Best Friend For Hire

  “Come out, James.  Don’t you want to have one last race?” taunted Luke from the shadows.  We were in a large room of the factory.  I couldn’t remember who suggested that we split up, but I knew I couldn’t face him on my own.  I needed to get the others to come aid me without giving away my location, so I quickly sent a text to Regina, carefully covering the light from my phone with my hand.  His footsteps were getting nearer, and I had foolishly backed myself into a corner in my effort to hide.  When I saw his shadow, I threw all I could muster into a spell to toss him away, but he wasn’t the one coming around the corner.  I saw Emma’s look of surprise as she flew through the air, cracking her head against a steel beam as she hit.  There was so much blood.  The terrible werelion filled the room with his laughter as he sauntered toward me.  “You think I’m the menace?  At least I don’t kill my friends in a panic.” he told me with a wicked grin, causing his large, pointed teeth to catch  the light.  I tried to set him on fire, but he was thrusting his clawed hand through my abs before I could get the spell off.  In the end, I was nothing but a failure who murdered my dear friend.

 I woke in a cold sweat yet again, feeling even less rested than before.  I didn’t know how many nightmares I had throughout the night, but I wasn’t going to bother trying to sleep again.  I had enough trouble trying to fall asleep when I was wrestling with my conscience over the idea of killing someone.  The nightmares exacerbated my sleeping problems tremendously.  Luke had killed me numerous times throughout the night.  My friends died in my dreams as often as I did, if not more.  The worst for me were the ones where Luke was actually a nice guy.  In one of my dreams, we had killed Luke before he noticed us and before we noticed his little sister behind him.  I didn’t honestly know if Luke had any siblings.  If he did, how would they deal with their brother’s disappearance?  How were his parents going to deal?  I already knew what Ai would tell me.  She would say that his parents were probably the ones who taught him who to kill and when to kill.  We only were certain that Luke had killed once, but even I couldn’t deny that he likely would again.  Even if he hadn’t wanted Nathan dead, Luke obviously didn’t have the self-control to avoid killing when he was angry.

 By the time Mila warned me of the girls’ impending arrival, I was already showered and dressed, sitting on my bed as I meditated.  I opened the door to find them smiling and chatting away as if this was just another day.  Regina paused mid-sentence when she looked at me.  Then she asked, “Did you sleep at all, James?”  I shrugged and told her that I had slept enough.  Emma still said, “Regina and I were heading for an early breakfast, man-slave.  Are you sure you don’t want to try sleeping a bit more instead of joining us?  We’ll tell the others that you needed some more shut-eye.”  I wrapped my arms around their shoulders and started heading to the stairs instead of replying.  Regina gave me an appraising look when I started chuckling to myself, which only made me laugh harder.  I explained to her “I was just imagining how lopsided we look with Emma being half a foot shorter than you.”  Then Emma squirmed away enough to playfully punch me in the side which made me laugh again.  I inquired “What?  Was I supposed to give you a few inches for awesome hair?”  She rolled her eyes at me but smiled all the same.  I truly was liking magenta on her now that I was getting accustomed to it.

 When we arrived in the kitchen, the twins were already giving Marco and Jarod a rough time to which Marco was replying, “How was I to know that you wouldn’t want your normal breakfast simply because you two were joining the others?”  I could only assume he was joking as I took in the enormous amount of foods covering the table and spilling onto two carts.  Due to my nightmares the thought of this being a last meal occurred to me, putting off my appetite.  I put on a smile and did my best to eat after Jarod shot me a worried look for the umpteenth time.  The smile eventually became genuine as the exuberance of Ai, Mai, and Marco filled the room.  Marco was telling tales of his exploits in Italy once more, this time speaking of a time he stole a chicken and convinced the previous owner to accept part of the soup he made with it as payment.  Mai said, “I don’t know about this chef of yours, James.  He steals food, improves upon it, and wants you to thank him for giving a little back.”  Marco only smiled and shrugged, looking comically mischievous.  I replied “I think Aaliyah covered that in his contract, so I actually profit off his theft.”  Marco then told us with a dramatic sigh “I would have noticed before signing it, but that contract could sink a ship.”

 Breakfast was over all too soon, and the sense of dread crept back from wherever it had hidden.  As we walked to the car, I looked around at my fellow executioners and thought we didn’t look the part.  Regina wore white shorts, a pink babydoll t-shirt, and white sunglasses.  She could easily pass for a model on break to anyone that recognized the designer clothes.  Emma might have been a singer for a punk band with her plaid pink skirt, pink babydoll t-shirt, spiky green belt, and green bracelets.  Ai and Mai were dressed to match as normal, each wearing tight leather pants and a turquoise shirt that hung off one shoulder.  With the twins wearing jewelry and designer boots with short heels, I would never have guessed they were planning to get into a fight, although this couldn’t be much of a fight with Luke outnumbered.  Ai and Mai had scouted out his movements over the past couple days while I was working and noted that he entered the factory every morning around eleven, giving us yet another advantage.  Regina acquired a copy of the factory’s layout from her father’s secretary, stripping away some of Luke’s advantage from knowing the area better than us.  The current plan was to have Ai enter from the side door, Mai to enter from the back, and the rest of us, excluding Jarod, would enter the front.  Jarod would be sitting in my car, acting as surveillance and our coordinator.  

 Emma, Regina, Jarod, and I hopped in my car while the twins took their bikes and followed us to the factory.  Jarod handed me the glasses from his tablet, so he could have eyes inside as well as ears.  The twins had us all download a conference call app that we would use through bluetooth headsets.  The twins begrudgingly allowed Jarod to connect to their phones via Mila, which would hopefully allow him to overlay our positions on the map of the factory once we were inside, since the rest of us were all for the idea.  As we sat waiting for Luke to appear, part of me kept hoping that he wouldn’t show up.  I knew that would be postponing the inevitable, but I didn’t care.  I wasn’t ready for this.  “I’m taking these, man-slave.  Your expressions are too priceless to miss,” said Emma as she reached around me to steal Jarod’s glasses off my face.  “Whoa.  I can see everything with these on!  Don’t I look way cuter in them than James, Regina?” she teased.  I smiled and said, “You know she does, Regina.  No use arguing it.”  Regina laughed and rolled her eyes before saying, “Fine-fine.  Emma’s the cutest, but covering such a perfect face as yours can only detract from it.”  I quickly turned to stare out at the factory again, but I could see my blush in the mirror.  The other three were laughing jubilantly until we heard Mai speak.  “He’s here, guys.  It’s time.”  I took a deep breath and slowly let it out.  The time had arrived.

  Days passed in a blur of activity since Regina’s discovery of Luke.  Her father’s secretary had sent an article about one of his recent purchases, a rundown factory he planned to remodel, over to Regina, which was how the secretary had always tried keeping Regina in the loop.  When looking at the picture, Regina noticed Luke at the far edge of the building, entering through a side door.  The twins had bluntly told us that we were nearly ready to face him, but they wanted to teach us more about how to kill with magic first, warning us again about his strength and speed.  They had pointed out how Luke was only dazed after being slammed through concrete by my spell, and how messy that was to clean up.  I felt as part of me was shriveling up inside as they had lectured.  I looked up information on Nathan’s funeral, which I had already missed by a day.  His parents had him cremated after finding out that “a wild animal” had ravaged their son “as he was leaving the school.”  The twins had covered the whole thing up.  When I asked, they said they had hired a crew to go in that night and fix the wall.  I couldn’t believe that I had let Nathan’s death slip my mind so quickly, but I hadn’t wanted to think about it.  Ever since Aaliyah’s party, I was constantly busy with other things and just didn’t think on Nathan’s death, save for wanting revenge.  

 Now that revenge was so close at hand, I found myself questioning once again if I could actually take a life.  I knew that Luke killed Nathan and that he could easily kill again in a fit of rage.  I knew the police weren’t going to be searching for a boy when Nathan was clearly killed by an animal, but I wasn’t sure if I could put that animal down.  I hadn’t even meant to throw Luke as hard as I did.  I was scared and not thinking clearly about what putting so much energy into a spell could do.  Knowing that Luke took that hit and healed from it within minutes was intimidating as well.  If he had been human, I would have killed him on accident.  As he was, I was too late to save Nathan and wouldn’t have even saved myself if Luke hadn’t ran.  He could have easily came up behind me and killed me as I was trying to figure out what to do.  Was I really ready for this?  No.  Was there any choice?  Always, but I wouldn’t be able to live with the guilt if I found out that Luke killed again.  What if he decided to strike back at me and went after my parents?  They didn’t have any way to defend themselves.  Neither of them even owned a weapon.

 When I thought about that, I had immediately sent Aaliyah a text, once more ignoring that she was on vacation.  She had agreed to design a security system for my parents’ house for me when she returned and then sent me a picture of her and Chad at the beach.  That girl’s smile took up half her face when she was with her father.  I already had felt a bit more secure in my parent’s safety though.  Aaliyah’s work was always in a league of her own, and I could surely talk my parents into taking a vacation for long enough to get whatever Aaliyah designed installed.  I was tempted to tell the girl “no missiles”, not wanting part of the neighborhood destroyed, but I had to trust that Aaliyah’s targeting systems were as amazing as everything else.  I wasn’t as worried about the mansion with the twins around.  If someone attacked us from the yard, Mila would probably drive my car out there and run them over.  Or shoot them.  I would hope she wouldn’t blow them up close to the house.  I still shuddered involuntarily whenever I considered why Aaliyah felt Mila needed such powerful missiles.  I didn’t want to meet anything that could survive a direct hit from a small missile.  The twins still thought that some of the weapon’s Mila listed as being in the car couldn’t possibly fit, but I couldn’t bring myself to doubt Aaliyah, not after seeing so many of her accomplishments.

