By morning I realised the enormity of what I’d done.
Seth’s face when last we were together plaugued my sleep for hours.
I had to make it up to him.
I was being childish.
Letting my insecurities rule my emotions.
If Seth didn’t want me to learn about his life outside of work he wouldn’t have suggested I investigate it.
I knew I was overthinking.
Reading into something that really wasn’t anything more then me overeacting.
So what.
Seth has a life outside of being a PI.
Did I really think his life revolved soley around his work?
I felt like a petulant student who’d misinterpreted the assignment and was angry because of it.
No wonder he needs a woman in his life.
Who wouldn’t when all they had to deal with was my whiney self absorbed personality who was further from being an adult then a six year old.
When Seth didn’t turn up to walk me to work I knew it would take more then a rainbow light show to get back in his good graces.
I had the whole way to work to contemplate what I would say.
To plan how I would make amends for yesterdays disaster.
By the time I reached Shifters Investigations my mind was set on exactly what I needed to do.
Which all went out the window the second I stepped through the door.
“Rexy, I’d like you to meet Rose.”
Stepping forwards she stretched out a hand in greeting.
“Rose haverstien.” While I stood there in shock at what I’d walked into.
Ignoring the hand that showed no signs of weakness while she enuciated her last name like I was in need of speech therapy.
“Rose remember how I told you. Rexy doesn’t like to be touched.”
“Oh yes that’s right. So sorry my dear. Social norms are a hard habit to kick in civilised society.”
The last time I’d heard her like was back in middle school.
It was like they trained you from birth how to speak snobbery.
Trying my damnest to grasp some kind of thought or even just a greeting.
All that would come out was a, “What’s going on?” Aimed towards Seth without even the slightest awknowledgment of the dragon in the room.
“Please excuse us Rose I’d like a word with my associate here.”
“Of course darling go. Do. I’ll wait here in the,” her nose wrinkled at her suroundings like one would at a cockaroach infested rat dropping.
“Foyer?” Said like it was a question.
Niether of us answered.
Seth led me into his office, closing the door behind us.
“Please excuse us Rose?” My mocking tone only made him smile.
“Since when do you speak upper?”
“Since I realised the error in what I’d asked you to do.”
Say what now?
“What are you talking about?”
“Rexy, when I suggested that you investigate my life I didn’t do it to prove how much you don’t know. I did it to give you a chance to know more.”
I couldn’t look him in the eyes.
How did he know what I was thinking before I even had a chance to say anything.
I’m sorry I acted like a two year old.
I’m sorry I let my insecurities rule my actions.
I’m sorry you have to constantly reassure me.
“Don’t worry about it Rexy. It’s takes more then a raised voice to turn me away. Now come on you haven’t finished your case yet.”
“My case?”
“You’re up to my disappearance of Gail’s place right?”
“Wait, how’d you know that?”
Pointing to his own chest with one word on his lips, “PI.”
“Ah but of course, how could I forget.”
A knowing look playfully thrown my way while placing a hand on the door pausing just before opening it.
“Here’s your chance to find out what happens next.”
Leaving me in his office to compose myself I took a long deep breath mentally preparing for what was still standing out in the, “foyor.”
With new eyes I entered the room with my shoulders back and head held high.
Finally able to fully take in the glamerous spectacle that was Rose Haverstien.
The furred shoulder to ankle coat the I pictured being featured in a cruella de vil squel about run away shifters.
Her arms covered in what I could only guess was every piece of jewlery she owned and them some.
Topped with a skin thin dress of gold sequence that left nothing to the imagination as she fluttered about the room ever careful not to touch anything constantly whiping out a bottle of sanitizer every five seconds to decontaminate her delicate skin.
“Shall we go now?”
“Go? Go where?”
Seth was no help hiding in the corner leaning against the bench of the kitchenette watching the flower dragon flitter about like she was tweddle dee in Alice’s wonderland of rabbit holes and talking flowers.
All while supporting a smile that would have the red queen screaming, “off with his head.” At his insolance.
“To retrace our steps of course.”
Pleading towards my traitor of a mentor PI boss and soon to be ex friend who waved us off with a resounding, “Have fun.” Meant to irritate me more wondering why the hell I was doing this especially after the reaction my inner monolougue had in the debris of yesterdays discoveries.
