Free Wind-Scarred (The Will of the Elements, Book 1) by Sky Corbelli

legs
hadn't quite gotten the message that he was going to be using them
yet and had instead decided to complain about a night spent
running, hiding, and carrying a girl around. Oh, and being
electrocuted. They seemed to be opposed to that too. Rubbing bleary
eyes, Ezra called up a time display. That's why the sun was glaring
through his window. It was two thirty. Two
thirty .
    He was late for his date with Liza Crawford.
His head resumed its position on the floor with a thump. This would
be it, the last straw. Kirsten would be up here any minute, meat
cleaver in hand, ready to lecture him on the importance of being
neat, organized and punctual as she chopped him into little pieces.
To better hide the body, of course.
    He raced to the shower, scrubbing and
rinsing then toweling dry in a whirlwind of frantic activity. Teeth
and hair were simultaneously brushed while he rifled through the
clothing that littered the room, trying to find something clean and
appropriate. His pants were halfway up, a shirt clutched between
his toes for inspection, when two polite knocks at the door
proceeded his secretary into the room. She, of course, looked prim
and proper, microcosm of data terminals floating at her
fingertips.
    Glancing him over, Kirsten appearing
entirely unperturbed by his current state of disarray. “Good,
you're awake.” Her eyes went to an interface and she began ticking
off items on a list. “I've rescheduled your appointment with Miss
Crawford to four this afternoon, and the cook has been informed
that you are not to be given anything to eat until you return
tonight. We wouldn't want to spoil your early dinner, after all.
I've taken the liberty of dispatching an inspector to estimate the
extent of the damages sustained by the Conservatorium last night.
Also, several port stations have called to ask if they may resume
standard operation. May I assume that you are finished with
them?”
    Ezra pulled his toothbrush from his mouth,
cleared his throat and said, “Ah, um, yes, Miss O'Donnell. It
should now be safe for them to resume operation.”
    “ Very good, sir,” Kirsten continued smoothly. “The cleaning
grunts have requested that you unlock your lab so that they may
dust inside. We will be leaving for the University Plaza park to
meet Miss Crawford in one hour, so please pick out something...”
she looked down at the shirt still clutched by his toes and sniffed
in disapproval, “acceptable for your rendezvous with the lady.” Her
eyes flashed with emerald fire, belying her polite tone. “Will that
be all, Mr. Hawkins?”
    Ezra nodded meekly as she spun, straightened
the workspace containment field on his desk, and swept out of the
room. He looked down at his shirt. He looked up at the door. Then,
groaning, he began looking for something 'acceptable' to wear.
    An hour later, Ezra was chafing in a well
pressed shirt that seemed to have decided its optimal shape without
consulting the body inside it first. He gave a nervous smile as
Kirsten walked up and looked him over. “It'll have to do,” she
sighed quietly. Ezra quickly grabbed the door to the skiff and held
it open for her, smile fixed in place like a death grin.
    She ignored him as she stepped in and began
giving instructions to the driver. “We'll need to get to a barber
first, of course. We can't have him going out looking like a mangy
dog. And you will have to drop by a florist while I see to his
hair. He has almost certainly has forgotten to bring her a token of
his-”
    Ezra shut the door quietly and sighed. Well,
at least if she was fixated on micro-managing every aspect of his
life, it should be easy to do... whatever it was that the Guild of
Sundry would have him doing. Kirsten and the Guild could probably
get by without ever knowing that other existed. Fortified by that
thought, Ezra hardly even flinched when Kirsten rolled down her
window while looking at her time display, cleared her throat and
gave him a rather pointed look.
    ==
    Twenty eight