The Society | Completed

Part 30

The next month is more or less hell on earth for everyone involved.

The work is hectic and repetitive, and Conrad is on the verge of tears when their interns arrive.

Amber Adamo leads the pack, a look of nervous excitement on her face.

The nervousness vanishes, replaced by a wide smile when she spots Conrad leaning against the counter in the kitchen area.

Amber waves frantically at Conrad, who's eyes widen as she recognises the girl, giving her a wave back.

She has a nasty gash on her leg since the day before, and it hasn't healed, causing Scarlet to be rather concerned about her fellow tracker.

Her knee-length jumper dress exposes this slash, and it's forced into the spotlight as she walks towards the interns.

She clears her throat quietly, blinking away her tears.

She has a cup of coffee in her hand, something she doesn't love to drink but is desperately needed this week.

They have annual reports to do, and whoever was doing them before Conrad had a very loose grasp on both formality and the English language.

"Amber, how are you?" Conrad asks softly, giving the girl a half hug, careful not to spill her coffee near the girl's cream sweater.

"I'm great! Really excited to be here! How are you?" Amber chatters excitedly, and Conrad blinks at her.

She's been staring at pages since 5 am, and it's 1 pm now.

She forgot things could speak.

"I'm okay, lots of work. You all came at the right time," she smiles thinly, letting her eyes move over the small group of interns.

There are five of them, one for each section.

"Okay, I'm going to go get High Alpha Amaretti," Conrad declares after a moment of awkward silence, turning on her heel and walking up the stairs towards Carlos' office.

She knocks on the door as the blinds are down before strolling in, not waiting for a greeting. She's the only person who just walks into his office, so he isn't that alarmed as he raises his head from the desk.

"What's up?" He asks, rubbing his eyes and turning on his desk light as she closes the door behind her.

"Did you have a good nap?" She grins, and he rolls his eyes at her, holding his hand out.

She stares at it, reluctantly placing her cup of coffee into it after a moment.

"It was a great nap; thank you so much for the coffee," Carlos smirks, sipping the coffee before making a face.

"Fuck, that's so milky," he grimaces, and she shrugs.

"I don't like it strong. You could always make your own," she reasons, and he stands up from his seat.

"What's up? You look more annoyed than usual. Did Mario really mess up the reports that much?" Carlos asks earnestly, both of his hands wrapped around the mug.

It's a little bit of a funny sight to her - he has literal paws for hands, and the mug is small and flowery.

"Well, yes, but that's not my problem. The interns have arrived," Conrad sighs, and Carlos groans softly.

"I forgot they were coming today," he mutters, running a hand through his desk.

"We all did. I left them standing out there on their own," Conrad cringes, realising she probably should have assigned somebody to watch them.