Life as a New Hire Ch. 12

"Oh, were you under some delusion that you could tell me what to do, Elsa?" I replied. There was a hush for so many reasons. Elsa being denied, a man denying anything to any of them, and my cavalier, even dismissive attitude toward the Full-blooded assembly.

"Under what delusion do you think you can safely defy me?" Elsa smiled shark-like.

"Hmmm," I mused, "let me think. You are not Hayden, Katrina, or Buffy -- my chain of command. You are not Aya, who I love. You are not acting in my best interest as it relates to Havenstone. Yeah, that should about cover it."

"I am a woman of Havenstone and I am giving you, a male, an order. There is no acceptable reason to disobey," Elsa countered.

"You are incorrect," I began. The ladies around me didn't like that. "I cannot betray my Amazons. You do not possess the power to force me to disappoint them."

"Your Amazons?" A chocolate Amazon with a shaved pate jumped up. "We are not 'yours', filth."

"Were you born stupid, or has education made you that way?" I spat back. An ass-whooping was in the offing.

"If you came at Hayden, or Katrina, do you think I'd sit idly by and let them fight alone?" I kept at it, though I remained kneeling. "If you threaten any member of Executive Services, or House Epona, make peace with your Ancestors because I will fight, bleed and die for MY Amazons. I've already proved that oath. Your opinion on the matter is less than rat-piss to me."

I'm sure arrogance has a use. I haven't found one yet, but I don't ignore the possibility. Chocolate chick grabbed for my hair, ready to slit my throat the moment she tilted my head back. This would have been appropriate if I was one of their old male population. Only total arrogance had kept her from actually listening to the words of defiance coming out of my mouth.

I caught her hand, flipped her over and drove the top of her skull into the mat. That shoots a numbing jolt right up the spine, I can tell you from experience. I snatched the knife from her helpless fingers as she finished flipping over, her head closest to me then pressed the blade to her jugular.

"Not a single person in this room matters to me. The only person that should matter to you, is me," I stated calmly and quietly. "That being the case, chose your next words carefully and with due consideration of everything I've said before this moment." I was going to die if I killed her. That wouldn't save her life from her own, small, razor-sharp blade.

Almost a minute passed.

"Cáel, give me my blade," she replied in a rather brave voice. I pulled my hand up, spun the blade around and pressed it into her palm. She slowly sat up and swiveled around until we were face to face, her cross-legged and me, back to my kneeling pose. Her eyes were ice cold.

"I was never in any danger, was I?" the woman half-asked, half stated.

"Of course not. I would never shame Katrina that way. I'd kill for her. Killing an Amazon to save my own life would not be something she'd allow," I explained as much to the room as the woman.

"Don't lie," another Amazon teased me -- thankfully. It was Traska Maza -- from the Medical Center. "I heard you murdered an Amazon on Friday -- end of business."

"Yep," I confessed. "Hayden has admonished me from repeating that method of assassination. I swear that if Fabiola keeps calling 'Runners' 'Lost Bloods', I'm going to figure out another way to get her."

"The term 'Lost Blood' is the term we use. Accept it, Male," Stanica growled. I had to think about that. I stood up, so I had a good view of the SD bitch. I also had to work up the proper insult. Anything I directed at Stanica would be useless. I knew their weakness though.

"Hey," I addressed my African opponent.

"Stanica's mother mated with her own paternal male to give birth to Stanica. I read it in an inner-office e-mail." Total lie, but the 'lie' wasn't mine. It was from an unnamed Amazon and it insulted her bloodline, something she truly valued. I glared at Stanica. "That is why it is insulting. In a blood-conscious culture, you are rubbing their noses in a fact beyond their control."

"I agree," Oneida spoke up. "'Lost Bloods' is insulting. I had never questioned that before. 'Runners is a better term. I will ask my house to use it from now on."

"That's not going to save him," Stanica seethed.

"Do you want to know where the memo came from?" I inquired of Stanica.

"There is no memo," Stanica snapped. I shrugged.

"Why would I make it up? Such a deadly insult?" I pressed the point. Oh, I had made it up because I hate bigotry, especially when it is aimed at someone who was almost a friend.

"Who?" she glared.

"I don't know, but I know who does," I offered. "She's right outside that door," I pointed to the main entrance. Now, do people recall that divide I was talking about way back in Chapter Two? It worked both ways. Full-bloods were aware of the oppression they exerted on their 'Lost Blood/Runner' sisters. Creeping around in the back of some of their minds was the worry that those newcomers resented their superiors.

