The Exception Pt. 01

"For starters, smart. Just like Ivy said. I can see that turning into a potential problem but we'll deal with that in due course."

He pulled out the chair beside her and took a seat, placing an ankle on a knee. "She likes him," he said thoughtfully while rotating his chair left and right. His view shifted to the window. "I'm not sure what he put in her cereal but she actually likes him." It came out much like he was talking to himself.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "If I had to guess, I'd say this one plays her games. Perhaps a little too well," he started. "Two days ago, Luka barges in here dripping wet from head to toe. She asks in no polite terms where on planet earth I found him. Needless to say, she was miffed."

An amused smile broke on Kaitlyn's face remembering how much Luka hated getting wet. Aside from the shower and in her food, she detested the element with a passion. "What had happened?"

"Apparently he triggered the fire alarm while at the mall when she made a pass about feeling hot," he chuckled. "Sprinklers came on and flooded the place."

The woman's jaw dropped.

"But ironically; When I suggested he be reprimanded, or even better, replaced, she looked at me like I'd just turned genocidal."

Katlyn pondered on his words curiously. "So then if she feels she can take corrective measures herself, why the hell show up in the first place? To rant?"

"Hardly," came the reply. He stopped his swivelling around and focused on her. "She believes the boy is avoiding her. That the attention he gives isn't up to par." He subconsciously picked up her pen and started twirling it around in mid-air. "Normally it's the other way around. You know; How they're always tripping over themselves just for her recognition." She watched him put it back down and reach for the water jug. "Maybe it's time I pay him a visit."

Katlyn waved off his offer as she sat in silence, lost in her own thoughts. This was extremely odd. Luka never developed attachments for anyone. "Sign me up," she suddenly spoke looking up. "I'd like to meet with him too."

Sined arched a brow doubtfully. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea. I'm posing as his loan manager so I have reason. But if princess ever found out you were meddling in her life then..."

She shook her head with a bit of a devilish smile. "That won't happen. I'll make that much clear," she leaned back and started drumming her nails on the glass surface. "I... just want to meet the lad that my dear Luka finally found a liking for. See if we have the same interests at heart," she said smiling. Her vision came back to him. "That wouldn't hurt, would it?"

Sined frowned but nodded his head anyway. "I'll make the appropriate arrangements."

**********

17 12hrs

All things considered, it was shaping out to be quite the normal day. Something Connor had been in short supply of lately.

This made good reason to be suspicious. There was bound to be a catch. No way he could just have a normal day.

No. Soon, a viral plague would kick up and start the apocalypse. Millions would perish.

Or maybe his world would be ended with a swift blow from a flaming meteorite. Or perhaps a singularity NASA never anticipated.

Curse their incompetent astrological arses.

Wait a minute...

Connor quickly raised his glass and eyed it with caution.

"Kyle are you sure you never spiked this?"

"Right. Like you need third party substances to get high," came the annoyed reply. It wasn't really directed at him though. Not directly anyway.

Connor watched bemusedly as his best friend scurried from the stove, to cutting board, to storage cabinets, and back to the stove again. A cheese grater was knocked to the floor in the process followed by an audible curse.

Morris, his mentor along with plenty of the other senior staff had a fallout with their supervisor. A fallout so extreme, it literally left him as the only qualified chef in a crowded kitchen.

As a result, the chef often bumped into obstacles and people going about their daily work. He had to re-cook three meals for that very reason.

"Goddamnit!" Make that four meals. No doubt Janice would be in here soon to ride his ass for it.

Connor tore a sticky note hanging on the pin up board before rounding the chopping counter. A dish of what was supposed to be beef lasagne decorated the floor. Next to it was the klutz, butt resting on the white floor tiles and his back defeatedly leaning against a cupboard.

Connor crouched down on his haunches and stuck the note to Kyle's chest. Chef's always did get the best uniforms. "Chicken schnitzel with mushroom sauce. Slightly underdone with a touch of lime."

The chef groaned and banged his head once against the wood behind him. Connor smiled with empathy this time. "Rough day?"

