Sometime later, Awa walked into Tina's department, her eyes scanning the room with a mix of curiosity and purpose. The hum of productivity filled the air as employees sat at their desks, heads down, typing away or flipping through documents. Awa's gaze quickly found Forrest, the intern, sitting in a corner of the room, absorbed in whatever task Tina had given him. He looked focused, diligently working, and completely unaware of what was about to happen.
Awa made her way over to Tina's desk with a casual stride, her lips curling into a subtle smile as she approached. "Hey, Tina," she began in a sweet, singsong voice, leaning against the side of her sister's workspace. "Could you do me a favor?"
Tina, without looking up from her screen, muttered, "What now, Awa?"
"Oh, nothing much," Awa said with a shrug, though her tone implied otherwise. "I was just wondering if you could ask your intern—Forrest, right?—to make me a cup of coffee."
Tina stopped typing for a moment, finally glancing up with a raised eyebrow. "Awa, seriously? You're perfectly capable of getting your own coffee. We're all working here. The coffee machine's right over there." She pointed across the room, not missing a beat.
Awa pouted dramatically, leaning in closer with a mock plea in her eyes. "Come on, Tina. I'm exhausted. I really could use a little pick-me-up." She batted her lashes, turning up the charm. "Plus, it's just coffee! Think of it as an opportunity to teach him some good old-fashioned manners. Barista skills are essential, right?"
Tina rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. "We're at work, Awa. He's here to learn about real estate, not coffee-making."
But Awa wasn't deterred. She leaned in even closer, giving Tina her most pitiful expression. "Please? Just this once? You know how much I love the coffee here. Besides, I'm your big sister—you can't say no to me!"
Tina sighed, her resolve wavering as she looked at Awa's exaggerated face. She hesitated for a moment before finally giving in. "Fine," she grumbled, shaking her head.
Awa grinned, victorious. "Thanks!"
Tina called out to Forrest, who had been quietly working at his desk. He looked up, slightly startled by the interruption. "Forrest, could you do me a favor and grab two cups of coffee? One for me and one for Awa, please?"
Forrest's expression flickered with mild annoyance, but he nodded without protest. His gaze briefly met Awa's, who gave him a quick, innocent smile. Without a word, he stood and headed toward the kitchen area.
The second he was out of sight, Awa sprang into action. Her heart raced as she walked briskly over to Forrest's desk, casting quick glances around to make sure no one was watching. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a handful of small tack pins—borrowed from Tina's desk earlier—and, with practiced precision, she lifted the seat cushion of Forrest's chair. Her fingers worked quickly, arranging the pins underneath the padding, their sharp points sticking up like tiny spikes of doom.
Once satisfied with her work, Awa gently set the cushion back down and smoothed it out, ensuring everything looked as it should. She straightened up, taking one last glance at the scene of her little experiment before sauntering back to Tina's desk, her heart thumping in anticipation.
It didn't take long for Forrest to return. He walked back into the office carrying two cups of coffee, his expression neutral as he handed one to Tina with a polite smile and set the other in front of Awa. He didn't even glance in her direction beyond that brief gesture—something Awa noted with mild amusement, if this was before she would be annoyed, but not today…..
Forrest returned to his desk, settling back into his chair. Awa, for her part, turned her back toward him, as if bored, but her eyes glinted with mischief. She reached into her bag and pulled out her phone, scrolling through the document she'd been updating diligently for the past few days.
The headline at the top of the document read: "Puppy Weaknesses."
A smirk tugged at the corners of her lips as she reviewed her notes. The first entry—"Blunt force on balls in human form"—was already highlighted in red. The memory of Forrest gasping in agony during lunch made her chuckle silently. She had hit the mark perfectly that time. The proof was still fresh in her mind, and Forrest's reaction had been everything she'd hoped for.
Just beneath that entry was the next line of interest: "Sharp objects in human form." This one was still in black, awaiting its test. Awa's heart raced as she glanced over her shoulder, casually observing Forrest as he sat at his desk. He seemed relaxed now, completely unaware of the pins lurking beneath his seat cushion.
Awa stretched her arms lazily, yawning to sell her disinterest, and looked up at the ceiling, pretending to zone out.
And then she waited.
Sure enough, only moments later, there was a loud, pained yelp from behind her. Awa bit down on her lip to suppress the grin threatening to spread across her face as she heard Forrest shoot up from his chair, the sound of his chair scraping loudly against the floor.
"What the hell!" Forrest hissed, his voice strained as he clutched at his lower back, the pain evident in his posture.
Several heads turned in his direction, curious and concerned. A few coworkers exchanged puzzled glances, clearly unsure what had just happened.
Tina, alarmed, immediately stood up and rushed over to him. "Forrest? What happened? Are you okay?"
Forrest winced, his face still flushed with pain, and he rubbed his lower back gingerly. "I—uh—sat on something sharp, I think," he muttered, clearly embarrassed by the situation. "It felt like… pins or something."
One of the other employees sitting nearby raised an eyebrow. "Pins? What kind of office supplies are we leaving around here?" they joked.
Another coworker, a woman sitting across the room, stifled a laugh. "Maybe someone left a cactus on your chair," she teased, trying to lighten the mood.
Forrest, however, wasn't laughing. He stood there awkwardly, clearly in pain, and began scanning the room suspiciously, his gaze flicking from one face to the next as if trying to identify a potential culprit. Awa felt a twinge of anxiety, wondering if he would connect the dots. After all, she had kicked him under the table earlier, and now this? But no one seemed to suspect her, especially since she had conveniently distanced herself from his immediate vicinity.
She couldn't help but glance over her shoulder at him, watching as he gingerly inspected his chair. The pins, small and nearly invisible, had done their job. Forrest's grimace deepened as he examined the seat cushion, trying to figure out how the tacks had mysteriously appeared there in the first place.
"Did you sit on a sewing kit or something?" someone else joked from across the room.
Forrest shook his head, his voice still tight with pain. "I don't know," he mumbled, clearly flustered.
Tina looked at him with concern but also amusement. "Well, are you okay now? Do you need a break or something?"
Forrest waved off the offer, though his expression showed he was still in considerable discomfort. "No, no. I'm fine," he muttered, though the way he stood, rigid and stiff, told a different story.
Satisfied that her prank had gone off without a hitch, Awa casually turned her attention back to her phone. She scrolled down the list in her document, her fingers hovering over the next entry. With a smirk, she marked "Sharp objects in human form" in red, another successful test in her growing experiment.
Then, her eyes landed on the next line: "Hot liquid exposure."
Her gaze shifted toward the still-steaming cup of coffee beside her. She took a slow sip, savoring the warmth, and leaned back in her chair with a smile of satisfaction. Today had been an informative day, and she had learned something valuable about her new "abilities" with Forrest. The limits of a werewolf's vulnerability were becoming clearer, and she was starting to understand how she could use that knowledge to her advantage.
But for now, she'd let him recover. She didn't want to push things too far—at least not yet.
The day wasn't over, and there was plenty of time left for more... observations.