Marked

[Toaster]

"Oh, come on now, old girl!" Beige chuckled loudly. "It's been how long? Two years?" He smiled at Olivia broadly. She sighed.

"Pretty much," she replied listlessly. "Can't say it's been a day too many." The man's smile vanished, being replaced with an exaggerated, taunting frown. He slumped back in his chair, looking at her like a puppy denied a treat. But unable to keep it up, he burst out laughing loudly again, causing Olivia to lean away from him for the sake of her eardrums.

Wiping a tear from his eyes, he collected himself again. "Still the good old hard-ass, huh? Hah!" He slapped her on the back as he chuckled some more. "What a coincidence, right? The two of us, menaces of the Omegas, running into each other in a dump like this! Right?" Olivia clenched her fists as his hand struck her back a second time.

"Crazy," she growled. We'll be more than even after this, Moretti, Olivia thought to herself as she endured another bout of laughter from her conversational partner.

It felt like an eternity passed before Beige's incessant badgering was finally interrupted as a door in the far wall of the lobby opened, a broad-shouldered man in heavy gear standing in the frame. He glanced around the room, his eyes wandering over the job applicants seated along the walls. His gaze finally landed on Olivia. He lifted one meaty hand and pointed directly at her.

"You," he said. "Boss'll see you."

Olivia practically leapt out of her seat, momentarily excited to finally be separated from the man beside her again. Beige, however, jumped up after her, stepping in front of her with a huge grin on his face.

"Sir, chief, hah!" He sputtered with faux anxiety. The guard glared at him from under heavy eyebrows, waiting. Olivia stepped up beside Beige, furious.

"What the hell are you doing?" She hissed.

"Trust me," he muttered through his teeth, still smiling broadly at the man waiting in the door frame. "She and I," he pointed from Olivia to himself and back, "are kind of an item! So... Boss'll have to see us both!" Olivia stared at him in disbelief. The guard stood perfectly still for a moment, his thoughts hidden behind a completely unperturbed visage. Olivia glanced at him, waiting for them both to be kicked out and for her mission to be a complete failure. Instead, however, the man nodded his head towards the room behind him and stepped aside, clearing the door for them.

"Hah! Wonderful!" Beige clapped his hands in front of him and strode forward. "Come on, mouse!" Olivia glared after him. Then she took a deep breath and followed. Perhaps she wasn't screwed just yet after all. A step away from the threshold, Olivia felt her PDA vibrate against her chest. Pausing, she pulled it out and glanced at the screen. It was a message from Moretti - no text, just an image attachment. She opened it.

She took a second to make out what the crudely drawn picture was supposed to depict. Then her face turned pale in an instant.

"Son of a bitch," she nearly shouted as she recognized the face on the display. Both the guard and Beige turned towards her, the former squinting at her suspiciously, the latter smiling inquiringly. Olivia's eyes shot up, bewildered. "Sorry," she stammered. "It's, uh, nothing." Inhaling deeply, she collected herself as well as she could and stepped forward. The guard shrugged almost imperceptibly and turned away, while Beige's eyes remained on her as she walked past him. With her hands shaking ever so slightly despite her best efforts to maintain a calm appearance, she slid the PDA back into her vest.

"Miss Olivia Sable," the guard announced her as she stepped into the room. It was dark, like the lobby. The sole source of illumination was a lamp standing upon a black desk at the far end of the room. Behind it was seated a short, thick man, his features hard to discern in the dim light. "And...," the guard continued his introduction, glancing at a small notepad in his hand, "Mister Arthur Beaumont."

"Hey there!" Beige called out with a wave as he stepped through the door after Olivia. "Here for the job! Hah!"

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Olivia Sable