"Shitty is more like it." he complained cracking an eyelid open. He gave Connor a wry smile. "Remember back in the day when you reversed the sewage pump, shut valves and redirected the flow to school admin? Yeah, that kind of shitty."

"There's no evidence that was me." Connor turned the dish over and began returning its soiled contents. "If you're short on hands, why not just make use of the attaches? Cheap labour is what they're hired for."

The following laugh was full of spite. "Those amateurs? They can keep their grubby little paws off my cooking thank you very much."

"Pride cometh before the fall."

"No seriously!" Kyle pushed up off the wood and began helping with the mess as well. "They practically lay a bad omen on everything they touch. Besides, a lack of helping hands isn't the real problem here..."

Of course. Janice was. Their resident devil incarnate had decided to forgo discussions and implemented a budget cut. One that ran right through to employee salaries.

So while low level staff like waiters and cleaners were just fine with living off daily tips, seniors like experienced chefs decided to go outsource their income.

Pity. They were damn good at what they did.

The chef noted the dog tags hanging around Connor's neck as they jingled back and forth. "That's new," he commented, dropping another handful of meat and cheese back where it fell from. "You seldom wear accessories."

Connor glanced downwards to see what his friend was referring to. "Oh. These," he stated nonchalantly. "Luka gave me. She insists I wear them."

"Like a memorabilia?"

A smile that never touched his eyes broke on the waiter's face. "More like a collar." The hanging plates were crafted from pure silver, expensive looking but they had clearly seen better days. "There's something written in Japanese on the back of each. I'm guessing it's her way of labelling her property."

"You're jumping to conclusions," Kyle chided, scraping the last bit of waste off his hands and onto the edge of the bowl. "It could just be her way of symbolising affection. Lots of couples do similar things."

Connor only rolled his eyes.

"Hey. I thought we agreed on giving her a chance."

"I did," he said picking up the dish, "and she got me tasered."

Just that moment, the kitchen door flew open as their receptionist rushed through. Her eyes quickly scanned the kitchen and settled on him. "Connor? There's someone out front that wants to see you."

His eyes closed shut as he silently swore to himself. She just couldn't have waited thirty more minutes.

Kyle chuckled as he relieved his friend of the ruined meal. "Look on the bright side. At least she didn't come and fetch you herself this time."

"Yippee ka yay mother f-..."

"Oh spare me the sarcasm."

After washing his hands, he donned his white gloves and followed Samantha into the dining area. A number of customers called out to him, curious as to why meals were taking so long. A couple of them weren't all too polite about it. One in particular was downright rude, stopping just short of spitting on his face.

"Sorry," he heard the girl say as they approached the front deck. Samantha didn't often talk to him. Hell, she didn't speak to anyone besides the guests actually. "You didn't deserve that."

"It wouldn't have been a first," he said, shrugging it off. Brown eyes watched her round the edge of the counter then begrudgingly searched for his ward.

"He's waiting for you by the lobby," he heard Samantha say.

"He?"

She swivelled her stool around before sliding onto it. "Yep. It's not her this time."

Wow. Was Luka already this popular here? Then again, she did leave quite the impression from the last visit. Even without saying a word. Cautiously, his legs walked him through the restaurant exit and into the reception area.

The noise from the lobby greeted him in earnest. Music and chatter from the casino was by far more notable. He subtly nodded to the concierge as he made his way over to the reception area.

This place always managed to make quite the spectacle of itself. White porcelain tiles covered the walls with matching Greek designs to those on the floor. And that chandelier had to have been hoisted up with nothing short of a football team alongside a crane.

Water fountains of that magnitude belonged outside though.

Upon reaching the greeting counter, the young man stopped dead in his tracks. He was frozen in surprise for a moment before his features resumed their normal state.

"I'm thinking you should have called first," he remarked. A hand drummed along the oak counter top as he approached his visitor.

The older man dressed in grey formal wear smiled at him. It was more out of courtesy than actual ingenuity. "Coming here was done on impulse," he replied apologetically. "Is this a bad time?"

