"Oh! I'm sorry! I- I think I'm a little drunk," he apologized."Where is he?" a voice shrieked down the hallway.Stanley froze then pushed himself up onto his feet and stood there swaying. He turned his head as Yuko barged into the living room with Sandy right behind her. She was wearing his t-shirt over tights."You! It is your fault!" Yuko barked with tears in her eyes."What are you talking about?" he replied."I am to go back to Japan! They are cutting me off! Because of you!" Yuko raged.In a moment of clarity, he took a step closer to her and spoke softly. "Can we talk about this privately?""No! My life is ruined because of you!" she yelled, ignoring his suggestion.Stanley's frustration combined with the wine in his system knocked his restraint aside and his anger flared. "Hold on one second! None of this is my fault. You were the one who tried to trick me into marrying you and you were the one who told your father we were engaged. Then you told him I called off the wedding so
She shook her head as she looked at her lap. "For now, I will indicate in my report that you aren't suitable for training. That's not as rare as you'd think. This will satisfy the Security Ministry who are such a pain in the ass for us seers." They shared a smile. "You're very fortunate that you are able to suppress the perception of your seer sight. With the levels you have, if it was always on your sanity would be at risk."They stood and Katrina pulled Marisa into a warm embrace. "Good luck, Marisa!""Thank you!" Marisa had tears pooling in her lashes from relief and the intense compassion this woman was showing her. She followed the woman to the door and locked up once she was out.She'd been so worried at the complications the Hidden Races Council was going to impose on her life and now that was no longer an issue. She'd completely lucked out with the woman assigned to be her teacher.She glanced at the clock. She had time to get to work only a littl
"I'll work on getting our schedules organized so we're off next weekend. I'll let you know during the week if I'm successful," she said. They stepped into the elevator and Stanley nodded to her. "Looking forward to it. This time I'll cut back on my drinking." "It will be your turn to pick a movie! Make it a good one!" Sandy grinned as she stepped off on her floor and she gave him a happy wave as the door closed. Stanley made his way down and outside where he got into the back of the waiting limo. "Good evening," he said. "Good evening, Stanley," Camila responded, smiling over at him. The limo got underway and they settled back for the drive. "What's a good movie to share with friends?" Stanley asked and Camila's brows rose. "That depends on the friends, doesn't it?" she replied with a smile. "How good are these friends?" Stanley thought about that. "Well, they are very close with each other but I'm the new guy. It's my turn to choose the movie." "Well, they're probably going
Camila bowed to the Minister as well then led Stanley out of the room and back into the small waiting room outside of the main hall. She turned Stanley to face her and gave him a slight smile as she held his eyes with hers. "Did you fall or was dropping to your knees and pressing your face to the ground done for effect?" His face burned with embarrassment. "I was so bloody flustered I lost my balance," he said quietly. "Well it was brilliant and shut down the man's opponents completely. He's gained a tremendous amount of status from that one act," she said equally quiet. He looked at her. "Why aren't we leaving? Aren't we done?" "Minister Imamura's wife will pick us up and take us to his estate. We are having dinner with them tonight and will fly home afterwards. They want to thank us properly," she replied. Another young man approached them with their luggage and gestured for them to follow him. They did and made their way to an underground parking lot where the man held open th
"Run the authentication process once more," he said and when she did the connection was made. "Ah! It's working! What's wrong with port 7?" "I think it was manually configured to use half duplex mode. Do you recall doing that?" he asked. Her frown turned into barely suppressed rage and Stanley was happy it didn't seem to be directed at him. "No, but I know who did it," she growled. "Someone in my class who said he would help me." "Did this person work on your router?" Stanley asked. "He... had the opportunity," she said with a blush as she looked away. "Oh... Ohhhh!" Stanley said as he clued in. She'd had this 'friend' in her bedroom. "Why, uh, why would he have sabotaged your assignment?" "So he could take my place as top of the class," she said stiffly. "I'm sorry. I don't mean to embarrass you. What he did was really mean. The way to get back at him would be-" "To gut him with a fishing knife!" she snarled. "No! You show up with your project not only complete but exceedi
Camila was sitting in the hospital waiting room when Marisa, Sigrid, and Mr. Duncan rushed in. "How is he?" Marisa gasped. "I haven't heard from the doctor yet." "Why did you fly him all the way home before getting him medical attention!" Sigrid barked. She'd been in a state since receiving the shaky call from Camila hours before. Camila glared at her. "I wasn't given a choice!" A shiver went through her as her mind flashed back to the moment. There was a large thump from the back which shook the plane. Then the lights suddenly went out, plunging her into darkness. She felt the cold hand on her shoulder and the voice by her ear sent a burst of terror through her. "Bring him home." Only three words but Camila knew exactly who had spoken them and how far away she'd been when she spoke them. The lights came back on and the Pilot was finally able to open the stuck cockpit door. He came rushing back into the passenger section. "What was that?!?" he called out as Camila looked into
"They're great, Stanley. Everything works perfectly! Good job. Get some rest," the man said awkwardly. "Good..." Stanley said with a smile and drifted off. Marisa covered him with the blanket and followed Mr. Duncan out into the living room where Camila was sitting with Sigrid. She took a seat across from her mother as the big man made his way into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and made a happy noise when he spotted a baking pan of brownies. He pulled it out, got a knife from the drawer, and carried both back to the living room. He sat next to Marisa, peeled back the plastic wrap, and cut her a brownie which she accepted with a smile. He cut two more for Camila and Sigrid then one for himself. "Oh my god, this is good!" Marisa sighed as the chocolatey treat melted in her mouth. "Did Yuko make these?" Camila asked looking suspiciously at the square in her hand. Marisa stopped eating to look at her nervously. "No, I believe these were from the pretty blond neighbor," Sigrid exp
Marisa bit her lip then nodded as she stepped back. She followed Sandy down the short hall and immediately ducked behind her to shut Stanley's bedroom door as the other woman headed for the kitchen. They met back in the hall. Sandy looked behind Marisa and raised an eyebrow. "You know, I am a nurse." "Yes, but this isn't a hospital so Stanley's privacy matters here," Marisa said gently. "But I'm a friend!" "He's not up for visiting friends at the moment I'm afraid," Marisa countered. Sandy panned her eyes down Marisa's body and smiled. "You're a very good Executive Assistant. Very protective." Marisa returned the smile. "I like to think so." "But are you his friend?" Sandy asked with a coy smile. "I'm that as well but tonight I'm his assistant first." "Are you anything else to Stanley?" Sandy asked, trying to sound casual. Her voice held just the slightest tremor in it which gave away how intimidated she was by Marisa's beauty. Marisa fixed her eyes on Sandy's and saw the wo