The World As We Know It

Chapter Thirteen

"Wait, what?"

From behind the massive oak desk, Ciel rolled a single blue eye.

"You came with a half-empty suitcase. Was I supposed to believe you had everything you needed?"

"I had two bags," I retorted

The bluenette glanced to the tall figure beside me. With a crooked smile, the butler motioned to the ball of fur at my feet.

"The beast-Cosmo," he corrected himself, his eyes catching my glare, "had a bag of his own. It seems he owns more things than Ms. Taylor."

Ciel shuffled through the perilous stacks of papers before being handed something from his butler. He looked at it for a moment before setting it aside with a sigh.

"You have a week's worth of clothes, a laptop, and five books. Where is the rest of your stuff?"

"Well...um..."

I giggled nervously, tapping my pointer fingers together.

"Well, what?" Ciel snapped impatiently.

"I...um...lost it."

"Lost it?" he repeated incredulously.

"Well...my rent was late...by a few months." I could feel two pairs of eyes drilling into me. Before they could lecture me, I hurriedly added, "Basically I have what was in my backpack in Sebastian's car, Cosmo's bag in your apartment, and some clothes and books I left at a friend's house!"

The young boy pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Why didn't you tell us before we left? Sebastian could have easily recovered some of your belongings! Hell, I think even Damion got something out of your apartment!"

Of course he did. There were boxes of Shay's stuff in my bedroom. I would have been shocked if he hadn't retrieved them.

"I didn't want to burden you any more than I already had!" I protested.

Ciel ignored me, digging around for something in one of the desk's drawers. Upon finding it, he tossed it to Sebastian who quickly pocketed it into his suit jacket. The boy scribbled something on a piece of paper that he motioned for his butler to look over. Sebastian rubbed his chin before nodding.

"This should be interesting, but are you sure you won't need me?"

The blunette shook his head.

"Damion should be here in an hour to discuss some matters. I have complete faith in his abilities."

Nodding, Sebastian turned on his heel and pulled me by the arm.

"What the hell?!"

"I'm afraid my master's order is absolute," he purred, "I must ensure your every need is met for twenty-four hours."

Oh, God. What did that mean?

I don't like shopping. Well, to be more specific, I hate shopping for clothes. I could spend hours looking at books or video games, but the second I walked into a clothing store I felt the unbridled need to run out the door. Unfortunately, our first stop was a clothing store. Worse, it was a store that specialized in lingerie. Seriously? I'd would have much happier to do this part online or, you know, alone.