A Study in Music Theory (Wesper AU)

Two: The Interview

Inej came and went as she pleased. It was a well-known fact that no could control Inej, not even Per Haskell. Jesper didn't know if Inej meant to scare the living daylights out of him, but she did that next afternoon. He spilled his tea all over himself when he saw her in his bedroom mirror.

"Saints!" Jesper swore. He grabbed a pale yellow kerchief from his breast pocket and gently patted down his trousers. There was no way to dull heat of the scalding water, but he could at least try to save the fabric. "A warning would have been nice."

She slid onto his desk near the window. "I've found a possible job for you."

"Isn't that Kaz's whole thing?"

"Not that kind of job," said Inej, shaking her head. "It's a teaching position that might just be able to pay off your debt until I can find out more about Flemming."

Now she had his full attention. He leaned against the desk, his head cocked to one side as he waved her on to continue.

"Have you heard of Jan Van Eck?" she asked.

"That's the sugar guy, right?"

"Right. His son has a problem with keeping his tutors; almost every other month he has one quit or get fired, forcing his to rehire."

"How come?"

"I have no clue, but it's making Van Eck restless. He's paying 150 kruge a day to whomever takes the job, and he promises to double it if they stay on longer than four weeks."

Jesper tried to do the math in his head, but Inej beat him to it.

"That's 10,500 kruge by the Harvest, not mentioning the additional money you'd get working jobs for Kaz, too. And I've talked to Kaz about bringing you to more jobs, too."

10,500 kruge in roughly two months. Jesper could feel that lucky optimism rise in him once again, calling for him to take action. He couldn't help but grin at the prospect. And if he was taking extra jobs with Kaz... who knew how much money that could pull in, too.

"So how do I apply?" Jesper asked. "Just waltz on in his office and pull out the Famous Fahey Charm?"

"Here." She pulled out a folded paper from her pocket, handing it to Jesper. "This should be everything you need. I think you should go in for an interview soon, just in case you're not the only one applying."

Jesper unfolded the white parchment. He had always liked her handwriting, simple and yet still pretty.

She had written down a list of what Jan Van Eck was looking for as well as who to talk to about helping him. He was going to need to forge some college credentials, but Ariade would have no trouble helping him with that; besides, she owed him a favor.

It also appeared that while most of the failed tutors were literature and language-based, this month Van Eck needed to find a new music tutor. That would be more difficult to fake, but hey, what's one little brat gonna do about that? Jesper was sure he could figure something out in time.

Speaking of brats, the paper lacked information on Van Eck's boy.

"Hey, Inej?" Jesper said. "How old is this kid?"

He got no response. When he looked up, he realized she was nowhere to be seen. A slight breeze blew in from his now-open window sill as he stared out at the gray sky. The Wraith had done it again.

Jesper stared at his shiny new college degree. His Da would have been proud to know that his son had graduated from the University of Ketterdam with a degree in Music Theory and a minor in Language Arts just this year. It even had the college president's signature in blue ink on the bottom left corner. The paper was so realistic that he felt a bit guilty holding it in his grimy hands.