Were-Hunter Prowl: IC

[Mireille]

"Do you plan on telling me anything useful sometimes soon, or are you just going to waste my time? I'm here, and I'm listening, so let's cut the crap so I can go back to doing my job, OK?"

The Arcadian was becoming really aggravating, and no matter how much she tried to keep her anger in check, Delaney felt her control slipping. This was just one more reason why she avoided being around others of her kind...

 

[Jedi_Khan]

"Do you plan on telling me anything useful sometimes soon, or are you just going to waste my time? I'm here, and I'm listening, so let's cut the crap so I can go back to doing my job, OK?"

“Well now, if it isn’t little Miss Prima Donna? Why the hell is she still here?” said Jeff sarcastically. “I thought I told you to drop the act, Delaney. The tough exterior and pushy attitude is not going to get you what you want in this situation.”

“Last chance to be reasonable, Miss Delaney,” said Jeff. “Now, weren’t you about to ask me for my reasons for saying no earlier? Ask nicely and we can start down path of getting you what you want.”

 

[AngelofDeath]

"Del, just kiss his ass a little. Personally if it keep us from having to kill anyone at this point I am all for it." Reasonable Kimi was back, at least for the moment. "You stand a better chance WITH his help than without. The Arcadians will more than likely contact the KPC when they hit town, at least then we'll have a heads up."

~Del I know you don't want to die and you will without the damn help now BE NICE~

 

[Mireille]

"You know what? I've got an even better idea. Why don't we call Savitar down here, and he can ask you nicely why you're being such a stubborn hard ass and preventing me from doing what he assigned me to do. Considering how pissed he'll be at being interrupted from his past-time, and the fact that he won't dispose of me until what he charged me with is done...let's take a guess who's skin is he going to fry.

"Personally, I thought I was being very reasonable in asking you to please allow your men to accompany me today. I showed respect for your leadership, and have already reassured Kimi that I'll be paying for my room and board and any other expenses that might occur doing my stay here. That includes the clothes she gives me, the weapons I might have to borrow, and her staff's time I might employ. Considering the fact that I haven't asked for permission in, oh, over 200 years or so, I believe I'm being very reasonable.

"However, ever since I arrived in this place all you and your family had given me is lip and contempt. I'm not a fool, nor a bone for you to sharpen your teeth on, and as I said to your brother earlier, I'm not squeamish about dog-meat, and if you keep provoking me, you might find out that the kitty has claws and knows how to use them.

Now...will you be so kind as to enlighten me as to why I'm still here instead of out there, where people need my help?"

~ Kimi, approximately what time did I arrive here last night? I know it sound like a stupid question, but trust me, it's important" ~ Delaney sent the message out to the Katagari

 

[Jedi_Khan]

“I’m being so hard headed mainly because you haven’t had the sense to offer to pay for the services of my family,” responded Jeff. “We run a business in this city, a real legitimate business that works with humans on a regular basis, with services offered to the were-hunter community for a fee. However, we don’t normally offer those services during the day, but for a fee, just like everything else, we can.”

“Also, you can’t have Carlos and Manuel both because they are on separate teams,” continued Jeff. “You can have Andrei and Manuel later this afternoon. If you are willing to compensate them for their time and effort, they will keep an eye on you and show you around. And it just so happens that one of their stops this afternoon is the mall.”

“A lesson you will have to learn in this city, and learn fast, is that nothing is free,” Jeff said. “Everything has a cost, whether it’s in terms of money or having to suck up your pride and cooperate like a decent person. The only way to get something for free around here is to take it by force, which would end up closing a lot of doors to you. And force is not going to help with regards to the KPC, because we can hit back just as hard as you can, and we have more people.”

“And threatening me with Savitar isn’t going to work either, because he only cares about what takes place inside his limani,” continued Jeff. “What happens outside these walls doesn’t matter much to him. Outside these walls, you either cooperate with us and get what you want, or don’t. And Kimi’s right. You need our help out there; when those Arcadians and Katagarians that are hunting you hit town, they just might decide to check in with us first. We either tell them that we don’t know where you are, while keeping you hidden in the proverbial back room, or we tell them we don’t know where you are while you wander the streets all alone.”

