Storia: Short Stories

Little Girl

"Hey," Tony Racer sat at our table with a sandwich.

I raised my eyebrows. "Ham and cheese. Bread toasted, but the toppings are not," I noted.

"I see someone aced their observation test," Tony said and Penny laughed. "Definitely," I replied, "you have news about the anxiousness in the air?"

"Yes, I successfully ha- slipped through the system and found out a few things that is stressing our beloved Chia."

"Alpha Richi."

"Yes, and turns out that she has a new protégé who is currently undergoing some special issues," Tony said.

"What kind of issues?" I asked.

Tony and I locked eyes. His brown eyes were more serious than usual. "Snapdragon."

I couldn't hide the surprise on my face. "And I'm guessing Richi is going to call me up soon," I said.

"Right on time, she's on her way right here," Penny said getting up.

"Hey, where are you going, Tech Girl?" Tony asked.

Penny turned around to face him. "You know, Tech Girl business. New magic, new technology. By the way, I'm betting twenty bucks that her new protégé is from Clastrin," I couldn't help but laugh at their exchange.

"Poker face, Lani, she's coming," Tony said, obviously annoyed.

"Hi, guys. I would just like to let you know that Tony, you can never, I mean never, hack into my data without me noticing and yes, Lani, you are coming with me to meet my new apprentice," Alpha said, her green eyes not showing a hint of falsehood or insincerity. I nodded my head in a 'well, things just landed' and followed Alpha to her office.

A girl with auburn hair green eyes was sitting on a chair in front of the desk. She looked about 10, maybe 11. From her attire, which was a black jacket over a white T-shirt, pencil jeans and black ankle high boots, I already made a hypothesis.

"Richi, who's the lucky guy?"

Alpha's face turned red. "She's not my daughter! I'm not even old enough to get married!"

"Who knows, things may work differently at Clastrin," I said, shrugging my shoulders, "is she your sister or some kind of relative?"

"Actually, I'm just a friend of Chia's," the girl said.

"And my next guess is that she has been spending way too much time with you," I said, pulling out a chair and taking a seat while Alpha sat on her desk chair.

"Statistically speaking, that is correct," the girl said.

I looked into the girl's green eyes and she stared back. Her gaze held sadness, but seriousness.

"Would you like to guess the details on why she's here?" Alpha asked.

I looked at her with a 'seriously?' expression before shifting my gaze back at the girl.

"Deception. Illusions. Slyness. Manipulation. Treachery," I said. Alpha's face morphed into a clash of confused and surprised. "Seriously, Lani? I thought you were better than that."

"I am. Introductory, love," I said and the girl shifted at the word 'love'.

"Oh, I hit something there, huh? 'Love', that's your trigger word, isn't it? Wondering how I knew that's your name, little girl?" I asked.

"Your eyes have gold in them," she noted.

"Richi, I like your apprentice, she's good," I said. "I know," Alpha said proudly.