Meeting at Scary Poppins
The next morning, Aiden got up early to prepare for his meeting at Staffing Solutions. On his way down the hall, he passed a sleepy-eyed Mrs. F-G, who tilted her head toward the kitchen. “Your breakfast is on the island. Good luck today.”
“Oh, great, thanks. I, um, okay.” He didn’t have much else to say. She kept right on walking back to her room as if she hadn’t heard him.
Waiting for him on the kitchen island was a small stack of toast and a steaming mug of tea. The toast had no butter or jam, but that suited his uneasy stomach just fine. He half-expected the meeting would result in his firing. Well, more than half-expected. It was more like 92.5 percent expected. He had spent the previous night tossing and turning and dozing off for very short periods. The tea intrigued him. He was more of a coffee or cola kind of guy. Thinking back, Aiden couldn’t remember any time when he had ever had tea before. But Mrs. F-G was supposed to know everything about food, so he gave it a shot. It tasted just as he expected, like drinking hot grass, but then he noticed a subtle flavor. It could have been peppermint, licorice, or some mixture of the two. Whatever it was, it had an almost instant effect. His stomach was no longer tossing and turning as he had the night before. To be on the safe side, he poured the rest into a thermos to bring with him, just in case he needed it later.
* * * *
Aiden stood on the sidewalk outside Staffing Solutions, unable to prod himself into taking those last few steps through the door, dreading the meeting that awaited him on the other side. To kill a few more seconds, he studied the sign. It was a non-descript sign, not the flashy sort meant to catch anyone’s eye and entice them inside. Staffing Solutions didn’t have to go fishing for customers. They had a very loyal—and very short—list of clients. There was no need to expand their customer base; there were only so many imaginary creatures available to hire out.
This was the unique niche filled by Staffing Solutions. They took werewolves and placed them as nannies. Or found chef jobs for food oracles. They had once even hired a mage out as the Channel 7 meteorologist. In short, they did their best to find jobs in the human world for creatures with unique skill sets. The company’s nickname, given affectionately by its employees, was Scary Poppins, Inc.
Cleo sat at the reception desk just inside Staffing Solutions’ front door. She stared at her long, red-painted fingernails, looking bored. As one of the owners, she could have had a nice, big office. But as the official face of the company, she preferred to be the first person to greet her dedicated customers.
Her overly made up face brightened when Aiden entered. She sounded surprised as she asked, “You’re back already? You’ve only been there, what? Three days?”
“Two,” he corrected her. His stomach told him it was time for another sip of tea.
At the sound of his voice, two heads (a blonde and a brunette) popped up in the pair of cubicles situated behind Cleo’s big, tall desk. Both faces wore hopeful smiles. Seeing that it was Aiden, the blonde rolled her eyes and sat back down. The brunette hurried out of her cubicle to lounge against Cleo’s desk.
“Hi there, Aiden,” the brunette simpered.
“Hey, Britney,” Aiden muttered.
Cleo, meanwhile, was looking down at her schedule and shaking her head, making her sleek black bob shimmer in the harsh fluorescent light. She frowned. “You’re not on here.”
“I talked to him late yesterday. He said to come in first thing this morning.”
Cleo sighed and muttered, “He never tells me anything. Here I am, trying to keep things nice and orderly, and he goes doing all these things without telling me. At least, I don’t think he told me.”
Making a conscious decision not to take sides, Aiden said nothing. He gave a commiserating smile and wandered over to the waiting area, outfitted with a contemporary black leather sofa and several beige armchairs. A square, glass coffee table, topped with neatly fanned magazines, was in the center of the seating area. The walls of Staffing Solutions were dove gray, the flooring a dark laminate. The décor was carefully chosen to be bland. By the looks of the place, no one would ever suspect what kind of people worked here.
“Can I get you anything?” Britney asked as Aiden took a seat on the sofa. “Coffee? Water? Cran-lemon-tomato juice?”
“No, thanks,” Aiden said, holding up his thermos to show that he was all set in the drink department. He placed it on the table and started thumbing through an old copy of People without really reading it, trying to make himself look unavailable for conversation.
“Oh. Okay then.” Britney looked downcast as she wandered back to her cubicle.
The magazine trick didn’t work with Cleo, who either didn’t notice or didn’t care that Aiden wanted some time alone with his thoughts. “So, seen Larry lately?” she asked. The blonde head immediately popped back up over its half-wall.
“Uh, no. I mean, not for a week or so. I’ve been busy moving in and getting settled with the Coopers.”
“He hasn’t even come over to see your new place yet?” the blonde interjected.
“No, Lindsay, he hasn’t. I should probably try to keep a little separation between work and, you know, vampires.” Lindsay rolled her eyes and sat back down.
Cleo let out a hearty chuckle. “Oh, he’s not bad for a vampire. At least he’s always seemed nice to me.”
“But you don’t have any blood,” Aiden reminded her.
She looked offended at this. A little too offended, as if it were an act. “Mr. Lynch, what a terrible thing to say to a lady.”
Aiden wasn’t sure how to respond. If she were kidding around, it would be easy enough to play along. If she were serious, though, he would be digging himself into a deep hole with one of his bosses.
Luckily, he didn’t have to come up with a reply. “Next time you see him,” said Cleo as she wrote on a piece of paper and wandered over to where Aiden sat, “just give him this.”
She handed him the paper. It had her name and phone number on it, along with a sketch of a flower. It was a good thing she hadn’t let Lindsay see the note. That would have created quite a bit of office tension.
The front door opened and Roy Siegfried entered, long black coat and long gray hair trailing behind him. He swept past Cleo and Aiden, acknowledging neither of them, and walked into the small meeting room just off the waiting area.
“I think you’re supposed to follow him,” suggested Cleo.