“And finally, our help not only has a monetary cost, it also has an intangible cost: lose the ‘I can get away with anything I damn well please, boss around anyone as I damn well please, and get what I want without having to pay for it’ attitude, otherwise known as the prima donna attitude,” concluded Jeff.

The entire time, his voice had a no-nonsense tone to it; he wasn’t about to back down from some prima donna, even if she was on a mission from Savitar.

 

[Mireille]

Sometimes during Jeff's extremely condescending speech, Delaney concluded that he was extremely annoying, way too full of himself, and entirely too self-centered to be of any real help. It was a pity, because Delaney had almost started to like the guy. Last night, he'd had no reason to help her, and he hadn't asked for anything in return. Delaney wasn't going to leave her debt unpaid, but for once in her life it had felt good to meet someone who wasn't in it for what he could get out of it.

"Boy, I don't know how you got to be leader of this gang of yours, cause the way you listen when others talk to you, it's a wonder that you get anything done around here.

Did the words "I already reassured Kimi that all of ya's will be payed for your services" meant nothing to you? Cause I thought I was speaking plain English.

"As far as your little threat there... if you think ratting me out to the Arcadians will do you any good, then by all means go and do that. It's obvious to me that the words honour and dignity mean nothing to you.

"If I wanted to take anything without asking," Delaney turned to Kimi and looked her straight in the eye, "you know I would have done that by now. I wouldn't have asked for your help, and I certainly wouldn't have still been here, trying to reason with Mr. Asshole over there.

"I thought this was your limani, Kimi, and when I spoke to you this morning about taking Carlos and Manuel with me, I obviously got the wrong impression that you were in charge. However, in also asking him, I think you'd agree with me that I've been more than courteous and respectful. I didn't presume anything, nor overstepped any boundaries. Which is more than I could say about him.

"I'm used to being shunned and refused any help when I most need it, and I am through trying to reason with him. But this is the first and only time that I will allow anybody to insult me and threaten me without any just cause."

Delaney turned back towards Jeff and pinned him down with a stare that clearly showed how much worth he had in her eyes.

"I have someplace to be that can't wait until the afternoon. Thanks for your help, Arcadian." She spat the word out at him with all the venom she could muster, then bent down and pulled a small wad of cash from her boot.

"I'd appreciate a room of my own for when I come back, but any corner will do." Dropping the cash on a nearby bedside table, Delaney turned around and bolted through the door and out of the Sanctuary before she could change her mind.

Outside, she walked to the nearest street vendor and bought a small guide book and a map of the city. Within minutes, she had pinpointed the place she was looking for, and teleported herself there.

 

[Mireille]

On the prowl

Once outside Dino's Dive, Delaney quickly made her way around the back, to a hidden alley that was pitch-dark even at that hour of the morning. She walked to a hidden metal grate that housed the entrance to the city sewers, disconnected the carefully placed booby-trap rigged around it, and pulled. She had to yank it a few times before it finally moved. Delaney crawled inside and pulled the grate back into its place, then she pulled her jumper up to her nose and proceeded to crawl on her stomach through the shit-and-slime covered passageway.

About 15 minutes of crawling later, Delaney got to a dead end. Feeling her way along the dank sewer-wall, Delaney found a small dent in the cement and pressed the tips of her fingers into it. With a click and a rusty noise, a small hatch opened up in front of her. Delaney rolled herself onto her back and slowly pushed her hands inside the hatch. Feeling along its upper corners, she pulled out a small pocketknife and a torch. Pulling the knife open, she balanced the torch in her teeth as she proceeded to disarm the home-made timer-bomb she had placed there the night before, and a very small, but very touchy motion sensor.

