Multiplayer: My Partner In Crime

Chapter 6: Partner Ship

It's been three days since she went for the interview. Layla was babysitting Max as usual when her phone started buzzing. It was an unknown number. Her brow furrowed, she was hesitant to pick it up, but she did it anyway. 

"Hello?" She asked. 

Max, who was watching TV, turned his head to Layla. Layla shook her head, dismissing him. 

"Is this Layla Andersson?" The voice from the other line asked her. The voice sounded familiar to Layla, but she still wasn't sure. 

"Yes," she quickly answered. 

Max, who was occupied, is now getting curious. He walked to the kitchen and pulled the end of Layla's shirt. 

Layla tried to make him quit and held his hand in hers to keep him from bothering her. 

"It's Mr. Harold! We wanted to say congratulations. We want you in."

Her face lit up with excitement. The hand that was holding Max's is now up in the air as she cheered in silence. Heat rose on her face. Her grin widened within every second. 

"Thank you so much," she answered as calmly as possible, then shutting the line out of panic. She grabbed Max's tiny hands and shook them in excitement. She picked him up and spun him around before putting him back in the living room. 

She did the rest of her routine; feeding Max, bathing him, putting him to bed then she was back on the couch. 

The clock reads seven o'clock, but a knock already came on the door. Layla knew it was Bill—she opened it and she was right. Bill was there, matching the grin Layla had. 

"You got the call?" He asked.

"Yep."

"And you shut the line on them?"

Layla's eyes widened. She bit her bottom lip. "I panicked."

"Well, they want you to come tomorrow to meet your partner for the channel. You could just come by and I'll drive you there." His voice was low and tender. A small smile was on his face when he talked to her. 

"Sure." 

Bill slipped a twenty-dollar bill into her hand as she left his place.

She went home, skipping on her every step. When she arrived, she went straight to her room. She didn't need her mom to ruin her day. Quickly, numbers would be crossed off the list, and she'll reach her goal of a million dollars. It's not much, but she could invest it into much more. She just needed to get away from here as soon as possible. In a world like this, not many people would come with an open hand, so you'll need a hand full of gold to survive. 

-

The next day, she got ready to go to Bill's. Layla observed what most of the workers had on in the company. Not many formal clothes, most of them wore comfortable clothes. So Layla put on some comfortable clothes to blend in. 

She arrived at Bill's and they were on their way. When they arrived at the OutcastHunter's building, a gut-kicking feeling hit her stomach. Her heart raced in excitement, but she was also nervous. 

Mr. Harold came to greet Layla. He gave her an ID card with her face on it. When did he get this picture?  Layla hung the strap loosely around her neck. 

Layla followed Mr. Harold to the same studio she was in last time. But there was another chair. And a boy was sitting on it. He seemed to be around Layla's age. He got curly brown hair that hung above his face, covering his almond blue eyes.

Behind him was a tall man. Unlike others, he was in a suit. He got his hand on the boy's chair, standing tall, looked like he was guarding the boy.