Adrian took a deep breath as he watched the car drive off. That went better than he expected, all things considered. Of course, now that his stepfather had given his permission, it would only be a matter of time before other members of the family started to get involved.
He looked down at the ankh shaped mark on his hand. Whispers from the Hall echoed in the back of his mind, sibilant hisses of things better left in the dark. Clenching his fist, he banished the voices and started walking back to central campus.
For now, he wanted to stop by the Journal before his Latin class. The chief was probably worried sick about him, although she never did build up the courage to send him a message, let alone give him a call. A mental image of the mousy woman agonizing while holding her phone made him chuckle as he entered the building and headed down the stairs.
Taking a moment to enjoy the dark, musty atmosphere of the basement office, Adrian stepped in and moved to his desk. Amanda was peeking from the door of her office, and as soon as he'd set his stuff down, stuck her head to yell in her quiet voice, "You're late!"
"Sorry about that, Chief. Had some things to take care of on the home front." He replied with a smile, enjoying the sight of the woman's pouting face. "Don't worry though, my article will be ready by the deadline."
She sighed, flashed him a small smile and disappeared back into her office. As the door was closing, Adrian thought he heard a whispered, "Thank goodness," but it was hard to tell.
Smiling to himself, he sat down and got to work. His report on the parking changes had already made it into the most recent edition, and he had a few days to work on his next topic. As a law student, he was the closest thing to a political expert the Journal had, so he was more or less tasked with writing on things like changes to University policy, and the activities of the student government.
Amanda had already sent him a few possible leads to follow up on, but Adrian had already decided to focus on the Student Council's decision to cut funding to the Healthy Living Club, a student organization that regularly organized events promoting healthy lifestyle choices. Despite their message carrying a few religious overtones, the group had a positive reputation amongst the student body. Of course, that might have been more to do with their habit of passing out free condoms every time they showed up somewhere.
He figured he could use the opportunity to explore the nuanced relationship between the council and student organizations. While he hadn't decided exactly how he wanted to present the situation, he figured highlighting the unchecked power the council had over club budgets would be a good place to start. Perhaps he could even use it as a jumping off point to call for reform.
Settling down to do his research, he was in the middle of considering how to go about cornering his key sources, when Leah walked in with her usual flair for the dramatic. Her hair was a brilliant shade of blue today, and she was wearing a tattered pair of jeans, a belt with silver studs, and something that looked like an army surplus jacket.
"Holy shit! I thought you died." She exclaimed upon seeing him, before bursting into laughter. "Ah, shit. Now I owe Darren ten bucks."
"You actually gambled on whether or not I was dead? Worse, you bet against me? Leah, you should know better."
She shrugged before plopping down at her desk. "Haven't you heard the rumors? There's someone claiming to have seen you being chased by a group of guys in black suits. When you didn't show up or answer your phone for two days, we thought for sure you had been kidnapped by some shadowy organization. Darren guessed they were planning on ransoming you, while I was certain that you had finally received your comeuppance for a lifetime of nefarious deeds."
[I should have expected it, but I guess there were another student in the subway that night.]
"What the hell? What do you mean nefarious deeds?" Adrian asked, feeling annoyed.
She leaned forward with a conspiratorial grin. "I know all too well that your goody-two-shoes act is designed to hide something. Why not a double life spent committing all kinds of atrocities in the hunt for personal power?"
[…Well, I guess that's not too far off now…] Adrian thought, before shaking his head in exasperation.
"They must have mistaken me for someone else. I was just out for a few days, because I had some things to take care of at home. You know how it is."
Leaning back in her chair and throwing her hands behind her head, Leah sighed. "Yeah, I figured it was something boring like that. Can't blame a girl for trying, though. You'd be a lot more interesting of a person if you had a few dirty little secrets for me to take advantage of."
"That right there is why you have so much trouble keeping a relationship going for more than a few weeks." He replied absentmindedly while he tried to focus on his work again.
"It's not my fault this place is full of pansies. You'd think there would be someone willing to suffer through a little indignity to be with a goddess like me, but nooo…" She frowned down at her pants, while scrubbing at a mysterious stain that was probably leftover from lunch. "Speaking of which, whose the lucky bastard that gets to carry my purse this weekend?"
He glanced over with a slight chuckle. "Martin Krenovich. Not sure if you know him."
"What, like the toothpaste brand? That Krenovich?"
"Yeah, his grandfather apparently invented it. I don't think they run the company anymore, but I believe his family still owns a hefty portion of it."
