THE ARISTOCRATS #1

00:09

Every Monday morning, Clementine's mother had a private meeting, in which she would be out of her office for approximately twenty minutes. Clementine did not know where she would go, or who she was meeting, but she knew that she had to take advantage of the window of time.

She didn't tell the Aristocrats about it, as she wanted it to be a surprise, but as she stood around the corner of the office door, waiting for her mother to leave her office, regret began to sink in. She tried not to think about getting caught, for she feared that she would back out from nerves.

The sound of a swinging door caught her attention, and Clementine ducked further behind the cream-coloured walls. Her mother stepped out, straightening her grey blazer, before confidently walking the other direction. Clementine waited an extra two minutes, before tip-toeing towards the door. The sun had only risen a half hour ago, and Clementine was reassured with the fact that there would be no one around.

She jiggled the lock, before slipping a bobby pin from out of her hair. She remembered what Ronan had taught her, and bent the metal pin at a 90 degree angle. She removed the small rubber tip from the end and stuck the flat side into the lock. She shook the bobby pin, her heart sinking as the door remained stuck. Clementine peered around, her hand sticking the pin into the lock.

Before she could lose hope, she heard a click. She tried to stifle her excited grin, excited to tell Ronan later on.

The sunlight shone through the expansive windows, lighting up the billions of ducks particles. Even with the rays of sun lighting up the musty room, her mother's office was still cold enough to raise the invisible hairs on her arms.

Clementine pictured the phone in her head. A slim model that came out only two months ago, the price up in the thousands. She wiped her sweaty palms on her plaid skirt, before opening the top drawer. It was empty.

"Shit." She mumbled, her hand clawing around in the back of the drawer. She emerged with nothing but dust and a green thumbtack.

The second drawer was locked, but Clementine still had her crooked bobby pin in her pocket. She fumbled around with it, her heart pounding as she not only dropped it once, but twice.

"Come on, come on." She whispered desperately.

Clementine gave up, instead choosing to look through the pockets of her mothers coats. She checked he pockets of an expensive Dolce and Gabbana Coat, the heavy black material providing her with nothing of use. The second coat was the same, until her fingers ran over a hard, rectangular object. She looked at the leather watch on her wrist. She had five minutes to get out.

Clementine searched through the pockets, but couldn't take out the phone. It was sewn into the actual lining of her coat. She found a ripped seam, and ripped the silky fabric. Her fingers slid across broken glass and she hissed at the sharp sting of pain. Ignoring the burning sensation in the pads of her fingers, she retrieved the phone.

Her heart dropped.

The phone was completely destroyed. A spiderweb of broken glass decorated the screen, the glass falling to the floor and slicing at her fingers. She turned it around to confirm her suspicions, the chip had been taken out.

Clementine cursed under her breath, pocketing the destroyed phone and returning the coat to its original position. Her fingers were bleeding slightly, and she had no time to check whether she had accidentally stained the inside of the coat. She snuck out of the door, the soft click of the lock behind her echoing through the empty halls.

•

"What the fuck am I supposed to do with this?" Roman growled, staring at the shattered remains of his phone in his hand. He shook it gently, watching as glass littered onto the ground.