Love, Lies, Secrets and Manipulation (Divergent/Eric OC)

2. The Meeting

The secretary, Elaine, guides me into Jeanine's office and then steps back out, closing the door behind her.

"Natalie," Jeanine greets me with a warm smile. She stands behind her over-sized, white desk and closes her blue portfolio binder.

"Hello, Jeanine." I politely smile and saunter over towards her desk, not showing the slightest bit of nervousness. "You wanted to see me."

"Thank you for coming." She gestures for me to have a seat in one of the two white chairs that sit in front of her desk. "Please, have a seat."

I willingly comply, eager to know what exactly she called this little meeting for.

"So, I've received the result of your aptitude test this afternoon," she says as she takes a seat in her white office chair.

I give a small nod as I place my hands on my lap.

"I know it's been quite some time since we last discussed your decision to transfer to Dauntless this year, so I just wanted to make sure that you still have the intention of doing so."

I give her an honest and brief reply. "Yes, I do."

"Good," she says with a wide smile. "I can't tell you how glad I am to hear you say that."

Really?

Jeanine scans my upper body as I sit here in my short-sleeved, navy blue t-shirt. She then smiles. "I can see that you've taken my previous advice and started physically preparing yourself," she says.

I return the smile and nod "Yes, I have. I figured that being physically fit would be a good advantage to have once I arrive at Dauntless. As you said before, their initiation process can be quite physically demanding."

In the past several months, my body has changed significantly. For the past year, I've been working out five days a week. My arms, legs, back, and stomach have become completely toned with just the right amount of muscle for a 5'7 female.

She nods and smiles again. "And that's exactly the reason why I know you're the perfect person for the job. You have the drive and determination to go above and beyond, in order to do what needs to be done."

What job?

"I'm sorry," I say. "The perfect person for what job exactly?"

Jeanine stands up from her office chair and slowly starts to walk around her desk.

"I'm assuming that you're aware of the strong alliance between Erudite and Dauntless," she starts. "It's extremely important that our alliance always remains intact."

I follow her every move as she walks over to the white chair that sits next to me and turns it so that she can sit facing me. I swivel my seat to the left so that we sit face to face.

"I understand that this may all be a bit overwhelming for you to consume," she adds. "But I need you to listen carefully to what I'm about to say, and I need you to have an open mind."

I slightly clear my throat and sit up straight, crossing my right leg over my left and placing my hands on my lap.

"Okay," I respond.

"Dauntless and Erudite have an understanding. They believe, just as much as we do, that Divergents are a threat to our faction system."

I inwardly cringe at the word "Divergents" as this woman confidently sits in front of me; however, I keep my composure and my best poker-face on.

"We've spent the past couple of years devoting our time on researching Divergents, and it's only become more evident to us that they're a danger to our society."