My Commander(49)

"Damn period!" She muttered and went back to Aiden's archaic laptop.





*****





By noon Meryn was ready to slit her wrists or beat Aiden with his own laptop, it was a toss-up. Finally pushed past her levels of patience, which was practically nonexistent for page loading anyway, she slammed the lid down on the laptop and decided to get a shower. She let the antique drop to the floor and went to her suitcase. Should she claim a drawer? Was this her new room? She dug through her clothes and made a mental note to ask about their future. Feeling belligerent she picked out one of her favorite tees that read "I Hate Everybody!" and went to the bathroom. While getting ready she realized that she was over her cycle. She did a little happy dance in the shower. As she shampooed her hair, she debated on the best way to let Aiden know.

"Come on, big boy, you, me and Jaws." Meryn snort laughed, which was a mistake because she inhaled a nose full of water. Coughing and sputtering and feeling grumpier than ever she finished her shower and got dressed. She left Aiden's laptop on the floor and walked out the door. She was just about to take the first step down the stairs when she looked at the banister.

And looked at it.

She glanced around to see if anyone was watching. Throwing caution to the wind she climbed up on the wooden handrail, took a deep breath and shifter her weight.

Holy Shit!

"Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea!!" Meryn screeched all the way down. Still screaming she flew off the end of the banister and landed on her tailbone on the expensive marble floor in the foyer. With tears in her eyes she rolled around on the ground clutching her butt.

"What on earth!" Adelaide and Byron rushed out of his office. They stared down at her as she wiggled around moaning.

"You owe me five dollars." Byron said, holding out his hand. Adelaide shook her head.

"I may owe you five dollars because you bet she would go down the banister, but you owe me twenty because I told you should wouldn't think to put any pillows down like Ben." Adelaide wagged a finger at her mate.

"Y'all are mean. I'm crippled!" Meryn got up on wobbly legs.

"Come sit down and keep us company in my office, the chairs are more comfortable there than in the drawing room." Byron helped her to hobble to his office and got her seated.

"Today sucks! Aiden's laptop sucks! And showers suck! And banisters suck!" Meryn knew she sounded childish, but she pouted anyway. Some days just needed a restart button.

"Poor dear. Here have some tea, you'll feel better in no time." Adelaide passed her a cup of steaming tea. Meryn took in the light fragrance.

"Jasmine?"

"Yes, it's one of Byron's favorites." Adelaide passed her a small plate filled with cookies. To their right a large stone fireplace had a toasty fire going that gave the room a warm glow. Meryn wiggled in her chair getting comfortable ignoring the twangs of pain from her tailbone and sighed. The day was looking much better.

In a comfortable silence Adelaide wrote, actually hand wrote letters as Byron tapped away at his computer. Meryn was itching to see if his desktop was any better than Aiden's laptop.

"Meryn get over here before you sprain your neck." Byron stood and motioned to his chair. Meryn quickly set her teacup down and practically ran over to his desk. Byron sat next to his mate and started to help her address some of the envelopes.

Meryn cracked her knuckles. It was a Mac. She logged in as a guest and in seconds she was on the internet. She pulled up her database and began pulling reports.

"Oh, rip that one up. We're not inviting the Bowers, not after what I found out this morning." Adelaide seethed. Byron regarded her in surprise.

"What did Ethan do?"

"Not Ethan, Daphane! Marius was almost ashamed to report that nearly all of the potential squire candidates that we had lined up for interviews after the ball have backed out. Evidently, Daphane is interviewing for Elise on the exact same day and is saying that it's more prestigious to work for someone who was actually paranormal in a smaller household than for a human in House McKenzie." Adelaide slammed her pen down. Meryn shrugged.

"If that's all it took for them to change their minds, then they might have done us a favor. Now we won't have to weed them out." She thumped her fingers on the polished wood of Byron's desk.

"That's a very positive way to look at it Meryn." Byron sounded proud.

"That also means less interviews and talking to people." Meryn looked up grinning. Adelaide laughed.

"Of course, you would look at it that way."

"You're getting to know me all too well Mom." Meryn went back to the notes that Elder Airgead had given her. A throat cleared.