ADEN EMSLY
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[8:05 AM — (555-475-2677)] Aden Emsly. I'm calling in that debt. Where is Buck Higly?
[9:10 AM — (AE)] Who the fuck is this?!
[9:10 AM — (555-475-2677)] You know who.
[9:20 AM — (AE)] ... I cant blieve Im saying this. Is this "girlboss"
[9:20 AM — (555-475-2677)] With a space and correct capitalization preferred
[12:20 PM — (555-475-2677)] You are stalling and I care about this answer.
[14:20 PM — (555-475-2677)] Have you opened that fat college acceptance envelope yet? It came today.
[13:47 PM — (AE)] Bitch. You are creepy. What do you want?
[12:22 PM — (555-475-2677)] I am interested in Buck Higly's absence from school. Why has he been gone? What has he been up to?
[13:47 PM — (AE)] why? its just a few days
[13:47 PM — (555-475-2677)] Not how this works. Tell me what I want to know now, or you will regret that you did not.
[13:47 PM — (AE)] Ok. Fuck. Well. your out of luck. you think buck consults me about shit? How the hell should I know where bucks been?
[13:47 PM — (555-475-2677)] You are best buds. Eastwall Titans are close nit. You were texting Buck an hour ago.
[13:47 PM — (AE)] you are fucking creepy. you fucking spying on me now? I can call the cops on this shit
[13:47 PM — (555-475-2677)] Last chance.
[12:22 PM — (AE)] You never call in those dumb deals.
[12:22 PM — (555-475-2677)] Someone lied to you.
[12:22 PM — (AE)] Listen GB. I'm not ratting on my friend.
[12:23 PM — (555-475-2677)] I advise you to reconsider. What I giveth I can taketh away.
[12:23 PM — (AE)] go screw your self
[12:23 PM — (555-475-2677)] ... such wasted loyalty.
VICTORIA MONTGOMERY
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[8:29 AM — (555-475-2677)] Hello Victoria. What can you tell me about The Guy?
[8:31 AM — (VM)] Who wants to know?
[8:31 AM — (555-475-2677)] Call me Girl Boss.
[8:32 AM — (VM)] lol is this a joke? seriously. how did you get my number?
[8:33 AM — (555-475-2677)] I just sent you a list of references. Feel free to check my credibility.
--- FIVE MINUTES LATER ---
[8:38 AM — (VM)] I didn't get anything
[8:38 AM — (555-475-2677)] I sent it to your email.
[8:38 AM — (555-475-2677)] Personal email.
[9:00 AM — (VM)] Ok. That's not shady in the slightest. You sure you don't already know the guy?
[9:03 AM — (555-475-2677)] I don't usually waste my time with things I already know.
[9:03 AM — (VM)] Thats... not a no....
[9:03 AM — (555-475-2677)] ...
[9:05 AM — (VM)] thats a long list of references....
[9:05 AM — (555-475-2677)] I curated them for you. You are welcome.
--- NEXT DAY ---
[7:00 AM — (VM)] ok. I talked to some of the folks on your list and they say youre the real deal.
[7:00 AM — (VM)] So I have to ask
[7:00 AM — (555-475-2677)] You don't have to ask
[7:01 AM — (VM)] Why do you want to talk to the guy?
[7:03 AM — (555-475-2677)] I don't. I want to know about the guy. I can pay well.
[7:09 AM — (VM)] sorry girl boss. cant help ya. see ya!
[7:12 AM — (555-475-2677)] Tiffany is going to be really disappointed.
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
--- 3 HOURS LATER ---
[10:30 AM — (VM)] ok. Youre a fucking creep. what do you want to know about the guy?
[10:43 AM — (555-475-2677)] A general description will suffice.
[10:45 AM — (VM)] He's disguised and it changes all the time. Happy?
[10:45 AM — (555-475-2677)] No. I was hoping you would go deeper.
[10:47 AM — (VM)] Listen Girl Boss. I dont know what youve got on Tiff, but I'm not talking about the guy. find someone else.
[10:48 AM — (555-475-2677)] How does one grand up front sound?
[10:48 AM — (VM)] Say what now??
[10:49 AM — (555-475-2677)] And another two for speculation regarding his identity. Contingent on quality of course.
[10:49 AM — (VM)] Huh...
MINION 42
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[11:21 PM — (555-475-2677)] Minion 42. This is Girl Boss.
[11:43 PM — (M42)] GB! You changed your number again! What can I do for you?
[11:44 PM — (555-475-2677)] This one suits me better.
[11:44 PM — (555-475-2677)] I'm planning an event. How do you feel about converting assets on the west-side hall. Third Floor.
[11:45 PM — (M42)] Oooohhhh. A hit! Its been a while. I was worried you'd tucked those claws away.
[11:45 PM — (M42)] The one with the lockers?
[11:45 PM — (555-475-2677)] An event.... You shouldn't call it that
[11:46 PM — (M42)] I've got enough on this phone to burn for good if anyone checks
[11:47 PM — (M42)] I can do it GB. But it aint gonna be cheep.
[11:47 PM — (555-475-2677)] Do this and we are free and clear.
[11:57 PM — (M42)] Nah. Not what I'm after. I want to go deep.
