Shutter Me

Chapter Three

“Hold your horses, Blakely! Where’s the fire?” Kendall’s eyes widened when she saw me running to her office through the glass walls. I grasped my camera to keep it from swinging around. “Don’t knock down the folders! It took me ages to arrange those.” She exclaimed, cupping her hands to her mouth and constantly checking if I knocked down a tower of files or two.

Just in time, I dodged the stack.

‘Well, you better explain why you barged into my office like there was a fire at the other building,” Kendall said, crossing her arms on her chest and tapping her right foot when I reached her doorstep.

My hands launched into very weird but dramatic gestures to explain to her without speaking. She cringed at me. She’s not good at body language, apparently. “What’s with the jazz hands, Kit?”  She inquired, her eyebrows meeting in the middle as she tried to decipher what I was saying.

I sighed and stuck my index finger at her as if to say, “just a minute.”

My body collapsed on the bean-shaped chair in front of Kendall’s unclean glass table. My heart was bursting with excitement. I wanted to tell her everything. All of my suspicions and what I actually thought of Marco de Grassi. I caught my breath and ran a finger through my hair to cool myself down.

“I hope you’re not here to tell me you have a crush on Marco de Grassi,” She said as she trudged to where I was seated. She plopped herself comfortably on the spot of the floor across me. “Because that would leave me heartbroken…”

My face shot her a what-did-you-just-say look.

“I was kidding.” She grinned at me, like she was expecting me to laugh. When she saw my grim pokerface, she coughed and continued. ”Welp, if that’s not what you wanted to say…don’t keep me waiting, Blakely.”

“Maybe if you could shut up for a while so I could rest?” I retorted.

“Shutting up.” She whispered and she made a motion of locking her mouth and throwing away the key. She pursed her lips close for good measure.

My mind began to replay the last thirty minutes of my memory. I racked my head for something good to say first. Should I tell her about my suspicions already? Or should I tell her about my success in requesting for an interview? I didn’t know and so for once, I didn’t plug my tongue to my brain. I just let my mouth do the talking.  “Okay….so I have good news and a bad news. Which one do you want first?”

“The good one and then let’s take a break after that so I could get my laptop.” Kendall replied.

“Why would you need your laptop?” I asked.

“So I could whack you with it after the bad news.” She replied jokingly. I threw the nearest pencil at her. That was the lamest (if there was such a word) joke she threw at me.  “Okay, okay. Just start with the good news already!”

“He said yes to everything. The interview. The house. The documentation. The whole shebang. ” I answered formally and slowly so that Kendall’s overactive brain could absorb it. She clapped her hands to her mouth again and hugged my legs.

“That’s freaking amazing, Kit! You just saved Hunter Chronicles from bankruptcy! How did you do it?” She said excitedly, unable to contain her overflowing eagerness. Later on, she was clapping like a retarded seal. Oh wait, scratch that. An epileptic seal on a vibrating bed.  

“Well, that’s the bad news.” I answered sullenly, looking down to my black and empty camera screen.  

“Don’t tell me you sold your…Ohmygod—”