Threatening yet familiar

«I will take it from here,» the second girl at the reception said to the first. «Let me solve it.»

She walked from behind the desk and reached Lara.

«Hello, miss. You can't stay here,» she said with a polite tone and courteous smile. «This is where we welcome clients and business partners.»

«I have an appointment at three o'clock,» Lara tried.

«My colleague checked, and there was nothing. It might be a misunderstanding. If you tell me your name, I can check and inform you if the meeting is scheduled for another day.»

She took a few steps to offer Lara a piece of paper to write her number, but then she halted.

Her eyes observed Lara for a few seconds before returning to their former, polite expression. Lara could have sworn she saw the pupils contract, but it had been so fast that she might have been wrong.

«I will be right back; just give me a second,» she mumbled before turning on her heels and walking back to the reception desk.

She reached a phone and pressed the numbers, almost in a trance.

Lara noticed her curious behaviour, but she didn't think much. It could have been due to stress, couldn't it?

She waited to be called again, and she walked back to the desk when the girl smiled.

«Please, follow me, miss,» she said. «The manager is waiting for you.»

She sighed, relieved. She would be having her job interview. Even though it was clear she wouldn't get the job. Not after the drama at the front desk.

«We usually don't hire through announcements, so we were surprised. The one you must have seen is a mistake someone made, but we indeed are looking for an accounting assistant.»

«So, is the announcement real? And the appointment? Did it appear?»

«No, but it doesn't matter. The manager will interview you, isn't that what matters?»

«Oh, sure,» Lara said. Yet, she didn't like to pass as a liar. «That's what matters...»

«Please, wait here for a while. The manager is busy right now. He'll come looking for you when he's free.»

«Okay.»

«If you need anything, you can ask me.»

Lara nodded, observing the girl walking away on her high heels. Her legs were beautifully built. Tiny and elegant, yet she could tell the girl did a lot of gym training. The muscles were well-defined, even though not that evident.

She would have liked having legs like that, but not even working as a rider helped her. She couldn't change the shape of her muscles, and her cubs would say she was too thin.

She sighed, wondering whether to use the last spare money to buy something yummy for her kids. She had enough to buy steak, but she didn't have the energy to cook for long. The chicken was a better alternative, and she would spare some money to buy fresh salad and some bread.

Even if she wouldn't get that job, she didn't care. Sometimes, one needed to celebrate even when nothing good happened.

She sat there for a while, not knowing that her children were not far from her. They had sneaked in through the main door and reached the elevator. Getting out at a random floor, they split to cover more ground.

There, they couldn't sense their mother anymore. Those hallways were full of weird scents.

Some were oddly familiar, but they never met anyone that would make them feel at ease and threatened at the same time.

«This is not a normal place,» Jaden commented while turning right. His sister proceeded to the left, so he had to focus and keep track of his surroundings all by himself.

He walked around until reaching a big door. He pushed and followed the scent of a man. He knew it was a man, for some reason. He couldn't find him because he had left that room long ago.

He sat in a corner and wondered: where was his mommy? What have they done to her?

Meanwhile, Scarlet did find the source of that scent. She turned a corner and saw a tall man with blonde hair. The shade reminded her of Jaden for a moment, but that man didn't have her brother's sweet features.

He was standing there, talking with two other people. Scarlet didn't pay any attention to the other two because they were no threat.

Only the tall man was.

He was wearing a dark suit, almost black in colour. Still, Scarlet could tell it was actually grey. His moves were all elegant and calm as if he had no worries in the world.

Scarlet growled, and the man turned to check where that sound came from. He eyed the little girl with her eyes glowing and her teeth sharp.

He lifted an eyebrow. Did that pup escape from the kindergarten?

He walked to her, settled on stopping whatever she was trying to do. Before revealing too much in front of the client.

«Hey, kid,» he said.

Scarlet trembled at the sound of his voice, losing aggressiveness for a single second. However, she returned growling soon enough.

The man stopped his steps in astonishment when he could also smell her. It was the first time he felt so familiar with a stranger.

He was sure there wasn't anyone like her in the pack. But she was familiar and new at the same time.

«What's your name, kid?» he asked.

Scarlet clenched her fists, starting to release all her rage. She didn't know why, but she wanted to kill that man. Her instinct told her he was dangerous.

For her, for Jaden. For her mommy.

The elevator's door opened with a ding, but no one could turn. No one cared.

The man and the little girl looked each other in the eyes. One was curious and smiling as if he just found a secret treasure. The other was ready to attack; her eyes would have killed if only they could.