Obedience Chapter 12
The Guild Book One, Chapter 12
<Chapter 11 —— Chapter 13>
Want to read the beginning of this story? Start at Chapter One
In the deep silence, Emma heard Monique as she entered the school. Her six-inch heels made a distinct clacking on the tiles that Emma could recognize anywhere. It echoed through the empty school hallways all the way from the entryway door. Additionally, she was talking into her hands-free headset, engaged in a conversation which, by her tone, was less-than-pleasant. Monique was clearly furious. Emma feared that anger would crash down on her head when Monique entered the office through the glass doors. But Monique seemed only relieved when she laid eyes on Emma, pausing halfway into the room to study her with troubled eyes.
“Hang on,” she snapped into her headset. She crossed the room to Emma, holding out a hand in a beckoning gesture. “Emma, I’m so sorry, honey. I got caught up at work, and I—”
Emma jerked to her feet and said, “Can we just go?” The continued scrutiny of the school social worker was unbearable; she wanted to be away from those too-interested eyes. Emma hauled her backpack onto one shoulder and marched past Monique into the hall.
“I’m sorry to inconvenience you,” Monique told Ms. James inside the office. If it was meant to be an apology, it missed. Her tone was too dismissive to be apologetic. “This has never happened before. We had crossed signals today.”
“No, no,” Ms. James answered, waving her hand in a calming gesture. “It is fine, Mrs. Harris. Really. The extra time gave Emma and me a chance to get to know each other a little bit. But if you have a moment, I would like to speak to you, if I may. About Emma.”
Emma spun back in alarm. Monique was also surprised, but she responded gracefully. “Of course.” She waved Emma out of the office and snapped the door shut.
Waiting outside the glass doors, Emma worried about what Ms. James might be saying to Monique, or what she might know. She had eyes all over the school; was it possible she knew about the Cara Winters party? Or did she just want to tattle that Emma had been rude and reticent while waiting in the office? It wasn’t exactly the way she was supposed to behave if she was trying to keep up the role Leader had assigned her while on mission in Utah. If Ms. James mentioned something about her behavior, she could get into serious trouble for jeopardizing their image here.
While Leader was away, Monique was responsible for the House and, if she wanted to, she could quite easily make Emma’s life unbearable. In Emma’s opinion, it was almost worse to anger Monique because she was always there. Leader at least disappeared on business trips most of the time, so his anger was always short-fused and hot. Monique could smolder for days.
Emma stood near enough to the door to try and listen in, but Monique’s and the counselor’s voices were only soft drones. At least no one seemed angry. Although, Monique raged cold instead of burning hot.
Monique breezed through the door only a few minutes later, sweeping Emma ahead of her through the commons area and toward the exit. She seemed no angrier now than she had before the short meeting. She tapped a button on her phone and started talking again into her headset, as if her conversation had not been interrupted by a few minutes’ conversation with Emma’s school counselor. If not for her hand on Emma’s shoulder, she might have forgotten Emma completely.
“It’s not like that! What was I supposed to do, tell her to shove off and leave us alone? I don’t think—” Monique gave an exasperated sigh and fell silent. It was Leader then; he was the only person who ever could silence Monique when she went on a tirade. Her grating frustration was obvious in her every movement, from the way she slammed the door open and ushered Emma through, to the ferocious way she remote-started and unlocked the car. Emma tried to make herself small as she opened the passenger back door of the Lexus, tossed her bag in, and skulked into the front seat. She buckled her seatbelt and sat back against the leather seat. Not wanting to draw Monique’s eye, she turned her gaze out the side window and shrunk down to make herself appear smaller.
Monique got in with her normal deadly grace, and though her face was emotionless, the way she shoved the car into gear spoke volumes of her vexation. As soon as she had pulled away from the school, she clicked a button on her phone and removed the headset. Leader’s voice came rasping through the car speakers.
“I do not have to tell you the importance of my time in Vermont, Monique. If I thought you could not handle everything in my absence, I would have postponed the trip.”
“God, Leader! It was a simple mistake,” Monique argued. It was a dangerous thing, arguing with Leader, though Monique seemed to do it every day. “I know Vermont is important. I have everything well in hand. I am sorry that nosey counselor thought it was necessary to disturb you about this.” She finished that off with an expletive that was probably meant to describe the counselor.
“You watch your language!” Leader’s voice rang through the vehicle. Emma winced at the ferocity of the tone. “And don’t you dare blame the counselor for being concerned. It is her job to be concerned. If you were doing your job, she wouldn’t have to be concerned about Emma. Really, Monique, this is inexcusable. You’re my Number Two! I should be able to rely on my Number Two but, as always, I have to do everything myself.”
Monique’s eyes squeezed shut. She pinched the bridge of her nose with her fingers and took a deep breath. When she opened her eyes, she exited the school driving lane and merged into canyon road traffic. In a forced calm, she assured him,
“I have everything under control now, Leader. You can go back to your conference.”
“Don’t you dare condescend me, Monique. I’ll be on the very next flight home. I want to talk to you about this up close and personal.” The line clicked and then there was silence.
Monique swore under her breath and gave a disgusted shake of her head, but she did not look worried. She never looked anything but perfectly calm. The way she weaved dangerously through traffic, though, suggested she was not as calm as she let herself appear. Emma tried to disappear into the seat, wishing to stay out of sight and, thereby, out of mind. Monique was a force to reckon with when she was angry.
