The Way I See It

Chapter 4 (dedicated to D)

I set my bag down by Jacquelyn's desk and took a seat in one of the cushioned chairs she had gathered around the table for Larry, Gustav and I. Gustav was already there, but Larry was late as usual. Well, not late, on time. Most volunteers have a habit of getting places early. Larry was not one of those 'most'.

He was always a little scatterbrained, but reliable enough to be a fantastic volunteer. We knew he'd get here eventually. In the meantime, however, I enjoyed watching Jac flirt with the man next to me.

Any fool would be able to see why Jac was making such a spectacle of herself in front of Gustav. His black curls and olive skin were a near-perfect contrast to Jac's own golden coloured hair, and fair complexion. Jac, being five-foot-six like Kit and a fair amount shorter than him, tended to make a relative fool of herself when he was around, which he responded to by either humouring her or flirting back (you could never tell with Gustav), and resting his arm on her shoulder saying that even if she kept dropping her belongings, at least she was the perfect height for him to lean on.

Kit had many, many comments on this. I would never dare to repeat them. This goes for most of what Kit says.

"Sorry I'm on time!" I high-for-a-man voice rang out, causing Arthur Poe to look up from his desk and Jacquelyn to simper disgustingly, wrapping the phone cord around her wrist like she usually did when Poe was about to bust her. As always, it worked like a charm.

Poe muttered something about a pony party and turned back to his paperwork, ignoring Larry as his sat down. I, being the child I am, faced his bent head and stuck my tongue out. Bleh. Volunteers never get to have any fun. It was the least I could do.

Larry folded his hands in his lap and tried not to focus on the Jac-and-Gustav show. His secret crush on Jacquelyn was, well, not as secret as he tried to keep it. "So, what's this for?" He began.

I turned back to Jac's desk and composed myself. "You've heard about Bea and Bertrand," I asked, although it was not really a question considering I knew that word traveled fast around VFD. Larry nodded, accompanied my Gustav, as expected. I continued. "Their children — Violet, Klaus, and Sunny Baudelaire — are due to be taken in by a certain Count in only a few days. Monty has appointed me —" again, leaving out the part about me practically appointing myself "—to keep an eye on them, make sure they're safe. It's the least we can do for the Baudelaires, Bea especially." I lowered my voice. "If it hadn't been for her, we never would have seen who Olaf really is."

Jacquelyn crossed her arms. "If it weren't for her, the schism never would have affected us," she pouted, mostly for Gustav's benefit. Jac never pouts otherwise.

I knew exactly what she meant, but I decided to keep on with my point. "If Bea had not thrown that dart and killed his father, we never would have had the schism, yes. But if we never had the schism, we would not have seen everyone's true colours. They come out in times of adversity, you know. At least we can be sure that those who are sticking with VFD until the bitter end are truly noble, and those who revolted and began starting fires are truly wicked."

Larry shot a look at me. I'm not a talker, unless to my sisters, and that was quite a speech by my standards.

Gustav broke us out of our contemplation. "I'm in," he assured us (which meant Jac was almost definitely in too). "Anything to help this organisation. They took me in when I needed it most." We all nodded solemnly. The three of us — excluding Larry — were orphans. We knew what it felt like to be alone, and didn't want the Baudelaires to be feeling the same. Besides that, VFD helped us through hard times when no one else would. VFD was a family to us when we didn't have one.

Me, for example. I was born indecently late in my mother's life, an accidental child, and although she and my father still loved me and treated me as if my conception was purposeful, I knew the truth. That was why my sisters were so much older than me — Miranda was twenty-three when I was born, Via was eighteen, Nadia was ten. Luckily the two older ones were extremely maternal, so I pretty much had three mothers (counting Kit, who took us in — she was twenty-four when in was born, twenty-six when my parents died) after my own perished. They'd still never take the place of Mother and Father, though.

Jac, Gustav, Larry and I sorted everything out. I would follow the Baudelaires and film with Voltaire, and send the recording to Jac's under-the-desk monitor. Jac would watch constantly, and call Gustav if I needed backup. Then, they would travel to where the Baudelaires and I were, help us, and also send Larry to a place nearby to try and give us all information in code. It was a pretty solid plan, we thought.

Mission Baudelaires, was a go!

Ugh. I still had to leave the names to Lemony.