Page 50 of Her Devil

The six of us file into the cars, much like we did on Friday night, not bothering to ask the drivers for information they’re not going to give us. “I swear, if we end up at that spooky place again, I’m moving out,” Tamsin comments. “I am not dressed for this cold weather.”

Luckily, we don’t end up at the old church, but neither do we head to the small village that Nick showed me the other week, instead travelling further away and finding ourselves tucked in an expensive-looking office in the middle of a town God knows where.

“Glad you could all make it.” Liselle smiles as she strides through the glass doors, a red and black mask firmly in place, a brunette following behind her. “This is Amy, she’s the head of the Big Sister programme here at Timeless, and she’s going to talk you through your first training session.”

She drops a notepad in front of each of us, gesturing to the pot of pens conveniently placed in the middle of the table as I look from her to Tamsin, and back.

“And what exactly is that?” Stephanie asks.

“If you give her a chance, Amy will answer all your questions,” Liselle replies with a fake smile and a roll of her eyes.Bitch.

“Good afternoon, ladies,” the brunette starts. “As your mentor explained, I’m Amy, and thank you for taking the time out of your day to begin your Big Sister training.” She looks from one to the other of us, clearly picking up the fact that none of us has any idea why the hell we’re here or what on earth she’s talking about.

“So, it was great of you all to enrol in this programme. Your little sisters have all been picked out and matched perfectly to you. They’re excited, I can tell you that.” She smiles, again, clearly hoping for some kind of exhilarated reply, but none comes. “This is going to be the first of your twice-weekly training sessions covering mentor training, peer training, guidance and support. Once we’re through all this, you’ll just have the weekly support and debrief catch-ups, most likely by zoom.”

“And when are we supposed to fit this in?” Stephanie asks. “My calendar is already pretty full with the additional classes I chose.”

“Spaces have been created, and your online calendars have been updated,” Liselle replies.

“I’m sorry, what?” Stephanie attempts to clarify, cocking her head.

“This is non-negotiable, your schedule has been adjusted.” She doesn’t even look up from her phone to answer before dismissing any further questions with a flick of her hand, gesturing for Amy to continue.

“Yes, so aside from the training sessions, you’ll meet with your Little Sister at least twice a month, you’re free to organise that at your own convenience.”Great.“This programme makes a massive contribution to the self-esteem and prospects of our young women, it’s also a fantastic opportunity for you ladies to gain some new skills and give back to those that haven’t been afforded the same luxuries you have.”

“So, we’re going to be giving a hand-up to a bunch of degenerates. Great.” Penelope sighs with a roll of her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “Just what I had in mind.”

“The young women in our programme are the forgotten ones,” Amy continues undeterred. “They’re not the top of the class, the popular girls, but they’re also not the bottom of the social ladder either, those girls get plenty of support from other areas. No, we target those in the middle, the ones with potential that just need the right kind of contacts and support to really make themselves something special.”

And so it continues, for the next two hours…

“When she said some new things would be on the agenda, this is not exactly what I was expecting,” I comment quietly, climbing into the back of the SUV behind Tamsin and Stephanie.

The driver is silent as a black privacy screen slides up between us, the locks engaging loudly before we pull away.

“I can’t believe this. She’s just cancelled my nail appointments for the foreseeable future,” Stephanie grumbles, flicking through her online calendar.

“To be fair, those can be rescheduled pretty easily. Coordinating time with six people is probably not the easiest,” Tamsin attempts to explain. “And mentoring sounds fun. I’ll be able to pass my good fashion sense to someone at least, my actual sisters couldn’t care less.”

I chuckle, flicking through the changes in my calendar. Luckily, it’s just additions and there are no class movements or anything. It just means some of the time I’d mentally allocated I no longer have.Totally fine.

The car manoeuvres its way through the town with ease, but in nothing more than a few moments we’re pulling into an underground car park behind Liselle, everyone filing back out.

“I thought we were going back to the house?” Aimee asks as Liselle marches to an elevator, the seven of us waiting as two of the security guys head up first.

“Not yet. There’s someone I’d like you to meet first,” Liselle says with a smile.

I have no idea whether the smile is good news for us or not, not knowing her well enough to be able to decipher her moods just yet.

We all wait anxiously for the elevator to return, none the wiser as to where we are or who we’re meeting as she types in a code before we start to move. It’s clearly a private elevator, with no buttons to push, and no reception to go to as the display shows us flying from floor to floor. The metal doors pull back, Liselle’s security waiting with a blonde woman holding a clipboard, and yes, even more security.

They poke through everyone’s handbags and cautiously but efficiently pat us all down.What the hell?Nobody questions it when the perky blonde with the clipboard thanks us all, asking us to follow her before setting a pace across the marble floor.

The entranceway is cold and efficient, but as we push through double doors, it’s clear this isn’t some random office building, this is an apartment. A penthouse. We’re ushered through a living room before finding ourselves in what looks like another meeting room, the space feeling odd, considering this looks much more like a hotel than an office.

“She’s just on a call,” the blonde explains. “She knows you’re here.”

A private entrance to a penthouse suite. Who on earth have we come to see? A musician, a celebrity, a designer?

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