Moonlit Dangers

Chapter Twenty Two

A week after I had left the compound my home was partially fixed. I had replaced the front door and one of the windows with the last bit of money I had in my bank account after cleaning the messes made from both the lycans and the Guardians. I was healing nicely.

        My nose wasn’t sore anymore, my stitches in my hand, arm, and leg were out, and the stitches in my abdomen and back would be taken out in another few days. I missed Lina, and Kory, as much as I hated to admit it to myself. I had received a call from my boss Herman, telling me not to bother returning to work, and the bank had kicked me while I was down, sending me a foreclosure notice.

        I was currently in front of the mirror in my bathroom, checking myself out. I wore a cream colored pant suit that had been my mother’s, with a red silk blouse underneath. The high heels that I had picked out were a deep crimson color to match the blouse. I’d used water pomade and braided my hair tightly so that it swept around the top of my head like a crown, and I was wearing gold chandelier earrings. I had decided against a lot of makeup, settling on merely dark brown eyeliner and black mascara with deep red lipstick. Studying my reflection, I smiled.

        I looked powerful, and I felt confident. I walked through my house, picking up my purse before leaving and shutting the door behind me. My car had been wrecked by the Lycans who had ransacked my house, but the Guardians had been kind enough to give me one of their jet black compact cars. I had almost declined their offer, but after I’d thought of the pain and agony I’d been through for the past few weeks, I accepted it. It may not have been due to me, but at this point I needed all the help I could get.

         I unlocked the car and slid into the driver’s seat. After starting the car up, I turned my radio on and changed the station to rock. I felt the high energy music pulse down to my toes as it blasted out of the speakers. I put the car into drive, and sedately pulled out of my driveway and onto the road. It was time for me to return to the realm of normality.

                                                                 ***

        I parked by my workplace ten minutes later. After hopping out I strutted up the walkway, chin held high, and pulled open the front door before walking in. I received a few stares from co-workers whom I was sure had listened to Herman rant about my ‘sabbatical’ on a few different occasions. As I entered his office, I could see that Herman was currently on the phone. Setting my purse on a rack conveniently located near the door, I strolled up to a chair in front of his desk and sat down nonchalantly.

        I studied him as he spoke on the phone and glared at me. Never before had I noticed that he was balding, a small patch of skin showing through his mouse brown hair giving him away. His face was heavily wrinkled, making his ice blue eyes appear smaller than what they really were. Even at sixty four, Herman was physically fit; no paunch showed through his shirt. He would still seem attractive if it weren’t for his attitude. He was currently yelling at whoever was on the other end of the phone. “I want it today! Today, you hear me?” I took a fortifying breath as he slammed the phone onto the receiver.

        Almost immediately he began to yell at me. “You shouldn’t even be in this office! I fired you, and I meant it! Get out!” When I did nothing but calmly stare at him, his face turned so red that it was edging toward purple. “Did you not hear me? You are no longer employed with my company! You took off without notice or permission, for three weeks, and expect to have your job waiting for you?!”

        Slamming my palms on the arms of the chair I was sitting in, I shot up. “My job better be waiting for me!” I shouted back at him, stalking up to his desk and slapping my hands on it. My outburst had shocked him; he fell back into his chair, and his mouth was hanging open like he was a fish waiting on a worm. “I have slaved, almost literally slaved, for this company - for you -  for three years. I haven’t taken a vacation, I haven’t taken days off, even when my mother died. I have been late only once. I have not only brought in new clientele, I have made a pool of potential clients. I have made this office money, even though I don’t work in sales. I have saved this office money. I have been your driver, your housekeeper, your counselor, your nurse when you’ve been sick, and even your administrative assistant, which is my actual job title.” I stopped for a moment, as I was breathing heavily and making my side ache.