Research

Iris lost track of time with how much information was on the world wide web about the Stocker Corporation. The documents that were being printed were now making a small mountain on the floor.

She had no idea if all of those would be helpful for Calixto but she didn't care. He said he wanted it all, then, he could get them all. She knew that the vampire doesn't actually at night would be perfect. He has all the time in the world to read those files.

She stole another glance over her shoulder and tried to say his name in her head and agreed to herself that the name Calixto suits him well. He sounded like some tight-ass aristocrat indeed. She snorted in amusement.

"I'm asking you to work not giggle on stupid things!" He snapped at her and stood up from his chair angrily.

"Sorry," Iris mumbled in surprise. She didn't expect him to be mad at her. She stopped what she was doing and watched Calixto climb the stairs. When Calixto reached the top of the stairs, Iris stuck her tongue out at the annoying old vampire.

"Tch, he's like a woman in her monthly period. So, picky!" She stood up from her computer chair and stretched her back. She had been sitting for a long period of time and she was feeling it on her arse and back.

After a few minutes of stretching, she bent down and picked up some of the papers that fell down on the floor. She started compiling the documents and stapling them together.

She was on the last stack of paper when she felt someone standing behind her.

"Calixto, you don't have to—" She turned around quickly and met Monette's accusing eyes.

"Huh? So, his name is Calixto and you don't have any plans to tell us?" She arched her brows and grabbed the papers in her hands.

Monette scanned the documents and then her eyes darted to her computer screen and back to her poker face.

"What are you doing Iris?"

Monette's tone of voice was laced with warning and Iris almost rolled her eyes in front of her sister. She had no plan to lie about what she was doing. In the first place, she was just given an order, and in that order of the annoying old vampire, he didn't tell her that she should keep her research a secret. Besides, she has no plan to cross Monette.

It would not take a lot from her to annoy her because her very own existence already annoyed the hell out of her.

"I was asked to research about the Stocker Corporation," she said in a bored tone of voice. She knew that she just lied but in the back of her mind, she didn't want Monette or their parents to find out that Calixto was asking her to search for his mother.

"Stocker Corporation?" She shoved back into Iris's hands the documents that she took from her. "Why?" She walked to Iris's computer table and saw the website of the Stocker Corporation. It seemed that she was telling the truth.

"I have no idea," she said with her back facing Monette. She pretended to file the documents that she had printed into a file. There was no correct order to those papers for she had no idea what was important or useless information in those files. She simply printed everything so Calixto would have a lot to read. 'Serves him right,' she smirked inwardly.

"Calixto…is the name of our sponsor right?" She asked in a hushed voice as though someone could hear her.

Monette didn't even use the word vampire which almost made Iris laugh out loud if only she was not worried that she would get mad at her.

"Yes," she answered curtly.

"And?" She shook her hand in front of her face. "Don't make me ask everything out of you Iris. And…" She lifted her index finger in front of her face, "don't you dare try to omit or twist the truth. It is not the time to be such a wiseass!"

"And it's not the time for you to be here."

Iris and Monette jumped in unison when they heard a cold tone of voice from the shadow of the stairs.

"Calixto! How could you startle us like that?"

Iris rolled her eyes when Monette called the annoying vampire in his name as if they were friendly with each other. And she hated it more when Monette started laughing. The familiar laugh that she used whenever she wanted the attention of the other person to be drawn to her.

Monette is a beautiful and attractive woman. No man can deny her charm.

"Leave!"

Iris choked on her saliva when Monette whimpered like a wounded animal with just one word from the annoying vampire. For the first time, Iris liked the vampire because he gave her something that she would have never seen in her life —Monette looking utterly dejected.

When Monette turned around to face her, she made sure to keep her expression stoic. She didn't want her to know that she was laughing her ass off with what happened to her.

"Don't make me repeat myself," Calixto said with a clear warning.

Monette hung her head like a child that got scolded. She ran to the stairs with her shoulders slumped with the first rejection that she got from a man.

"Tell your parents that none of you are welcome here in the basement," Calixto called after Monette who stiffened before she dashed upstairs.

If Iris didn't know that Monette's pride was higher than Mount Everest, she would think that Monette was crying when she ran up the stairs.

She listened to Monette's footsteps subside and was replaced by the slamming of the door. She chuckled, and grabbed the whole file of documents that she had printed, and gave them to Calixto who received it without a word.

"I will check about the Stocker Corporation and anyone who I can find online that is related to that family on social media. It would take time but I don't have to use my computer. I can just use my phone and lie down on my bed," she said, thinking that her back hurts from sitting in front of her computer for a long period of time.

She was expecting that Calixto would disagree but he didn't say anything and just carried the documents that she gave him into his room.

Iris creased her forehead but said nothing. She jumped into her bed with her phone. She was so happy to roll around her bed lazily that she didn't notice Calixto standing in the shadow with the pile of papers in his arms, watching him with amusement.