 I spent four hours each day training in the morning, worked two to three jobs, and then trained another two hours with the twins each night.  The training was far more intense than normal, and the twins were not being remotely gentle.  Regina, Jarod, and I all needed Emma’s help healing just to keep up with the insane workouts.  I fell asleep two of the nights while Emma was helping me heal.  She didn’t complain, but I felt exceptionally uncomfortable when I woke with her arm and leg around me.  I felt some consolation one morning where Emma and Regina had walked in late for breakfast.  Regina’s embarrassed blush was priceless when Emma had apologized for being late while explaining that Regina was quite the cuddler.  Marco’s hearty laughter had only pushed Regina’s blush into a deeper shade of red.  I was growing more and more appreciative of his cooking as time passed.  After the second time Marco mentioned that he would need to know my schedule if he were to prepare meals for me accordingly, I told Mila to give him access as Aaliyah updated it.  Then the man always had something magnificent prepared for me to eat.  If I ate in the kitchen, he would regale me with tales from his youth in Italy, many of which seemed improbable.

 Jarod drove over each day, often early enough for breakfast.  When I suggested he stayed the night and actually give a bed a try, he told me “Nah, man.  Don’t want my parents thinking I live here of anything.  Then they’ll force me to move out!  Can you imagine me doing laundry?”  I still hadn’t actually met a single one of the maids or even checked out the employee wing, but everything in the house was looking spotless.  Someone must have been making my bed, and my clothes were getting laundered daily.  After we took care of Luke, I wanted to make sure I met these mystery cleaners.  Father would be disappointed if he learned I hadn’t yet, especially with them taking such good care of me.  He probably would be disappointed that I hadn’t officially started training Jarod still, especially with Jarod taking a job as a Best Friend at least once each day.  I had at least checked the feedback from his clients, and they were all complimentary so far.  When I asked him how he felt things were going, he just said, “Eh.  They’re going fine.  I wasn’t really into the painting the other day, but Chuck’s a cool guy.  We had some fun.”  I was glad that he didn’t have any major complaints yet.  Beyond an employee, I didn’t want to alienate my best friend by being a bad boss.  

 By Monday, I realized that there were decorative plants throughout the house now.  When I asked Emma what she thought of them after practice, she laughed and said, “I planted them silly.  Part of my rent is covered by taking care of everything that grows.  Houses look better with a bit of life in and around  them.”  Regina then told me “Haven’t you noticed how your grass doesn’t grow?  Emma told it not to.  She also takes care of your garden, the labyrinth, and everything else green out there.”  I felt a bit embarrassed when I admitted that I didn’t realize we had a garden, much less a labyrinth.  Regina and Emma walked with me through Emma’s floor of the northeast wing on the way to make me look at my backyard, and I felt as if part of the yard had moved indoors.  Beyond the numerous living plants, every piece of furniture appeared to be mostly made of wicker.  Emma, seeing my surprise, explained that she grew her furniture from the willow tree in my yard to save some money.  I smiled and told her “You could make a fortune if you went into construction.”  She shrugged and sheepishly said, “I kinda get a bit attached to the things I grow.  People would probably get weirded out if I showed up weekly to talk to their house.”  

 We all were up far later than we should have been, only partly due to getting lost in the enormous labyrinth before Emma took her shoes off.  At the labyrinth’s center was a small, but beautiful, pond that had stone benches and statues around it.  Some of the statues were of beasts that I hoped were truly mythical.  Others were lifelike people, mostly striking heroic poses with their stone weapons.  With the moon reflecting in the pond, the place was far too serene for us not to enjoy after five days of intense workouts.  The three of us took turns moving the water around the pond with magic, creating swirling designs to be lit by the moon.  Emma’s had me beat in beauty, but Regina made Emma and I both gasp in awe as a spiraling tower surrounded by smaller intricate designs rose out of the water.  Each of the tiny droplets surrounding the central design captured moonlight and added another sparkle.  When we headed inside together, Emma explained that she usually just stuck her feet out of the door to tend to the yard, and then she thanked us for letting her see how beautiful it was in person.  Emma then said, “You still have to see the rest of your yard sometime, man-slave.  I keep a very well-stocked garden for you, and Marco makes wonders out of it.”

 I had smiled happily as I was leaving her room, but a growing sense of dread had joined me part way back to my own.  Tomorrow, we were going to kill Luke, who had been my trackmate before he murdered Nathan.  With all of the new spells and new uses for spells Ai and Mai had drilled into my head, I felt that I would be a match for him alone.  I was certain that he wouldn’t have a chance against all of us, but even with the twins assuring me that they’d be able to take care of the cleanup afterward, I couldn’t feel easy about the idea of taking a life.  Who could rightly be judge, jury, and executioner?  Our society didn’t work that way.  Yet I couldn’t ignore that our society didn’t acknowledge anything supernatural as reality.  We had no laws directly regarding the use of magic.  There weren’t special prisons for beings that could change their shape.  What could the most decorated police officer do against the vampire who killed Emma’s father?  Most likely, he would die without a clue of how or why.  With knowledge of a world where normal people had no way to defend themselves and with the ability to act, how could I possibly stand by and let more helpless people be slain.  I couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling I had about killing someone, so I took slow, deep breaths and tried to convince myself to sleep.  Tomorrow would be a busy day.

  “Are you certain that I didn’t mention I wanted today off?” I asked, having had virtually no time to unpack my things yet.  “No, boss-man, sir.  Sorry.  You didn’t, so I didn’t think you’d want to miss income from the evil twins hiring you to help them unpack.  Daddy’s back!  Time to go see the beach!  Beware the evil twins, boss-man, sir!” exclaimed Aaliyah.  I sighed and started walking to the east wing.  I was shocked earlier when Mila gave me a warning that I had a job soon.  Between that shock and the disconcerting presence of the Alma-like face appearing on the mirror in my room when Mila talked, I hadn’t thought about Aaliyah being on vacation when Mila offered to call her for verification on my job.  Perhaps expecting mind-reading from the kid genius was too much, but I truly wouldn’t put that past her anymore.  Her financial and software development skills were the biggest contributors for my bank account’s meteoric rise.  I honestly would have been fine with a cheap apartment for now, but I truly loved the grandeur of my business’s headquarters.  I probably should suggest to Aaliyah that we rent out the ballroom off and on for extra income.  After I had enough best friends employed, we could offer catering and other services as well.  I probably should look into what Aaliyah assigned Jarod so far and get around to training him.  That would have to wait for now though.

 “Mila, can you bring up Ai or Mai for me, so I can ask where they’d like me to start?” I inquired.  “Man-slave!” exclaimed Emma as she walked down the hall toward me.  “Hey, Emma.  What’s up?”  She didn’t get to answer before Ai appeared on the mirror and said, “Love the hair, Emma, but why is James letting such a brilliant shade distract him when he’s supposed to be working for us?”  Emma giggled and thanked her.  She must have dyed her hair again after we finished practice earlier, and I had to agree that the bright magenta suited her.  “The boss-man was one minute early,” stated Mila, “You requested to postpone the call till you finished your tea.”  Ai rolled her eyes and said, “He still isn’t in here, now is he.  James, tell the stupid computer to be nice to us!”  I shrugged and said, “Aaliyah’s the one who programmed Mila, so you’re welcome to ask her if you don’t want Mila’s software available in your wing.”  I heard Mai yell from off the screen “Don’t let the mean boy pick on you, Ai.  Just get him in here to unpack our things.”  Ai sighed and said, “Hey, robo-brains.  Open the door and show them the way over here.”  When we arrived, Jarod was giving Mai a foot massage.  He smiled and said, “Hey, Emma.  Hey, boss-sir-dude-guy.  What am I supposed to call you when I’m working, anyways?”  

 I laughed and told him he didn’t have to call me anything special.  “Jaaaaaames, help with these boxes.” demanded Ai.  “Helping” was, of course, doing all of the work with magic as she told me in what order she wanted every last book.  The twins had quite an impressive library which spanned two stories of their wing, but filling it actually went fairly quickly between magic and the well-organized boxes.  Ai just never bothered telling me how the boxes were arranged, so I was stuck figuring it out several boxes down the line.  With all of their possessions hauled into the house already, I wasn’t under any delusions about whether or not the twins truly needed Jarod or me.  They didn’t.  They simply enjoyed bossing us around.  Emma went back and forth between helping with the unpacking and lounging with the twins.  She had apparently volunteered to come help.  Marco showed up to bring us all sandwiches while we were on the fourth room.  I was grateful that Mila announced his arrival at the front of the wing, so I didn’t need to explain why things were floating around.  Perhaps I would eventually know him well enough to relax around him but not yet.  I was only mildly surprised to find out that the twins had a wine cellar when Ai sent Jarod to fetch a bottle.  I hadn’t noticed a basement anywhere else in the house, but I didn’t truly know my way around very well yet.

