Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 89162 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 446(@200wpm)___ 357(@250wpm)___ 297(@300wpm)
Inside there was a table that had clearly been made for Kindred—the chairs were the height of bar stools and the table was so tall that it would probably come up nearly to Molly’s chin if she sat there.
But there was also a large, gray overstuffed couch and that was where her boss directed her to sit.
Molly settled into the deep cushions—her feet stuck out in front of her like a little girl because there was no way to lean back and still have her shoes planted on the ground.
Feeling vulnerable, she grabbed the couch arm to pull herself back out of the couch’s fluffy embrace, only to gasp with pain. Looking down, she realized she had a large sliver of glass sticking out of her palm. When had that happened?
“Hold still—I think there’s a Med kit around here somewhere,” Commander Torus ordered.
Molly sat and waited, though she didn’t know why he was going to all this trouble just to tell her she was fired. Wouldn’t it save him time just to give her her walking papers right away? Why would he bother to bring her into the Manager’s lounge first?
A moment later he was back and kneeling at her feet. He placed a flat, rectangular box which said “Medical Equipment” on the cushion beside her. Opening it, he began rummaging around until he found what he was looking for. Then he held out his palm.
“Give me your hand,” he ordered.
Feeling like she had no choice, Molly did as he said, laying her hand, palm up, in the center of his. Again she felt like a child because of their size difference—her whole hand wasn’t as long as his longest finger. But she still didn’t know why he was doing this.
“You’ve given yourself a nasty wound here,” he remarked in that low, rumbling voice of his. He looked up at her briefly. “While I treat it, maybe you’d like to explain the video to me—to take your mind off the pain,” he added.
Molly wasn’t sure what to say or how to phrase her explanation. It never mattered what she said—nobody ever listened. For a minute she just sat there, mute, as she watched her huge boss gently pull the long sliver of glass from her palm.
“Ouch!” The sharp little pain seemed to make the words start flowing, much like the blood was seeping from her injury. “The first thing you should know is that I didn’t send you that video,” she said quickly, watching as Torus put a gauze pad over the wound and applied firm pressure.
“Go on.” He nodded, keeping his eyes down on her hand. “Who sent it then?”
“My ex—Zach Wyndham.”
“Your ex-Mate, you say?” he asked, removing the pad and applying some kind of astringent ointment that stung. “Is he a tall male? Well, tall for a human—with brown hair and eyes, who always looks like he’s sneering or smirking?”
“Ow!” Molly exclaimed. “Yes. How do you know that? Oh—because everybody knows Zach Wyndham,” she said, answering her own question. “He’s famous all over the world for his apps and computer games.”
Commander Torus made a non-committal noise and kept working on her hand.
“Before you ask, no, I didn’t make that video on purpose,” she went on. “Zach had cameras set up in our bathroom that I didn’t know about. He used to record me all the time but I never found out about it until…until after I left him.”
“I see. I’m going to apply some wound glue now. Go on, if you want to.” Commander Torus was still keeping his gaze on her hand. Since he wasn’t looking at her accusingly, Molly somehow found the strength to keep talking.
“I found out about a month after our divorce,” she said. “Because that was when he sent the first video to the principal of the school where I was teaching first grade. And to all the teachers. And to the parents of the kids in my class…”
Her voice started to wobble but she took a breath and made herself go on.
“Of course, everyone was scandalized. The parents called for my immediate dismissal—they wanted to get rid of me before I “corrupted” their kids.” She gave a bitter laugh. “They acted like I sent the video myself! Like I wanted them to see that! I never wanted anyone to see me…to see me doing that.”
“Of course you didn’t. That’s a private activity.” Commander Torus continued treating her hand. “So this isn’t the first time your ex-Mate has sent a compromising video of you to an employer?”
“Not the first time or the second time—not even the fifth time,” Molly said bitterly. “It’s a pattern by now. Every time I move someplace else to get a fresh start, it happens. For a while it seems like everything is fine. I find a new town where the people don’t know me and I think I’m safe—like I thought I was safe here,” she added. “I’ll think that Zach doesn’t know where I am, that he can’t track me down or that he’s lost interest. And then, just as I’ve settled in and made a few friends, he sends that damn video again. Or another one like it—he recorded me for years.”