936

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Seventeen

(Biggest Event in History/ Look Like Hell/ The Six Worlds/ Discussion of Paris)

Another meeting with Harold Goodwin, another day of waiting, another day stuck in the hell that was the Shadow Domain.

After Leah's wedding, months ago, I had been lacking motivation. It was the motivation to do mostly everything. I didn't want to hang out with my friends, leave my room, and I sure as hell didn't want to go to my meeting with Harold Goodwin.

I had a very defeatist attitude since I had met Paris. He ruined any hope for an option to be with Cecilia if it didn't work out with Johanna. He ruined anything that kept me sane, so all I could do was sit around for hundreds of years, hoping to win the girl I was made for, hoping she would realize what I was and how much I needed her.

It wasn't a pleasant sight, the Town Hall, but it was familiar, I remembered it from the times I had been there. I made my way through the building, trying to ignore the crying that I heard down the miles long hallway, I was greeted by Kate at his door, forcing a smile upon her face. "Is everything okay, Mrs. Goodwin?"

She laughed. "I am beyond tired, James. We've had the biggest time change in history."

"What do you mean?"

"Yesterday, the humans were in the year 1789. Today, they are in the year 1919! All of today, millions of Suitors have been waiting in line to meet their Goalmates. We've had to reroute our time systems and our location systems and our world systems. We got time and location fixed, making sure they arrive at any point in time without difficulty, but we are still working on getting the Suitors to the right world, Earth. Thank god for the Knaves or I would be a complete and utter wreck."

"The right world?"

"It's all very stressful." She laughed. "I had to get new clothes this morning, just for the era! Anyway, Harold is waiting for you in his office."

After noticing her dreary new outfit, I nodded, thanking her. As I pushed open his door, he was sitting at his desk, looking through stacks of papers on his desk. "Hello, James."

"Hello, sir." I sat in the chair in front of him. "What is all this?"

"Still working on that Courtesan case." He said, an angry tone implied. "God dammit. I can't find anything. There is one record of a chemical confusion, a Euroise deficiency, meaning the Euroise completely disappeared from the Courtesan's body, but this Courtesan is still alive. There is no name or number attached to the Courtesan file, so I have no idea who it could 

"Haven't done much, lately." I groaned. "Lounging around."

"Still trying to win the heart of my daughter?"

I shook my head. "No, sir."

"Oh," he looked at me with a serious expression. "That's unfortunate."

"Isn't this what you wanted?"

"...I wanted, and still want, my daughter to be happy." He snapped. "I know you could make her happy."

"She doesn't want me." I sighed. "Now, can we please get this meeting over with, I have a few questions."

"You always have questions. What have I told you a million times about questions, James?"

"To not ask them, and blah blah blah. Look, I'm going to ask them anyway."

Harold left his seat, shaking his head, a way to tell me that he was giving up on the idea that I would stop asking. He sat on the edge of his desk in front of me, grabbing his graying curls and pulling them back against his head. "First, we are just going to check your list."