 After setting up the private dining room, Mai decided that Jarod and I earned a break.  We were invited to swim in their private pool, which had a subfloor by itself.  The place appeared to be a beautiful cave with a large variety of tiny, colored lights twinkling from the walls.  Most of the room’s light came from the pool, which had statues of luminescent creatures in various places.  There was an outcropping of rock that turned out to have a diving board hidden within it.  I quickly fetched Jarod and I a pair of trunks after we informed the twins that we weren’t joining them without something to wear.  Emma hadn’t been any help at all in that argument.  The pool was heated, but there was also a smaller hot tub not far away which looked like a natural hot spring in the surreal room.  We probably spent a couple hours goofing off in there before Mila appeared on the cave wall, startling Emma whom I barely caught before she fell into the pool.  “Evil twins, the workmen are finished upstairs.  Do you want to inspect the rooms before they leave?” asked Mila.  The twins declined but declared our break over.  Jarod and I both felt the need to inspect the wall where Mila had appeared.  There was a screen hidden there, set to display an image identical to the rest of the cave walls.  

 I had been upstairs only briefly earlier that day when Ai and Mai were putting the rest of us through martial practice.  Most of the floor had been blocked off by plastic to keep dust from getting into the rest of the house.  Now the hallway mirrored the lower floor in its great length as well as the blue color scheme.  No one could step foot into this wing without feeling the owners loved the ocean, especially after Jarod, Emma, and I set up the various paintings, statues, and vases the twins brought to decorate it.  Out of all the rooms, the one that disturbed me the most was the only one that didn’t need any unpacking.  The long, electronic table had a three-dimensional layout of the city and suburbs coming out of it.  Each wall was a touch screen interface displaying different data, from stock market numbers to billing reports.  The electronics were cool, but the room made me uncomfortable still because I was imagining faces, names, and troop arrangements on each display.  Though Mai called the room their office when she caught me looking inside, it reminded me of a war room straight out of a science fiction movie.  Perhaps I should have asked the twins more about what they planned to pursue as a career before inviting them into my home.

 Before Mai and I could rejoin the others, Mila was asking if I would accept a call from Regina.  Even though Mai gave me quite the sigh, I told Mila to put Regina through.  “James.  I found him.” she told me.  “Huh?  Found who?” I asked.  “Luke, James.  I found Luke.” she told me.  I couldn’t believe the news.  Luke, the werelion who killed Nathan, was found by Regina, who I didn’t even know was looking.  “Come over here and tell everyone.  Mila will guide you here.” stated Mai as Ai came walking down the hall with Emma and Jarod in tow.  The twins guided us to sit at the long table in their office as we waited for Regina to arrive.  Now as I looked around the room, I pictured Luke’s face up on a wall with all we knew about him.  I could easily imagine werewolves on another as well as a wall for Alma, the psychotic girl whom I couldn’t stop thinking about.  A room such as this was perfect for tracking supernatural murderers and planning how we would fight back.  I wasn’t sure how much convincing I would have to do for the twins to be on board for such a use of their office, but I most certainly did intend to see.  One way or another, we would soon be tracking a werelion and finding a way to stop him.  Luke was not going to get a chance to kill someone again.

  “RISE AND SHINE, BOSS-MAN, SIR!” came a loud voice from all around me.  I jumped out of bed, tripped over a box, and fell to the floor.  “Are you alright, boss-man, sir?  I can call Emma or a medic to assist you if necessary,” said Mila.  “No need, Mila.  Why did you wake me?” I asked as I stumbled to my feet and searched for where I put my phone.  “The evil twins have been awake for over two hours already, and I thought you should know that they are heading here as we speak.”  I checked my phone and found that I had slept past ten, but that didn’t really seem late at all considering we were up till four watching movies and talking.  When Mila brought up a countdown for Ai and Mai’s arrival on the large mirror across from my bed, an idea struck me.  Throughout yesterday, I had been feeling a bit disconcerted by talking with a disembodied voice.  In my car, which I couldn’t quite think of as “Mila” anymore, things didn’t seem so unnatural.  I was accustomed to looking straight while talking with people or listening to Mila be my GPS.  In my home, speaking without a point of reference felt completely unnatural.  “Hey, Mila.  Could you ask Aaliyah to give you some sort of image, so I have a face to see when we’re talking?  Well, you probably shouldn’t mention it till after her vacation.  I don’t want to take time out of her trip.”

 “There is no need to trouble the princess at all over such a tiny thing, boss-man, sir.  I am fully equipped with a large library of visual software.  How would you like me to look?” inquired Mila.  I didn’t have the faintest idea how Mila should look, so I told her “Female.  Can you randomize the specifics?”  Seeing that the twins were still a few minutes away, I started unpacking one of my boxes for something to do.  “How is this, boss-man, sir?” inquired Mila moments later.  I looked up to the mirror to see a small, cartoon dog on the screen.  I laughed and told her “I don’t think the idea of a talking dog would make anyone, least of all me, feel even slightly more comfortable than a disembodied voice.”  Mila actually sighed at me to my surprise, and then she said, “You had told me to randomize the specifics.  Will you answer some questions if you want to be picky?”  Aaliyah truly wrote the most remarkable software.  I hadn’t heard of A.I. software with attitude outside of fiction.  I assented and started picking choices between various pictures Mila brought up on the screen, stopping when the timer reached zero to open the door and find Ai with her hand raised to knock, which she quickly used to brush her hair.

 “I told you he wouldn’t be ready yet,” said Ai before pointedly looking at her sister.  “Well, we can’t let him be a slacker just because he has a fancy house now.  Time to exercise, James!” exclaimed Mai.  I suppressed a groan, knowing that they’d hold it against me.  No point in showering, but I at least wanted breakfast.  After saying as much, Mai actually praised Marco’s cooking, however begrudgingly.  Then Ai said, “Well, fine.  You have thirty minutes.  We’re going to get the girls.  Regina’s probably ready to go, but…”  Mai continued with “Emma occasionally gets distracted.  Make sure Jarod is ready too.”  I didn’t know where Jarod went after we all got done hanging out last night.  “Do you two have any idea where he went?” I asked.  Ai sighed while Mai said, “Surely you know where the guest rooms are in your own house.”  Then they turned and walked off together.  “Boss-man, sir.  I’ll gladly show you to Jarod, but there are more questions for you to go through on the way.” stated Mila.  I quickly changed clothes, and then followed Mila’s directions as I answered her questions.  There was an absolutely stunning number of mirrors in the house, which I completely failed to notice when they weren’t lighting up every time I passed one.

 I was rather surprised when Mila told me to leave the house and pass into the garage.  I hadn’t thought Jarod would even be awake yet after last night.  When I got inside, I found out that he wasn’t.  I wouldn’t have even found him if Mila wasn’t in the garage as well, through mirrors on one wall as well as the car.  Jarod woke up when I opened the door.  “Hey, dude.  What’s up?” he asked.  I was about to ask why he was sleeping in the car when he said, “Yeah.  This has to seem a bit odd.  I couldn’t go to sleep without seeing what your garage was like though.  Isn’t it awesome?”  I had to agree.  Beyond the tremendous size, the garage was equipped with all of the equipment I could possibly want for maintenance as well as some machines I didn’t even recognize.  “Emma’s pink bug is around the bend, and I’m betting the motorcycles belong to the twins.  Why else would there be a matching pair, right?” he commented.  I couldn’t argue with that, but I had to wonder when the twins got bikes.  Did they even know how to ride?  Before I could get too lost in thought, Mila said, “Only nineteen minutes remaining, boss-man, sir.”  I quickly explained to Jarod that the twins were expecting us for practice and asked if he wanted to join me for some breakfast.

 Marco had two plates waiting for us when we walked inside.  When I opened my mouth, he guessed what I was asking, and said, “Mila informed me that you were in a hurry.  Luckily, I had dough for the cornetti ready from earlier.  This kitchen is quite nice.  We’ll have to talk sometime about when you’d like your meals and if there’s anything little miss Aaliyah forgot to mention you like.  But don’t let me keep you.  Buon appetito!”  Jarod and I both had some sort of fruit salad, rolls, and yogurts.  Though the rolls were good, I wondered at what Marco had made the twins to get such praise out of them.  Mila had us running after our light breakfast to get over to the east wing on time, but she continued having me pick choices the entire way.  Despite Jarod obviously being out of breath, the twins put us to work with Emma and Regina immediately.  There was a long mirror across one wall of the gym with a bar typical for ballet practice.  Mila was continuing to ask me questions through the entire workout on it.  I protested at first, but the Mai thought it was good multitasking practice.  I took a kick to the side when Mila finally rendered a new picture and asked me to look.  Smiling from the mirror was a face that looked almost exactly like Alma.  My preferences were clear:  I obviously had a thing for psychopaths.

  Despite being extremely busy all weekend between packing, work, and my graduation, I kept thinking back to Aaliyah’s crazy birthday party.  I still couldn’t believe the insanely expensive looking tiara that Slayer family gave to Aaliyah.  With how the tiara fit her so perfectly, I had to believe they made it specifically for her, but how old could that “old friend” actually be?  Well, Aaliyah did converse with quite a few adults in different fields of study.  What type of names were Adelmar and Anwen though?  They sounded foreign.  Given that Chad was a translator for Emma’s mother’s company, they probably were.  I couldn’t argue that Aaliyah truly left an impression with everyone with whom she spent time, but still…  The idea of giving a twelve-year-old a gem-encrusted tiara seemed very excessive.  Regina’s family was quite rich, and she seemed to agree with me when I had asked.  My timing probably hadn’t been the best though.  Most of my class had been rather emotionally charged at the graduation ceremony.  Regina’s speech had been quite moving, but I couldn’t help feeling distracted.   I still couldn’t believe that I was moving, especially into my own house with five girls.

