𝘼𝙐𝘿𝘼𝘾𝙄𝙊𝙐𝙎 » 𝙟𝙪𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙨𝙞𝙘 𝙬𝙤𝙧𝙡𝙙 ✓ [1]

III

CHAPTER THREE
ANDERSON

As expected, Claire had been and gone by the time I arrived at the compound the next morning.

The guy—Alex—was surrounded by the same group as yesterday, all discussing whatever it is overcompensated capitalists discussed, fiddling with the binders in their hands. They watch me in a disgusted sense of awe as I clamber off the bike, eyeing them off.

'Assholes,' I mutter to myself under my breath.

I make a beeline for the stairs, stomping up towards Owen. Hopefully, Delta was in a more impressionable mood than I was. Owen was scrubbing down the iron walkways; a chore he never did unless he was avoiding people.

'Mornin,' he says.

'Hey,' I reply flatly, shrugging off my jacket and letting it plop to the ground. There were a little too many people up here shuffling around for my liking, but I couldn't care enough to do anything about it.

'You seem 'em?' he asks.

'Of course I have,' I spat. 'One of them's here indefinitely thanks to Claire.'

'You spoken to him?'

I raise my eyebrows. 'I'm supposed to?'

Owen glances up at me with an estranged expression. 'Well, I'm not.'

Figured, I think to myself, holding my tongue between my teeth.

'He's your age, Laura,' he says, straining to stand. 'He's gonna have far more in common with you than he is with me.' Squinting in the early sun, he flashes me some remnant of a reassuring smile. 'Might do you a bit of good having someone around that's.... you know....'

'Not a replacement relative? That's awfully thoughtful of Masrani and my Uncle.'

Owen doesn't reply. He purses his lips and gets back down on his knees, digging a soapy sponge into the grates and scrubbing vicariously.

'The fact that she couldn't be bothered to tell us why he's that important is what pisses me off the most,' I say to him. 'No explanation. No heads up. Nothing.'