Chapter 10: Pretentious
From the speed of reaction of the person living in the apartment, you could see that it was a appointment. The fact that a person was behind the door earlier looking through the peephole only makes this even clearer. The person who answered the door was a short man. He looked only 5'5'' feet tall, but was physically strong, with a muscular body. Seeing who answered the door, the man in suit gave a dismissive smile that did not escape the sight of Lucas.
'What's going on here? Something seems strange.'
It didn't seem like a appointment between friends, especially because the person who answered the door looked at the man in suit with anger. He was trying to control himself, but it was impossible to hide the anger on his face. The man in suit, however, pretended not to notice and said.
"Hello Jonas, I came to see your sister, is she home? We arranged to have dinner together."
Seeing the man in suit pretend not to notice the look of anger on the man named Jonas, Lucas couldn't help but wonder how right he was about what kind of person the man in suit was.
"Clovis, I cannot say that I am happy with this reunion. Why do you need to do this with May? She did nothing wrong with you."
Jonas wanted to break the pretense from the beginning, he didn't like these little games that Clovis played. If he didn't break this pretensious act, Clovis would probably keep talking as if nothing was happening, as if they were friends. This was one side of Clovis that Jonas hated most, apart, of course, everything else.
"There is no way she could have forgotten our appointment. She's in there, right? Could you call her?"
Unfortunately, Clovis completely ignored what Jonas said, he didn't want to end the pretensious act... yet.
"I'm here, Clovis. You may come in."
A woman appeared behind Jonas, and as soon as he saw her, Clovis showed the most disgusting smile he could make. Even Lucas had to agree that this was the most disgusting smile he'd ever seen. He'd seen a lot of smiles like that before, but it seemed that Lucas's opinion of Clovis, with an overwhelming downward trend, made it the ugliest smile he'd ever seen.
This disgust only became bigger when he saw the beautiful woman Clovis smiled at.
As soon as he saw her, and thinking of all the information he had received so far, he couldn't help but think.
'Seriously? My neighbor is too hot. What is this coincidence? '
'I told you about it before, Master, that ability, Touch of Fate. Don't be surprised by this, Touch of Fate is a skill that grows with you. At this point, at most, it gives you some casual encounters. In the future, it will become much more powerful. Anyway, it is important to take every opportunity that appears in front of you. '
Caritas's voice rang in Lucas's head, answering his earlier question about the coincidence of this whole situation. Who would have expected that the next-door neighbor would be an incredibly beautiful and hot woman?
She was 5' 8'' feet tall, with long brown hair, huge breasts that seemed to want to burst from her clothes, clear skin, and graceful and delicate features. In a quick comparison, although only an inch smaller than Rose, her breasts were larger, as well as the rest of the body as a whole was plump. Rose was thinner, while this woman had a more erotic body. Overall, she was about the same level as Rose's beauty.
One thing Lucas had to agree with, though. It is important to seize every opportunity that comes before you. Seeing the beautiful woman who was his neighbor, and the situation she's in, he thought it would be good first to make a connection with her. Starting, of course, with the presentations. Fortunately, though pretentious, Clovis was well-mannered, since he had not forgotten him.
"Wait a minute, May, there's a guy here who came especially to greet you."
May had already seen Lucas, and was wondering who he was, as she had never seen him with Clovis before.
"Hello, my name is Lucas, I moved to the next apartment. I came to greet my neighbor... Do you two live together? "
"No, I'm just here at my sister's request. May lives here alone now. "
Lucas noticed the strange word "now" in Jonas's words, but pretended not to, and turned to May.
"Miss May, I just moved to San Diego, and I don't know anyone here. Since you are my neighbor, I wanted to forge a good relationship with you. I was wondering how to approach you, and that's when this gentleman here, Mr. Clovis, decided to help me with my presentation. "
I didn't decide anything, you asked me, and I couldn't decline, Clovis thought as he heard Lucas's words. Although a scoundrel, Clovis was an educated man, especially with strangers, the result of his work. His polite nature could trick many people into letting their guard down in front of him, an old trick that he mastered. That is why, even if he didn't do it on purpose, anyone who knew his true nature was disgusted to see him act so polite.
"Ah, I see, you're the new 302 tenant... You're very polite..."
May was silent for a moment, and remembering the conversation until that moment, a small smile appeared on her face and she continued.
"How about dinner with us? Since you don't know anyone in town, I'm sure I can help you with information. I've lived in this city half my life, I know a lot about it. "
Lucas was very intelligent, and thanks to his killer experiences and training, he was very good at reading the people and the atmosphere. Jonas and May didn't seem to like Clovis, and had their guard very high in front of him, they seemed almost completely hostile. Jonas, in particular, looked like he was going to jump on Clovis at any moment.
Recalling Jonas's earlier words that he didn't live in the apartment, it was clear that Jonas came to support May. That is, May called Clovis, but was afraid to be alone with him, so she called her strong brother to not only protect her, but support her emotionally.
At this point, May asks Lucas to have dinner with them, which obviously means she wants to use him as a shield, an extra layer of protection. Lucas realized everything instantly, and couldn't be happier. Didn't he need to make a connection with May? What better time than this?
