Page 20 of Ashes of Sin and Stardust

I put my phone away and looked up to see Alice sitting across from me with a remarkably healthy-looking salad on her plate. Granted it was completely smothered in dressing and croutons, but at least there was some fiber to speak of.

“I’m impressed, Benson.”

She shrugged. “I can act like an adult if I need to... I don’tlikeit. But Ican.”

I chose not to respond to that comment, waiting until she’d eaten half of her salad before sliding her coffee back over. She wiped the dressing off her lips and took a sip. “Wow, chocolate and blue cheese goes amazingly well together.” I chose to ignore that statement in hopes that she didn’t speak to me again, but no such luck.

She finished her salad and smiled up at me. “Satisfied?”

Why did her eyes have to be that stunning? And her makeup was done in a way that made her eyes look even bigger, a dark sharp cat-eye, long lashes, and bright blue and gold eyeshadow decorating her skin and bringing out the colors in her eyes.

She’d look beautiful with those eyes filled with tears.

“Temporarily appeased?” she asked again. But she distracted me from answering by biting her lip and raising a perfectly shaped eyebrow.

“Come on, Reuben, I’m trying really hard here.” She took another sip of her coffee milkshake, and then handed her cup back to me. “Want a sip?”

“No.”

“It’s really good.”

“I bet.”

“Do you ever smile?” she asked. A tootsie pop appeared from nowhere, and she ran her tongue piercing along it, making a strange hollow sound against the candy.

“Not if I can help it. Do you ever eat real food?”

“Not if I can help it.”

I shook my head in mock disgust. “Who hurt you?”

That was clearly the wrong thing to say, and I got my wish to see her cry, though I regretted it immediately. Her eyes flashed with hurt, then welled with tears. She clenched her jaw as a single tear escaped, rolling down her flushed cheek.

“Who hasn’t?” She tossed her candy onto the paper plate in front of her, and practically ran out of the room towards the elevator.

Her behavior was so unexpected that I sat there for a moment, trying to figure out what had just happened. Someone sat beside me. Cat looked up at me expectantly.

“I’m getting whiplash,” I whispered.

She pursed her lips. “Tell me about it. She’s even worse when you’re not here to entertain her.”

“What do you mean?”

“Last week, she taught the first-graders a new version of the “clean up” song that went something like‘I don’t wanna do my chores!’”She sang the last line, rolling her eyes as she did so.

“Before that, she bet Scott and Brian that she could out-drink them, which was dumb, considering those boys could out-drink an alcoholic at sixteen and still walk a straight line.” She shook her head. “If she’s not off-the-wall excited and happy, she’s so depressed I think she’s going to slit her wrists. She pulls it together in public, but barely. I’m worried she’s going to say something stupid next Wednesday at the meeting with Social Services. I’ve talked to her about it, but I’m nervous.”

“What’s the meeting about?”

“Getting us approved to keep the orphans,” she said. “We would be able to find local families if we thought it was in their best interest, or keep them here, depending on what was best for them. We’re an approved location for temporary housing, but the kids could be pulled and re-homed at any time. Right now, they’re only here because Charlotte owed Sophie a favor, and Sophie warned she’d make a stink if they took them away. We’re hoping that if we can get approval to keep them full-time, we can give them stability.”

“And you worry Alice’s bratting is going to get in the way of that?”

“Not her bratting, just her general chaos. Then again, she can be super professional when she wants to be. Alex said not to worry about it, and she’s seen her in action. I mean, she used to work for some big corporate office as a PA I think.”

I felt my eyes widen. “Really?”

“Yeah. Kicked ass, apparently. So far she’s fine here except for the occasional bullshit, like singing “baby shark” nonstop, trying to flog herself, and painting her fingernails with white-out.”

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