Closing his eyes, he rubbed at the bridge of his nose with a thumb and forefinger.
“Someone schedule me a meeting with the governor while we’re at it. I should probably have a chat with him,” Felix said.
“I assumed you might want something like that,” Kit said. “You already have an appointment for him later today. I’ve made Lauren and one of my people available to go with you as well.”
“Goodie,” Felix said blandly. “I do so love meetings with politicians. I wonder what I’ll have to promise or bribe him with.”
The next several hours were more of the same. Details, reports, work-ups on people or departments, and generally feeling out where everything was in Legion.
By and large, it was on track. The pawnshops were going in without a problem. Most of the competition was packing up and leaving, or selling their premises over to Legion directly.
It made the whole thing rather pleasant, since they didn’t even have to get into undercutting or aggressively buying things.
Thinking on that did remind him of those pawnshops back in Skippercity though.
Did we ever figure out who was running them? I mean, I know it led to the Hero guild but… we never found any links other than the paper trail.
Which seems just odd.
Very odd.
“—e from there. I don’t think it should be too bad,” Lauren said from the front passenger seat.
“Oh?” Felix said. He hadn’t heard a word she’d said really. He didn’t care much either.
Right now he was wedged in the backseat between Andrea, who was alternating between touching him, and playing online tic-tac-toe with some of her others, and Victoria.
Who had wedged her elbow into his side and seemed ready to hurl him out a window at any given moment.
He wasn’t really sure if she was protecting him, threatening him, or annoying him.
Maybe all three.
“—ot listening,” Victoria said.
“What? Why?” Lauren asked from the front seat.
“Don’t know. Sometimes he gets like that. See, he’s listening now,” Victoria said, grinding her elbow into his side.
“Yeah, so, I didn’t think being between two women would be so unpleasant. Mind pulling that sword you call an elbow out of my kidney? Last time I peed blood I was still in Felicia’s machine,” Felix grumbled, pushing at Victoria’s arm ineffectively.
“But, we tried it with some Others and—” Andrea started.
Felix laughed with a hint of insanity to it and pressed a hand to Andrea’s mouth.
“We talked about this, remember?” Felix asked, staring into her eyes.
Andrea nodded her head slowly, then held up her tablet for him to see.
On it, an Other was excitedly chattering on about something he couldn’t hear.
“I don’t understand?” Felix said, releasing her mouth.
“It’s my turn. You were making me waste time,” she said, wrinkling her nose at him.
“Yes… I see,” Felix said, settling back into his seat.
My life is insane.
“We’re there,” Lauren said as the car stopped.
“I’ll wait here!” shouted chauffeur Andrea from the front. “Maybe I’ll have time to get out the portable grill in the back and make pancakes. Pancakes for dinner would be great.”
“Pancakes!” shouted Andrea next to him.
“Pancakes!” silently replied the Other on the tablet, holding her arms above her head.
“We… have a grill in the tr—no, nevermind. Vicky, get the door open. I don’t want to be in here anymore,” Felix said, turning and putting his hands on her back.
“Vicky?” she asked, opening the door and stepping out.
“It’s what everyone else calls you, why do I have to stick with Victoria,” Felix said. Rather than letting her close the door on him, he put his hands on her rear end and shoved, moving her forward.
“Wait, I haven’t—”
“Don’t care, done now,” Felix said, stepping out of the car.
Spurred on by his actions, eight Andreas appeared out of the other sedans in the convoy and fanned out around him.
With his patience splintering rapidly, and the headache from earlier getting worse, Felix nearly jogged to the front door of the city government building.
“Felix, stop,” Victoria demanded, shoving him out of the way. Grabbing the door handle she opened the door and entered. Two Andreas flanked him and kept him outside even as he tried to follow her in.
“Calm, calm, love,” the Andrea on his left whispered.
“Let us do what you asked us to,” the Andrea on his right said.
Felix forcibly made himself relax.
They were right.
They were all right.
He was behaving like a child because his frustration was getting the better of him.
“Yeah… yeah. Sorry. You’re right,” Felix said pressing a hand to his temple.
“Don’t worry, Lily has a plan for your date tonight with her. I’m sure she’ll make it all better,” left-Andrea said, patting his back.
“Yes!” right-Andrea said cheerfully. “She even asked us questions about how you spend your nights with us.”
Headache… getting worse.
“It’s clear, and the receptionist said he’s already ready to see you,” Victoria said, holding the door halfway open.
“Great! Good! Let’s go before I put my head through a wall just to see if it hurts less,” Felix said.
“It doesn’t,” left-Andrea said.
“We’ve had our head smashed many times,” right-Andrea said.
Is… is that it? Are her concussions cumulative? Something to check later.
Thankfully Victoria was right, and they were whisked right on through the lobby and into an office.
A short fat man with a red face sat behind a desk.
His hair, what little he had, was overly-worked with hairspray, and his eyes were a pale watery blue. He had to be in his late forties, but he didn’t look too roughly worn. At the front of the desk was a name placard that read Nicholas Callas.
Yeah, I’d call him ass. Felix immediately thought to himself. There was a definitely and clear ass like quality to the man.
“Ah, Mr. Campbell,” said Nicholas as he stood up and came around the desk. “I’m Mr. Callas, you can call me Nicholas.”
“Felix will do,” said Felix, shaking the man’s hand.
It was a weak wristed thing that felt more like a half dead fish.
Hiding his displeasure, Felix smiled instead and let the man’s weak handshake go.
“Your people set up this appointment but didn’t seem to want to discuss what it was about, other than your company’s move here,” Nicholas said, moving back around his desk to sit in his chair.
“Yeah… that’s kind of what it’s about. Vicky?” Felix asked, turning to address the swordswoman.
“Clear,” she replied.
“Andrea?” Felix asked, moving his focus.
One of the Andreas fished something out of an inner coat pocket and laid it down on the desk. A second one moved over to the computer sitting on Nicholas’s desk and pushed a thumb drive into the rear of it.
“What are you doing?” asked Nicholas.
“Just securing the room,” Felix said calmingly, taking a seat in one of the chairs facing the desk. “Can’t have people listening in now, can we?”
A third Andrea walked over to the only window, and placed a small object against it that was no bigger than the thumb drive they’d used earlier.
The first Andrea turned her head and spoke into a microphone, too softly for even Felix to hear it.
After she apparently got a response, she turned her face back to Felix.
“All secured. Neutralizer has the surrounding area locked down,” she said.
Definitely a worthwhile recruit. Memo to me, thank Lily.
Lauren and the HR rep he didn’t know the name of took the other two chairs around Felix.
“That’s better,” Felix said, looking to Nicholas. “So… you’re making problems for me. I’m tired of it. I’ll make this simple.”