She frowned, deep in thought for a moment before asking, "Wait…is he that skinny guy that hangs out with you during lunch on occasion? The one that looks about five years too young to be in college."
He nodded. While it was something of an exaggeration, that description did somewhat fit the small and feminine looking Martin.
"Oh?" Leah replied with sly smile. "I might be able to enjoy myself with this one."
Adrian left her to her dark plans, and concentrated on his work for the next half hour. By the time he left, he'd put together the basic framework of his article. He would need to flesh out the details later, but that shouldn't take too much effort.
As he made his way to his Latin class, he realized that he'd been unconsciously ignoring his next major hurdle. Miranda was sure to use this opportunity to flaunt their new relationship to the other students, in an effort to benefit from the association with the Veldt name. After all, it was really the only thing she'd asked for during their negotiations.
With a sigh of resignation, he walked into the classroom, quickly spotting the woman as she waved at him from the middle of the stadium seats, and called in a voice dripping with sweetness. "Adrian! Over here!"
Resignedly, he walked up to join her. Once he was seated, she leaned over and intimately whispered in his ear with a playful smile on her face. "You could try to look a little happier about sitting next to me. People are going to think I blackmailed you or something."
Flashing his best smile, as if she had said something truly charming, he replied loudly enough for their neighbors to hear. "Sorry, it's been a long day."
She giggled, before leaning in once more. "You better step it up. I'm not getting anything else out of this shitty deal, so make this count."
While she was still close, he whispered. "Don't worry, I'll act the part. Just don't forget who's holding the leash in this partnership."
Miranda pulled back with a gasp, hand covering her mouth in a textbook expression of shock. "Adrian! It's far too soon to do something like that!" Despite the contents of her words, her blushing cheeks and the shy smile on her face betrayed an interest in whatever it was he'd supposedly suggested.
Adrian worked hard to control his temper as several of the students nearby started whispering amongst themselves while looking in his direction. He could practically feel the rumors starting to circulate.
[Not bad. I suppose I can let you win this one.]
Laughing heartily, he shook his head. "Just a joke, Miranda. No need to take me seriously."
Not long after that, the professor arrived and class started in earnest. As the man droned on about declensions, Miranda took the opportunity to pass along a few messages via scribbled notes.
'You saw my text this morning, right?'
He nodded.
'Vance is organizing a retinue that will meet you at the restaurant.'
Frowning, he wrote, 'why do I need a retinue?'
She shook her head in mild exasperation, 'A gang boss doesn't operate by himself, and so showing up alone is a sign of weakness. If you want to bargain from a position of strength, you need a group of followers at your bidding.'
Sighing, he nodded. That did make sense, regardless of how pointless they'd be as bodyguards.
She continued. 'I've also scheduled meetings with some of the more influential executives from the organization over the next few days. You'll need their support if you want to continue to be the shadow leader.'
Adrian took a moment to look at her. While he'd been planning on doing something to that effect in the near future, he hadn't expressed his intentions to her at all. He was rather impressed at how Miranda was already taking the initiative on matters of organizational importance, not to mention her ability to correct small problems in planning without any direct orders.
The Hall caressed the back of his mind, and he had to resist the urge to grin. [Looks like I picked up something valuable without intending to. If she continues like this, I might have to keep her around longer than I'd originally intended.]
Seeing that the conversation was concluded, Miranda crumpled the slip of paper up, and surreptitiously swallowed it, disposing of the evidence.
The rest of the class continued normally, and it wasn't long before they were walking across campus, arm in arm. She had a slightly embarrassed smile plastered on her face, looking for all the world like a young woman on a romantic stroll with her boyfriend.
Adrian for his part, did his best to play along, although it was getting increasingly difficult every time they ran into someone she knew. The looks of shock, and in a few cases jealous anger, were starting to wear on him, and he felt relieved when they finally parted ways.
[This is going to take some getting used to.] He thought to himself, already regretting that he didn't hammer out more specific terms during his negotiations with the woman.
With a sigh, he walked out towards the edge of campus and caught a taxi heading downtown. He still had a full hour before the meeting, but he wanted to take the opportunity to scout the location.
Making sure the driver wasn't watching, Adrian pulled the 9mm handgun out his bag and slid it into the shoulder holster under his coat. It would be problematic if he was caught with it, since it was illegal to carry inside the city limits, but he figured that legality shouldn't be an issue where he was going.
[I shouldn't need it, what with the power of the Hall, but I suppose it never hurts to be prepared.] He thought while arranging his clothes to disguise the new bulge. [Hopefully, this meeting will end peacefully, and I will have worried for nothing.]