“You okay?” Monique asked, glancing at her from the corner of her eye.
Emma did not look her direction. She just answered, “Yeah.”
Monique, as always, was intense. “I’m sorry about this, Emma. I thought I made it clear to Ilene that she was supposed to come get you today.”
“It’s fine.” Ilene had probably decided to ignore that particular order. On her best day, Ilene ignored Emma and pretended she did not exist. She was not ruthless or unkind like Scott and Adam, but she had little patience for the children in the House. “It’s not like I was hurt or anything. I just had to stay at school a little longer than normal. I got my homework done.”
Still, she did not look Monique’s direction. She feared that if she looked at her, Monique would see the depth of her pain over being forgotten. It was not the first time she had been abandoned. Emma watched the trees go whizzing past on the side of the road.
“Ilene has never ignored me before. I am sure it is just a misunderstanding.” Emma could feel Monique’s gaze again, a penetrating, searching gaze, if brief. But Emma did not return it. “You should have called me.”
“I did,” Emma snapped. She kept her eyes averted, but she forced herself calm. When she spoke again, she was considerably more detached. “There was no answer. I called several times.”
When she dared a glance at Monique, the severe woman was watching the road. Emma went back to studying the trees. She did not want to think any more about how Monique or Ilene or everyone had forgotten she existed and abandoned her at school all afternoon. She was tired with making up excuses for them. “Self-involved” was the only reason she wanted to think about now. She was angry, but only because she had lost her chance to find a way to Cara Winters’ party. If she had been picked up from school on time, she might have been able to create some kind of believable excuse, and Monique may have let her go. Also, Leader would have stayed in Vermont, and she would not have had to deal with him for at least a few more days.
“I was in a conference. Don’t you have my work number?”
“I am fine, Monique!” Her tone lost its calm disinterest. She shot a severe glance at the older woman, catching her quick searching gaze. “I’m hungry and tired.” A sudden thought jumped into her head, and she added, “And now I’m late for my Biology study group with Cara Winters. You are acting like I was nearly killed or something! I’m annoyed, but I’m fine.” She held her breath, choking on the lie, but also basking in the feeling of thrill that accompanied lying to a superior officer.
Monique made a sound in her throat but kept her eyes on the road. “You have a study group tonight?” Unlike Monique’s normal brisk tone, this was slow and musing. Emma focused on normalizing her breathing, though her throat tried to constrict.
“Yes, with Cara Winters and some of her friends. I was supposed to be there at 5, but ...” she presented the clock in the dash, which read 5:17. “Evidently, I’m not going to make it.” She bit down on her teeth, jaw creaking as she waited for Monique to punish her for lying.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this study group?”
Emma thought she could feel her heartbeat in her toes. She let out a breath, hoping it sounded like a sigh rather than the gush of fear it was. The fluttering or worry in her stomach, like the flapping of tiny wings, made her scramble for a response that Monique would find acceptable. Something that would get her out of trouble and conceal her lies. However, she found that the lie was growing in her brain, coming easily now she had started.
“Cara just told me about it yesterday. I didn’t even know the specific time until today. They are the most hopeless group of worthless sloths—of course they would leave it to the very last second.”
Monique raised one stern brow, looking at her doubtfully, and Emma almost lost her nerve and confessed. She went for a little more honesty.
“I don’t know how these things work, Monique! Study groups and social gatherings ... I don’t know how to do any of it. Cara was the leader. She organized it; I just listened to her instructions.”
Monique drew a measured breath, returning her attention to the road. She swerved into traffic, cutting off a vehicle who intended to ignore her blinker. Her tone returned to its regular brisk pace. “How long will you be?”
A blossom of hope filled Emma, though she was careful to hide it.
“I have no idea. A few hours, probably, if I know how unfocused these girls are.”
Emma had hardly expected it to work. She half-thought Monique would declare she was a liar and spend the remainder of their car ride listing all of Emma’s faults. Lists of punishments came into Emma’s mind, and again she felt a rise of panic. However, Monique had taken the lie: hook, line, and sinker.
“Where does she live?”
Emma had to think fast. “4950 West Pine in Orem.”
Monique gave a brisk nod. “All right, Emma. I will drop you off there and you can call my cell when you’re finished.”
Emma stared at her, shocked at how easily the lie had succeeded. Monique was going to let her go? To a gathering with people who were not part of the Family? It seemed almost impossible. Her studying gaze caught Monique’s eye then and the woman turned to look at her. Emma jerked her gaze back to the window. She knew that one look at her face would give it all away. She hoped instead that Monique assumed Emma was still angry about being picked up late. The truth was, Emma was delighted now about the mix up, because it had given her the courage and the means to convince Monique to let her go to Cara’s.
“Fine,” Emma answered coldly, as if she did not care. In nervous excitement, she watched I-15 traffic out the passenger window. She thought forward, toward the party at Cara’s. And she planned some specific words she could say about the “biology study group” and how they had gotten nothing of substance done. Then Emma would insist she would ask the teacher to be removed from the group, that way Emma would not have to answer awkward questions if Monique ever wanted to know what had happened with her group project.