Had the two groups been truly united, Stanica wouldn't have given my bluff a second glance. Here was the backlash of being a bigot -- the idea that those you hated, hating you right back. In short order, Buffy was by my side and listening to Stanica's grievance. Finally we were speaking English again.

"Man, Desiree is going to be so sorry she missed this," Buffy looked down at me.

I was kneeling again so she was able to appear lofty and run her hand through my hair the way she liked to do when she was extra horny for me. I also liked the way her boobs nearly obscured her face from my view. Very nice tits.

"Stanica, he lied to you," Buffy revealed.

"I knew it! Stand aside, I'm going to gut the little shit," Stanica started to come at me.

"No you don't," Buffy interposed herself. "See, Cáel was following his instructions and he used your idiocy against you, Dumbass," she gloated to Stanica. "He was ordered to serve at my side today, so that is what he did. Who in the right mind would commit anything about blood prestige to an office e-mail anyway? It wasn't even up to his normally superb level of deception."

"Then he should be punished for lying to me," Stanica seethed.

"I told him to," Buffy wasn't even lying. She'd approved my plan the moment she agreed to 'trust me'.

"When?" Elsa requested. She was coming our way. Buffy looked over her shoulder.

"Funny, you don't look like Katrina, Elsa," Buffy guffawed. "Make an official request through the proper channels. You don't get to tell me what to do."

"Do we need to clarify our positions?" Elsa menaced. I jumped up and took up a boxing stance. With Stanica on one side, Elsa on the other and the preference of Amazons to gang up on opponents, I had to have her back.

"Kneel," Buffy tapped my shoulder. I knelt. "Honestly Elsa, Cáel fucked me so hard and long this weekend that even your pettiness doesn't annoy me today. Now, why are we here?"

"He's not allowed to have sex," Traska seemed a bit distressed. Me having sex outside the office had never occurred to her apparently.

"Strangely, I have all of you to thank for that," Buffy smugly regarded the room. "While you let Constanza and Crewe ambush him then sat back uselessly while he kicked both their asses, gazed on as he refused to take advantage of Constanza once she was clearly incapable of resisting and let her put a blade to his throat, he found a way to legally sleep with me."

"Afraid? With a blade to his throat, he couldn't care less about any of you," Buffy regaled them. "Oh, we know you don't care what he thinks -- or what I think. Well, welcome to the world you've created. I don't care what you think. Blood Prestige? I'll only give as much respect as I'm given. I am embarrassed I ever thought any of you were better than me."

"My prestige is that I volunteered for this lifestyle. I made a choice that no one else in this room ever had the courage to make -- to abandon my old life for another, unknown one. From here on out, I'm going to be like Cáel. One of you bitches puts a hand on me, be ready to back it up," Buffy challenged them. Not the best move as far as I could tell.

"Be prepared to be put in your place," Elsa grinned.

"Go right ahead. Don't get too worked up. There are around a hundred of my fellow -- 'Runners' at the door," Buffy smirked.

"It is best to end this rebellion right now," the chocolate opponent stood up.

"Over what?" I looked up. I hated Buffy making me kneel. "The 'Runners' are doing the exact same tasks you are doing. They want to be awarded respect for that."

"This is not your place," the woman stated to me. As an afterthought. "Ngozi."

"Thank you," I acknowledged her consideration of giving me her name.

"Ha," Buffy snorted. "Oh...rebellion? Let's just say when we realized that '****' meant Lost Bloods, we were -- unhappy. All this weekend, this petty insult had been spreading out to all our non-Full-blood sisters. Actually, we have come up with two alternatives. One was to approach Hayden with our grievance."

"The other was to start calling the rest of you '****' (which meant 'Poison Bloods')," Buffy stared down the festering crowd. "After all, we are all fertile and the few children we have been allowed to have are born without defect." Amazons don't threaten often. Normally they simply go straight to the punishment. I was somewhat of an exception for reasons that somehow alluded me.

I tried to stand again, but Buffy pushed me back down. Pain was imminent then the muttering began. Around us, small clumps of Full-bloods began pushing for space. That could only mean they were getting ready to fight and since they weren't close to us, they were getting ready to fight their own sisters.

I doubted they were enamored with me, or the 'Runner' cause. This was a common sense reaction. They recognized a no-win contest when they saw it. 'Runners' were demanding respect -- same recognition for taking the same risks. They weren't even asking for admission into the 'Host' -- the true Amazons and their House structure.