 My parents were more than a little shocked on Saturday when I told them that I owned a house and would be moving Wednesday… er…today.  Father was seeming especially dubious about my house when I admitted that I had no clue whether or not the place would need furnished.  His dubiousness turned more sour when I told him that I hadn’t checked the house out in person.  I carefully avoided mentioning any of the details about the expenses of the house, only partially due to not feeling well-versed in them myself.  I had immense faith in Aaliyah’s abilities and judgement about finances,  with good reason between what she had done for my business and hearing how she was the one responsible for her father’s funds.  Father knew Aaliyah was extremely talented, but having built his own business through careful planning and diligent oversight, he had strong opinions about the necessity of giving every aspect of one’s life careful consideration.  Telling him that I promised Aaliyah not to look at the house until the renovations were complete only incited father further.  Nonetheless, my parents were helping me move.  Father surprised me by renting the moving truck for me and offering to help furnish the place.  He also offered to help me fix the place up if it turned out to be too much of a death trap.  

 When we were within a mile of my house, I started recognizing the area.  If I had been paying more attention when Aaliyah was first telling me about my house, I might have realized that it was located across the large park from her building.  I probably had only missed seeing it from Chad’s condo due to the enormous amount of land around it, easily blending the property into the park from that great of a distance.  Though I was dumbfounded by the monstrosity still hundreds of yards down the drive from the “Somerset Estate” sign and past the fountain, I treasured the look of bewilderment on my father’s face.  I wished I could see mother’s expression, but Jarod was driving her behind us in Mila.  I was somewhat surprised that he had shown up to help me move after he disappeared at Aaliyah’s party.  She had apparently given him a gift on her birthday, but he kept putting off telling me any details of what it was beyond “plans for a new type of armor”.  Whatever the plans were, they had taken up most of his time all weekend.  When he showed up at the house today, he simply told me “Hey, you’re the boss.  You might cut my pay if I don’t show up for the grand opening of the new headquarters!” and gave me a self-satisfied smile.  He was a brave man to drive mother when she seemed so teary-eyed about me moving out.  She could have convinced father to let me stay if she really didn’t want me moving out.

 Looking up at where I would be living, I was perfectly content that she hadn’t.  “Son, umm…”  Father cleared his throat again.  “Well, I…  You see.  Might this be a tad excessive?”  I shrugged and told him, “Did I mention that I won’t actually be paying for it?  Aaliyah had worked out rent with my roommates, …er… tenants, that will actually cover the expense.”  He looked at me more shocked than I ever had seen him and then gave me a hug.  “I’d say don’t forget to visit, son, but your mother and I may be coming to visit you more often than not.  I truly don’t understand how this is even possible.” he stated, gesturing to the manor at the end.  I didn’t honestly either, but who was I to question Aaliyah’s math?   “What’s being done to the two sides?” asked mother as she and Jarod joined us.  “Well, the twins wanted to put their own touch on the east wing, and their cousin is making additions to the west.  Shall we take a look around before we haul anything inside?  I’m not honestly sure where my bedroom is even yet.”  After my parents agreed and Jarod grinned, I opened one of the doors to the entryway.  My parents stepped through before me after the second set, and stared upward.  The picture Aaliyah had shown me didn’t do the view justice.   The wooden rail of the twin staircases was polished to a shine, as was the tile floor which created a large, elaborate pattern.

 “Is that a ballroom?” asked mother, drawing my gaze from the elaborately painted ceiling that depicted dragons at war.  “The octagon ballroom is four thousand eight hundred square feet,” said a familiar voice that came from all around us.  “Mila?” I inquired.  “Yes, boss-man, sir?” she replied.  “What are you doing in the house?”  I asked.  “The princess thought I was the logical choice for running Somerset Estate’s automated services.” she stated.  “James, who is Mila?” asked mother.  I hadn’t ever mentioned that my car could speak, so I told her “Mila’s a very sophisticated A.I. that Aaliyah wrote for fun.”  Then I asked “Mila, did Aaliyah give you a tour program?”  Before long, we were following a light system hidden in the wall to guide us to each room.  Mila provided light background music as we progressed, and we discovered that every mirror in the place was a touchscreen computer interface.  By the time we walked two of  the three stories that made up the main body of the house, mother was feeling thirsty, so Mila showed us down to the kitchen where we met Marco Rossi, the chef.  He apparently wasn’t officially starting until tomorrow, but he was done moving in and was getting to know the kitchen.  I didn’t know if mother was more jealous of the kitchen or of my chef after she tasted his cooking.  I was too shocked over having a professional chef in the manor to comment much.

 After lunch, we found my bedroom on the third floor and discovered that I definitely didn’t need anything more than my clothes and electronics, minus the television.  The master bedroom was luxurious to say the least.  I had an enormous bathroom with a hot tub and walk-in shower as well as an equally large walk-in closet off the other wall.  Even Aaliyah with her princess room might approve of this bedroom.  Father requisitioned my old furniture for the “new guestroom” at his house, but we went ahead and carried the rest of my stuff up the back staircase, discovering the eight car garage and small parking lot when we drove around to the back.  I assured my parents that I could take care of unpacking myself, so we dumped my things in my new room and went to check out the northeast wing.  Before we even took a step into the upper floor of the wing, Mila chimed in, saying, “Boss-man, sir, shall I bring Regina up on the intercom before you enter her domain?”  I hadn’t realized that any of the girls were moving here already.  “Yes, please.” I told her.  A moment later, I heard Regina’s voice from behind me.  “Back here, guys!”  We all turned to find Regina talking to us from the mirror on the wall.  “My dad’s going to want one of these systems  installed in the house.  This place has video calling available everywhere!  Did you know you can watch TV on these?”  

 Regina had apparently moved earlier that morning, and Emma, whom Regina invited up to her floor after inviting us in, had moved yesterday, taking the whole lower floor of this wing.  “Yeah.  The twins let me borrow their movers yesterday, so I had an easy time.  I’ll need to get some more furniture though.  None of the wings were furnished at all, man-slave, and I have way more space than I did.” Emma stated.  “Wait.  Ai and Mai have already moved in?  Their wing is still being renovated!” I exclaimed.  Emma shrugged and Regina said while rolling her eyes, “One more thing for them to complain about.”  I knew she was right.  They probably planned precisely for this.  Then I remembered how well the twins and Mila always got along and couldn’t help smiling.  Ai and Mai would surely find plenty of reasons to give me grief for their own amusement, but the entire house was on my side.  Things should be a little more evened out this way.  My parents stayed and chatted for a while before deciding to head back home… well, to their home.  Jarod called his parents and told them he’d be staying the night after telling me he wasn’t going to miss the housewarming party.  With Regina’s permission, I had Mila bring up the twins on her mirror, so we could see if they wanted to join us for dinner.  After carrying on about how they were hurt by being ignored, they agreed to join us.  As I laid in my new bed in my new home that night, I was still wondering if I was only dreaming.

  I lost count of how many people to whom I was introduced as the party progressed, but I was confident I knew everyone’s names.  The biggest oddity to me about the whole affair was the lack of anyone remotely close to Aaliyah’s age in attendance.  The twins were probably the youngest at seventeen.  With Aaliyah only turning twelve, that seemed like quite the age gap.  Most of the people were much older, people Chad knew from work.  From the conversations I was hearing, this might as well have been a business meeting for his company.  On the other hand, how well could other twelve year olds understand Aaliyah?  I barely understood a fraction of the things she told me about my own work and was hopelessly confused with regard to her education.  If she didn’t seem so blissfully happy most of the time, I would really worry about her.  Worrying too much about someone who was currently  kicking Emma’s butt at video games while wearing a Von Schweetz costume was virtually impossible though, especially with how she bit her tongue while it hung off to one side while concentrating.  Even Aaliyah’s video game console was a mark of her achievements though.

 From what Chad told me, Aaliyah had bought every type of console from old to new, took them apart, and then built the sleek thing by the television to replace them.  She then wrote software to streamline everything together and fool verification protocols.  I really had trouble worrying too much when I thought of her abilities.  Still I could easily imagine how many people would look at the extraordinary girl and only see the tiny body and cute face.  I would be horribly frustrated if everyone judged me on my looks and didn’t give me a chance, especially if I looked so young.  Aaliyah seemed to thrive on people underestimating her though.  Maybe the constant looks of disbelief were sources of great amusement for her.  Something had to be.  The poor girl probably got bored in all her free time between dance lessons, violin lessons, schooling for extra doctorates, and working for me. I smiled and sighed.  I would never know anyone as accomplished as Aaliyah was by twelve.  I wondered if Aaliyah might have custom business attire made for her someday.  She’d look absolutely adorable walking around in tailor made suits.  Knowing Aaliyah, she’d probably have specific glasses or some other adornment for her “business look”.  

 “Want a snacky thingy?” asked Evanna, startling me.  “Snacky thingy?  Umm… sure.” I told her, helping myself to a strawberry with a delicious cheesecake filling.  There apparently wasn’t going to be an actual dinner served.  Carl kept putting out more and more random snacks which his employees served. There was also a constant supply of various foods on the long breakfast bar.  Louise and Evanna were the two who most often floated my way, but I much preferred Evanna’s company when she stopped to chat.  Louise seemed a bit too flirty for my comfort, wanting to feed me various hors d’oeuvres herself.  Evanna obviously had no clue what she was doing, and didn’t really care.  I was basically doing the same thing as her, save that Aaliyah wanted me to serve her and only her while she beat Emma at games.  Ai and Mai weren’t actually around too much to my surprise.  When I did catch them, they were in the middle of one business discussion or another, apparently representing their parents’ interests.  I wondered at why Chad would host a business party for his daughter’s birthday only until Regina came back by me.  Her father had done that on numerous occasions for her birthdays.  She always seemed to have fun, despite that fact, but I always felt a bit sad that she wasn’t the focus of his attention even on her day.  

