Saving Shaw

Nine

I spent the rest of the day just milling around the house. Everyone seemed to be busy in their daily routines. Talon shut himself in his office for most of the day and only made an appearance downstairs to make himself lunch to bring back upstairs. Axel was busy taking online classes and completing assignments. Steele was hooked in front of the TV in the living room with a headset on and a controller in his hand. Arrow was nowhere to be found.

For an hour or two, I sat on the living room couch with Steele and watched him play some battle game on the screen. I didn't know much about it, but he seemed to be winning. Occasionally, he would say something into the headset he had on that sounded like trash talk, but I couldn't hear what the other people were saying.

When I asked about it, he glanced over at me and gave me a sly smile before removing the headset and holding it out to me. I gave him a cautious look before accepting the headset and slipping it on. I adjusted it a bit. "Hello?" I asked.

A voice came through the other line. "Who the fuck are you?"

I was taken aback. "Excuse me?" I asked, utterly appalled. "Have you ever heard a female voice before or have you been holed up in your parent's basement too long to actually remember how to speak to a woman?"

There was a chorus of laughs on the other end. I guess there was more than one person on whatever frequency this was. "Damn, Mike. She got you pegged."

Clearly Mike wasn't happy. "Whatever. Just tell Steele to cover me when I go in. Think you can handle that, Princess?"

This guy had to be joking. "Easily," I told him with a smirk. Then I looked over to Steele. "Hey, Steele. This punk ass bitch wants you to cover him. He clearly needs help."

I heard a bunch of "oohs" on the other end of the headset and could only imagine steam coming out of Mike's ears. He practically growled at me. "Why don't you get the fuck out of here?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh gladly," I said. "Bye, Mikey. Have fun not getting laid for another ten to fifteen years." I took the headphones off and handed them back to Steele. "Your virtual friends don't seem to be very fun."

Steele chuckled at me and shook his head before putting the headphones back on with one hand. "You're not wrong about that," he said. "And Mike is definitely a punk ass bitch."

A grin spread across my lips as I patted Steele's knee and got up. While I wanted to go bother Axel next, I figured it would probably be best to let him study. Instead, I went upstairs to grab my laptop. On the way back, I passed Talon's office and hesitated.

Even though he didn't deserve it, I felt the need to apologize. He had been somewhat kind to me and I had basically fought him on everything. Then again, he made it difficult for me to swallow my pride. Some of the things he said to me were cruel. He was judging me without actually trying to get to know me.

Deciding it would be best to avoid him for a little while, I trotted down the stairs and out the front door. I took a seat in one of the adirondack chairs and opened my laptop. Arrow had given me the wifi password the day before so I was able to get online and take care of a few things.

The first thing I did was freeze my accounts and order new debit and credit cards. I had no idea where mine had ended up and I doubt I'd ever be able to find them. Next, I ordered new IDs and set up a P.O. box so I could forward my mail there instead of my apartment. Finally, I canceled my cell phone plan.

I had no idea where my phone was, but like my debit and credit cards, I probably wasn't going to get that back. Also knowing that Luke had been following me, I was nervous to use the same number. As a result, I set up a new plan with a new phone number and had a new phone sent to the P.O. box.