If she'd been there 21 minutes later, the whole thing would have blown up, flooding the chamber at the back of the corridor with dank water and shit. Well, that would have sucked, all her favourite toys were inside that chamber!

Still on her back, she crawled a little more inside the hatch, gently pulling at wires and disarming them as she made her way through the confined pipeline. Finally, she got to the other end, opened one more metal hatch, and crawled out of the pipe into a dark and extremely cold concrete-lined chamber.

She got on her feet and as she lifted her arm to flip on the light-switch, she gave a small wince. Damn, her shoulder-blades were scraped raw from crawling on her back through that tight sheet of metal.

Working as quick as her injured back would allow her, she pulled two big travel bags and a small black-and-red backpack out of a niche in the chamber. They were all wrapped up in a reinforced waterproof jacket, a sheet of plastic taped up really tight around that, and one more jacket to top it all off. Pushing the bags in the hole she had just come through, she wrapped herself in a very expensive-looking black leather jacket and cursed out loud.

"Oh, for the love of dick, last night I ruined my best patrol-clothes, now my leather jacket. What next?"

Strapping her backpack to her front around her chest and stomach, she flipped off the lights, lay back down on the floor, and proceeded to crawl back out to the surface. Pushing the two bags in front of her proved extremely difficult in the confined space, especially as she also had to concentrate on rigging back all the wires she had disarmed earlier.

Although the leather jacket helped soften the chaffing on her back a little bit, she could feel blood being drawn from her back with every crawling move she took. Finally, she crawled out of the metal pipeline, rigged back the motion sensor, but didn't bother with the timer-bomb.

A full half hour later, she was back out into the alley, only to notice that it was already afternoon, maybe 3-4 o'clock by the position of the sun. She was covered in slime, her back was bleeding, and her eyes were watering from the smell of the place. She needed a shower, food and some rest, and a safe place to deposit all her belongings.

Clutching one shit-dripping bag in each hand, she teleported herself back to the Red Room, outside the kitchen door.

"Honey, I'm ho-ome!" she called as she headed up the stairs, back towards the infirmary.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Jeff sat in silence while Delaney ranted and raved, giving a lot of evidence that her thinking was flawed. He was even unaffected by Delaney’s glare that seemed to be intended to hurt him.

First off, Delaney seemed to think that reassuring Kimi that the KPC would be paid was just as good as reassuring the KPC that they would be paid. It wasn’t. The KPC had no association with the Red Room other than to drop off troublesome were-hunters and get some food, a fact that meant Kimi had no say in the KPC’s actions, which in turn was a fact that Delaney apparently never picked up on.

Secondly, Delaney seemed to think that Jeff’s earlier statement meant that he would rat her out to the Arcadians. It didn’t. It meant that Jeff wouldn’t lie to the Arcadians when they came asking about her.

And lastly, Delaney seemed to think that Kimi had some say over the KPC. She didn’t. And Jeff left his analysis of Delaney’s flawed assumptions at that, as the woman charged out of the room.

“Kimi,” said Jeff, sighing and shaking his head. “I’m done dealing with her for now. You have a chat with her, and straighten out some of those incorrect assumptions she’s somehow developed. When she’s got the right ideas in her head, she’s welcome to come over to the office and try again, provided of course that she leaves the prima donna attitude at the door.”

“Carlos, let’s head back to the office,” said Jeff as he stood up, and limped out the door with Carlos following close behind.

Jeff and the rest of the KPC were not to be found at the Red Room for the rest of the day.

 

[AngelofDeath]

As Kimi came out to find Delaney, her semi good mood was gone like that. "What the fuck woman! Did you have to zap back here like that. I want that out of here and you washed before I go ANYWHERE with you." She had her hand over her nose. "Jesus fucking Christ!! And you will be mopping before we leave. Gods above why did you curse me with this shit tracking tiger. God for a tiger you enjoy being dirty far too much."