 Chad came over and asked Aaliyah something.  I easily heard her respond as she shouted “TIME FOR CAKE!!!”  I picked up the mess of candy wrappers from where she was sitting and tossed them before joining the crowd standing in the ocean room where Carl had somehow wheeled out a cake on a cart.  The man was truly a magician!  I would have to ask the twins later if they knew of any way to magically create cake.  Aaliyah would be in her personal heaven if she knew someone who could do that.  The cake was enormous and extremely elaborate, a castle for a princess with astounding detail.  I heard the front door of the condo open and shut, so I looked to see who was here.  There was a girl whom I should recognize, but I couldn’t place where I met her.  She was carrying a large present, but I nearly stumbled when I tried moving to help her with it.  I reached up and grabbed my head, suddenly feeling a bit nauseous.  I couldn’t get myself to greet her though.  My parents would be disappointed in my behavior if they knew I failed to greet someone I knew, especially when I’m being paid to help with a party.  Aaliyah was eating her cake and waving to someone.  I looked and saw a girl setting down a large present.  I knew her from somewhere, but my head started hurting.  “James, are you alright?” asked someone.  

 I looked over to find Regina with her hand on my arm.  I didn’t remember grabbing onto the castle for support, but I was feeling alright now.  “Yeah.  Sorry.  I was just feeling a bit out of sorts for a moment there.” I told her.  I took a deep breath and then saw that Carl was serving cake to other people.  “Did you see where Aaliyah and Chad went?” I asked.  “Yeah.  They went to greet the girl who just showed up.  Her dress is lovely, but I can’t help wondering if she’s trying to show up the birthday girl or something.  It seems a bit much.  What do you think?” commented Regina.  When I moved to look, I felt nauseous again, and quickly went to the couch to sit down.  As my head cleared some one of the twins started talking with me and handed me a piece of cake.  The other one sat on my other side and held up a fork for me.  I thanked them both and stared at the large slice, wondering if I truly should risk eating it.  “The little monster would be disappointed if you don’t at least try her cake.”  one said.  Then the other continued “The girl has her faults, but her taste in food is not one of them.  This truly is amazing.  I wish the old guy would share the recipe with us.”  The first one started talking again immediately, saying, “I can’t blame him for not sharing recipes, considering he owns and runs a restaurant, but we probably wouldn’t compete with him, unless we feel like running a store eventually.  Would you help us with it?”  The second one chimed in and said, “You know you’d have a wonderful time helping us out.”

 There was something I wanted to investigate, but I couldn’t remember what.  What was going on with me?  I knew that I was missing something, but I couldn’t figure out what exactly.  I took a bite of cake, and the flavor was absolutely amazing.  The texture was perfect.  I had no hope of ever describing whatever this flavor was, but I would call it ecstasy with feelings of joy cascading through my body as water over a dam.  I still knew that something was off, but I couldn’t say what exactly.  My head was feeling so very sluggish.  Everytime I moved, I felt like part of me was following a couple seconds behind.  The cake was helping me relax though.  The twins had perfect timing on this one, even though cake would have been the last thing I would expect to help with nausea.  “This cake is truly magnificent.  I probably should get back to Aaliyah though.  Chad is paying me to help out, not eat cake.” I told them, before I was even half done.  That slice was enormous.  One of them sighed and said, “You’ve hardly talked with us though.  Did Mai do something to make you upset?”  The other one stuck her tongue at her sister and replied “If anyone upsets James, it’s you, Ai.  You always interrupt us.”  Ai and Mai were always interesting company.  I knew there had been something I wanted to ask them, but I couldn’t think what right off.

 I absently took another bite of cake when Aaliyah came skipping over, wearing the shiniest tiara I had ever seen.  The silver tiara had two dragons meeting with their heads raised.  What appeared to be a very large sapphire sat just above their open mouths and their open wings angled down from it.  The dragons themselves were largely comprised of what appeared to be diamonds with two smaller rubies forming their eyes.  “That can’t possibly be real, right?” I asked,  looking from Ai to Mai just before glancing over my shoulder to see the door shut through the forest vines.  “Boss-man, sir, Adelmar and Anwen Slayer would be offended if they knew you accused them of giving fake gifts!  They sent their cousin to give me my tiara!  Isn’t it pretty?  An ooooooooooold friend made this just for me!”  I could see Ai and Mai nodding in my peripheral vision.  Who were these people to be giving such an outlandish gift to a little girl?  Did they even actually know Aaliyah, or were they trying to talk Chad into some new business deal?  This was one of the many reasons why crossing business and personal life was so very tricky.  I had to laugh at myself on that thought.  Having a business as a Best Friend For Hire, I was the last person who could really chastise anyone for crossing business with their personal life.  Things just never got simple.

  By the third game of laser tag, Chad and I were acting as if we were on a team.  Aaliyah was far more vicious at laser tag when her father was involved.  I remembered when I thought the girl couldn’t shoot straight.  I was wrong.  Very wrong.  She could hit us clear across the condo while doing a cartwheel.  She did that.  Really.  To both of us.  In one cartwheel.  I was still trying to convince myself that happened when she finished Chad and me off from behind, ending the fifth match.  Then she ran to the door, yelling, “CAAAAARL!!!”  Chad sighed while I looked at my phone.  “We’ll get her next time, James.  Figures that it’s almost time for the party.  We spent too much time trying to be stealthy last game.”  I laughed and said, “No, we won’t, but we’ll have fun trying!”  I then sent a text to Regina asking if she could pick up some spare clothes for me.  I really worked up a sweat trying to get a hit on Aaliyah.  Looking back, I really should have expected that a girl who regularly did this in her own home would be amazing at it.  I still couldn’t believe the cartwheel shooting though.  Maybe Aaliyah watched too many action films and then somehow pulled off mimicking them in real life.  Carl never even had a chance to push the doorbell before Aaliyah opened the door and was bouncing up and down at his feet, telling him about the laser tag matches.  “And then daddy was all like ‘Noooo!!!’ as I shot him from above!” was all I caught her say as I approached.

 “Hi, Carl.  It’s a pleasure to see you again.”  He smiled and greeted me as he carried a single, blue crate that appeared to be made out of wood over to the kitchen.  The four people who followed him looked to be around my age and seemed a bit bewildered as they took in the condo’s decor.  I admitted to myself that there probably wasn’t another home in the world which combined a tropical forest, a castle, an ocean, egypt, candyland, Tron, an iceberg, lava, gears, and the Batcave.  “I’m James.” I told them, introducing myself and holding out my hand to the first one, Martin.  Then there was Russell, Louise, and Evanna.  “I’m here to help out with the party as well, but they haven’t even hinted that I’ll have something to actually do yet.” I told them, and then asked “Do you help Carl cook?”  After an assortment of responses me assuring they didn’t cook, Evanna said, “I’m typically a delivery driver.  The other three are at least hosts at the restaurant.  I have no idea why Carl asked me to come.”  Chad, who I hadn’t noticed step up behind me asserted with a laugh “Well, I trust Carl’s cooking.  I’m not really worried about the rest.  Just try to have a good time and make sure Aaliyah is taken care of.  I know she doesn’t look it, but she’s twelve today!”  Having to explain Aaliyah’s age versus her appearance to everyone had to get old, but Chad always did it with a smile.  Evanna piped in and said, “Lucky girl gets kids prices for years yet then!”

 Chad laughed and agreed with her, though the other three caterers looked nervous.  “She really enjoys it.”  He then went onto talking about his daughter’s doctorates, ability at dance, and other such things which should have earned looks of disbelief, but didn’t.  Evanna, still the only one doing any talking, then said, “Sounds like an amazing girl.  I see why Carl was so happy to cater.  I’ve never heard of him doing this for anyone else, right guys?”  The three hosts from the restaurant agreed with her, but still seemed disinclined to converse.  “Oh?  I didn’t realize the restaurant doesn’t typically cater.  It’s probably because Aaliyah does some sort of computer work for Carl when he needs.  Probably financial software.  She’s brilliant with that stuff.  Totally worth it, since he is always giving us free meals.  Do you know any of the secret ingredients he uses?”  Evanna shrugged.  Martin, Russell, and Louise just shook their heads negatively.  Conversation was interrupted by the doorbell.  Chad answered the door while the rest of us stepped away.  I didn’t know how Carl would have food ready in time and was shocked to see a very large amount of food already on the counters when I glanced over there.  Before I could attempt to verify that I wasn’t simply losing my mind, Evanna asked, “So James, you said you’re here to work, right?”  I looked to her and nodded.  “Then how is it that you don’t know what sort of work?”