With the reluctancy of a stuffed boar, my feet dragging along the ground while little miss queen of shiba’s heels clip clopped thier way along the pavement like a dressage horse on grand stand in the middle of an equistian showcase we made our way towards Gail’s Meat Shack.
Now having met miss in it to win it Gail’s recollection of what I could only imagine was a comical scene of a socialite diva in a scene from princess and the pauper was made all the more inconsequential with regards to my fears.
I mean just look at her.
If this woman was a Seth go to for comfort then I’d seriously misjudged his character.
“I’d rather not be here longer then I have to be. The slums is no place for a lady of my calibre.”
Good lord shoot me now.
She’d last two seconds in the slums if she didn’t have someone watching her.
I had half a mind to leave her stranded just to see how far she gets before resorting to shifting into her natrual form and flying off into the sunset in a puff rainbow farts.
Speaking of.
She was a dragon shifter was she not.
So what’s the go with that.
I mean every dragon I’ve seen drips with power and inflated heads while obsessively pounding on thier chest like apes inserting thier masculine energy while baring thier fangs.
Maybe this was the female version of that?
Moral of the story.
Thank god I’m not a dragon shifter.
Deciding this was a great oppotunity to get to know my new found escort I tested my powers of extraction by prying her with a few questions.
“She how did you and Seth meet?”
“Oh we go way back. He used to work closely with my daddy back when he was an upper class citizen.”
“Your dad?”
“Cammander of the dragon legion. Seth was a detective in the upper limits of the city at the time.”
Hold the phone.
Seth was a detective?!
No wonder he’s so good.
“Really now.”
“Our parents wanted us to get married some day but that all changed when he moved here.”
Pausing in our speed walk for too long she clicked her fingers at me like she was coxing a timid cat about to bolt the other way out of sheer fear for it’s life.
Which wasn’t far from the truth as every person we passed eyed her up and down sneering partically closely at her many blinged up arms making me wonder if we were seconds away from being jumped for the cash grab that was miss Rose Haverstien.
“Keep up dear we’ve no time to waste.”
“You haven’t told me where we’re going yet?”
We had already passed Gail’s Meat Shack and were heading north towards the bowels of the slums.
Where the masses of dejenerates that would sooner use you as a human shield then offer up thier own life in exchange for yours only increased in numbers.
“To screw loose.”
“The hardware store?”
“The very one.”
This was the strangest date ever.
“Seth took you to a hardware store on a date?”
Geez real romantic Seth.
“Well when he recieved the call about you he needed to grab some supplies.”
That’s right the phone call!
“You know about the phone call?”
“Of course. I was sitting right there.”
“What was the phone call about?”
“Hmm let’s see. Someone named Milly, sounded really young. She told him that you hadn’t been home yet and she was worried about you.”
I didn’t even know Milly had his cell number.
Hell I didn’t even know Milly had a phone.
“Natrually he was worried so we rushed out of there and came here.”
“You mean you weren’t upset about having your date interupted?”
“Hevens no, in fact I was relieved. I mean one more minute in that place and I was about to hurl. Not something a lady such as me wants a crowd of people to ever witness.”
If only you knew.
“Plus it’s not like it was a real date.”
“What do you mean not a real date.”
“We were there under cover of course. Had to make sure the dragon legion got the guy they were after otherwise the raid would of been a waste of time.”
What the actual fuck!
“Why are you telling me all this?”
“Seth said to tell you what ever you wanted to know. So here we are. Full disclosure.”
We had stopped infront of Screw loose our half hour trek from Gail’s revealed more then I could disgust in such a short a time.
“Well that’s it for me dear. Do say good bye to Seth won’t you.”
“Wait! You’re leaving?”
“Things to do darling things to do.”
“Why did you walk me here then? Why not just tell me about the harware store?”
“The deal was a brief interview in the time it took for us to get here. Now we’re here I can finally get out of this backwater dump.”
Shifting I watched in stunned silence as she flew her way back towards the upper part of the city.
Her golden scales shining in the suns light blinding those below.
I swear it felt like I’d just entered the twilight zone on an episode of doctor who.