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“Hey, um, did you need a place to sit?” a quiet voice asks.
I look to see a vampire sitting by himself at a table near me. It’s Lewis. Jackpot.
“Actually, yeah. Would you mind if I sat down here?” I try.
“Well, actually, I was saving it for all my friends.”
“Oh, okay.” I start to walk away.
“Wait!” he calls after me. “That was supposed to be a joke, sorry. No one’s coming, you can have a seat.”
I smile a little at his rushed explanation and take a seat. We sit in uncomfortable silence for a while as we each take out our respective lunches.
“Sorry I’m late!”
I nearly sag with relief as Amber plops down next to me. “How was copy duty?”
“Awful. Does everyone really need their own copy of everything? Can’t they buddy up?”
“Careful with that talk. Suggesting management stoop to sharing just might cause a panic,” she teases.
“Oh, come on now, Amber. Not all of management takes themselves so seriously.”
I turn to see a yeti with the biggest grin I’ve ever seen come up to our table and take a seat next to Lewis.
Amber laughs. “Believe me, Gage, we know just how ‘serious’ you are.”
Gage, Tarek’s marketing manager and one of his top suspects. He turns his attention to me. “Sloane, right? Glad to have you on our team! I’ve heard great things about you.”
I furrow my brow. Since this morning?
“You have?” I ask dubiously. There’s no way Angel’s singing my praises.
“You’re learning on the job. Stepping up to the plate bat-free but still stepping up. That’s a hard worker in my book!”
“Translation,” Amber says. “Angel’s already been complaining, and Gage found the bright side.”
“There’s always a bright side,” Gage insists. “And life holds so much more joy when you find it.”
Gage seems so genuinely friendly and outgoing. I almost believe he’s not just being nice to get something from someone. Lewis too seems too awkward to be a spy. But that doesn’t rule either one of them out completely. For all I know, they’re just really good actors.
“Have you known Angel for a long time?” I ask, hoping they’ll give me more information to work with.
Gage chuckles. “Oh, yeah. A few years now, actually. Nearly bit my head off when I started working here and didn’t let her in on every single thing I was working on. She’s always got to be in the know or she’ll throw a fit.”
I tuck that bit of information away. Making a big fuss about always being informed isn’t the most subtle method of getting information, but Angel has a big personality to make it work.
“That sounds… stressful.”
The marketing manager laughs. “Only if you let it get to you. She’s got a big heart under all that ice, though.”
“And all you need is a pickaxe and a drill to get there,” Lewis mumbles.
Gage elbows him. “There you go! I knew you could come out of your shell.”
Lewis looks like he regrets speaking. There’s still one other suspect I need to know more about.
“Angel really is intense.” It’s not hard to fake the grimace and shrink in on myself a bit. “Is the rest of management like that? I have to give the VP some reports today, and now I’m a little worried.”
