A Star is Born

Kami Reaches Breaking Point

Straightening herself to stand upright, Kami ignored the draculoid's hand as he offered to help her step out of the car. Kami rubbed her eyes and exhaled deeply as she watched the car drive away. Shaking her head, she found a sudden shudder run down her spine and she felt cold despite the intensity of the early afternoon sun. Frowning she felt at a loss to understand what had triggered the odd reaction. A movement caught her eye across the road and she glanced over to see Daniel from the café waving at her. With a faint smile she waved back before turning to enter her home through the side door, rather than the shop, which she had left locked from the inside.

Entering her apartment, Kami looked down at her black dress, eager to change into something more colourful. Closing the door behind her, Kami walked through into the living room and stopped in her tracks as she saw someone sitting on one of her couches.

"Please take a seat, I've been waiting long enough," the unknown woman instructed, her words emerging clipped and terse as if angry that Kami had done something to upset her.

Turning sharply to leave, Kami gasped and took a step backwards as a hooded BLI guard now appeared in front of her.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Kami demanded. "Get off me!" She snapped as the guard grabbed her by her upper arms and turned her around to face her living room once more.

"Sit down, Miss Roberts," the woman called again. "There is very little point arguing. Nobody cares how scared or angry you are, least of all me."

Striding forward into the room, Kami was indeed scared and angry, but at that moment anger was at the forefront.

"Who are you?" She asked again as she moved to stand in front of the woman still seated on the left hand couch, the fury in her tone complemented perfectly against the intruder's arrogance and entitlement. "What are you doing here?"

The woman looked up, her expression giving little away other than the smug satisfaction that Kami was clearly unnerved by her presence.

"Well?" Kami pressed; her jaw clenched and her heart racing, refusing to be intimidated despite the inner fear she felt.

"Take a seat," the woman replied.

"Don't tell me what to do in my own home!" Kami snapped, surprising even herself. "Tell me who you are!"

The woman looked up, a smile of approval almost forming on her face.

"I admire your strength and determination," she replied.

"That's nice, but I don't need a fan club. Now, leave my home." Kami retorted.

Crossing her legs in a show of making herself comfortable and the suggestion that she had no intention of leaving, the woman continued:

"To answer your question, I am Prime Senior Exterminator Perlz and you missed our appointment."

"I wasn't even aware we had an appointment," despite the woman's role and rank, Kami fumed at her sheer brazenness to enter her home uninvited. "Neither was it my choice that I was redirected!"

"Yes, I heard about that." Perlz indicated to the opposite couch.

Realising that she had no intention of leaving and it seemed that there was no one she could call to force her, Kami sighed with irritation and sat down opposite.

"That's better," Perlz almost cooed. "Now, I want to know what Exterminator Korse wanted to speak to you about."

Kami stared at the woman sitting opposite wondering if it would do any good to explain the main point that he wanted to know why she was supposed to be seeing Perlz. She certainly didn't want to be dragged into any issues between them. Was it safer to discuss the other question he had spoken of?