Morgan looked closely at the teenager in front of him. Since when did she emit such an imposing aura and become so eloquent? In the past, hadn't she always bowed her head and stuttered before him?
Eli rested her back on the couch slouching a bit before pulling back the hoodie that covered her face. She heard Joe take a sharp breath as she saw her face. Morgan was taken aback as well but he hid his reaction better. It was a reaction Eli had drawn out of a lot of people today herself included and was a reaction she was beginning to get used to receiving.
With one arm in a sling and the other tapping rhythmically on the armrest, she looked like the personification of a young mafia lord. A smile tugged at the edge of her lip. This brought back memories of the good old days she thought.
"Do you have something to say to me or are we going to continue this staring match?"
After being asked by Eli, Morgan and Joe came back to their senses.
"You are Eli?"
"In the flesh"
"How is this possible? You look nothing like your old self" Joe added. Taking a few steps towards Eli to get a better look.
"It's called a haircut."
Joe frowned at Eli's curt remark but didn't comment on it. She moved back to her original position by the table and waited for Morgan to put her in her place. Getting a look from Joe, Morgan cleared his throat and got to the point.
"Why weren't you at work yesterday and the day before? " he asked his voice stern and imposing. Without waiting for her reply he continued. "I'm deducting one week's work to pay for your insubordination. There are people begging for this job and here you are taking leave days. You're lucky kid, that I'm a considerate boss so I'm not going to fire you."
After hearing what he said, Eli tsked in her heart. 'Considerate my ass.'
"Joe here can't make her shift these next few days. You will have to fill in for her this week."
"I have four-night shifts this week and one day shift which you would have to take on, along with your shifts" Joe added smugly, her arms crossed over her double D implants.
Eli's gaze froze when she heard this. If the previous host had been here, she would have had to work two-day shifts and one night shift this week for this job alone, excluding her two other jobs.
Now, they demanded of her to take on four-night shift jobs and a day shift even while knowing she was just a kid with a sick grandma to care for and still had to attend classes?
Eli's eyes gained a frosty look in an instant when she looked at them. 'Did they not know it was inhuman?'
"You want me, a fifteen-year-old kid, to not just work my shifts which already includes a one-night shift but to also work four more night shifts making them five in a row and still throw in there a day shift?"
"What's with the attitude? it's not like it's your first time."
Eli cocked her brow at Joe's remark. Her initially frosty expression faded and she gave a wide smile.
"I quit," Eli announced. There was no point arguing with these clowns.
Morgan and Joe were taken aback. "You quit?" they asked in unison.
Eli sighed she really hated repeating herself. Holding long conversations was not her strong point.
"En," she replied. "Now, just pay me the three hundred dollars you owe me and we can all call it a night."
"How can you suddenly quit, who's going to work my shifts if you're quitting?" Joe asked anxiously. She had always dumped most of her work on Eli and just earned free money. What was this now? Quitting?
"You can't just quit! What about your sick grandma? How are you going to care for her?" Morgan asked. Joe stood by his side, nodding her head in support.
"Not your problem. Just hand me my pay." Eli replied. This conversation was beginning to drag and she was starting to get annoyed.
"What pay?" Morgan asked. "Glue doesn't owe you anything." He added dismissingly.
Eli scoffed. Why was this not surprising.
"Glue currently owes me two weeks worth of pay, and adding all the extra shifts I took in place of Joe, this past month, it all adds up to three hundred dollars. So pay up."
"Hey! why bring my shifts into this? what about my shifts? That's my money!" Joe protested.
"Joe is right. You were simply helping her out." Morgan commented. A sly smile on his face. "and regarding your pay, let us just say... I deduced it as a result of you missing two days of work."
Joe smiled at his response. Her initial anxious heart was calmed. She looked down at Eli and gave her a provocative look.
Eli could tolerate a lot of things. She could stomach insults, a few jabs here and there, but one thing she never joked with was her money. It never turned out well for anyone who messed with her money.
Eli disregarded Joe's provocation and pulled out her phone from her pocket and silently typed a message before sending it. A few seconds later she got a reply and a credit alert of ten thousand dollars. She smiled, eyes still locked on the credit alert before casually speaking.
" Did you know your wife was investigating you?"
The abruptness of the comment stunned the two.
"What?" Morgan asked. His initial bravado faded and a sudden uneasiness crept into his heart.
"She had suspected you were cheating on her for a while now, and was looking for a private investigator to confirm her thoughts so she could divorce your sorry ass." Eli continued. Eyes still on her mobile phone which she was now slowly spinning in the air.
"What does that have to do with-" Morgan's speech was interrupted by the sound of his mobile phone ringing. Looking at the lit screen, the caller ID read 'My Wife'. His feeling of apprehension increased.
The spinning stopped and Eli looked up staring him straight in the eyes. "Aren't you going to take that?" She asked, amused.
After he had called her earlier. She had stopped by a cafe and had done a bit of search on him. It had taken her barely ten minutes to dig up his dirty laundry and his weaknesses. His major weakness being his wife.
Morgan Hall, now Morgan Fisher, had married above his station. He had caught the eye of the daughter of a well to do businessman and had married rich even going as far as adopting her last name. Echo was one of her family's properties and he also owed his position and wealth all to his wife.
As if it wasn't bad enough he had lost the looks he had in his youth that attracted his wife, he also had the balls to cheat on her, the one and only condition she warned against in their marriage contract. It was as good as over for him now.
Morgan left the phone unanswered and looked at Eli in horror. "What have you done?" he asked in a shaky voice.
Eli shrugged, "Cheating rule 101- Never record yourself while in the act. That's like basic isn't it" she tsked twice before pocketing her phone in her pocket.
Morgan's head was ringing. His heart was racing and the thought of losing everything he had gained over the years weighed heavy in his chest. Confused by her statement he replied, "But I never did!"
Eli did not provide a response but simply glanced at Joe who stood at the side trying to make herself smaller with a knowing look. He followed her clue and looked at Joe who wore a guilty expression on her face.
"You stupid bitch!" He yelled as he slapped her. The impact made her tumble to the floor with a yell.
Eli picked up her backpack and prepared to leave.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going? You little cunt! I will-"
Eli let out a giggle. "Do you kiss your wife with that mouth?" Morgan walked threateningly towards her. His large middle section wobbled as he did.
"How dare you? I--"
"No, how dare you?" She interrupted again. She too took a step forward, her back arced straight and her eyes locked on his. "Speak to me like that again and your sex tape will not be in just the hands of your wife but all over the internet for the world to see." Eli's gaze was frosty like it could pierce through someone's heart.
Morgan backed away from her, frightened by the ferocity and darkness he saw lurking in her eyes. His instincts screamed at him not to cross her.
"You really should have paid up when you had the chance."
With that, she threw her backpack over her good shoulder and walked out.
"No, stop right there, come back here!" He yelled.
Eli continued walking. She whistled a children's rhyme while doing so ignoring Morgan Fisher, whose screams echoed behind her.
"I could use a lollipop right about now" she said aloud as she exited the building.