Waiting and Awaited

Chapter 3 - The Fall

Cai stared at the numbers on top of the door of the lift. There were 20 levels more she needed to pass before she reached the Penthouse. She'd very rarely been inside a lift before aside from the annual Saturnalia, and never for the Penthouse. At various levels, the lift stopped and a few citizens entered, saw the lighted button indicating where she intended to go and looked at her. If she wasn't so anxious, she'd find their varying reactions funny.

It was a few hours after Expert Dean had told her that Goldie was to be taken for tomorrow's Saturnalia. She'd mustered up the courage to tell her parents about it and their advice hadn't helped.

"Well you can always have your pick of tuna from the freezers, drop it in water and have it swimming around in no time. You can't even tell the difference," her mother had said.

Oh but the cooks, or worse, the Duke will.

Her father had thoughtfully stared at her before shrugging and said, "Well you can tell Expert Dean no, then the cooks when they come for Goldie, then the Duke himself when he asks what's taking so long."

That was all that was said about Goldie before Mrs. Bell took over and told her husband and her daughter about how the next-door neighbors, a couple who did Maintenance, were to welcome a Scout for a son-in-law. Scouts were always a wonder for her mother. It was her dream to travel between Manors as a messenger but she never did have the courage to apply.

"I'm off to Recreations!" she told her parents dashing out to the hallway after her chores were done.

That explained why she was wearing her old track suit, her long hair hurriedly finger-combed into a ponytail, actually as an afterthought - her usual look for exercises. I'll bet nobody ever has an audience with the Duke in their track suits, Cai thought as the P on the panel finally glowed a faint red.

The doors slid apart and revealed a counter a couple of meters in front of her where two platinum-blonde ladies in stiff black blazers stood. The only difference between them was their haircut, one had a bob the other a long braid. They didn't even bat an eyelash at her glamorous outfit. Their pale lips stretched as they asked for her identification. Those weren't even smiles, no.

"Calista Bell, Fisherfolk."

"What time were you scheduled for your meeting?" Bob asks a little more warmly.

"I wasn't."

Their expressionless mask slid back on and Cai was worried they might give her the boot.

"He has business of the utmost urgency with me that he raised just this afternoon. About his breakfast tomorrow."

Looking at her rather doubtfully, Bob presses a button on her impressive switchboard and says in a monotone, "A Calista Bell, Fisherfolk, for the Duke."

One, two, three, four, fi....

"Let her through."

Cai felt her shiver run from her toes to her scalp. That didn't take long and she had hoped she would have to wait outside for a bit to plan out what she was going to say.

She felt lightheaded as Braid came around the counter and led her to a massive black door. She pressed a few spots on a glass panel, pushed it open before stepping back and making way for her.

Uh-oh, she's not going in. Why can't she come with me and make sure I get out of there alive after bargaining for my fish?

It turns out her attempts to mentally send the question to Braid was hopeless because the blond cleared her throat, inclined her head ever so slightly then stepped further back.