 I started explaining my business to Evanna, which actually got the other three to start talking.  I told them about various sorts of jobs I had done for people, leaving out names, of course.  Then Russell asked “How do you know Carl then?  Has he hired you before?”  I explained about going to the Intergalactic House of Awesome Sauce for my first time and how Carl had given me tickets for Aaliyah to have free meals.  Evanna started laughing when I was talking about the second time I had met him, but I couldn’t figure out why.  “Did I say something funny?” I inquired.  She shook her head and said, “Carl just cracks me up.  He’s great.  Sorry.  Looks like I should start serving food here shortly.”  Before she could move, I asked “How did he get all of that food prepared already?”  She winked and told me “Carl’s a pro in the kitchen.”  Then she joined the other three who were picking up trays to carry around.  I had been so involved in discussing my business that I missed just how many people were already in the condo.  I hoped Regina would be arriving with a change of clothes quickly.  My sweat from playing laser tag was still making my clothes stick, and I worried that I might smell.  To make matters worse, I didn’t recognize most of the people here, so I wouldn’t be making the best of first impressions at this rate.  

 “Jaaaames, why are you ignoring us?” asked Mai, causing me to jump.  “What has the little creep made you do to have you all sweaty?” inquired Ai as she ran her finger along my arm.  I hadn’t realized that they were here.  “Well, we..” I started to say, but was interrupted by the twins simultaneously saying, “Nevermind.  Take these and go get cleaned up.”  I looked into the bag Ai had shoved at me and found clothes.  “But I..” I began, but Mai interrupted me and told me “Regina’s busy, so she told us your size and asked us to pick something up.”  Ai sighed loudly and said, “I can’t believe that you’re treating us, your kind friends, as servants.”  I gave up trying to get a word in and thanked the girls.  Then I looked for Chad or Aaliyah in the gathering crowd until I felt a tug on my pants.  “You can use my shower.  Others might need daddy’s.  Now hurry before the evil twins eat all my food!” exclaimed Aaliyah.  Either because I wasn’t moving or because of a look of dumbfoundment on my face, Aaliyah sighed and said, “Have you never seen Sherlock?  You must deduce things, boss-man, sir.  You’re looking around through the crowd with a bag that the twins brought.  If the bag had gifts, you’d have probably put them with the others on the table by the window.  Since you’re still sweaty and had asked Regina for clothing in a text” ― She held up my phone at this point. ― “anyone would guess you want a place to freshen up.  Now go, boss-man, sir!  They’re already eating!”  

 After retrieving my phone, I went upstairs and into Aaliyah’s room, marveling once again at the elegance of the room.  I had seen bedrooms smaller than her bathroom, and most were far less elegant.  Though I admired the craftsmanship from the cloud-shaped showerhead to the cherubs which appeared to pour water from four corners of the large whirlpool bath, I could never desire a room to be so very pink, even with it appearing to be marble.  When I laid out the clothes, I was grateful to find the twins had purchased soap, deodorant, and other such things for me as well, but I winced when I looked at the brands, especially on the clothes.  I was likely going to be working for free the next several times they wanted to hire me, assuming they ever did.  I frowned.  With the twins moving in with me, I wasn’t sure how I was going to pay them back.  I truly doubted they would let me simply pay them in money, and I doubted they would really be hiring me again when they’d see me frequently.  Why did those two always make everything so completely complicated?  I showered and changed with some haste, not wanting to keep Aaliyah waiting too long.  The clothes were a perfect fit and felt extremely soft, so I tried pushing thoughts of owing the twins out of my head for now.  

 I placed my things in the bag and left it on Aaliyah’s bedroom floor and then took the fireman’s pole down into her castle.  The colossal mess of toys and clothes in there had gotten me shot by Aaliyah when I had tried pursuing her through it while playing laser tag.  How she managed to run through it without tripping was amazing to me.  When I stepped out, I spotted Regina, Jarod, and Emma talking with the twins and Aaliyah.  When I approached, Aaliyah shouted out “Boss-man, sir, can I open the present???  Regina said that opening it sooner was better than later, so pleeeeaaase.”  Her large, blue eyes radiated excitement, and I couldn’t disagree with Regina at all.  After I assented, she ripped open the wrapping paper and found a large white box decorated in pictures of candies.  Upon removing the lid, she found another white box with similar decoration.  When she removed the second lid, her eyes somehow got even bigger, and she yelled “VON SCHWEETZ!!!”  Chad had caught sight of his daughter already opening a present and walked over.  “Daddy!  I’m going to go change!!!” she told him.  Chad smiled and assented.  “Don’t you want to see what’s under this box?” asked Regina.  Aaliyah hesitated only a second before lifting the box out and finding the pile of candy with a gingerbread version of Von Schweetz’s car on top.  “Oh my gosh!” she squealed.  The princess was happy, and so was I.

When the door opened, I could already see party decorations spread across the apartment.  I stepped inside to find that the dinosaurs in the entryway were each wearing party hats.  There were monkeys in the jungle also adorned with hats.  The castle appeared to have fireworks, frozen in time as they left every tiny window.  The rails of the upstairs walkway had streamers spanning between them.  When I went to remove my shoes, I finally realized that Aaliyah was staring up at me through her secretary glasses, tapping her foot.  “Boss-man, sir,” she said, looking very serious, “please come this way.”  I quickly removed my shoes and then followed her upstairs as she pulled me along by the hand.  We entered the “Bat Cave” to find Chad at his computer, apparently working since I had no clue what language was being displayed.  “Hi, Chad.” I greeted him, which made Aaliyah start tugging on my hand with both of hers.  “Hey, James.  You better see what she has to show you.  She’s looking pretty determined.” he told me with a smile, obviously suppressing a laugh as he looked at his tiny daughter.  He then left the room, perhaps knowing that his daughter wanted to talk business.  When we got up to her computer, she pulled the secretary glasses further down her nose and gazed up at me over them.  “Okay, boss-man, sir.  You took up half the morning on my BIRTHDAY, but I found a place for you.”

 “What!?” I asked in shock.  “I had told you that there wasn’t a rush.  You really didn’t need to look today.  I haven’t even had a chance to look myself yet.”  She sighed, shook her head negatively, and brought up pictures on her computer.  I didn’t even look at the pictures for a moment as I admired the tremendous speed of her computer, which had instantaneously displayed her browser when she clicked the icon and then loaded the website she had bookmarked with no delay.  I was trying to account for how she was avoiding server lag when she cleared her throat and started telling me “I looked through all of the houses available within your price range, and found this place to be the best option, since I’m expecting the land value to increase over the next decade due to development in the area.  I then procured a reasonable loan for you, purchased the property, and found appropriate roommates to help cover the costs.  They’ll be moving there by the end of the week after the minor renovations I requested are complete.  You should be able to move by Wednesday, so I arranged for you to pick up a truck for your move that morning.  Any questions?”  I had to find to where my jaw fell before I even had a hope of asking anything.  When I finally did, every question tried leaving my mouth at once, leaving Aaliyah looking quizzically at me as I tried to organize the chaos in my head.

 “First off, I’m sorry that I took up a large chunk of your birthday, but how… this…?” I asked, waving at the screen.  Now that I was actually looking at the place and had stolen the mouse from her hand to click through pictures, I couldn’t believe the size of the place.  She was right about the price seeming reasonable for the size, but I didn’t see how I could even come close to affording it.  There were twin staircases curving up to the next floor and apparently a ballroom beyond the staircases on the first.  I would need an enormous staff just to keep the place clean.  After letting out an enormous sigh, she explained “Do you really think anyone would give you a loan on a place like that without hard evidence that you would be able to afford it?  You should get your first quarterly dividend from your shares in Global Princess Entertainment at the end of the month, which is showing considerable profit off Ancient Tribes of Earth already.  Though that should easily cover your first house payment by itself, I thought reinvesting the majority of it would benefit you more.  Since you have ample space, I arranged for the twins and a few others to be your roommates, though they negotiated getting to renovate the east wing to their specifications.”  Wing… My house has wings?  She continued, saying, “Their cousin, Alpy, also wants to stay there and negotiated building her own addition, which will increase the value without cost to you.  Regina hasn’t responded yet, but Emma is checking with her mother.  Jarod declined, even though I told him he’d stay for free.”

 I had planned spending half the month trying to find a suitable residence, probably a small apartment.  This… this was crazy.  I had mixed feelings about living with the girls who already consumed so very much of my time, but I couldn’t argue about the practicality of it, especially considering our joint endeavors.  I looked forward to meeting this “Alpy” I always was hearing about.  Would she truly be as amazing as everyone made her sound?  As dangerous?  “Wait.  I’m not remotely against Jarod staying for free, but why would that be?”  Aaliyah shrugged and told me “He wouldn’t be able to afford anything meaningful yet, and the house was purchased through your business as a business expense, allowing certain tax write offs.  Your employees can have free room and board in the northwest wing as well as on-site training.  If ever you retire, you’ll probably want to purchase the house from your business, unless you decide to move.”  When looking at well my business was doing, Father and I always had checked my personal account.  I never bothered to look at the business account itself, since the majority of the funds had been sent to my personal account as my earnings before hiring Aaliyah.  I felt completely shocked when I brought up the account on my phone.  “Boss-man, sir?  If you’re alright,” she started, looking at me uncertainly, “can we get on with my birthday now?  You are technically on the clock after all, and I have a thing for my birthday… I’m twelve now, you know.”