Every moment at work was a bad time. Connor shook his head no anyway. Better him than her.

The Japanese man then gestured both hands to the main door with a slight respectful bow. The waiter complied and the two started walking along in silence at first.

"To be truthful, I wasn't sure I'd get a moment alone with you," he began. "From my understanding, you're not a very easy person to reach as of late."

He managed to say it in such a way, that had one not been listening well, one wouldn't have noticed it was an accusation.

Connor thought back to all those missed calls he let slide. Not just today but over the last couple of days too. For all it's worth, the cell phone might as well have been left on his bed back at the loft.

He boy unintentionally frowned. "So then I'll take it you know Luka on a first hand basis?"

"I do," Sined admitted in that light accent of his. "Almost too well." He dodged a guest chatting away on his phone, then another pushing her baby on a pram.

"Is everything alright Connor? I'm inclined to think you haven't been entirely honest to our agreement. And since you haven't told me of any problems you might be having, I can only assume you want out."

"Like that's even an option," he said pushing a luggage trolley out of his way. "Why didn't you tell me about the rest of them? The rest of the caretakers left in her wake?"

"It was never your concern. You just needed to do the job," came his firm reply. "Besides, what difference would it have made if you knew? Would you have refused the offer?"

The boy thought about it for a second. "I might have," he said stepping through the hotel's revolving front entrance and into the loud outdoors. "I opted for your offer over the legal route since it made more sense at the time. But you hadn't given full disclosure."

Sined had to raise his voice an octave in order to be heard in the open. "So that's why you're avoiding her? Because you feel there was no transparency?"

Connor shook his head. "I'm not trying to avoid anyone. But the girl refuses to acknowledge I had a life to maintain before she came along," he argued.

"All I'm ever doing now is stealing time off work and dedicating each free second to act as her errand boy. I'm talking laundry, paper towels, chocolate cake at 1am. Oh and if her ice cream cone is even a little melted I have to go back and get another."

"I didn't say it would be easy," Sined interjected, descending the flight of stairs not too far behind him. "Believe me, I know how arduous Miss Yamato can be. However, it's your job to find a compromise and make sure she's content. You're failing in that regard."

Connor whirled around as soon as his feet touched the side walk. "Well task anyone with an impossible task, then expect them to fail." Sined's eyes narrowed in warning as he too stepped onto level ground.

The boy sighed as he thought on how best to rephrase that. "Mr. Okajima. I live from pay check to pay check. And if my hours are low, I can't settle the cost of living. But those are the hours she wants. She demands them of me." He let out a calming breath as he turned around again to face the rush hour traffic. "As it stands, I'm currently on my final warning for that very reason. Just one more slip up and I might as well be unemployed."

He instinctively pocketed his hands as a gust of cold air blew past. Night usually came early here due to all the skyscrapers blocking out the sun. Add a cloudy sky to the picture and it makes for a fairly dark, cold, windy and noisy evening.

Sined finally spoke up. "Let's take a ride."

"What?"

"Let's go for a ride," he repeated while moving past him towards a black SUV parked on the roadside. What must have been his chauffeur quickly ran around and opened the vehicle's door.

"You can't be serious..." he stated looking back at him. "Mr. Okajima, I got work to do. I can't just be-..."

"Sined," he corrected stepping into the car ahead of him. "I'd like to think we should be past formalities by now, don't you?"

He shook himself sober as if to confirm if any of this was a reality. "Okay, um... Sined? I'll clarify. I have an iron fisted boss in there," he said pointing back with an arm, "and she takes attendance quite seriously. On a very related note; I. Still. Need. My. Job."

Okajima smiled reassuringly. "Just give me five minutes of your time. I'd like to believe that your actions are the reason I'm here in the first place are they not?"

The waiter looked up and down the colourful street, populated with cars, people knocking off from their day jobs, brightly lit street lamps and small trees scattered along the edge of the road. His attention then travelled back to the expectant account handler. "I insist on coming back alive."

The Japanese man laughed. "Duly noted."