[12:22 PM — (555-475-2677)] ... Deep?
[6:03 AM — (M42)] In. I want in.
[7:43 AM — (555-475-2677)] You... want a promotion? You are already pretty high up.
[7:45 AM — (M42)] 42 is high up?
[7:45 AM — (555-475-2677)] I started at a super secret number to keep the hoi polloi guessing.
[7:45 AM — (M42)] Uhuh...
[7:46 AM — (M42)] I was thinking more of a rank that didn't start with minion.
--- 1 DAY LATER ---
[12:01 PM — (555-475-2677)] You are right. That isn't cheep. Tell you what. I've got a different job for you. Do it, and you'll be deep, in and whatever other euphemisms you can think of. I know you're good for it.
BABY BOSS
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--- VERY SOON AFTER ---
"Wha — what are you do — "
"Smile, Bitch you're on camera!"
Girl Boss slurped loudly from her ice and coke, and in her other ear she could Karmin Franks crunching her way through a popcorn bag.
She could see her doing that crunching too through her computer screen.
"Want me to step in Girl Boss? 105 looks like she's flailing."
"Stay the course Baby Boss." Girl Boss took another long slurp, stirred the ice around with her straw and then set it aside. "She did an Icarus. Fly too high and you get burnt."
"No! STOP! Get that —"
"— AND I'm going to post this on line, your hear me?! You and your dumb as shit alias. You stay away —"
"— Not — Boss!"
"— my friends. AND you DAMN well stay away from The Guy!"
Karmin had stopped crunching and Girl Boss could see her eying the camera on her computer screen furtively.
Karmin had opted to wear a plastic mask of a Baby's face to get in character, but her strawberry blond pigtails stuck out on either side just like they usually did and Girl Boss just knew that underneath that mask her lips were pursed around her blue braces.
She couldn't see Girl Boss, of course. Maybe that was unfair... But that was also the rub. There were perks for being at the top, and for all she trusted Baby Boss — who had until recently been Minion 42 — an identity was a precious thing to waste.
"Damn... glad my wings were made of sterner stuff."
"You weren't threatening to talk to the feds."
Crunch. Crunch.
"So, what? This was a test? See if I would burn someone for you?
"It was an indoctrination. It's good to be Boss. But it comes with responsibilities that I need to know you can handle."
Baby Boss's glance was skeptical. "And now you know."
"Now I suspect. I'm opening another op. You're gonna run it. I figure you can base out of Computer Lab C, West Side."
Baby Boss's eyes lit up from behind the baby mask. "Fuck yea! Now we're talking."
"And I'll need those assets pronto. For that event."
"You mean the hit! We going with the usual, Girl Boss?"
Girl Boss speared the newest boss with her iciest stare even as Baby Boss fist-pumped exuberantly. Then she realized that Baby Boss could't actually see her, and that there were also cons to being at the top. She sighed and un-muted her mike.
"No. I've got something special planned for this one."
BOSS BABE
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--- FIVE MONTHS LATER ---
"Of all the University Bosses, in all of Northern United States, you came to me. To what do I owe the pleasure, Girl Boss?"
His finger's were steepled and his face wore an easy grin.
Of course, Girl Boss wasn't foolish enough to think that that was his actual face. They both wore local filters over their complexion to mask their appearances — they weren't morons. Still, because they weren't morons, Girl Boss also expected that he valued communication enough that he wasn't using an emotion emulation package on his avatar.
So it ticked her off.
"Don't make this something it isn't, Boss Man. Cut the pleasantries. I'm sending an agent over."
"I'm not accustomed to lying down while High School Bosses run ops on my turf. "
"Yea, yea. It's unavoidable. Her name is Boss Babe and she's willing to play nice if you do."
Girl Boss hit a few buttons and the sent-email sound whooshed a second later.
"That's her."
Boss Man opened it on his phone and his eyebrow quirked elegantly. "Not our usual profile, Girl Boss." He tisked and showed her the image on his phone.
It showed a strawberry blond wearing a sweat wicking T-shirt and an intense expression stringing boxing wraps over her hands. The gym she was standing in had a lot of hanging bags, and a lot of very muscular men and women beating the crap out of those bags.
"Laugh it up, Boss Man. She's ambitious."
"Ambitious?"
"Girl used to wear braces."
"Now that is more the look —"
"— So now her teeth are straight."
"— Ah."
"She had to do a bunch of running."
"Do tell...."
"So she learned Parkour."
Boss Man's eyes moved over what Girl Boss assumed was the profile she'd sent him. "She's got a 'B' on her record."
"Physics isn't her thing. But ask her for LAN access, and she'll get you eyes on the entire third floor in a day."
"A hacker?"
"An anything with a computer."
"And the Op?"
Girl Boss told him.
"That is... significantly outside our usual scope. Especially for a High School Boss."
"I went to Boss Mama direct." Girl Boss's grin was wolfish. "And we both know it's not just a High School."
"She does like the precocious ones." Boss Man sighed and put his phone down. "I look forward to meeting this... Boss Babe."
"Good." Her phone vibrated and Girl Boss checked it. "Because she's about to knock on your study room door."
Before the connection cut, Girl Boss had the supreme pleasure of seeing that easy grin finally turn brittle.