'Master, a mission has appeared. The mission tells you to help May during dinner. The reward is 2000 love points . '
Hearing this, a smile appeared on Lucas's face, who answered without delay.
"Of course, I was really thinking about dinner. By accepting your invitation, I will be killing several birds with one stone. Thank you for inviting me, you are very kind. "
Clovis's expression changed a little at May's invitation, and it changed even more when he saw Lucas so blatantly accepting. It wasn't hard to figure out what was going on, and yet Lucas chose to intrude in the middle. Either he was too stupid, or Lucas did it on purpose. Clovis was a little uncomfortable with that, but in the end was silent and entered the apartment, with Lucas close behind.
"May , I'm looking forward to your food. What did you do?"
After entering the apartment, Clovis took off his suit and placed it on the couch in the living room. He looked pretty comfortable, like the house was his, and it annoyed Jonas even more, he was almost jumping on Clovis when he felt a hand touch his shoulder.
"Lasagna."
Hearing the voice, and feeling the touch on his shoulder, Jonas took a deep breath and calmed down. As much as he wanted to beat Clovis right there, he knew he couldn't screw things up now. His sister was about to face a battle with her most important thing on the line, he couldn't mess it up before it even started.
Lucas noticed the tension in the room, and watched the movements of each of the people present. With that, he had a better understanding of the situation. His goal, as the mission asked, was to help May, but for now he decided to do nothing and just watch. He needs to gather information first before thinking about what to do. After all, it seems that this is important to May, he can not disturb, his goal is to help.
Clovis sat in a chair at the dining table, and smiled at May, who didn't show a very strong reaction, she just went to get the food in the kitchen without saying anything else. Jonas sat up too, though unhappy with the situation. Lucas simply sat quietly, careful not to draw too much attention.
"I hope you are reasonable."
"I'm very reasonable, always have been."
Jonas snorted coldly but said nothing more. For now, he had to participate in this farce. First dinner, then negotiation. Until then, he shouldn't annoy Clovis too much, or he could end up making things difficult for May.
May quickly brought the lasagna along with various side dishes. Clovis seemed eager to eat as he paid no more attention to May or Jonas and simply began to help himself.
This relaxed attitude is also a strategy, Lucas thought as he watched the act. Clovis was an intelligent man, and knowledgeable, he knows better than anyone that who has the greatest bargain has the most advantage, and so are the most relaxed. They don't care about the situation, and take it easy. On the other hand, the one with the lowest bargain is the one who is at a disadvantage, so they are the most impatient. Those who have the most advantage gain even more advantage by stirring the other side of the negotiations, while those who have the least advantage get the least advantage by getting impatient.
May knew this very well, which is why she played with Clovis, and didn't show much of her anger or disgust. She understood him very well, and knew it was all an act. Inside, Clovis wanted the negotiation as much as she did, since Amy is a burden to him. Amy was born with a special ability, she was a esper. Although it is not known what skill she has, she will in the future be targeted by numerous organizations. Depending on the skill, being targeted by country leaders is not impossible, some skills are simply too valuable.
Of course, this is for the distant future, when she is ten, the age at which her ability will finally be measured. Whether it's what it does, or the potency. When this happens, many organizations will go after her. No matter how powerful and rich Clovis is, he is not confident in protecting Amy. He may end up being murdered in the confusion. To him, Amy was a burden. The problem is that he couldn't just throw that burden away, after all, people born with skills are secretly tagged and protected. If he throws her away, the government will come after him and that will not be good.
That's why May is his best and only choice. She is someone who is willing to carry this burden, and in return will still give something he wants. Although it seemed he had the upper hand, he wanted to advance the negotiations as much as May .
Seeing Clovis's action, May was actually a little pleased, as she feels that dealing with him like this is so much better, especially with Lucas there. All she needed to do was ignore him for now. Seeing Lucas silently watching the people around, May smiled and said.
"I forgot to introduce myself before. My name is Maylin Angels, but you can call me May. The one next to me is my brother, Jonas Angels. Nice to meet you."
"Nice to meet you, Lucas. Did you move alone? "(Jonas)
"Yes, my parents got an amazing job opportunity in France, and went to work there. I didn't want to go, so I decided to stay. They planned on leaving me to live in our old house, but as I decided to come study here in San Diego, we sold the house and preferred to rent an apartment here. "
"Did they agree so easily to leave you here?" (Jonas)
"They saw it as an opportunity for me to grow."
"You are very polite. Most people wouldn't greet their neighbors. "
"I wouldn't say it's politeness, it's more… strategy. I'm in a city where I don't know anyone. I need to create allies, otherwise I can end up making a mistake. So don't think I'm doing this out of pure politeness, there's a hidden reason. "
"Haha, you're very smart too. It is a good strategy. San Diego is a big city, and depending on it, you may end up making many mistakes that can make your life difficult. Even more with your age... "
"I have sixteen."
"Wow, it's even younger than I thought. It is very easy for a young person like you to be fooled here. There's also the fact that you're living alone now... If you have any problems, you can find me, I'll help you if I can. "
"Thanks, May, that's very kind of you."
