“You aren’t. At all.”
Amick and I smirk at one another, then I follow behind him as he lets my hand go and moves over to his desk.
“If I could just sign off and say, ‘Okay, Yemi Andino has passed her evaluation,’ I would. She obviously will get preferential treatment even though she doesn’t need it. Unfortunately, because everything that Attendants do is closely watched, we need to abide by the rules to an extent, so we don’t draw any extra attention to her.”
“Yeah, I’m really not worried about it, Thayla. It’s literally a conversation where he asks me questions and I answer, then he goes over his notes on me. I swear, I know everything I need to do to be the best Attendant you could ever have.”
“I don’t doubt that whatsoever. I just think the fact you need an evaluation at all is fucking shitty.”
“Well, when you have to give your two cents on me, you can complain to the Rising Chancellor.” She laughs, but my head whips to Amick.
“I have to give you my opinion on her? Like officially?”
“Yes. Your personal review of her and how she’s handled her responsibilities. I was going to fill that out for you.”
“Thank you. I’d still like you to do that but add a note in there that I think this whole process is taurnshit.”
“I will,” he says, most certainly just to appease me. “Here’s the list of the four texts you still need to check out, Yemi, and this is the book I need if you don’t mind retrieving it for me, Thayla.”
“Of course I don’t, Candyman.”
“Thank you. If you both aren’t back in twenty minutes, I’m coming to look for you.”
I snort at his warning, then clear my throat. The look on his face tells me he isn’t kidding one little bit.
“Yes, sir. Twenty minutes.”
I smile smugly when his eyes brighten, but I lace my arm through Yemi’s and giggle my way out of his office.
“I’m shocked he’s sending us on a scavenger hunt on your first day back and within the first few minutes,” Yemi says as we turn down our first row.
She’s steering our way, so I assume she knows where we’re going.
“I’m not at all. He’s doing it on purpose to give me a sense of independence and us an opportunity to be alone for a little while.”
“Really? You think so?”
“Oh, I know. The second he said he needed me to get a bookforhim, I knew he just gave me some random-ass assignment, so I felt like I was helping. He could’ve starshot to this book and back to his office before I could blink. Plus, he’s giving us some alone time.”
She laughs as she tilts her head back and plucks book number one on her list off a shelf.
So she definitely knows where we’re going.
“Does he know that you know he’s doing this to appease you?”
“No, and I’d never tell him. I think it’s incredibly sweet how he considers things like this before making plans for me.”
“It is. It’s very considerate, actually. Doren does little things like that.” She groans as soon as I wiggle my eyebrows at her. “I knew I should’ve kept my damn mouth shut.”
“Well, you’ve already opened it now, so spill.”
“Gods, you’re as bad as they are. Well, as bad as Sevryn and Doren.” We both laugh as she grabs book number two, and I offer to hold that one for her. “Honestly, it’s confusing and we’re just taking it day by day.”
I’m desperate for more than that, but I hear the undertones of what she isn’t saying. She’s not ready to talk. So, sadly, I don’t push.
“Well, just so you know, I’m an expert at juggling four boyfriends. If you ever need advice, I got you.”
She laughs and hip bumps me as we round the corner.