Since she didn't trust Delaney to find it herself she was gonna take her to the KPC headquarters. And by take she was gonna sit in her jeep out front and wait. That many Arcadians made her nervous. Kimi's trust went as far as Jeff, Andrei, Manuel and Carlos, the rest could kiss her fuzzy tail and like it.

"Are you deaf. Move it! And use the other bathroom!"

 

[Mireille]

Delaney took the sogging covers off her two bags and backpack and carefully set them down by the infirmary door.

"Kimi, I'm sorry to have to ask you for so much, but I can't keep staying in the infirmary. Do you have a room I could rent out for the time I'm here? Preferably a quiet, private one that I could crash into undisturbed at the end of a long night's fighting," she attempted to make light of the situation.

Just the thought of having to face Jeff and the KPC again was getting her hackles back up, so she concentrated insetead on the immediate things - a shower, a private room to unpack her belongings and some food - damn, she was starving again!

 

[AngelofDeath]

Kimi walked down the hall and opened a small key box on the wall. Grabbing the first set she saw that had both keys on the hook she grabbed one set and tossed them at Delaney. "Red door with the purple crescent moon on it. The sheets should be clean. Everyone is responsible for their own laundry, they either use our machines our sen their stuff out with the service we use for the table cloths."

She shook her head Nikola was gonna scream when he saw the state of the showers after Del was done. "Since you didn't get to see it the other day the group s bath is the one black door in this place. Its not like the gym though everything is sectioned so you can have some privacy

 

[Mireille]

"Thanks. What's the second key for?" she asked, as she finished cleaning off the trail of slime she had dripped on the the floor of the infirmary. Once fiinished, she picked up her bags and went to find the room Kimi had mentioned.

"I won't be long, as soon as I grab a shower and a bite to eat I'll be ready to go. Can't wait to see Scooby and his gang again..."

 

[AngelofDeath]

"In case someone doesn't come home. Have to be able to clean their things out." She had done it enough times to be almost numb to the act. Shaking her head she headed back downstairs to check the freezer inventory.

Nikola had switched to her human form ad was wearing nothing but a pair of spandex biker shorts. "Ok so does this look like a Chippendale cattle call here?" Nikola snorted

"Please, too stuffy. I prefer the boys at the Golden Jockstrap(real club). And they loooovveee me." Kimi rolled her eyes, "Keep it up and the wicked bitches will mate you to one of those boys."

 

[Mireille]

Delaney walked into her small room and flipped on the light switch. Even though it was still daylight outside, heavy drapes hung on the windows, blocking all the sunlight. The room was a nice size and surprisingly cozy, and the big bed looked positively inviting.

Delaney opened one of her bags and pulled out a few towels and several toiletries, then headed for the shower. Once in the bathroom, she started the shower, and slowly started to shrug out of her jacket.

"Ah, crap, I knew it!" She sighed miserably at the sight of the bits of leather hanging from it. Her other clothes weren't faring any better. There was a big rip in her black jeans, where she'd scraped her knee, and the back of her jumper was ripped to pieces, soaked in blood and stuck to her injured flesh. Grimacing, she peeled it off, and threw it in a pile with everything else. As usual, though, her faithful leather boots had survived intact.

After she washed and dried herself, Delaney realised that she hadn't bothered to bring any clothes with her. She hung the wet towels out to dry, then stuffed the now useless clothes in the bin and cleaned up the messy slime off the floor.

She sighed and, with a small effort of concentration, she flashed into her white tiger form. It usually wasn't hard for her to maintain her animal form during the day-time, even though she was Arcadian, but she was tired and injured and had been through a lot in the past few days. Grabbing her bag of toiletries and the boots, she slipped out the bathroom door, hoping to make it to her room before anybody noticed a 500-pound white tiger prancing around.

No such luck, though, as a few steps later she nearly collided with a gorgeous hunk of male flesh smelling very strongly like... Kimi. Before he could wonder at the strangeness of seeing a white tiger walking around dangling a pair of boots in its mouth, Delaney sent him a mental greeting

~ Oops. Sorry. You must be Stephan, Im Delaney Xenos. Gotta go. ~

And without waiting for a reply, she went back inside her room, dropped the boots on the floor, flashed back into human form, and giggled outloud. At least he didn't see you walking around in nothing but your white naked butt.