With a degree of hesitation Connor stepped in, having his door shut for him. He fastened the belt and the car took off soon afterwards. It was one of those custom made rides. Leather hand sewn seats, built in TVs, artistic ceiling design.

There was a stretch of silence as they drove on, taking a few turns left then right again.

Outside, billboards colourfully lit up their way. Signs flashed, advertising their respective establishments. Gigantic TV screens hung on many a building doing the same thing for shareholders products. It was quite scenic from a moving point of view. The appeal of this city was that it made you believe you could actually own it all.

But the captivating sight could only distract him for so long. "Where are we going?"

"To meet someone."

"Oh? Who?"

The older man only stared out his own window in silence. Upon closer inspection, Connor noticed he was actually looking at him through the reflection. "Tell me Connor. Do you despise her?" A touch of genuine concern manifested in his serious tone.

The waiter's eyes widened. Is that the impression he gave off? "Not at all." There was a short pause where he was forced to think about it. "I just find her frustrating. She has this knack for getting under my skin and lighting fires there."

"And here I was under the impression that was a trait associated with all females," Okajima half joked. "Although the way I understand it, you haven't been the most accommodating custodian either."

Connor looked up at him curiously, encouraging him to elaborate.

"She told me about Monday's debacle," he said with disapproval. "You stood watching as a bull terrier had a go at her."

"It had a go at her purse," Connor amended on his behalf. "And as a seven week old a pup, it was teething not attacking. Was quite funny too, watching her play tug of war like that," he added dropping his head back against the headrest. "In my opinion it did her a favour. That purse was gonna get her assaulted by reptile activists."

"Okay then," Okajima said with furrowed eyebrows. "Then what was all the hassle with letting random people spill drink all over her?

"That was Champaign," he replied flatly. "It splattered on everyone. You know... As a means of celebration. What else would you expect from a frat party? If it helps though, I'll bring along an umbrella to the next one."

The vexed expression turned into confusion. "So I'll take it her complaints about you speeding down Olson drive were also exaggerated?"

"No, those were true. She threw up afterwards."

A snigger was heard from the driver's seat. The man sighed to himself and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Connor. Is there anything else I should know?"

Actually there was. Thoughts ran back to three days prior when she 'asked' him to fetch her at her school. It was one of those strict but classy, girl oriented educational establishments that still bothered with uniforms.

All that was required of him was to pop up, ask for Luka, wait patiently for her to come out front and take off with the damsel.

Simple enough right? No really, it's the same procedure hundreds of other guardians carry out when collecting their little monsters. How do you screw this up?

So like the timely individual he was, he decided to come a few minutes early and wait until knock off time.

Upon arrival, he neatly parked her sports car outside at the side of the road, exited the vehicle, and watched grass grow.

Now it is in these moments, the nature of high end urban areas truly stand out. He saw her coming from a distance.

No, not Luka. A dark haired lady with a white strip running through the centre, wearing navy blue formal and matching heels.

She was strutting down the school driveway and heading in his direction.

If he had to guess, he would categorise her in the mid to late forties, still single, no kids of her own and didn't give a damn.

She stoically crossed the avenue before stopping before him. "Oi. What is your business here?" were her first words. No 'hello', no 'good day', nothing like that.

After his initial surprise, he simply explained that he was waiting to pick up a student.

She told him he was loitering.

And that's where it all escalated from. He valiantly made an effort to be polite. For the most part, he succeeded but his efforts were wasted on the woman. She just wanted him gone.

In a short space of time, he was called many things including a paedophile and a child molester. He was accused of attempting to use his 'hip' car to draw in unsuspecting girls in their numbers and drive off with them. That was the point where his ears decided to stop listening.

With another impressive string of insults, and a solemn threat to call in the police she left him leaning against the side with arms crossed.

However Cruella was back within a few minutes. This time accompanied by two security guards. They were the kind you'd find at a casino or popular drinking establishment. Difference is they were in attire.

Naturally their first course of action was to request his civil departure. This was around the time the siren rang and students came filling out. He assured them he'd be gone once he got the girl. It's not like he wanted to be here after all.