“Teaching lessons,” she nods, steepling her fingers. “That’s a fine turn of phrase in these circumstances, isn’t it. I also feel inclined to ensure that some lessons are taught now, as I am sure you can imagine.”
I am so fucked. But I am also relieved. She is okay, and that is what really matters. I don’t know what I would have done if she’d gotten seriously hurt, or worse. I would have felt guilty literally forever, I think.
“I’ve dealt with her,” Simon says. “She has had it made very clear to her how unacceptable that was.”
“Oh, I am sure you have, but that’s not really enough for my liking,” Veronica says. “I understand that young ladies like Lydia have to be taught lessons very harshly if they are to retain them at all. Otherwise they quickly forget and go on to be serial offenders.”
I start to feel lightheaded. Then I realize I am holding my breath. I don’t know what the hell this woman wants to do to me, but I know it won’t be good.
“Honey badger,” I say.
“Excuse me?” Veronica frowns at me.
“If you’re going to turn me into something for revenge, I’d like to be a honey badger. They can be bitten by snakes and sleep it off. They resonate with me.”
I wasn’t actually trying to be sassy, but it’s leaking out of me anyway.
“I was not going to do that to you,” she says.
“Aw, you don’t want me hurt?”
“You could be pregnant by now,” Veronica says. “If so, I don’t want to risk the outcome of the experiment.”
“You mean the baby.”
“I mean the property of Z-Corporation that may or may not be growing inside you.”
“I don’t want her going off the premises again until the experiment is finalized,” Veronica says to Simon. She isn’t even speaking to me anymore. She’s talking to him like I’m something for him to handle. The gloves are off now. The mask has fallen. I pushed her too far and now she doesn’t have to pretend to be human anymore.
“I shouldn’t have turned you into a cat,” I say, feeling very witch-like in the process. “I should have turned you into a dog, because you’re a bi?—”
I don’t get the full words out because Simon clamps his hand over my mouth and snugs me back against his body as if he’s pulling me away from a fight in a dive bar.
“Take her to the thirteenth floor,” she says. “I don’t want to see her again. Then come back, and you and I can discuss if our working relationship can continue.”
“Alright,” he says. “Let’s not get overly emotional. I’m sure there’s an agreement that can be come to.”
“I am sure there is,” she says. “But let’s get the problem out of the room before we decide how to solve it.”
“I am not a problem!”
“We should talk privately. One moment,” Simon says to Veronica, taking me by the hand and escorting me out of the room.
When we get out into the hall, we discover that it is filled with burly men. At least a dozen of them, maybe more. Simon is strong, but he’s not strong enough to fight a rugby team.
By the looks on their faces, it is clear that they’ve come for me. Veronica has apparently instituted new levels of security at the company.
“We’re to escort the specimen,” the leader says. He has to be at least twelve feet tall. Okay, maybe closer to seven feet, but he is insanely tall, he is also very bearded, and he has the gaze of a man who eats rocks for fun. Just a super intense dead stare that tells me he dehumanized the rest of our species a long time ago and considers my life about as valuable as a paperclip.
“She’s in the office,” Simon says, not missing a beat. “Veronica is still briefing her.”
“Who is the girl with you?”
“This is Amanda Flan. She’s a biochemist from Lucerne. I’m going to take her to the lab to get her started, then I’ll be back to deal with Lydia.”
“Bonjour,” I say, taking a shot at what they might speak in Lucerne. Switzerland has four languages that could be at play.
The hall clears as the barrier of bodies spreads to either side of the passage to allow us to get through. Simon walks me away, his hand on my back as he escorts me from danger.