After taking a deep breath, then one long drink from the thermos, Aiden stood and went to the meeting room.
If Siegfried had a real name, Aiden didn’t know what it was. Someone somewhere had given him the tongue-in-cheek name Roy Siegfried, after the famous lion and tiger tamers. After all, they did have the same type of job. They tamed wild beasts. He was the one who found Aiden at his lowest point and promised to make something of him.
Siegfried sat in a plush chair, reading a piece of paper. Aiden stood in the doorway, waiting for him to say something, but he just continued reading. Not knowing what else to do, Aiden sat in the opposite chair.
The reading went on for five minutes. Aiden spent the time alternately staring at the walls and at Siegfried’s heavily weathered and scarred face, wondering what sort of life could lead to a face like that. Siegfried leaned back in his chair and stared at Aiden, making him feel, if possible, even more uncomfortable.
“So, tell me what happened yesterday,” said Siegfried. “All of it.”
Aiden recounted the story of the market, telling how, before dealing with the potential robbery, he had first made sure that the children were somewhere safe. He stressed that the kids were his priority. This had all been covered in yesterday’s phone call.
The two sat in silence for a while before Siegfried, his eyes boring into Aiden, said, “I said all of it. Tell me about the incident later that night.”
There was a moment when Aiden was filled with panic. He hadn’t intended to neglect the second event, but he thought that he’d be the one to bring it up. He took another long drink from the thermos before beginning. “Okay, we went out to run an errand. Me and Josh, the boy I take care of. This group of guys stopped us and started causing trouble. I tried to get him away from them, I really did, but I couldn’t.”
“So you went on the offensive. You transformed and attacked.” Siegfried made it sound more like an accusation than a statement of fact.
“Yes.”
“Right in front of the boy.”
“Yes.”
“Normally, I wouldn’t give you a second chance, especially so early in your career. I’d pull you out for more training and conditioning. We can’t afford any mistakes. Do you understand? None.”
“I understand.” Aiden’s throat felt like it was threatening to shut off his air supply. There was a hint, however, that Siegfried wouldn’t be taking him from the Coopers, giving Aiden the smallest bit of hope.
“I’ll delay my decision pending a thorough investigation. Come back Saturday at eight a.m. On your way out, give Cleo a complete description of the gentlemen involved, as well as the location where it happened.”
“Yes, I will. Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me.” Siegfried lifted the paper he’d been reading. “Thank a Mrs. Ann Franklin-Garret.”
“Mrs. Effigy?” Aiden's surprise made him use Rosemary's nickname. “She told you about it?” He couldn't believe that Mrs. F-G would rat him out like that.
Siegfried shook his head. “No, I have other means of keeping tabs on you. She emailed me early this morning.” He rattled the paper in his hand. “It tells of the immediate bond you seem to have formed with the children. I don’t know her, but I’ve spent the morning making inquiries. She is highly thought of by some very important people in our community, so her words carry quite a bit of weight. So until I get to the bottom of this, you can stay.”
* * * *
Josh sat picking at his waffles. On a normal day, the freshly made waffles with homemade strawberry topping would be gone in an instant. Today was not a normal day. He was still wrestling with everything he had learned the day before.
His mother walked past him. “Joshua, hurry up. It’s almost time to leave for school. I don’t want you shoveling that in all at once. It’s not good for digestion.”
He looked at Mrs. F-G with a curious expression, wondering if that were true or not.
As if reading his mind, she nodded. That was good enough for Josh. His mom was always latching onto the latest trend, often based on bad information. But if Mrs. F-G confirmed it, it had to be true. He began eating at a regular pace, the sweetness of the waffles surprising him. They almost didn’t need the strawberry topping. The taste reminded him of something, but he couldn’t figure out what.
“Oh, those look good,” came Aiden’s voice over Josh’s shoulder.
A second, identical plate was set down at the next seat.
“They’re really good,” Josh confirmed.
“Organic vanilla yogurt makes the batter naturally sweet,” Mrs. F-G explained. “They don’t even need syrup.”
“Ah-ha,” Aiden said to her as he sat down. “By the way, thanks for the tea this morning. It came in handy.”
“Everything went all right?” she asked him.
The waffles forgotten for the moment, Josh’s eyes went back and forth, following the conversation.
“Well, for now. He’s looking into last night before he makes the final decision. I’m supposed to go back early Saturday morning.” Aiden stared down at his waffles as he said quietly, “If it weren’t for your email, I’d be out of here already. Thanks.”
Josh didn’t know exactly who or what they were talking about, but he got the general idea. After all the chaos of yesterday, someone might take Aiden away from them. After all his confused thoughts on the matter, he found that he was glad Aiden would be staying.
“Not a problem, dear,” said Mrs. F-G.
Josh’s mother walked through the kitchen again, stopping when she reached Aiden. “Oh, Aiden, I keep forgetting to mention something. We’re having a Summer Solstice party this Saturday. I was hoping you’d invite some of your friends over.”
With his back to her, she couldn’t see the uncomfortable look on Aiden’s face. “Um, Mrs. Coop—Jennifer, I mean,” he said, turning to face her, “I’m still pretty new to New York. I don’t know many people.”
“How long have you lived here?”
“Two years.”
“And you don’t know anybody?”
“Well, I’m not sure if they could make it.”
“Well, you haven’t even asked them. You’re a part of the family now. I’d like to get to know your friends.”
Aiden’s mouth opened, but nothing came out. It looked like he was out of excuses. “Okay. There’s a couple guys I know. They’d probably be into a Summer Solstice party.”
Having won the contest of wills, Josh’s mom smiled and strode from the room, calling out, “It starts at six. Joshua, time to brush your teeth.”
Josh ignored the digestion advice and did his best vacuum cleaner impression, cleaning his plate as fast as he could.