Eva gave him a bright grin and rushed him. She gave him a tight hug even as he sat in his chair.
“Thank you. I really thought our lives were over. We didn’t even have enough money to eat when we were caught. Now we have a home, and I can go to school. A good one. Evan even has a mentor. A great mentor. Lily is known all over the world.”
Felix felt awkward. He gently patted the young woman on the shoulder.
He was great in the corporate world. That all made sense to him.
Emotions, people, and this kind of stuff, though? Might as well have been Swahili.
“Yeah, no worries,” he said lamely.
“Can I take an Andrea with me to talk to Evan and Lily?” Eva asked, pulling back.
Felix looked to the Andrea beside him.
She instantly split into two, the left one holding up her hand. “I wanna go!”
“Have fun, then. I’ll be here. I’m sure Lily has sent me more paperwork and meetings that I’ll have to sign and agree to.”
Felix smiled as the new Andrea and Eva exited the room.
As the door closed, he opened up the terminal set in his desk.
He had forty-two unread emails.
“Maybe I should buy a new phone that I can link to this. Maybe if I try to keep on the emails, they wouldn’t go so bad.”
“I could read them for you,” Andrea offered. “I mean, if I’m going to be your… I hate saying both. From now on, I’m your personal secretary, okay?”
“Okay,” Felix said, grinning.
“If I’m going to be your personal secretary, maybe I should read your mail and sort out what’s worth your time and what isn’t. I can even keep your calendar in order and start getting you where you need to be on time.”
“That sounds great, Andrea. Be sure to put in an order for a phone or tablet or whatever you like so you can do that.”
“Nn! I’ll take care of it. As Andrea Prime, I’ll remain at your side.”
“Thanks.”
Andrea smiled and then hugged him tightly, wrapping her arms around him.
“Eva was right. This really is the best. You don’t care about whatever we were before, you only care about what we are now for you.”
Felix smiled tightly, patting Andrea gently on the back.
I don’t really see how becoming a slave is a positive, but as long as they’re happy.
Chapter 16 - The Color Red -
Once again, Felix sat at the breakfast table looking at the blueprints Felicia had laid down in front of him.
“Everything is done, as promised. Once you go spend your points for the living quarters, they’ll be done. Which is on the point calendar, as Lily requested,” Felicia said through gritted teeth.
The beautiful ex-lawyer and busty Dwarf didn’t really get along. Keeping them in each other’s company was very similar to putting two unfamiliar cats in a box.
“And while you’re down there, you can finish off the dining halls. We made better progress than expected. Training rooms and common areas should be later this week. Since we don’t have a facilities department yet, I put in the initial orders for everything the kitchens will need. Or at least I think I did. Might not be everything.” Felicia shrugged her shoulders. “Not my problem. Off to work. See you later.”
Ioana moved in and pulled out Felicia’s chair as she stood up. The Dwarven woman eyed Ioana curiously.
A thought popped into his head. “Felicia, could you spend some time with Ioana for the training rooms? She’d know best what we need in terms of space and equipment.”
“Eh? I could do that… fine. Come along, then,” Felicia said softly, turning and leaving them there.
Ioana looked to him and gave him a grin.
Felix threw her thumbs-up. “Go get ‘er,” he said quietly.
Ioana took off at a light trot, chasing down Felicia.
“I didn’t know,” Eva said quietly around a forkful of pancake.
Kit smirked and tapped Eva’s plate with her own utensil. “It was very subtle. We’ll work on learning the difference between surface thoughts and things people hide. Maybe after you get home from shopping today.”
“You sure you can’t come too?” Eva asked, looking to Kit, then Felix.
“I can’t. Felix needs people here at the same time. Besides, I’m putting together my department today, remember? It all starts with HR, which means me,” Kit said apologetically.
Lily turned her head to Felix, smiling as ever.
He often felt like she knew something he didn’t.
Too often.
“There’s a public domain auction on slaves in two days. I plan on attending and will need Kit with me. They’re all non-supers, just civilians. It’ll be a chance to pick up some people for specific roles. Any objections?” asked Lily.
“None. Be sure you keep it cheap and run the numbers by Felicia so she can build out accordingly. If our FTE keeps going up, we’ll have to build accordingly. It’s not like we’ll have attrition.”
“FTE?” Andrea asked, dropping a pancake onto his plate as he finished up the third.
“Full-time equivalent, or full-time employee, depending. Attrition is when you fire people. Can’t really fire a slave, though.”
Lily pointed her fork at Felix. “Actually, we might end up having attrition. Not everyone will fit a role perfectly. Eventually we’ll run out of places to put them if they keep fouling up. You’ll need to consider what we do with those people. They’re a poison and would eventually corrupt the rest of the workforce.”
Kit sighed, placing a hand to her ear. Then she slowly shook her head and looked to Felix. “She’s right. I don’t like it, but she’s right.”
Felix shrugged his shoulders. He’d already thought of that to a degree. It wasn’t something that would be pleasant, but a simple answer.
Sausage machine.
Felix pushed his plate away. “Sorry, Andrea, delicious as always, but I’m full.”
Andrea smiled and took the pancake away. Then she suddenly leaned over the table, knocking over an empty cup while doing so.
Licking her thumb, she rubbed it against the corner of his mouth. “Syrup. Messy, messy.”
Felix sat there, frozen in place, staring into Andrea’s face.
“Thanks.” He didn’t know what to do in this situation.
“Nnnn! As your personal secretary, it’s my job. Now, I’m going to go change so we can get going.” Andrea pushed back off the table to her feet and then left quickly.
Lily started to laugh. Then Kit did, followed by Eva.
“Maybe she’ll give us lessons,” Lily said, turning to Kit.
Felix let his eyes wander around the department store. Lily, Andrea, and Eva were all in the changing rooms going through the clothes they’d picked out.
Kit, Felicia, Miu, Ioana, and a team of Andreas were back home working on moving their shop across the street. Lily had completed the purchase, pushed the paperwork along, and even rebalanced their books.
She was really showing a natural aptitude to corporate work. Then again, she’d trained as a lawyer, so it couldn’t have been all that different.
A store clerk flashed by him, asking him if he was okay, and leaving even before he could fully respond.
Shaking his head at the lazy work ethic, Felix turned his mind to the rest of his day.
He still owed Lily her power buildout. Depending on what she asked for, he should have enough points left for the day. Felicia’s finishing touches had cost him a good amount, but the effort hadn’t bankrupted him.
“Flirting with the help?” Lily asked.
Felix turned to find Lily approaching him by herself. She was wearing a black dress that she filled out well. It pulled the eyes into dangerous territory.
“Not really. I don’t really have time for that sort of thing right now.” Felix stuck his eyes to her face and kept them there.
Lily tilted her head to one side, watching him. “I’d like my third power now.”