Quickly, she put on some underwear, a pair o black leather pants and a pink lacy bra, and then set out to unpack and set up a small laptop and a few pieces of highly advanced electronic devices. Then, figuring that Kimi would come and get her when she was ready to go, and hoping that would be well after sunset, Delaney crashed into bed, face down. The shower had helped soothe her sore muscles, but her back and shoulder blades were covered in cuts that had her wincing at every movement, and she wondered how she'd be able to put on a shirt when it was time to go.

She was fast asleep in under a 30 seconds.

 

[AngelofDeath]

Kimi climbed the stairs close to sunset and thumped hard on Delaney's door. "Come on girl let's get going." She was so not in the mood for this, but hey had to be done. When the door open she smirked, "i'll be sitting outside int he jeep." Turning she headed back down the stairs like a flash and outside.

Cranking the engine she waited.

 

[Mireille]

Delaney woke up with a start as somebody was thumping on her head. Opening her eyes, she realised that the noise actually came from a knock on the door and not from somebody hitting her on her head.

Heedless of her topless state, she scrambled off the bed and pulled open the door.

"What?" she mumbled, with her eyes barely open.

"i'll be sitting outside int he jeep." Delaney heard Kimi say

She banged the door shut, hopefully not in Kimi's face, and proceeded to pack a few items in her small backpack. Then she slowly pulled on a red-and-white peasant blouse, cinched a black studded corset on top of it, and topped it all up with a short red coat, lined with gray fur along the button and hemline. It was embroidered in black and gold thread all down the front, and from the bottom of the sleeves all the way up to the elbows. She pulled on a pair of red leather boots, and after stuffing a small wad of cash in each one, she pulled her pants over them, slung her backpack on one shoulder, wincing slightly, and locked the door on her way out.

She grabbed a quick meat-filled sandwich from the kitchen on her way out. "Nice wheels," she whistled appreciatively as she slid in the passenger seat of Kimi's Jeep. "I helped myself to a snack, hope you don't mind. Can we stop for coffee on the way over?" she breathed out in between mouthfuls of food.

 

[AngelofDeath]

"It's only two blocks from here, sooo no. I'm sure you can ask Jeff for some." Kimi laughed as they pulled away from the curb. The only reason they weren't walking was Kimi wanted someplace to hide out and outside in her jeep was as good as any. "Try and behave this time ok? I'm not going in with you, that many males makes me very uncomfortable."

It was a nice Summer evening and with the sun down it was much cooler than before.

 

[Mireille]

"So you just going to let me walk in there all on my own and ask to see him after the way he talked to me earlier? Kimi, I really don't like Arcadians, I told you as much last night when I first met you. I hoped, of all people, that you'd understand. I can't be in the same room with so many of them and not get edgy and aggressive. This is really not a very good idea, this is not a sanctuary, so I can't guarantee to hold my temper and not pick a fight, and I don't like feeling cornered and outnumbered. I'm about to step into the wolf's den...literally...and I really don't like it"

"What do I even want to talk to him about? I don't even know what this KPC does..." Delaney grumbled, but before she got to finish, Kimi had already parked the car and was waiting for Delaney to get out.

 

[AngelofDeath]

"They do what you do. They kill Daimons and keep down the infighting between the Arcadians and Kattagaria. And fine I suppose I can walk you in. As for what you talk about you are going make an offer to hire the boys to help you out til you learn the city. Be nice about it as well." She threw the parking brake on and hopped out. The building look like any of the other business around and like every other they were able to just walk in and over to the elevator. Heading up to the 3rd floor Kimi led the way to Jeff's office and then knocked on the door, "Oh Jeffery!"

