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I might lose the battle, but I would win the war.
3
BIANCA
When I left Traes’ office, I was devastated.
I didn’t get the job. Now I didn’t know what I was going to do. I would have been out on the street with nowhere to live. I didn’t have enough money for a room or even food. I’d become too weak to look for work.
I would have been reduced to begging in the streets and relying on others’ generosity. I might get arrested by the local police, who would match me with a report filed on Rang and, before you could say “Icebox,” I would be back in Asshole’s shithole, chained to the wall and routinely beaten and abused in equal measure.
That ran through my mind as Waev led me toward the door. I couldn’t take one step across the threshold or my worst nightmares would come true.
When Traes asked me for references and I had to come up with a reason why I couldn’t provide them, I was quite impressed with my ingenuity. I didn’t know where the rich family story came from. Probably watching too many Empire episodes?
Still, it was a lie. And no, I wasn’t proud of it. But sometimes you had to take a risk to get the things you wanted. Besides, it was only a little white lie. So long as I eventually achieved what I was lying about, it was only retroactive lying. It would come true in a few weeks.
That had to count for something, didn’t it?
Waev opened the door but I didn’t step out.
“Thank you for coming to see us, Bianca,” he said. “If you make it through to the next round, I’ll be sure to contact you soon.”
He smiled at me warmly but I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t tell him the truth either. He was about as likely to take a risk on me as Stinky was of winning the Most Beautiful Creature In The Galaxy Competition.
So, I took him up on his offer.
“I have another interview later,” I lied. Boy, this was really becoming a habit, isn’t it? “Would it be possible for me to stay here and walk around your beautiful garden while I wait?”
Waev looked me over, gauging whether or not I was someone he could trust.
“Of course,” he said, shutting the door and ushering me inside. “We have some of the best flowerbeds in the neighborhood.”
“I’ll bet you do,” I said, relieved.
I’d bought myself time. Not much, but a little.
I’d better make it count.
He prattled on about flowers and shrubs and hedges and things I had no idea about. I smiled and nodded along amiably, focusing my attention on glancing inside each room we passed.
Cleb. I needed to find Cleb.
If I could find him and develop a connection with him, Traes would have no choice but to keep me on as the governess.
We were deep in the third flower patch when I saw Cleb. He floated nearby, occasionally casting a look my way but too shy to come near me. I could see he did want to approach.
I plucked a flower—what resembled a Bow and Arrow plant back home. It had a thick stem and a long bulge of flowers that took up the top quarter. I twisted the stem around my hand and under the flower. I snapped it forward so the head popped off like an arrow and sailed through the air, striking Cleb’s shoe. The flowers exploded like a flower bomb.
He beamed at me and plucked his own flower. He tried to do the same but it didn’t work and fell to the ground at his feet.
This was when most adults made a crucial mistake. They would rush over to help the kid. That was the wrong way to do things. You wanted them to come to you so they developed confidence in approaching you.
I plucked another flower and shot another “arrow” at him. This time, I aimed even higher and hit him in the chest. He tried again but did even worse this time, somehow making the “arrow” fire backward.
He plucked another one and approached me. I pretended not to notice him. He tugged on my shirt. I waited a moment, secretly itching to turn to him immediately. It’d been so long since I held a child and I missed it. I let him do it twice before I turned to him.
“Oh,” I said. “Hello, little man. Can I help you with something?”
