It's Not Easy (5)
Fox returned to Proteros without further ado, arriving at the boutique in the evening. The Blackflower Boutique was bustling, even though it was only an hour and a bit before it closed. He walked inside, checking the first floor and catching up with the youngsters before walking into the second floor. He saw Pamela working relaxed, with her surroundings a bit empty, but the attendants hard at work to show the fabrics and further showcase the colors of every piece.
Coming to her, Fox drew her attention, to which she smiled. “Welcome, boss.”
“Have you thought of any possible fellow clerk?” Fox politely smiled and inquired. Pamela nodded and showed him her screen, as its glitching white blankness disappeared. “Eduardo, Pilar, and Karla are my best candidates. All of them show the necessary skill and atti- nature, as you say, boss.”
“Start with Eduardo first,” Fox said. She nodded and prepared something in a little panel beside her. Fox looked at this and tilted his head, saying, “You don’t want to use your phone?”
“Oh, well, I don’t, boss. I prefer to do a little something for my work, but I only have the screens for that. This panel is to take notes, just that.” Pamela showed her little gadget. Fox nodded a bit and said, “I will get you a window later. I forgot something like this.”
“Thanks, boss,” Pamela smiled and didn’t refuse. Who would? When they are difficult to get for people like her? Before becoming a clerk, of course, although she wouldn’t just use her bions to buy one thing alone, she was now ambitious.
Fox nodded again, liking this about her, and took a look around before returning to the first floor. There, he holed up in his cave and meditated, using the free time to relax and… maybe even think of other things, anything.
. . .
These days, even with Fox continuing participating in his team’s cooperative assignations, the country seemed to grow incredibly tranquil. The parliament approved certain initiatives and only had a few heated debates, but nothing like lengthy talks that required weeks to reach the first voting period to decide an affirmative or negative.
The lagjs were seemingly silent now; but Fox, and only those in the other hoogs in Lýmoca knew they were aware of a ‘slip up’ where they realized they were being spied by at least one hoog secret organization. Moreover, there were disappearances from lagj secret organizations’ leaders.
Unfortunately, there was still crime everywhere, and the ‘rates’ everyone knew existed and had to learn fast how to protect oneself to were still making their worth in every place in the world.
The 9th month came to an end. Just as news of a last reform before the president Luis Heartez left, with the upcoming elections in 1,026, or at least that’s what every radio and communication medium advocated; Fox was sent to a peculiar task.
He had just finished rearranging the Blackflower Boutique. Pamela had screened another dozen workers, of which can still be used for the boutique even if another floor was to be added. Fox only needed to decide the future 2 clerks for the first floor, and the third floor, of which the latter’s acquiring had begun. Fox had Fabiola send a few hints to the ‘neighbor’ above.
For the income of this month, it was definitely an increase. Fox obtained a few hundred thousand from his personal assignations, but he didn’t have many, as these more or less required quite a bit of time to complete and prepare. Furthermore, the PSD seemed to want to give him some time after the successive plentiful intel he gathered.
Fox gained another approximate 1.2 million from his missions with the team, besides another 600,000 credits from the missions he completed in the 9th month. From the bions, he made 1.4 million credits from his bions sold to PSD, and 1.4 million credits from Colmillo.
She unfortunately didn’t buy him more bions, but she did promise him she’d rather take more of his bions the next month, meaning this tenth one. With such a promise, Fox felt at ease. Furthermore, he began preparing for learning creating excellent quality bions. First, he wanted to improve his personal pivot and comet bions, though.
With just this, not counting the 300,000 less from the mega hotel, now monthly, Fox had 7.7 million credits. Taking into consideration he couldn’t pay the new and newer workers with bions all the time, Fox prepared a plan to pay them with bions on the first 2 months they worked. Then, it would pass on to a monthly salary of 4,000 credits, which can only increase as their status does in the Blackflower Boutique.
For now, with the previous youngsters and the new, there were 18 employees in the level of attendants, and 2 clerks. Of which 6 weren’t paid until the next year, and the first youngsters to arrive costed 48,000 credits from the attendants, and 11,000 credits from the clerks to the boutique.
The attendants, for now, gained 4,000 credits, but that might increase in the future, while the clerks received 5,500 credits from the get-go.