 

[Jedi_Khan]

The offices of the Katta Pest Control Company were like any other business office in the area. There were five floors, with half of the first floor devoted to showcasing the company’s services and open to the public. The other half of the first floor was a workshop/garage that was accessible by employees only. The next two floors were offices and labs; KPC worked to develop their own methods of pest control and they used the labs to do their testing. Or at least that’s what they told their human customers. The final two floors were what set this building apart from the rest of the office buildings: they were set up to be living quarters. As it turned out, the owners of the company lived on the top two floors.

"Oh Jeffery!"

Jeff was on the phone, writing a note when Kimi knocked and announced herself. He looked up, for a moment, and without so much as a visible reaction on his face, looked back down at what he was writing, holding up a finger to indicate that Kimi and Delaney should wait until he was done.

“Yes ma’am, I understand perfectly that you have a big rodent with big pointy teeth lurking in your rose garden,” said Jeff after listening for a moment. “But you’ll have to be more specific than that, so that the pest control technician who shows up will know what he’s dealing with and can be ready for it.”

Jeff was silent again as the woman on the other end said some more.

“Very well, ma’am,” he said, pausing a moment to check a list sitting on his desk. “We can have a pest control tech to you within the hour. When he shows up, he’s going to ask you some questions, and the more information you can give him that answers those questions, the better. Have a nice day ma’am, and keep an eye on your rose bushes just to make sure that big rodent doesn’t disappear.”

With that, Jeff hung up, stood up and stretched.

“Have a seat ladies,” said Jeff to Kimi and Delaney, indicating a pair of chairs in front of his desk. “I’ll be with you in a moment.”

Jeff picked up the note he had written and left, returning a minute later and sitting back down.

“So, what brings you here?” asked Jeff, directing his question more at Kimi than at Delaney, mainly because Kimi rarely came to visit, and he didn’t care all that much about why Delaney was there.

 

[Mireille]

“So, what brings you here?”

"I think we would all agree that we got off to a very bad start earlier," Delaney answered Jeff's question, although it wasn't addressed at her.

She gritted her teeth trying to keep her temper in check. Jeff knew very well why she was there. She was used to others always deferring to her without questioning. She couldn't help if her survival skills included an overpowering tendency to take the lead. In her line of work, if she wasn't always ready to take action, innocents could get hurt.

"I'll get straight to the point here. You're pest control. I'm pest control. I'm not here to interfere in how you run your business. You don't step on my paws, I don't ruffle your feathers. However, my line of work is a little more... shall we say... rabid than most. It requires a lot of hours, and somewhat more energy than I have at the moment." Delaney cringed even as she spoke those words. Admitting that she wasn't up to her usual self sucked. If Jeff decided that instead of helping her it would be more profitable to sell her out, she would be a very vulnerable target.

"I need to take it easy for a few days, but that seems rather impossible, seeing how I have an inconvenient Kattagari tessera on my back, not to mention two very determined Arcadian Sentinels and a group of Daimons out to make me their very own lab rat.

"Usually I'd say let's get this party going, but as it stands... I'd sure appreciate some help.

"I was hoping that we could reach a mutually beneficial business arrangement."

 

[Jedi_Khan]

"I was hoping that we could reach a mutually beneficial business arrangement."

Jeff had turned his attention to Delaney when she started speaking and listened quite politely, although with some difficulty. A couple of times he had to force himself to be silent, reminding him that this was a business meeting and it is never a good thing to be sarcastic in such a meeting. When she was finished, Jeff was silent a moment, watching Delaney over his steepled fingers.

“’A mutually beneficial business arrangement’,” repeated Jeff. “What do you have in mind?”

Jeff already had an idea of what it was Delaney had in mind, he just wanted to make sure before he started to rattle off prices, which he was already calculating in his head.

 

[Mireille]

Delaney unzipped a corner of her small backpack and pulled out three rolls of bills, each one bigger than the other.

"If you have a gym or training room, I need private access to it for the next three or four days", she said, pushing the smallest wad towards Jeff with her finger, her eyes never wavering off his face. "I will also require one or two of your men to assist me, no questions asked." She pushed the second wad towards him.

