and saw Taro standing there.

"You cut your hair," she told him.

He smiled, "Little Bird, you lied to me."

Tati pouted. "Don't be mad."

"How could I not be mad? You told me if you ever went on a revenge quest, you'd let me go with you."

"We were playing video games at the time. I never thought I'd go on a real live revenge quest."

Taro inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. "You betrayed my trust."

"I'm sorry. To show you how sorry I am, I'll take you to a party today."

"I've already been hired to go to that party. Try again."

"Ummm."

Taro burst out laughing. "Can I come in?"

"Oh, right." Tati stood back, giving him room to enter the building.

"Lead the way, Little Bird."

"Follow me, Eagle Eyes," she joked, using the name they use in the video gameApocalypse 2081.

Tatianna led him to the elevator. On the ride to her floor, he commented, "This place smells like bleach."

"The cleaning crew must've cleaned or something. But, it doesn't usually smell this bleachy."

When they stepped out of the elevator, Taro stared up and down the hall.

"What?" Tati asked. "Something wrong?"

"The smell of cleaning products is stronger here."

"That's a good thing. I like the smell of bleach. It means they’re keeping this place clean."

"That's not always the case," he said, still looking around them.

"You're always so suspicious. Come inside. I need to get another hour of sleep before I go get my hair done." Tatianna unlocked her door and led Taro into her condo. She showed him to the guest bedroom. "You can rest. I'll set my alarm for an hour. Then we'll head to the salon."

"Give me your key. I want to do a perimeter check."

Tatianna sighed. “Really, dude?”

"Hey, this is what I was hired to do. I wasn’t invited here to have fun."

She placed her key in his palm. "Go do a perimeter check, then. I'm going to sleep."

"Sweet dreams, Little Bird."

---