However, seeing the increasing problematics in the business world when growing, Fox decided to separate his gains from the boutique’s profit. Thus, he only took 30% of the now monthly 410,000 credits of earnings. That was at least the result from the 9th month’s sales. 119,000 were destined for resupplying and paying the employees, leaving only 168,000 credits as profit.
With this, the boutique could start functioning in the following year, which he hoped would be at least half the building as tall regarding expansion.
With this, Fox now had 7.523 million credits in his bank account. He could pay either the mechanic or the old man already, but he wanted to wait. Furthermore, as they expand, they’d need more and more money. Even if he had to sacrifice a slower repair for his Myertha, Fox would do it.
Regardless, while this was still not stable enough, at least for Fox’s knowledge after being taught by Victor Ruva and further counting numbers up, it was much better than it would have been. His image helped a lot, and the fact the PSD targeted the most possible easily acquirable businesses for their special agents. With better options, too.
With the boutique as one of his mayor investments, the others being his personal matters, Fox hoped he could get thanked back and filled with millions already. And then, just as he was getting bored, having selected another Clerk for the first floor, Fox received that particular task.
With a smile, even more so as he read it was a ‘mini’ cooperative task, Fox left the boutique in the morning, feeling in a good mood. The clerks messaged him back after he notified them, just as expected from the working code, and left with ease, in a really good mod.
… This time, it was also not only in the state of Proteros, but in the capital city. Furthermore, he wasn’t to conceal his identity. The reason why was simple; he’d work as a detective for the capital’s SPD!
What’s more, he was to meet with a case partner, and this was no other than his Captain, Nala Loba!
There was no secret. The PSD amply observed the reports from their previous tasks where they ‘accidentally’ ended up working together. Thus, with this complicated task, or so they say, they decided to send some of their best agents.
Fox went to his mega hotel, caught Teon checking herself in lingerie, and shook his head at the possible ways she could conquer her poor target. Then, he went to grab one of the silly suits and decent outfits Mena gifted him once ago. Once dressed up and with his little gadgets, he left, but not without being hugged by a mini-short and skimpy shirt-wearing Teon in the living room.
“What are you doing?” Fox looked down and asked her patiently. Teon wrinkled her nose and innocently replied, “Hoe-repellent. They usually like targeting married men, and like those with family of lawyers, but not those with girlfriends. They are afraid of them. My perfume is a girlfriend’s perfume, I gotchu, Fox.”
“Why would they be scared of girlfriends?” Fox asked, he was the innocent now. Teon made a grimacing pout to the left corners of her lips, “I hope you never get the chance to know why.”
Slap. She tapped his left shoulder and walked past him, “Off you go now. Gooooood luck… can you buy me a bi-”
“Get to work!” Fox went to the door with quickened steps the moment he felt something was wrong. Indeed, it was, and terribly wrong. Before Teon could finish her puppy-eyed, sweet-voiced transformation spell, Fox was already closing the door and escaping his suite.
“…” Teon looked back, sad that she didn’t even get to show him her trained cutesy skills, taught by mentor Mena. What she didn’t know is that Fox already suspected Mena of doing so. Who else would teach Teon things of social life like that when she was his and Pheli’s protected little sister?
This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.
‘Now that I think about it, Mena seems to have so much experience…’ Fox wondered, not knowing why, when it had been obvious. Maybe because of recent occurrences. Fox decided to mull it over and maybe consult Mena about this, but later. He had a task with Nala Loba again!
Exiting the mega hotel, Fox took a PVT (taxi), and headed to a part of the city, somewhat to the northwest. Coincidentally, that was where ‘territories’ between the Yobartes gang and the Coalition Party Syndicate conflicted, or could.
40 minutes later, avoiding a bottleneck that could’ve even made the trip last 2 hours, just by a hair’s strand of difference as it began behind the PVT. Fox arrived at the SPD. If the PAB from before was lavish, the capital’s SPD was too much of everything.
It had more stairs, divided by small floors like platforms, each staircase going higher and higher until nearly 5 meters from the ground level. Even though it was the capital’s SPD, and its elements and armament could compare to a national guard base in numbers, Fox didn’t think these should be that… rich.
At once, he saw a young woman with short golden short hair, with a mushroom hairstyle, exotic, feminine, and slightly seductive dancing in the cold winds of the day. She wore a long beige coat and a small black hat, with slightly large sunglasses on this gray day. She leaned on a wall.
