Page 21 of Tortured Soul
Kai grinned. “I knew it. I’m sure you’ll be perfectly fine. Working hours would be adjustable if you need to. After all, we’re all capable of navigating the archives on our own.”
“Why do you need someone working there, then?”
He leaned back in his chair, smiling. “Because even though we know how to search for and put away said files, you’d be a huge time saver. If you’re not here when needed we can either wait for you or do it ourselves, it’s not a problem. As I said, it’s something we’ve been considering for a while, but you’d be a huge help.”
It sounded too good to be true—if you forgot about the Carter part.
“How many hours would the job require?” I asked.
“Four days a week, between five and seven hours each day, give or take?”
Yeah. It sounded fishy.
“What’s the catch?”
Surprise pulled at his face. But was it feigned?
“What do you mean?”
“Come on. Very few hours that I can adjust to my needs, in a calm and quiet space…Easy tasks? It seems too good to be true. There has to be a catch.”
His brow furrowed, eyes turning to slits. “You’re a deeply distrusting person.”
“With good reasons.”
The silence stretched, the only sound the drum of his fingers on the desk and the occasional squeaking of the chair.
“Believe me or not, the onlycatchas you said is that you might run into Carter. And since I already told you, it’s not really a catch, is it?”
I rolled my eyes but didn’t insist although I could feel there was something he wasn’t telling me.
“I’m supposed to meet with Arc before noon. Come by my office around two and we’ll either draft a contract for you or I’ll help you find something else,” he said, ignoring my suspicious glare. “There’s already some money on your account,” he added, tilting his chin toward the little card I held in my hand. “Kind of a welcome gift. Or rather, a ‘we’re sorry about the rude welcome party’ one.”
I scoffed, shaking my head.Rudewas putting it lightly. I didn’t think I had ever gotten beat up on the spot…Mistreated, abused and disrespected most of the time, yes, but random attackers rarely got the chance to actually land a hand on me in that way…
“Smile!”
A blinding light flashed before my eyes just as I lifted my head.
“Fuck,” I groaned. “What was that for?”
“Your file!” he beamed. “Your face will pop up on any register’s screen every time you use it to pay. There are no thefts here, but just to make sure.”
My face? Was he…Oh god, I couldn't believe it.
His smile faltered when he noticed my pointed stare.
“What?” he stuttered.
“My face? Really?”
“Yeah, your face. Why, what is—Oh.Yourface.”
The silence stretched again with more awkward and pointed looks.
“Your face. Face that you can change at will. Sorry, forgot about that for a minute…” He paused for a beat, scratching his head. “Well, I guess whatever face you chose to wear, you’ll have to keep that one on when you decide to go shopping.”
Well, with my energy depleting it wasn’t like I had a choice anyway…