The tipping points in this protest had been Fabiola and the loyalist opposition led by Helena, the only 'Runner' close enough to my struggle Friday afternoon that could have started it. Remember, the Old Kingdom Hittite language was a closely guarded secret. So secret that Buffy, despite her years of loyal service, hadn't been taught it.

There had been decades of small slights that led to this. It wasn't me, except for the definition thing. Fabiola was hardly an aberration. The other female 'new hires' were more the exception than the rule. That was probably why Katrina had chosen them. In her profession -- internal and external security -- creative thinking and flexibility were as important as blood lines.

"Excuse me," a soft voice penetrated the chaos. The noise died down. Tessa Carmichael moved through the crowd to the mat. "Oh, by the Seven Sister Goddesses, of course Cáel Nyilas is here." Then, in English, "Buffy, pardon me but I think this needs my attention." See, a good ass-reaming is done in a target's native language. Tessa went back to Old Kingdom Hittite.

"Why are there a 150 sisters outside in the hall milling around?" Tessa began. She held up her hand to truncate the various responses. "Why does it look like you are all preparing for a general melee? Lastly, why are Buffy and Cáel even here? You would think that after his last episode, he'd be avoiding this place."

"The 'Lost Bloods' outside are part of a rebellion of their kind, a few of our sisters don't appreciate the threat this poses and...Cáel is here because Elsa invited him here," Ngozi explained. "I'm not exactly sure why Buffy is here?"

"Cáel, have you inflicted this building with a histrionic-inducing vapor?" Tessa looked at me with exasperation.

I blinked. I had to recall what 'histrionic' meant then I knew what to do. I held up my hand in front of my face, exhaling into it to see if something was 'bad' with my breath. Next, I sniffed my underarms. Lastly, I peeked down my tight shorts to make sure that wasn't the cause.

"Nope," I reassured Tessa, "I'm good. I mean, I've been good...this time."

"Will miracles never cease," Tessa muttered. The comedy was bleeding the tension and hostility from the room. "Let me try this again. Since top down doesn't work, let's start in the dirt beneath the basement. Cáel, what is going on?"

"Okay...give me a second to make this sound reasonable and convincing," I furrowed my brow.

"For starters, Buffy and me were working the queue which currently indicated that I was to come here and participate with Elsa in a weapons exhibition," I began. "Buffy became confused by the flickering ceiling lights so I persevered alone. While we waited, Elsa and I engaged in a discussion of corporate etiquette."

"The conversation migrated into matters of close combat techniques and mat thickness, which Ngozi assisted with. Clearly satisfied that we were all becoming fast friends, the discussion traveled to Old Kingdom Hittite terminology, background and the ambiguity of some definitions," I continued my literary conjurations.

"Buffy discovered she hadn't made me her bitch in the past ten minutes, so hunted me down to this place," I grinned at Buffy. "Since Buffy was hankering for a bit of cuddle time, we were wrapping up the matter of 'Lost Bloods' only being used by total Prom Queen Wannabes while 'Runners' was growing in popularity because it was a word actually used at your people's genesis."

Pause.

"Was any bit of that the truth?" Tessa looked to Elsa and Ngozi.

"No," they both responded.

"But, it makes the mess that happened sound far better than the reality," Ngozi added.

"That I will agree with," Elsa said.

"Buffy," Tessa addressed my boss in English, "the Council will discuss this matter of terminology at the next meeting. Have our sisters outside disperse."

"Yes Tessa," Buffy nodded then weaved her way to the entrance.

Tessa walked up, patted me on the head as she shook hers.

"We really should poison, strangle, stab, shoot and finally throw you off the highest available peak," she smiled warmly at me -- psycho.

"If you added 'rolling me in a carpet and tossing me in a frozen river' we could call it 'pulling a Rasputin," I grinned back.

"I love you," she looked all affectionate. I wanted to cry on the inside -- and the outside.

"Damn! Now you tell me," I grumbled. "I sent away for a mail-order bride from the Ukraine on Sunday and you know there is no money-back guarantee."

"You are enchanting," she chuckled. I wanted to die. "You'll get used to us, I promise."

Yes, the head of Human Resources could read my mind.

"Tessa, before I get back to Elsa demolishing me, can I ask you something?" I inquired.

"Yes."