"You don't have to be so polite, we will be neighbors. If you continue like this, in the future, it will be uncomfortable for both of us, right?"
"Then I'll be more casual if you don't mind."
"Of course not. But you said you were going to study here? What year? What school?
"First year, Albert Einstein High School. I'll get things done tomorrow, and maybe the next day I'll start school. "
"Um… it's a good school, and it's not far away. How do you plan to go there? "
"Bike, I bought one yesterday to go to school."
"Wait, isn't the school year nearing its end? Only two months left, if I'm not mistaken. "
"Yes, but I managed to transfer anyway. These are called connections. They make life so much simpler. "
"True… I'm impressed that you have such connections. That school is not that simple, only upper -middle class people study there. "
"I joined for testing. My father knows the vice principal of that school, and he promised that as long as I passed a test, I would be able to enter the school. I also received a half tuition scholarship, I only need to pay half. The remaining half, I will pay slowly with part-time work. "
"Won't your parents send money?"
"I am stubborn. Although they have left me money, I plan to try to make myself. "
"I don't know if this is admirable, or stupid. If you think so, you will have a lot of problems. "
"I know, but I won't run away from the problems."
"I see… about part-time work, do you have any interviews scheduled?"
"No, I just arrived, I'm still situating myself. Tomorrow I go to school, I have some things to work out after that, and then I go after a job. By your tone... Do you have any ideas? "
"Yes. I work at a law firm, and we were considering hiring someone to help us with some things there temporarily. "
"What's the job?"
"It's just that we've been doing a heavy job lately, and it's sucking up all our time. Because of this, we are without people to do small jobs. For example, there is a restaurant nearby where we usually go there for lunch or buy takeaway food. We don't even have time to do it anymore. "
"Among other small things, we are temporarily needing people to do these jobs. Buying and serving food, making and serving coffee, making file copies, load paper in printers, throwing away trash... This is usually done by all employees, but they are so busy that they can't do anything else. "
"So we decided to employ people part-time. It will only be for three months, so don't expect a permanent job, but the pay is good, and during those three months you can go after a good job. "
Lucas was silent as he listened to the proposal. Clovis, who ate in silence all the time, was a little impatient as May seemed to have forgotten his existence. Jonas was quiet in his place eating slowly.
Seeing that May seemed to be concentrating on waiting for his answer, Lucas picked up his plate and began to pour himself.
"This is a great offer, I will definitely accept. Thank you, May. When do I start? "
"Tomorrow, after you sort things out, come to the office."
May then took a card from her pocket and handed it to Lucas. On the card was her name, Maylin Angels, a cell phone, the name of a firm, Olley and Foley, the address, and finally her position: Lawyer.
From her behavior, Lucas knew May was a cultured woman, but he didn't expect her to be a lawyer. She was very young, looking twenty-five years old at most. That surprised him a little.
'Appearance passes, and she is an intelligent woman. Looks like we got lucky, Lucas.'
Lucas nodded mentally. In fact, he was impressed with May. However, Lucas thought he should follow carefully. There is no way a woman at such an age has no luggage. The biggest proof is this Clovis, who seems to have something to do with her. Fortunately, it seems that the two do not get along, and since at a time like this May chose to call her brother, it means that the chances of her being single are high.
'What do you think I should do for her to see me as a man, Caritas? From her tone, she sees me as a child. The age difference is not small either. That wasn't a problem with Rose, since she has a high life span, but it sure will be with May.'
'For now, Master, I think you should gather information and approach her. Think about it later. '
'Alright . '
"The Lasagna is delicious, May. Looks like you did it? "
"Yes, I'm not exactly a chef, but I have some skills to show off. I'm glad you liked it."
"Yes, it's delicious, thanks again for inviting me to dinner."
Dinner followed normally. Clovis and Jonas were silent the entire time. Clovis, thinking everything was under control, though Lucas's presence made him uncomfortable. Jonas, for thinking May was very relaxed. He thought it was his role to be on guard against Clovis, which is why any movement of him was under Jonas's gaze.
Jonas knows Clovis's methods, so he knows he shouldn't relax when he's around him.
Fortunately, although the atmosphere was tense, Lucas and May's casual conversation handled the situation well. After the meal, however, things got more tense. As soon as Lucas and Jonas had finished eating, saying no more, May went into the kitchen and returned with three cups of pudding.
She handed one to Lucas, one to Jonas, and started eating one while continuing to chat casually with Lucas. She had really ignored Clovis this time. Clovis didn't know what to do, since he'd been silent until that moment, setting aside his earlier pretensions. If he started acting pretentiously again, it would be embarrassing , so the only thing he could do was either end the pretensions right there, or wait for them to finish dessert, and consequently Lucas's departure.
Clovis didn't want to discuss what he had to discuss in front of a stranger, so he was waiting for him to leave.
Unfortunately, Lucas had no intention of leaving, and May acted as if she had indeed forgotten about Clovis, as she kept talking casually to Lucas.
This situation persisted even after they had dessert, and it finally forced Clovis to take action.
"Lucas, could you go home now? Maylin and I have something important to discuss. "
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