Fox walked to her without any pretense or momentum. Stopping by her side, Nala Loba took her glasses off and looked at him as he stood there. Fox nodded a bit, “Greetings, Captain Nala. Good day. Being detectives doesn’t differ much from the last time.”
“…” The only thing he received was Nala Loba’s gray, light blue eye, and both, to be exact. Her silence remained, but Fox didn’t press for anything. At last, she stood with her back straight from leaning her upper back on a high wall leading to a staircase at the corner of the street.
“Good ones.” With just those words, she looked up at his eyes after analyzing his outfit. Elegant but nothing too characteristic. She opened her lips, at last. “Are you ready?”
With Fox’s nod, she gave him her hand. It had a dainty lady’s but ultramodernized purple gloves, exposing the reverse of her hair and left side of her wrist. Fox took it, understanding the game was on.
They walked up the several dozen meters long stairs and the platform leading to the SPD entrance. Nobody was watching outside, but he saw many cameras moving systematically, with at least 3 following them. Going inside, a pair of police units opened the doors for them, with some guarding police officers’ attention taken away by them.
It didn’t take long for a third of the enormous, open space first floor to turn their heads towards them. And in the silence of it, the entire floor turned heads and twisted necks to eye them.
One was indispensably a figure impossible to ignore. Fox, Phesx Caolia, was a person not considered human by some. Those some were definitely a good portion of all PPO, PAB, and SPD. After all, it was them who had complete access to this kind of information at any time during working hours. Fear and hostility were warped a little by cooperation.
The other wasn’t known. Nala Loba has done a great work being PSD’s special agent to not be known. Even those who were seemingly prepared to show the truth to the public were carefully selected, Nala Loba wasn’t supposed to. With al this, Fox wondered what was going on in the PSD upper echelons, which Nala Loba herself was part of as the Red Blood representative captain.
Fox walked forth, this time guiding her. He only noticed a few steps onwards. He looked back at her, perplexed, before unceremoniously continuing. He searched for the chief of police’s office before heading straight to it. Fox heard and saw many look at him wrongly, speak ill of him, but overly ‘compliment’ Nala. Ignoring all these, he held Nala Loba’s hand and walked into the chief’s office.
Without knocking or asking anyone, not even talking to someone, Fox entered the chief’s office. It was a balding brown man with a serious natural face, sitting in front of a beautiful, brown young woman, politely smiling from ear to ear.
“What the hell now?!” The chief slammed his fist on his desk at the first chance he got, but when he looked at them as the young woman jolted and her face became terrified, his eyes widened. Nala Loba’s beauty didn’t compare to realizing Fox was there.
At once, memories of news where blurred images showed a gruesome ceiling, or where the mayor was interviewed, and he retold what he experienced, surged in his head. That mayor couldn’t walk through crowds without 3 rows of guards walking before him, always giving him their backs, afraid to meet anyone upfront. It happened a few times, and in all those times, the mayor peed himself.
“My! What a surprise. Please forgive me, I didn’t know you were arriving so soon.” The chief stood up and shook hands with them. He first shook Fox’s gloved hand, but before he did the same to Nala Loba, planning to hold hers with both hands, for longer, Fox saw his eyes and slapped Nala Loba’s back away.
The chief shook Fox’s hand again, gaining him the chief’s upturned eyes, which quickly fled in cowardice from his polycoria eyes. The young brown woman frowned when Fox did that, but Nala Loba lifted her left eyebrow, looking at his face directly, before easing up and relaxing her lips. They protruded naturally, and Fox took that like it came to be because of him.
The chief invited them in before realizing about the young woman, “Please, come in. Ahaha. Uh… ey, Mariana. Why don’t you leave first? Aish, there’s something important with them. Tell you what, we talk another day, with better conditions, yes?”
“Ahahaha,” the young woman politely laughed, but her polite smile looked more forced and superficial as she hurried out, carrying her bag over her shoulder. “No problem, chief. Take your time. Hahaha, have fun~!”
“Hahaha,” the chief chuckled before returning to his desk. “So, I assume you know how to work things out. This is your partner, Fox? Nice to meet you. The SPD will count with your help this time, hahaha. Do you have any questions?”
“No. Give us the badges and call us when the next incident occurs. Meanwhile, grab some of your state police sergeants. I want to interview them.” Fox shook his head and laid his words out, clearly and without possible no’s to stop it.
