Party Schmarty

Ley faced Landon again to say goodbye but he spoke ahead of her.

"Is that guy by the door your boyfriend? He looks really pissed at me," he asked nonchalantly while gesturing to my back but she could hear an underlying tone in his voice that she can't quite put a finger on.

She looked behind her again and saw Tristan one of the most senior taboos and currently managing the coffee shop glaring at Landon with suspicion in his eyes. She caught Tristan's eyes and signaled at him to stop their idiotic act.

A few seconds later, they all averted their gazes when Tristan appeared to have spoken. She's going to have an interesting talk with them later.

Ley was about to have the 'it's none of his business' talk with Landon but his intense gaze at her made her swallow the words.

She clearly remember that Roma said there was nothing between the two of them but the way Landon's acting right now is making her confused.

"He isn't my boyfriend," she surrendered this time.

"Good," he uttered softly with his raspy voice which made her traitorous heart thud in surprise. Judging by the smirk on his face, he definitely heard the result of what he did to me.

She internally screamed in annoyance. To hell with saying goodbye to this frustrating guy then. She was just about to trudge off when she heard him speaking again.

"Regarding that black tie event tomorrow you were talking about earlier, you'll have to come and attend with me," he ordered.

"I don't really go with you to those kind of events. Do you want me to call one of the ladies you usually attend such parties with?" she replied with confusion due to the sudden turn of events.

"No, I don't want the trouble of having to explain why I'm facing death threats if a sudden attack occurs again."

Well, he's correct there but it's still troublesome since she was originally planning to sneak into the party to monitor him not enter the party with him.

She nodded resignedly as further talks would be useless since he made up his mind already.

"Alright. Do you need me to prepare you a dress?" he inquired.

"No need. I can manage," she said firmly.

"See you tomorrow then," he bid farewell while looking satisfied at getting his way.

They drove off and Ley waited at the sidewalk until the car was no longer seen. She heaved a sigh at managing to survive Day 2 of this job. She needs to be more cautious as Landon is too sharp. Doing jobs centered around shifters are certainly much more troublesome due to their sharper senses.

Finishing her reflection, she glared at the direction of the cafe. Looks like this bunch of people are getting bored with their jobs.

This place was one of their business revenues to support their fellow taboos in hiding at the reservation. Some adults who can now mingle with others without compromising their identity works at one of these places if they don't want to work outside.

She entered and saw that it was fairly busy inside. Gale passed by her while carrying a coffee but that didn't stop him from throwing her a wink and mouthing a 'hey boss'.

By the looks of it, half of the customers here are his regulars fawning over his blue-eyed blonde look. The other half are attracted by Tristan's bad boy style with tattoos all over his body. He flashed me a peace sign with his signature cocky smirk from the counter. She sent back a glare and he raised his hands back in a surrender gesture.

She shook her head at the antics of the two and went to a corner table where Siri sat by.

She took a seat in front of her and watch her slowly sipping her probably 90% sugar coffee.

"It's just the second day and you're already being sent home by the boss," Siri commented after setting down her cup.

She waved her hands in annoyance while saying, "Don't remind me. It's annoying me a lot. This day surprised me a lot of times. Besides, I'm pretty sure you already know what happened."

"Just the gist of it. I don't make a habit of spying anymore."

Ley scoffed at her lies and faced Tristan who brought her a cup of espresso.

"Don't think I'll forget what you did earlier," she reminded him while taking the cup.

"You're making guys send you home now?" he asked instead.

She rolled her eyes at him which made him laugh.

"You be careful, Ley. You know how territorial shifters can get."

"Don't worry. By the way, do you need a retouch on the tattoo?" she inquired as she would probably be busy in the next few days.

Some taboos can learn to control themselves but there are others who need binding tattoo to control their powers or they wouldn't be able to live outside the reservation.

Tristan is one of those taboos. His shifter side sometimes goes feral when he lets it out and the tattoo was designed to help him control it and prevent him from harming others.

One problem is the tattoo needs to be renewed after some time. Unlike the curse-type tattoos she draws, this particular type consumes the magic in the tattoo which render it useless once it's past its expiration date.

"Not yet," he shook his head then proceeded to ruffle her hair which made her slapped his hand away in annoyance. He walked away while laughing.

She faced Siri again and asked, "By the way, have you seen Sera?"

"Not yet but she did mention that she'll swing by later."

Ley really need to ask Sera for help with her dress for the party tomorrow but she's in and out these days.

Ley stood up once she saw Siri also finished her cup of coffee. They went upstairs to her room planning to discuss what went on this afternoon.

She opened the door and Siri automatically sat on the bed and huddled on the blankets.

She was taking out some clothes to change when her window suddenly opened and a red-haired beauty emerged from climbing outside.

"For the nth time Sera, can't you use the door to enter normally?" she muttered while kneading her forehead.

"No can do. Why go through the door when there's an open window?" she said while shaking her one exquisitely manicured finger at me.

"I think the most important point here is to not climb the window while wearing a certain celebrity's face," Siri's muffled voice sounded out by the blankets.