The nicest thing she’s said to me.
She steers us onto the road, barely glancing her eyes back to me. “You’re giddy.”
“Is that good?” I whisper.
She smiles. “Didn’t I say something about distractions?”
“Yes! Uh—Sorry.”
She snickers.
But snickering isn’t anger. It isn’t aggression. It’s joyful.
I’m not being a burden. I’m not being a burden. I’m not being a burden.
I diligently count each time Mistress Vincenza looks annoyed—each one my fault.
Twelve. Could be worse.
“Okay… No parking.” She reaches into the glove department. “Take this envelope, hand it to the woman inside, and she’ll complete the rest.”
“Woman inside where?” I look at the block we’ve hit the edge of. People walk in through open, covered avenues, absent of any vehicle larger than a bike.
“Towards the center. Madam Stella’s Luxury Fabrics. Ask someone if you can’t find it.”
“...Why am I going alone?”
“Because I’m busy and you’re an actual adult who doesn’t need my constant care.”
Somewhere between living with my parents and being in something vaguely adjacent to education, I almost forgot about that.
“I understand, Mistress. Do I wait for you after?”
“I should be back before you’re done.” She glances emptily at the block. “If you finish early, you have an opportunity to spend your stipend. Just be back in front of Stella’s by ten hundred.”
I lick the back of my teeth. “I didn’t bring it.”
She silently covers her face in her hands.
“I’m sorry.”
“No, no. It’s fine. It’s reasonable to assume you would be shopping on your own time.” She reaches into her pocket and pulls out five crescents, which she pushes onto me. “If you get hungry—What did you eat yesterday?”
“Waffles.” And a melted scoop of maple syrup-doused gelato that came on top of the waffles.
“As a condition of my employment, I expect you to eat.And on your own.Do not agitate me.”
“I won’t! And… I will.” I didn’tmeanto forget to eat. I just didn’t… Maybe I could’ve bought more waffles with the stipend?
“Wrong order.” Her eye blinks—or twitches, maybe. “Just get out.”
I force my way out and dash before I disappoint her more. The people are many, but the block is finite. I’ll find Stella’s… eventually.
Awnings of cloth and glass cover the alleys. Protection for the vampires—shade for me. The coverings split into diagonal paths, spanning over the otherwise open interior, but I only dance the ring around until I stumble upon the row of furniture and textile suppliers.
And just there, between the Necromancy Shell and Lawrinian Import Carpeting, Madam Stella’s Luxury Fabrics. Only one woman inside, not counting the well dressed mannequins that stare at me.
She’s a bit large with her waist cinched in while padding pushes out her bust and hips, giving her the strong veneer of thinness. Somebody’s type, for sure.