“Ah…” The chief wanted to say a few things, but for the first time, he considered his actions. If he said something, it wouldn’t be with reason, so Fox’s demands would happen either way. Might as well not waste Fox’s time, which he seems to care a lot, besides briefness.
As this silence prevailed, Nala Loba placed the fat of her thumbs together and spoke, looking at the chief. “I’ll proceed with a thorough revision of your arsenal and lockers. Give me the ‘master key’. Furthermore, give me all files of the criminals and detained whom you consider involved in this case.”
“Of course, of course. Just a second,” the chief saw a chance and took it. He exited the room with half his body covered in sweat already. Once he closed the door behind him, he didn’t care about the eyes of everyone on him and exaggeratedly breathed in relief, not knowing those inside heard it all.
During his absence, just a little over 2 minutes, Nala Loba started by turning her head to Fox, slightly lifting her head to stare at his eyes. Fox wanted to relax at first, with his eyes closed, and breathe a bit. But feeling her movements, and feeling she was a bit cute, unlike the Loba he knows, Fox returned the stare.
With just their eyes, they seemed to chat. Fox said, “Why are you staring at me?”
Nala Loba said, “I’m just thinking. Looking at your eyes distracts me from distractions, keeps my head empty.”
“Is it the irises and pupils?” Fox asked with gullibility. Nala Loba nodded a tiny bit, saying nothing more, only giving a little exclamation that gave Fox an even deeper sense of his heart strangely melting. On the contrary, she was helpless.
When the chief returned, he saw those two remained staring into each other’s eyes, including those outside peeking from their seats. The pair continued staring off into each other’s eyes.
“Ahem, here they are. The files will be prepared in a while… hello?” The chief closed the door and sat before them, explaining the situation before realizing he was being ignored. He felt a little grumpy. He was the capital’s SPD chief of police, alright?
“Why don’t you have the files prepared?” Nala Loba coldly and indifferently said as she and Fox turned their heads to the chief simultaneously. The chief was taken aback by this 2-prongued attack. “Ah… this… well… Aaah, I just didn’t think about it. Haha, I’ll prepare them for you tonight, don’t worry~.”
The tone the chief spoke with wasn’t to Fox’s liking, but it was unimportant. Fox grabbed his badge as a ‘senior’ detective, leaving the other and the one key and key card tied to the same chain to Nala Loba. She picked them after him, storing them before questioning the chief again.
“And the state police sergeants? Do you want to delay or just lazy? Alright, you can be tardy, but not us. Either cooperate or we’ll proceed with our methods.” Nala Loba said before dragging her chair backwards. She looked at Fox. Understanding, he stood up and took the first steps to the exit.
“Wait, I will prepare everyone before the evening! Ah! B- be sure to return at that time, at the very least, if you can, today…” The chief saw them live and panicked. Many things passing through his head, reflecting in the shine of his eyes. Nala Loba looked back at him before seemingly whispering something in Fox’s ear. Him bending his back to the side looked bizarrely cute. This occurred as the chief’s begging turned more and more low, extending the reunion date on and on.
Only then did the chief felt things were alright, but the door had already closed behind the ‘special agents’, giving him no conclusion, only a lavish door without windows or glass.
… Fox and Nala Loba walked out the precinct, not hand by hand this time, and turned to a place where hot, warm food smelled from. It was a brightly lit, rather large, area where tons of people moved around in the distance, perhaps 2 km away.
Just as they were walking down the SPD precinct’s stairs and into the sidewalk, Nala Loba tapped her feet and stopped. Fox looked back at her, just a few steps from where she stood. She wore her glasses, but her fixed eyes on him were prickly. Fox blurted, “What is it?”
He saw her left eyebrow arch up, making him gulp a bit. It was an exceptional sight, as always, but just that he did that made him realize something wasn’t right. He took a step towards her, and just then, she lifted her left hand casually before turning it around, showing her palm.
Fox looked at her purple gloved palm before grabbing it, staring up at her glasses, penetrating through them, and right into the gray, light blue eyes behind them. They stared right back at him with a nature he now knew well.
“Alright,” Fox gently said, wearing an impassive expression. He felt her fingers wrap around his larger hands, feeling some of the strange composition before Fox passed it to his right hand, making her stand on his right, whereas he stood on the side of the street. Then, he walked forth.
He didn’t have to pull her, she came up his steps with ease, synchronizing with his feet.
…