Page 157 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
Kip was on his phone with greater speed than he’d used whenringing in with answers to Harrison’s trivia questions. But all he did wascheck to see what Faisal wanted from Swifties.
Tami followed the aroma of fresh coffee throughLandmark’s pristine halls, straight to the break room, one of the few places inthe building where all the furnishings were intended for grown-ups. She stashedthe ice cream in the freezer while Ash eased bags of food onto the table.
Flootie made a pleased sound and began an immediate rummagefor paper plates and plastic utensils. Harrison pulled bottled water from thefridge, then hunted up their coffee mugs.
By longstanding tradition, everyone on staff kept one on thelong shelf over the sink. Photo mugs were a popular choice, and Tami counted noless than five with some variation on the themeWorld’s Greatest Teacher.
Flootie’s was patterned in the distinctive dark blue ofPolishware. Harrison’s featured one of those math jokes that probably wouldhave been funnier if he didn’t have to explain it. Tami’s cup was shaped like asquat daruma, a graduation gift from her grandparents in Kyoto. Hers was red;Joe’s was blue. Kip’s mug boldly announcedWill Work for Food.
“Where’s yours, Ash?” Harrison asked, scanning the shelf asecond time.
“Got a new one.” With a sidelong look at Tami, he added,“That green one on the end.”
“Nice! This looks handmade.” Harrison checked for a potter’smark on the base.
Ash shrugged. “Yeah, I know a guy.”
Tami eased over to get a closer look, and Harrison passed italong. Heavy for its size, the mug’s glaze was an earthy shade of green, andletters had been incised deep into the clay—tree hugger. She laughed.
He shrugged again, like it was no big deal. Because itwasn’t. Not really. But Tami was looking forward to a future filled with allthe little ways he found to show he cared.
“I really wish they’d send you some support staff.” Flootiesettled into a chair. “Weren’t you going to get us a secretarial moth person?”
Ash’s mouth twitched.
“Ididget some help, but not from a moth clan.” Tamicasually asked, “Do you like birds?”
“Depends. Is she detail-oriented?”
“Obsessively,” assured Ash.
Tami would have liked to make a remark about pots andkettles. “He’s proving very diligent.”
“Would you like to meet him?” Ash’s gaze slid to the door.“Kip went to get him.”
Harrison had been about to sit but bounced to his feetagain. “He’shere? There’s anAmaranthinehere?”
“He’s been working nights,” said Tami. This wasn’t reallythe big reveal they’d planned, but maybe Faisal wouldn’t mind being theiropener. “Which is why thereisn’tany paperwork for us to worry about.”
Flootie’s eyes narrowed. “Ulterior motives?”
“More than one,” promised Ash, just as Kip strolled throughthe door.
“Flootie, Harrison, meet my good friend Faisal.”
Tami wasn’t entirely surprised to discover that Faisaldressed impeccably for an evening of solitude. He greeted everyone with thesame poise he used in dealing with customers at Find Me.
Giving Faisal a puzzled once-over, Flootie asked, “Are youAmaranthine, young man?”
“I am. I use simple illusions to hide telltale features.”Faisal sidled up to Harrison and inquired, “Would you like to see more?”
Harrison offered his hands and breathlessly asked, “May Iknow your name?”
With an approving inclination of his head, he slid his palmsover the clerk’s. “Faisal Longsweep, a fosterling of the Sunfletch clan. Wouldyou be so kind as to help me with my cufflinks?”
Tami watched closely as Harrison obeyed. Faisal murmuredsomething in his ear, and his fingers fumbled at their task. She tried to gaugewhat was going on by Ash’s expression, but he was looking on with nothing morethan fond exasperation.
“There. That’s done the trick,” said Faisal.
