[Scar/Dream] Heart Thief

11. Colonel Clayton

For a moment, Scar was too stunned to react. Then he quickly said, "Colonel Peggy Clayton? Air Force?" He read through the information written on the sticky note. Xisuma had written down the name and phone number, along with the caller's claim of being Dream's aunt and wanting to talk to Scar about what happened.

"Yes, Air Force," Xisuma confirmed. "She was very polite but sounded desperate too. I think she might have started crying when I told her she couldn't talk to you, felt bad for her but well... couldn't take any chances..."

"No, I understand, you handled it well," Scar said. "I'll follow up on this, just..." He glanced toward the conference room and sighed. "After the meeting, I suppose." He hurried over to the room, greeting everyone and taking his seat.

The first order of business was for Scar and Cub to update the attendees on various metrics and news about the company, along with following up on any concerns they brought up last week. Scar diligently took notes as they talked with the attendees, and once Scar had gotten through the PowerPoint, he began addressing the various department heads to get updates from them in turn. His mind began to wander though as he thought about the call from Peggy. Or, as Dream called her, Puffy. So she was a colonel now. That was very impressive. He would have to call her back. She probably wanted to talk to Dream, or possibly even come see him, but Scar wasn't going to allow that unless Dream himself said it was okay.

While the finances manager got sidetracked onto a tangent about the upcoming end of the fiscal year and how they should totally use the last of their budget for some larger TVs around the office, Scar set his work phone on the table and Googled Peggy's name and rank. The others were used to Scar using his phone to take additional notes or look up information, so no one really paid attention to what he was doing.

It didn't take long for Scar to turn up an informational page on an Air Force website, and he found out that Peggy was indeed a colonel, and was the commander of the Medical Group at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota.

The page was a short biography about her summarizing her achievements and history of service, and Scar skimmed it, seeing that she had started out enlisted and worked as a mental health technician. She later commissioned to become an officer, hoping to learn more and help even more people, and she got a degree in nursing and became a mental health nurse. Eventually she obtained a Master of Science in Nursing and became a psychiatrist, a role she held for a number of years before taking on more leadership roles and eventually obtaining her current position as a group commander.

There was also a photo of her, which Scar spent a few moments inspecting. He could definitely see a family resemblance. She had green eyes similar to Dream's and faint freckles on her cheeks. Her light brown hair looked like it was slicked through with hair gel and it was pulled back into a bun. She had a reserved smile on her face and was wearing dress blues, looking very formal, but there were some noticeable strands of hair that had escaped from her bun, looking quite springy, and he could only imagine how she looked with her hair down.

Scar decided Puffy was a good nickname for her. The page didn't list a phone number, but he figured people who were actually stationed on that base would know how to contact her if necessary. He was convinced, though. This was Dream's aunt. He would make sure he called her once he was out of the meeting.

Scar pushed his phone aside and returned his attention to the conversation.

"If we're going to blow the last of our budget on anything, it's going to be new chairs for in here, because these ones are starting to bore me," Scar said. "Honestly, I'm not feeling the solid black, we're Goodtimes! I think we should get purple ones."

There were laughs, the subject changing to what the best color for the chairs would be, and Scar let that go on for a few minutes before getting them back on track and asking marketing for their weekly update.