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“Good,” I said, trying my best not to gloat, despite my glorious victory, “I'll go start lunch.”
“No peanut butter sandwiches,” Dean said.
“You're learning,” I said, with a good-natured wink.
I let out a long breath of relief as I closed the door. The opening riff to “Blackest Magick In Practice” starting up on the other side of the door. I wondered if it was meant as a shot at me but decided to ignore it if it was. I had already gotten what I wanted. Dean was going to start spending a significant amount of time with Jessica. I was sure being trapped in a mansion with his niece would bring them closer together.
I was going to be stuck with them, too, of course. The lockdown was total, and the cops were going to be patrolling for civilians after it started. Even in an area as nice as Dean lived in. But I would try and make the best of it. It would be worth it if it helped Jessica. I was really beginning to love the kid.Chapter Three - DeanIt hadn't been my idea.
I was in my office working like I always did, despite what many assumed about the upper-classes, when I got a call notification. Still in business mode, I answered it. Knowing it was rude to leave a call unanswered. I saw the caller ID, after accepting the call, and immediately regretted it.
“Hello, dear!”
“Hello, mother,” I said, bereft of enthusiasm.
I tried to look on the bright side like Simone had taught me to do. At least it wasn't my brother. Or my dad. A shiver ran up my spine, and I was momentarily somewhere else.
“Are you okay, dear?” mother asked.
“I'm fine,” I said, with all the believability of a soap opera star.
“And how is my little granddaughter?”
“Alive. No thanks to you.”
“Now, that's not fair. You know very well that we can't have her here. The strata council doesn't allow children. Otherwise would love to have her here.”
“You could move out to the Hamptons. There is that big house out there.”
“You mean live there year-round?” she asked, as though I had asked her to jam a live black widow up her nose. The idea of spending more than three months at any of their four properties was border-line scandalous to my parents.
“Don't you have a nanny?” Mom asked.
“Unfortunately,” I said.
“Oh?”
“I mean, she's okay. She's good with Jess. She is just so bossy. Tells me what to do and corrects me in front of Jess. I'm supposed to be the authority figure, right? I'm the one with the legal guardianship. How is Jess going to respect me with Becky constantly undermining me?”
“Have you considered firing her?”
“Of course, but I still need someone. I can't do it all alone, and there is no one available. I even asked Joe Sumner. He is running some kind of charity for childcare workers during the quarantine. I thought for sure he would have someone who could be an alternative.”
“Well, that's good, right?”
“No! Not only did Joe not have anyone else, but he also wanted me to make a donation!”
“It sounds like you might have a soft spot for this Becky.”
“Don't be ridiculous! She's a thorn in my side!”
“Then why does your voice crack every time you say her name?”
I knew she was right. Mom always was about such things. As annoying as she could be, I was getting a soft spot for Becky. That was probably why I didn't keep looking for a replacement after Joe fell through.
“Either way, we're stuck with each other because of the lockdown,” I said.
“Oh, don't be silly, dear. Such things surely don't apply to the likes of us!” Mom was still sure that name and money imbued her with Divine Right.
“I wouldn't go testing that theory. The Bolsheviks did win the war, after all. Anyway, I have to go. Lots of work to do.”
“Oh, darling, you aren't still doing—”
I dropped the call. I knew well my family's opinion that brilliant minds were wasted on work. A conviction that they held to the point of refusing to help me pay my way through MIT. I was about to get a job, but Simone, who got her inheritance first and invested it very wisely, came to the rescue. She paid for my entire degree. I tried to pay her back, but she refused. Instead, telling me to use it to make the world a better place. I could give a shit what my parents or brother thought of me. My greatest mistake about getting caught all those years ago was letting Simone down. She tried to tell me it was okay, but it wasn’t.
Hacktivism was nothing to be ashamed of, and governments didn't like it when the people went against them, but I still couldn't shake the sense of shame. I really didn't think unleashing a massively destructive virus on financial institutions was quite what she had in mind. I was just really pissed off about the recession and decided to do something about it.
