Challenged - Skinwalker Book 2

Chapter 20

The next morning Sierra woke feeling rejuvenated. A part of her still wanted to write the entire incident with Luc off to a figment of her imagination - or better yet, a strange dream - but the contented, knowing look he gave her at breakfast pretty much forced her to recognize that it wasn't. Something had changed between them, and she was fairly optimistic that it was for the better.

She finished breakfast early and headed up to her room to grab her notepad and find the agency director. The little booklet provided the perfect starting point for a discussion that she ultimately hoped to direct towards something far more important to her at that point - finding a way to get her cash deposited into her account.

The door to the human wing had been left unlocked, making it possible for Sierra to just walk in unhindered. However, despite the open invitation she felt intrusive, so instead she knocked and called out in the hopes that she might be heard. It took a few moments, but eventually Geoffrey popped his head out from behind a door.

"Ah, Sierra! Do come in," he invited her warmly.

"Thank you," she replied courteously while she did as encouraged. "I was hoping I might find Jocelyn here?" she inquired.

"She is in her office," he replied with a reassuring smile and a gesture down the short passage she'd walked on her first day. "All is well?" he asked with a hint of concern.

"Yeah I'm fine. She just said I should bring her these notes," she informed him as she held up the book like a defensive shield against her chest.

"Excellent! Then I shall see you later at our sparring session. Please excuse me, but I must still see to some work before I am able to go down."

Sierra nodded her understanding and he disappeared back behind the door. She clutched her notebook feebly and headed towards Madame Sauveterre's office, feeling strangely intimidated by the setting. She needn't have been. A broad smile of pleasure swept over Jocelyn's face as she entered. The woman literally pushed her work aside and sat back in her chair, clearly prepared to give Sierra her full attention. A part of Sierra wondered if her presence was actually a welcome distraction from the less enjoyable things that usually occupied Jocelyn's day.

"I... er... came to talk to you about the notes like you suggested," Sierra remarked as she held the notebook out hesitantly like a little second-grader surrendering poorly done homework.

"I am glad. I was concerned that you had perhaps given up on the exercise," Jocelyn replied. "Please, sit," she encouraged as she took the book and laid it down on her desk.

"Well I wrote the notes like you said I should, and I read them over again - but I can't see anything in them that might help me figure my team mates out," Sierra commented.

"Let me see what you have written," Jocelyn suggested.

She flipped the notebook open and started browsing through Sierra's scrawls. A few minutes of silence passed while Sierra waited patiently for her to finish her assessment.

"None of this is wrong," Jocelyn remarked studiously.

Her brow furrowed with puzzlement, then she snapped the book shut and looked at Sierra. The skin walker could tell that Jocelyn wasn't satisfied.

I told you the exercise was pointless....

"I should like you to try do it again - but this time, I want you to employ the same sort of writing style that you made use of in your journal," Jocelyn suggested. "Everything you have noted about your team mates here is true, but these notes are lacking the sort of descriptors that demonstrated your exceptional powers of observation in the past. Try not to overthink it - just put pen to paper and allow the ink to flow. Then we shall look at it again. Alright?"