Page 8 of Reptile Dysfunction
“Yes?” I ask the orc boy.
He stands there a moment longer, blinks, then suddenly seems to remember why he’s here. “You’ve got people here to see you.”
“Who? Did they have an appointment?” I ask.
“I don’t work for you,” Jeff informs me. He walks away, leaving the door open. I’d ask him what we’re even paying him for, but he’s getting paid in experience, so I guess there’s the answer.
I stand up and walk towards the lobby where three people are standing around, looking like they don’t want to be here.
“You!” One of the women points at me, eyes narrowed as she approaches me. “You’re Charlotte, yes?”
I blink, a little taken aback at her forcefulness. “Y-yes?”
“Is that a question? Are you unsure of your own name?” the woman asks pointedly.
“Please forgive her forwardness,” a man says. He puts a hand on her arm and gently lowers it. “She’s a bit… dramatic. I’m Chris. This here is Belladonna, and this gentleman is Chet.”
The scruffy-looking guy behind the other two raises a hand and smiles at me politely.
“The three of us wanted to come and meet you in person. We’ve heard some… well, we’ve heard you’ve been on a tirade against our friend Mason Wendall.”
I drop my shoulders with my hands on my hips and sigh. “You’re here to threaten me? Well, let me tell you something!”
“No, no, no, no one is spitting threats here,” Chet says. He takes a step forward and looks at his friend’s faces as if to be sure. “It’s just, you seem to be under the mistaken idea that Mason is some corrupt politician when he couldn’t be further from it.”
“Mayor Wendall is a local treasure and a pillar of this community,” Belladonna says, looking down at me as if I’d stepped in something odorous. “And we will not stand for his name to be dragged through the mud.”
Chris again puts a hand in front of Belladonna to calm her down. “What we mean to say is Mason is the most stand-up, ethical guy you could know. You’re wasting your time and stirring up trouble where there doesn’t need to be any.”
“Ethical?” I ask, aghast. “Seriously?”
“Deadly so,” Belladonna replies. “Maybe if you just got to know him, you’d see –”
“Get to know him? Why? So he can shut me up? Send me packing? Bribe me? This isn’t my first time around the block, okay? You guys are either in on it, or blinded by his little nice guy act. But I’ll show you. I’ll blow the whole lid off of this, and by the end, you’ll be thanking me for it.”
I smirk, standing tall and firm in the face of opposition.
Chet pulls an awkward face and sighs. “Well, we tried guys. Who wants a beer?”
“I would adore a glass of chianti,” Belladonna replies.
“None for me, I have work in an hour. But you two enjoy. And Charlotte,” Chris says, looking at me with pity. “You’re barking up the wrong tree. And eventually, this town is gonna get sick of all your yapping.”
“Hey,” Chet says. “That’s offensive.”
Before I have a chance to ask what that even means, I hear my boss yelling my name.
“Charlotte! There you are. I need you in my office, now.” Eddie points at me and then sticks his thumb towards his office door.
“Yes, sir,” I reply sarcastically. As if this day couldn’t get better. I take a seat, and he slams the door behind me, making me jump in my chair.
“Seriously?” he asks, slapping a stack of paper down in front of me. I instantly recognize it as my article.
“Seriously,” I reply. I sit back in my chair and fold my hands in my lap.
“I can’t publish this. It’s baseless conjecture,” Eddie says.
“It’s completely factual and legal to print,” I reply. “I made sure there wasn't any libel or –”