"And finally, I need you to take the Arcadians off my back for a while." She pushed the third and biggest wad towards him. "You will be civil and polite to me at all times, and will instruct the two men that for the next four days, I will pretty much own their asses. This will cover your expenses for the rest of the day, so you can make all the necessary arrangements.

"On top of your fees, all equipment and materials your men use will be paid for by me, as well as their salaries, accommodation, and expenses for the time they are in my employment." Pulling out a 100-dollar bill out of the smallest roll, Delaney scribbled her mobile number on it and handed it over to Jeff. "Contact me with your bank details when you've made all the arrangements. I'd like to get to it tonight, if possible."

With that, she slowly got up from the chair, nodded goodbye, and walked out of the room. Outside the door, she slowly rolled her shoulders, trying to ease the pain in her back. Walking outside in the building, Delaney looked up at the setting sun and with a sigh, flashed herself back into her room at the sanctuary.

Throwing off her top, she walked over to the mirror and once again studied the angry welts and shredded skin on her shoulders and back. Although she'd had worse injuries than that, for some reason these made her flesh cringe and her eyes sting. Or maybe it was the memories of all those decades ago when she'd suffered similar ones while saving a pregnant woman from a bunch of "hungry" Daimons. Only back then, when she'd gotten home there had been somebody to tend her injuries and whisper soothing words into her ear. Words as fake and as hollow as the front she now presented to the world.

Grimacing, Delaney lay face down on the bed, waiting for sleep and the nightmares to come. "I hope Jeff calls me back soon", she grumbled to herself before closing her eyes.

 

[AngelofDeath]

Kimi just sat there wondering if any possible business transaction had ever gone faster. Then she shrugged and did her best impression of Delaney, "No Kimi I don't need a ride back to the Red Room. Even though I have just about every big bad thing out there in the world out after my ass. Thanks for the ride though I hope you don't mind me leaving you around a bunch of Arcadians." Shaking her head she looked at Jeff. "So are eyou going to take the job or what? Yeah she can be a bit abrasive but hey at least she's willing to pay for your services. Now if I could just get her to pitch in at the Red Room, this could be the perfect working relationship"

The tiger was content to make small talk but sooner or later her instincts were gonna drive her out and away from here. As friendly as she was with the group. Jeff was the only one she actually trusted, NOT to kill her.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Jeff

Jeff listened in silence as Delaney “laid down the law” and raised an eyebrow at the wads of cash she laid on his desk. Then she was up and out of the office before he even had a chance to open his mouth in reply. And to tell the truth, Jeff was not amused by Delaney’s “queen of the world” attitude. It might have worked wonders on lesser beings, but Jeff was not a “lesser being,” he was a Kattalakis.

"So are you going to take the job or what? Yeah she can be a bit abrasive but hey at least she's willing to pay for your services. Now if I could just get her to pitch in at the Red Room, this could be the perfect working relationship."

“Good luck getting her to do anything helpful,” replied Jeff, shaking his head in mild dismay. “That attitude of hers might have worked elsewhere in the past, but around here it’s going to get her nowhere fast. And in my opinion, no amount of money is worth dealing with a ‘prima donna’ attitude like that.”

Jeff reached over and pressed a button on the phone on his desk, then proceeded to copy Delaney’s name and phone number onto a note card. He didn’t even touch the $100 bill on which Delaney had written the number, nor did he touch the rolls of cash still sitting on his desk.

A light knock on the door preceded the entrance of a rather nice looking Latino woman in business attire holding a note pad.

“Sí, señor Jeff?” asked the woman in a thick Hispanic accent, noticing the wads of cash on the desk and Kimi still sitting there.

“Call Ms. Delaney at this number and ask her to come back here so we can finish talking business,” said Jeff, holding out the note card with Delaney’s name and number. With a nod, the woman took the card and then left to make the phone call as Jeff leaned in his chair.