"During that last interview process, you were seriously throwing out the 'let's do it on the table' vibe, weren't you?" I posed.

"Very much so," she beamed utter joy. "I was truly impressed that, with your history with woman, you constrained yourself."

"If I had come on to you, would I have lost this job opportunity?" I asked.

"Oh Goddess no," Tessa laughed. "Someday I should let you read the sheaves and sheaves of transcripts our investigators gathered on your sexual exploits."

"That's why you've never encountered anyone from Human Resources in the building. They are forbidden to be alone, or only in the company of other Human Resources employees, with you out of fear they'd rape you," Tessa informed me.

"Is he really that good?" Traska asked.

"His college years don't read as an XXX rated movie -- they read as top shelf erotic fiction," Tessa enlightened the masses. "Oh, Cáel, the nun hopes you're are still seeking spiritual fulfillment."

"Cool. How is she doing?" I responded.

"She's in Uganda, working at a Catholic school for war orphans," Tessa answered.

"You slept with a nun?" Oneida gulped.

"Oneida, if there was no intern program, and this wasn't an Evil Empire, I'd never leave this place. I'd move my bed into a spare room, set up a mini-bar and spend every second off the clock seducing each and every one of you," I stated.

Even the ones who didn't terribly like me chuckled, snorted, or laughed.

"To answer your question: sort of Oneida. I slept with a woman who was about to take Holy Vows, not truly a nun," I confessed. "I've slept with a Wiccan Priestess too, if that matters."

"Why do you think you can treat us like those lesser women?" Ngozi looked angry.

"You have tits, a vagina, are straight, or bisexual, and between the ages of 18 to 70," I shot right back. "I have no desire to sleep with men, or lesbians. Outside of that, given somewhere between five minutes and five days, I could nail every women in this room. It is not that I'm better than any of you."

"I can do it because you all are hopelessly arrogant, thus unable to put forth an effective defense because you don't believe I can seduce you. Add to that, I can figure out what you want in an erotic encounter. End of story," I sighed. "Frankly, having lived lives devoid of romance, you Full-bloods are too easy." I could see Tessa smirking.

Not only had I seduced all kinds of women, apparently all of them had been willing to relate those encounters. I'm a great lover and a lousy boyfriend.

"We would never submit to your predations," yet another Amazon jumped in. Sex. I told them, they are simply too easy -- except Katrina, Tessa and Hayden. They were scary. I'd still sleep with them because I had no common sense.

"Hey Lady, if you want to be on top, I'm okay with that," I smiled disarmingly. Plant the idea of erotic positions early. It can be as easy as pushing up against a girl from behind, or a hug.

"If I ever consented to have sex with you, you would do what I said," she persisted.

"That sounds like fun -- 70 more days and its Hunting Season," I winked.

I repeat, these ladies were too easy and that was because deep in their subconscious all men were bestial Neanderthals, one step above creating fire, or spineless sheep who would rather stampede like lemmings off a precipice than show an ounce of resistance (and be put down), much less any actual romantic inclinations.

Since they were convinced sex consisted of either being raped, or your partner staring at the ceiling and wondering if he was missing the latest episode of NCIS, a tiny dose of my sensuality was the equivalent of turning their moped of a hypothalamus into a street racer. My hope was I'd live to regret it.

They were all psychopaths and murderers after all, so death was becoming a vocational hazard. Me refraining from having as many sexual liaisons as possible wasn't realistic. I wasn't going to be willingly castrated and that was the only way out. The one benefit I could see was me working in a target-rich environment.

"Now that I have had my turn stymieing Cáel's chaotic yet well-meaning attempts to educate us in the dangers and rewards of free-ranging masculinity," Tessa regarded the assembly, "I am getting out with my victory intact. Good luck, Sisters. You'll need it." Tessa exited, order was restored and -- oh yeah, Elsa had brought me here for a sadistic love-fest, sans the sex.

"I don't know what to make of you," Elsa smiled warmly, "I don't understand you and I find you to be very interesting." Let me make this clear -- all three of those statements can be very bad, or very good. 'I don't know what to make of you' means I want to make it with you. 'I don't understand you' is 30% bad and 70% good.

When bad, it is a prelude to a break-up. What she means is 'you aren't trying to understand me', thus the end of the relationship. On the beneficial side it means 'I've totally bought into your seduction and I'm ready to screw'. Ah, 'interesting'. Two types of women find a man 'interesting' -- women who have to have you, and stalkers.