What he discovered, instead, was pandemonium.
His thumb began to tire by the time he got to the top of the back scroll, realizing with horror that the hundreds of messageshe had missed — missed because he was busy flirting with a woman he would never meet — were all about him.
Where is he? Has anyone talked to him?
How could they let this happen?
I’d really like to know what Jack has to say about this.
Is this going to be what we all have to look forward to? A Blinxieburger on every corner?
Someone needs to tell Cal. If they’re going to let in chains, the factory farms are next.
We’re all going to starve at this rate!
I saw him just this morning, popped in to show our solidarity. Bought a vase for the desk.
That was the goblin from the laundromat, he realized, finally reaching the end of the litany of increasingly panicked messages.
He seemed to be keeping a stiff upper lip about the whole thing.
Ranar choked out a laugh, quickly covering it with a cough so as not to arouse Ruma’s suspicion. Hardly a stiff upper lip. He realized now that this was likely what Xavier had wanted to tell him about nearly two weeks ago, what the kitsune had alluded to the previous night on his doorstep.You should have taken a hand job at the very least.The goblin from the laundromats, the two satyresses, clucking their tongues.
Tomorrow, Ranar told himself. Tonight he was going to curl up and watch a silly movie with his little girl. Tomorrow, he was going to City Hall to rip someone a new one, and if they weren’t any help, he would sidewind his way up Main Street until he was standing in front of Jack Hemming’s door.
They can’t do this. I won’t let them do this. Not without a fight.
When the next morning came all too soon, he felt as though he’d been run over by a truck. Ranar didn’t know how it was that his head was so heavy, that sharp ever present pounding at his temple still going strong, nearly sleeping through his alarm, and yet feeling as though he hadn’t slept a wink.
“Here’s the plan, Noodle.” He kept his voice light as they drove into work, Ruma nodding seriously at rapt attention. “You’re to be the counter girl. Paati will run the register, but you say hi to people, ask them if they need help, so forth and so on. You know the drill.”
“Chat, I can do that in my sleep.”
Ranar grinned. At least someone was raring to go that day. “If Thatha calls you the wrong name, baby, just roll with it. He gets upset if he realizes that he’s not remembering something, so think of it like a game. Like improv. It’s not a game for him, but the rest of us have to play like it is. Just remember, he still loves you no matter what.” She nodded again. “One thing he is still really good at is filling orders, so you can be his assistant and bring him flowers he needs. I have to go into town for a meeting this morning, but I won’t be gone long.”
After giving his mother a version of the exact same speech, with the added plea topleasekeep control of the situation while he was gone, he headed into downtown, bypassing City Hall altogether. There was no point. It didn’t make a difference who sat in the mayor’s office, who wore the magistrate’s robes. It didn’t make a difference if it was one of his sons or total strangers. As long as Jack Hemming drew breath, he would be calling the shots. The final boss, as it were.
Fortunately, he reminded himself as he slithered quickly across the cold marble foyer of the building, Jack was reasonable and friendly, wildly charismatic, and usually very fair. At least, Ranar thought that until he arrived to find the outer door to Jack’s top story office was locked.Fucking coward. He cursed.He was going to tighten around this werewolf until his head popped off, at the earliest opportunity.
Ranar swayed there, listening to the clock in the hallway tick. Tick down the day, tick down the brief few weeks it seemed he had with his daughter. Tick down the two years that had gone by since he’d last even dated anyone, tick down his father’s life. What was that he had told Pinky? It wasn’t just a shop. It wasn’t just a business. It had been his father’s whole life, his grandfather’s dream, both resting on that bridge he was expected to hold up.They can’t do this.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when the delivery person came down the hallway towards him, on the other side of the locked door. The goblin had their face down, eyes trained on their phone screen, barely paying attention to Ranar as he caught the door, slithering in behind them. He could tell the she-wolf on the other side of the desk was shocked to see him.
“Oh! I —there are no appointments this morning, I’m so sorry.”
“I don’t have an appointment,” Ranar said flatly. “And I’m not leaving until I speak with him.”
He wondered if she would call the police. He could tell that she was wondering the same thing, her hand reaching for the phone, whether to dial out or to dial into the office, he wasn’t sure, both of their attentions caught by the sound of raised voices.
“This is my legacy, do you understand that? This downtown hasmyname on it. When something goes wrong, who do you think is the first person to get the blame? It doesn’t make a difference what it is. A water main break, a faulty traffic light, a fucking dragonborn throwing up all over the parking lot on a Saturday night. They don’t like the pattern of traffic, they blame me. They don’t like a store that moves in, they blame me. Did you even think beyond the tip of your nose what the ramifications would be for—“
Ranar recognized Jack’s deep voice, but he wasn’t as familiar with the voice that cut in, younger, just as forceful.
“Of course I thought about it. Do you really think I don’t agonize over every decision I make on that counsel, knowing how it’s going to affect the rest of us? I understand this is your legacy, Dad, but what do you thinkourlegacy is going to be? How long do you think your legacy is going to last if we keep propping up failing businesses just because we know the owners and they’ve been around a while? I’mprotectingyour legacy. Compare the projected annual revenue of the two businesses and the taxes they pay back to the community. There’s no question. I made the best decision I could with the information I had, and I’m standing by it. There’s room for both. You’re the first one who’s always going on about diversifying our portfolios. If he can’t diversify his business and adapt, whose fault is that?”
The woman behind the desk closed her eyes, sighing quietly. She’d reached a decision at last, holding down a button on her phone. Her voice was quiet, but Ranar felt a shiver down his spine as if she’d screamed into his ear.
“He’shere.”