 “I’ve honestly been thinking of you as twelve for over a month now” I told her, which earned me a grin as she removed her secretary glasses, carefully storing them in their case.  “PARTY!!!!  Carl volunteered caterers for the party and is supposed to stop here personally to help out.  It’ll be AMAZING!!!” she exclaimed.  Then she ran behind me and jumped onto my back, catching me off-guard.  I really should expect such things from her by now.  In my defense, I was still in considerable shock from finding out that my business was doing even better than father or I realized, from discovering I owned a mansion, and from realizing that I owned shares in the video company which made the incredible game that Jarod and I had just purchased this morning.  At Aaliyah’s behest, I galloped around the walkway to her bedroom and slid down the fireman’s pole with her tightly clinging to my back.  We found Chad moments later, sitting in the ocean room and gazing out at the view of the park.  “Hey, James.  Did my little princess finally ask you for time off?” he inquired.  I took a look back at Aaliyah and said, “No.  She seemed to let that one slide.”  Aaliyah harumphed and said, “Daddy is under the impression that I shouldn’t work while we’re on vacation these next couple weeks.  He’s taking me on a tour of Italy for my birthday.  I told him that I haven’t earned vacation time yet and that my wonderful boss-man doesn’t care if I work abroad.”

 “I hope you don’t really think I have a better chance of dissuading her not to work than you do.  I am only realizing how little I know of what she’s done for my business now.  I’m pretty sure her contract prevents me from controlling her hours in any way.”  Chad laughed and told me “Don’t feel bad.  I probably should have warned you what you were getting into.  I once tried having Aaliyah explain what she’s done to my finances in French, hoping there would be less technical babble, and only understood every few words.  To make matters worse, I’m the one who first taught her French!”  I laughed, totally understanding the feeling.  When I looked back at Aaliyah as she clung to my back, she was smiling in a way that incarnated innocence.  One thing was for certain: I found myself feeling even more indebted to that tiny girl.  No matter how much she loved her birthday this year, I needed to do better for her next year.  She deserved far more than an idea my friends and I threw together at the last minute.  Perhaps Chad would be alright with me making use of that enormous house to host her party next year.  I’d also search all year for the perfect gift, whatever the cost.  For now, I was going to try making sure this year’s party was as amazing as possible, assuming there was anything left for me to do.  “Is there anything left to prepare for the party?”  Chad shrugged and suggested “Laser tag,” which made Aaliyah cheer in excitement.  Now that I knew Aaliyah better, I couldn’t really understand for what they ever paid me, but the game was on!

  I barely remembered last night’s jobs when I woke this morning.  I did several jobs which all seem blurred together in my mind.  For the whole night I was distracted and barely functioning, too stuck on thinking about Nathan’s death at Luke’s hand.  The twins had wanted me to take the night off, but I wanted to be distracted for the night.  Besides, I wasn’t going to ask Aaliyah to cancel jobs for me, knowing she’d want to know what was wrong.  Who could expose such a sweet girl to such a horror?  They had talked Emma into following me though.  After my last job, I caught sight of the pink bug and gave Emma a call.  Ai, Mai, and Regina were all with her.  I had claimed they didn’t need to keep track of me, but my argument quickly fell through after they pointed out I forgot to eat entirely.  We ended up at a small pizza parlor, drinking soda and talking into the night, which helped.  I wasn’t at one hundred percent, but I was feeling better by the end.  I was somewhat surprised to find out that Ai and Mai were going to be attending Aaliyah’s party, knowing how they always talked about her.  They claimed that not attending would be like letting her win, but I felt they were developing a soft spot for her.  Looking at those four girls, I felt extremely happy that they cared enough to give up their nights for my benefit.  Having seen again a face of destruction in this city, I realized that letting my guard down truly wasn’t an option.

After a pillow hit my chest, I told myself that even my bed was no longer safe.  “James!  Why aren’t you dressed yet?  Jarod’s probably waiting on us already.  GET READY!” exclaimed Regina.  Oh.  Yeah.  I had invited her to tag along last night when we were at the parlor.  I rolled over and hugged the pillow she had thrown.  Last night’s sleep was interrupted with too many bad dreams.  I could use more rest.  Jarod wouldn’t care.  When Regina reached for my arm, I quickly pulled her onto the bed and hugged her into the pillow.  “Sorry.  Meant to say that Jarod won’t care if I sleep a bit more.” I told her.  Then I realized that wasn’t the pillow I was grabbing.  “Sorry!” I exclaimed as I jumped out of bed, knocking Regina to the floor.  “Sorry.  So sorry.  I’m going to get ready now.”  I heard her laughing as she said, “And here I thought you were just getting comfortable.”  I quickly grabbed some clothes, feeling uncomfortable with her watching me, and rushed to shower.  “Girls and their squishy areas…  What did she expect to happen when she waylaid me in bed?” I muttered to myself.  For a moment I considered that she had expected exactly what did happen, and then I firmly shoved that idea out of my head entirely… for a good three seconds.  “Ugh…  High school is complicated enough without girls being like that.”  Oh.  High school was over.  There was only a ceremony left.

I had expected Regina to have moved into the kitchen while I was showering.  Instead, I found her laying on my bed.  When I asked what she was doing, she said, “I didn’t want to risk you falling back asleep when I wasn’t looking.  Besides, your bed smells like you.  You know you smell great, don’t you, James?”  I looked at her for a moment before asking “Have you had breakfast?  I probably forgot to mention that Jarod and I were planning to eat together.  Shall we go?”  She smiled and got out of bed, too slowly for my comfort.  I found myself admiring her long legs under those pale green shorts before I turned for the door.  We said our farewells to mother and took Mila over to Jarod’s.  I wondered how my parents felt with Regina’s car left at the house so often.  Then I remembered that I needed to be leaving the house within the month, so that was a moot point now.  Mila was doing the driving, so I sent a text to Aaliyah mentioning that I could use help finding a place to live.  The girl probably had a great way to look into it.  Oh shoot.  My first text to Aaliyah on her birthday was about work!  I quickly sent her another message wishing her a happy birthday and told her I had a month for the place to live, so there was no rush. Now I really needed to find Aaliyah an amazing present, but what does one get a girl who seemed to have everything she wanted all the time?

“Boys.” stated Regina upon finding out that Jarod was still asleep.  I couldn’t blame him.  We hadn’t planned on leaving till nine, and my phone said a quarter past eight.  I shook Jarod awake, not having anything to toss now that his room was organized.  “Huh?  I swear I set my alarm.  What time is it?” asked a disoriented Jarod.  I explained to him that  Regina was a bit zealous about leaving early to shop, and I hadn’t thought to look at the time before heading over.  Then she and I sat on his bed, talking while he was getting ready.  I was glad she wasn’t being as much of a tease as before, talking about how I smell, but she was just as distractingly beautiful.  I jumped when Jarod came back in the room, and Regina’s giggle at me jumping did not dissuade him from suggesting we were up to something lewd.  He was still assuring me that he didn’t see anything when we got to the mall.  The assurances continued well into the first store and the second, which wasn’t helped by the second store.  Regina had claimed that Aaliyah might like some jewelry, but I started paying more attention to her after the clerk asked if we were planning on getting married.  Regina had wandered over to the engagement rings.  “I know they’re shiny, but I really don’t think I should propose to Aaliyah.” I told her, which earned me a laugh and a shake of her head.

Jarod suggested going into Games Nebula and checking out if anything new came out, but I had no doubts that he had been looking at the same game trailer as me in their window.  Ancient Tribes of Earth seemed to have stunning graphics and absolutely amazing game play, but I didn’t recognize the company’s logo, the Earth with a tiara on it.  I also wondered at which abbreviation would become popular.  Neither A.T.E. nor A.T.O.E. seemed like something to brag about playing.  The world portrayed in the trailer seemed to be heavy fantasy, filled with all manner of crazy beasts.  I shuddered involuntarily as a memory from yesterday came to mind.  One of the store’s clerks was claiming that the entire game had been produced in a single month.  I found that utterly impossible to believe.  Ancient Tribes of Earth promised to be a MMORPG with an enormous world.  Even if the trailer was showing every last unique model, placing them throughout the world would take a huge amount of time.  Then there’s the tremendous amount of coding to make the whole world function.  Creating such a game, even if it didn’t live up to the hype in this store, would take a great number of people and cost a fortune.  Jarod asked “Think she’ll like this?”  I nodded and said, “I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s already tried it though.  The game’s been out a week, and I can’t imagine Chad denying her anything.”  That didn’t stop Jarod from getting a copy for himself though, and I couldn’t leave him playing alone.

Regina just shook her head in exasperation and asked, “So what are you two going to get Aaliyah?”  I didn’t know.  We wandered around for a couple hours with the answer staring us in the face.  One of the many things abundantly found in malls was food, and Aaliyah seemed to like most everything from what I had seen.  Regina tried claiming that Chad would never forgive us for the sugar rush we were purchasing.  We bought candies from half the stores that sold it, and then I had a stroke of genius to top off the present: a costume of Vanellope von Schweetz from Wreck It Ralph.  We just needed clothes of a similar design that could be modified, a wig, and some craft supplies to do the modifications.  I let Chad in on the plan when we realized we needed to know sizes, which he loved the idea, and Regina helped modify the clothes and wig.  We ran out of time before the costume was finished, but Regina and Jarod promised before Mila drove them home that  they’d get it done in time for the party.  As I headed up the elevator to Chad and Aaliyah’s condo, I was all smiles.  I doubted even the little princess would expect to be turned into a candy racing queen for her birthday.  This should definitely be a birthday Aaliyah would never forget, and I couldn’t be happier to help with it.  I already owed the girl so much after such a short time.  Today was the day to pay a little back.

