Shit.
The idea infuriated me beyond words.
Just another reason to make this upcoming meeting count. To end this abhorrent organization responsible for the death of so many innocents who treated children like lab rats.
Taking a deep breath, I decided to press for Rose to eat anyway, which actually did make her feel better, and also helped her look normal again, the whites of her eyes being the last to transition back to their normal white color. Then, I suggested that maybe Heidi could sleep with her, since they both looked exhausted now, and I was worried about Rose having another nightmare.
Heidi had no problem with that at all, prompting a series of hugs and goodnights, before they went back upstairs, leaving just me and Lexi in the kitchen. Unlike the others, she seemed awake now, probably because she knew she’d have to be up in just a couple of hours anyway, so I asked if she wanted to get some coffee started.
It wasn’t something I needed, since I never felt tired anyway, but it was a comforting morning routine to have coffee together.
She agreed, prompting me to check in with Freya and Lily while she made a couple of cups.
They were talking softly when I came into the room, of course wondering how I was doing. After a short conversation, they decided Lily would try to get some more sleep, snuggling against Freya’s side, while the now wide-awake mother remained sitting up, holding Eden. That way, Freya would be free to get some more sleep later on, knowing Lily, Rose, and Heidi would all be up for the day to take care of our baby.
I offered to keep Freya company, since she’d be the only one awake in the room, but she encouraged me to go over what I’d written down with Lexi, since she was also up for the day. I gave them both one last kiss before doing just that, taking my tablet with me, but making sure Freya had her own in case she wanted to use it to help her stay awake.
Lexi was still dressed in her pajamas – electric blue silk pajamas – I swear these women were going to be the end of me – but I did my best to ignore the, what I considered to be, seductive attire in order to sit side-by-side at the table and discuss my thoughts.
She was a little alarmed by some of the things I was considering sharing, but this really wasn’t a normal interview. They needed to know me. They needed to know about my personal life. They needed to know I wasn’t some horrible villain who was going to run wild with whatever knowledge they were wanting to keep from me.
Some of the information I might potentially share also involved personal stuff about Lily and Freya, but at this point it was doubtful there was much these people didn’t already know about. After all, with that creepy-eyed woman having had the chance to evaluate Freya’s superpower when she evaluated Eden’s, there was little doubt that they knew everything at this point.
They knew she could read minds, including a person’s entire memory. And they probably knew she could transform into a literal monster. They also should now be aware of her bloodlust and its connection to her being horny.
Essentially, everything.
Everything personal that she had wanted to keep hidden previously, were all things she sacrificed in order to try to discover how Eden was alive again.
All of it, done for me.
And now, I needed to make sure I made this negotiation count, so that I could obtain the best deal that would help us protect our entire family. After spending about an hour talking, Lexi finally went upstairs to shower and get ready for the day. She came back down dressed much more professionally than I was expecting – a white blouse, short suit jacket, and black pencil skirt, along with pantyhose and high heels.
She almost looked like a lawyer or well-dressed librarian, just missing the glasses to complete the ensemble, though she had perfect eyesight, so such an accessory would be purely for aesthetics. However, it definitely made me rethink my own choice of attire.
Having worked in business for a while now, it was much more common to see people wearing business casual, even for this kind of thing. I mean, I’d seen a lot of interviews where people just came in wearing a nice shirt, slacks, and tie. Maybe if someone was interviewing for a higher-level position then they might dress nicer, but even Lexi admitted most potential superheroes don’t dress up for their negotiations.
After all, in some ways, it’s more like the superhero is interviewing the CDS, seeing what the organization could offer them.
However, some of the top brass would be present for this meeting, so even Lexi was dressing up professionally – one of the rare occasions when she did.
Donning my own charcoal suit to match her, we both said goodbye to everyone, now that they were up for the day, and climbed into her bright red Ferrari. All she had to do was give it a voice command to head to work, and we were on our way, with her angled toward me while the car drove on autopilot.
“Nervous?” she wondered, trying to tuck some of her short blonde hair behind her ear. It still only went down about a couple of inches past her chin, due to the airport bombing that happened in January, three months ago, which burned off all her hair, followed by Heidi almost killing herself trying to heal her older sister.
I shook my head, readjusting in my seat. It’d been a while since I’d worn a suit. It still fit well, but just wasn’t as comfortable as my usual clothing. “No, I’m not nervous really. More determined than anything. Maybe a
