Page 8 of Devoured

“Absolutely not. But upcharge him.” She winked. “Make him pay. And if he gives you a hard time for it, let me know. I’ll talk to him for you.”

“Let her deal with it herself, for fuck’s sake,” the blond woman said. Iris visibly rolled her eyes. “We’re all big girls. We can handle ourselves.”

“She asked me for advice, Kendall,” Iris said.

“Yeah, Kendall. What do you think I should do?” the brunette asked.

“I think you should deal with it yourself.”

“Well,” Iris sighed, “I’m off. You two get some sleep.”

“Night, folder whore,” the blond said.

“Goodnight, Mama Bear,” the brunette said.

“Night,” Iris said, waving a hand.

The blond and Iris didn’t get along, that was clear. But the ‘mama bear’ endearment from the other woman showed that there was affection there, like Dahlia had said. They trusted Iris. She was one of them, after all. It would be beneficial to have Iris on my side to smooth over the transition.

But that didn’t mean that I trusted her. Everyone was selfish, and while I admired Iris’s drive, she had proven that she had a goal in mind. She wanted to keep the failing Dahlia District the exact way it was, and I wanted to do what was best for everyone involved, including her. I wanted to make it a profitable club again, one that she could work at, if she chose to stay.

Convincing her to see my side of things would be a challenge, one I was looking forward to breaking.

I watched her walk through the halls on the livestream.Iris, I thought.My discordant little flower.What fun I’ll have with you.