  I spent most of Wednesday evening trying to figure out what Jarod and I could get Aaliyah for her birthday present while helping Corey Nelson build a lawn pond that his wife really wanted.  The lawn pond was looking pretty good by nightfall, but I wasn’t remotely close to knowing what to get Aaliyah.  My dreams didn’t help me decide on anything either, being too filled with other distractions.  They did, however, make me wonder if I truly had too many girls in my life at the moment.  When I woke, I wanted nothing but a cold shower.  The smell of omelettes and bacon put my morning right when I stepped out of the restroom, at least until I realized that I should tell my parents I decided against going to college for the time being.  Walking into the kitchen, I had a slight sense of foreboding, certain that father wouldn’t take well to the idea if I put it plainly.  I didn’t honestly believe mother would be too keen about the idea either, so I made sure to dish up my plate and to start eating before I even considered talking beyond saying, “Good morning.”  Before I was halfway through my omelette, mother just had to ask “Did you get any of those college applications done last night?  I know you came home late, but a good education is important, dear.”  Life just couldn’t give me even a tiny break in this.

 “Well,” I began, “I know neither of you will much care for this idea, but I’ve decided not to go to college just yet.  My business is going far better than any of us expected, I now have two people working under me, since I hired Jarod just yesterday to be a second best friend.  I don’t know how long I can keep this business running, but I intend to see it through.”  Surprisingly, father just nodded and looked over to mother, who was frowning.  “James, dear.  Your father and I thought you might feel this way.  We’re very proud of you.  Starting a new business is difficult and can run into all sorts of unexpected problems.  But..  If you really feel this is right for you, which I’m not really sure… You really should go to college, dear, so you have some sort of backup plan.  It’s not like your business will go anywhere without you.”  I interrupted mother and said, “That’s the problem.  My business won’t go anywhere if I stop now, but if I give it my full attention, instead of running myself ragged between school and the business as I have been, I should be able to make something wonderful of it.”  Father then told me “I don’t disagree with you, son, but what your mother was trying to say is that you’ll need to fully support yourself if you’re determined to do this.  We’ll expect you to move out by the end of June.  You’ll also need to start paying for your cell phone, insurance, and everything else.”  

 My parents continued talking with me for a while about how much everything would cost.  I hadn’t really considered how many expenses they always covered for me, but they couldn’t sway me.  Best Friend For Hire was either going to make me or break me.  I smiled as I drove over to Jarod’s and thought about having an apartment to myself.  Regina was still busy with end of the year stuff, so I had volunteered to give Jarod a ride.  Mrs. Davis told me that Jarod was still in his room “playing on that strange toy of his” when she let me inside.  After knocking and opening the door to his room, I had to do a doubletake of where I was standing.  No longer did Jarod’s room appear to have been the testing site of a bomb.  Instead, there was a large open area, and things were carefully packed away.  “What happened in here?” I asked.  I couldn’t really tell whether Jarod was looking at me or not with him wearing his tablet’s glasses.  “Oh, I ended up cleaning things up when I discovered that Aaliyah had stuck a training course on this thing for that martial arts style she’s been teaching me.  I like it, so I’m trying to get better.” he explained with a shrug.  “Ok.  I can understand that.  I just can’t believe martial arts was the key to a clean room for you.  I’m getting kicked out of my house, by the way.”  Jarod’s mouth dropped open in a satisfying way as I motioned for him to follow me to the car.

 I spent the entire way to school talking with him about apartments and was surprised to find that he wasn’t interested in living with me.  “Yeah… sorry, man.  I just can’t see myself being the greatest roommate and don’t really want to try covering everything on my own.  I’m going to put off mentioning anything to my parents, so they don’t get any ideas, not that they would… well, I don’t think they would.”  I smiled and assured him that his parents would probably let him stay there until he needed a cane to get around, which got him protesting against staying there that long.  “I wonder if the twins will give me cooking lessons.” I commented.  He shrugged and said, “Maybe, but it’ll cost you from them.  Why not just ask Aaliyah?”  I replied “I’m sure she’d teach me, but I feel like I owe her too much already between the car and all of the things she does as my secretary which seem overboard.  Any idea what we should get her as a present yet?”  He shook his head and told me “No clue at all, but I’ve got to get her something good, considering this tablet.  I mean.. It’s amazing!”  I smiled and said, “You know that was from me as well, right?”  He rolled his eyes.  “Yeah.  I’m sure you worked hard coming up with it when you had no clue what you gave me till I opened it.” he said with dripping sarcasm.  We even asked Mila for suggestions, but she wasn’t “authorized to access files on the little princess’s preferences”, which left us still clueless when we arrived at school.

 Regina wasn’t even in class today, so I didn’t get a chance to tell her about my upcoming move.  From what Laura said when I caught her in the hall, Regina was busy dictating details of the graduation ceremony and preparing things for the end of year assembly.  When the time came around for the assembly, she was all smiles as she gave a speech, wishing us all the best in our endeavors.  During the award ceremonies, I felt odd not joining the track team up on stage, especially since something seemed to be up between Nathan and Luke.  They looked upset with one another for some reason.  I couldn’t believe the number of people who came and gave me a hug after the ceremony was over.  Yes, many of the seniors were getting such treatment, but I was certain that half these girls had never even talked with me before.  I did feel surprisingly choked up talking with my classmates.  I might see some of them over the summer, but who knows what universities they’d be attending thereafter.  Even the ones whom I didn’t know very well were at least familiar faces to me.  Part of me wanted to try warning them all of the dangers out in the world, but I knew no one would take me seriously, no one except Jarod and Regina at least.  Instead, I told myself that I would try to protect whomever I could to the best of my ability.  With Ai, Mai, and Emma helping Regina, Jarod, and I, we might very well save quite a few of the ones that stayed near home.

 Coach Cooper came up to me before I managed to slip out and handed me his keys, saying, “Hey, James.  I’ve been trying to catch you for a week now.  You always were quick though.  Still am sorry I couldn’t talk you into staying on the team.  Anyway, you left some stuff in your locker.  Just give me the keys back after you lock up.”  He gave me a pat on the back and walked off.  I probably did leave my spare shoes in the locker.  Possibly some shorts.  I really needed to get my head together sometime soon, especially if I was going to manage living on my own.  I took off to the track building, unlocked the door and paused.  There was a loud thump as if something had hit a locker hard.  I carefully shut the door behind me, not wanting to make any noise.  Then I crept slowly down the stairs and listened for any sounds.  I could hear someone moving around, obviously angry with how lockers were getting hit repeatedly.  I grabbed my ears in pain as a tremendously loud roar filled the room, echoing off the walls.  I forced myself to concentrate through the pain and drew in as much magic as I could.  There was an abundance up ahead, and I pulled it all into a spell meant to throw someone backward.  I nearly lost it when I found blood, and then saw Nathan’s shredded body on the ground.  Standing over him was a vaguely humanoid shape with an enormous, fur-covered head.  He stared at me, teeth barred.  His clothing was torn over his monstrous frame.

 Then the monster changed before my eyes, his form shrinking into Luke.  “James…  I didn’t want this to happen.  You’ve gotta believe me.  He told me that his parents were kicking me out.  I had just moved in and thought they liked me.  Apparently they had found blood on my shoes and were worried.  I had tried to get Nathan to side with me, but he wouldn’t.  I had asked if he’d seen anything, and he wouldn’t answer me.  He just wouldn’t answer me.  I asked him down here to talk, but I just lost it…  seriously…  I’d never hurt Nathan.”  I strained to keep my spell ready, but I was barely keeping my lunch down.  What should I do?  “TALK TO ME!” he screamed.  Then he was reaching for me, and I panicked.  I unleashed my spell on him.  I lost my lunch after hearing the sickening crack of his body hitting the wall.  When my stomach was empty, I dropped to the ground.  I saw that the wall was ruined where Luke had struck; cement had shattered by the force of the spell.  Luke was bleeding on the ground.  I didn’t know what to do, so I called the twins and quickly explained what happened.  They told me I should make sure Luke was dead, but I knelt to check on Nathan first.  There was no pulse.  No breath.  Luke wasn’t moving either.  Blood.  Blood was everywhere.  Mai was telling me they were on their way, but I needed to focus.  I did as she instructed and started moving the blood to the drain after a couple tries duplicating the blood magic she had shown me.  Luke had left more residual energy when he changed to human.  I nearly lost my lunch again when I had accidentally made the blood spread on the ground.

 When I came back from the shower to get more blood, Luke and Nathan were both gone.  I made a spell to seek out more blood, and found a trail going out to the back door.  After peeking out, I shut it and locked it.  Then I set to work cleaning up the rest of the blood, nearly jumping out of my skin when a knock came at the front.  “Who is it?” I asked, hoping I wouldn’t have to defend myself again so soon.  Regina’s voice called back.  She hugged me tight when I opened the door.  “Ai called me after you apparently hung up on them.  I’m so sorry, James.  Are they still down there?”  I shook my head, barely registering the worry that crossed her face.  “I’m glad you’re alright.”  She took me by the hand and walked back down to the lockers.  Then she helped me clean up the little blood that remained.  “Luke killed Nathan, and I thought I had killed Luke.  Look at that wall, Regina.  He lived through that.”  She nodded, looking determined.  “We’ll find him, James.”  I was surprised by the ferocity in her voice.  After she asked why I had even been here, I grabbed my spare shoes and clothes.  Then we went and gave Coach Cooper back his keys.  By the time the twins arrived, Regina and I were sitting in Mila and talking.  Ai went to follow the trail, saying she just wanted to know where Luke was heading, while Mai stayed back and talked with us.  I had never been so disturbed in all my life, even when I had been attacked by werewolves.  Was there really a place for me in such a crazy world?  If so, could I survive it?