AllFreeNovel
Share Us
My hands started fiddling with my supplies on their own accord. It was either that or hug myself and drop to the floor, so I went with the option that kept my hands busy and the rest of me standing.
“No. Some days I wish I made sandwiches.” Screw it. It didn’t matter what I said or did. I wasn’t going to get on this show with Layana and I didn’t want to. It didn’t matter what these people thought of me. I raised my chin and took a deep breath. “I babysit mostly. I’m not the kind of person who goes on television. I don’t like drama. I’m a nice, conflict-avoidant squirrel. I save weasels and do what I have to for survival. I’ll make it in the big city. Not through being on whatever show this is,obviously,but through my craft.”
I looked down at my hands, to the tiny coin purse I’d apparently just created without thinking about it. I held it up for the panel to see, then set it back down. My hands weren’t even shaking so much anymore. Maybe I didn’t just need to survive this. Maybe this was an opportunity. I could act as a cheerleader and talk up Layana even more than she had herself.
Yes, that was totally the best way to spend this time. Feeling confident in my purpose, and all around better about being here, I set up a grommet for a cord closure, and lifted my crafting hammer.
“You should choose Layana Hartley for your show. She’s amazing.”
The hammer hit metal with a loud clang. I ignored the sheen of sweat covering me head to toe. I ignored the temptation to take a moment and wipe my hands on my shorts.
“She has inner tiger energy. She’s the kind of person who can amp up the drama, say whatever’s on her mind, any time, no concern for the consequences. She was just in here, with the black hair and the tiger tail.”
I lifted the hammer. Sweat acted like a puddle of lubricant and the handle slipped upward from my fist.
Time seemed to slow, surreally suspended by my disbelief. All I could hear was the pounding of my pulse and the sharp intake of breath filling my lungs. All I could see was a flash of white hot horror and the purple handle slipping along my fingertips.
The hammer lifted right out of my grasp and flew up into the air.
I tried to catch it. I waved my hands, twisted, and stumbled to stop the hammer from getting away.
I had to warn anyone who happened to be behind me.
Thank goodness, no one was standing in the way.
But there was a small window.
Open.
And the hammer flew right out.
SIX
OSCAR
Particles of harsh industrial cleaner clung to my hair follicles and baked themselves into my pores. Ahh, the pungent stink of victory.
A wonky wheel of the mop bucket screeched and flailed back and forth wildly behind me as I dragged the tools of my newest trade through the lobby of the Lacuna building. I paused a step before the revolving doors and dropped the mop to the floor.
The wooden handle clattered against the pristine tile.
I imagined the shocked expression of Tristan’s rosy-jowled supervisor when he realized “Tristan” had cleaned absolutely nothing before abandoning his post.
Every member of the management would share that same expression by the time I was through.
A quick spin through the turnstile and I was bathed in fresh air and bright sunlight. I followed the sidewalk around the side of the building.
I kept the vest. It wasn’t only a trophy. Since my ruse had been so thoroughly convincing, I’d use it again when I visited the other buildings in the company.
If the small portion of the files I’d already seen were any indication, Lacuna Television Network was going to be a gut job. None of the numbers matched the files I’d previously been provided. Under my father’s rule, corruption had not only taken root, but flourished.
The other Carrington Media holdings could be equally as rotten.
I intended to find out.
The prospect put a spring in my step, a lightness in my chest, and a sense of purpose in my heart.
I would right my father’s wrongs.
