The Scarlet Stinger (LRDA Book 1)

Chapter 7

Talia took the elevator up to the seventh floor where her mother's office was.

"Hi April," Talia said to the secretary.

"Talia," Phillip said. He had just turned twenty-one and was in university doing a BioChemical Engineering degree. He looked paler and slimmer than before and his hair was longer than usual but Nora had mentioned before that he was trying hard to graduate with First Degree Honors and spent most of his time either in the school labs or in his room studying.

The young man smiled and hugged her.

"Phillip," Talia said. She turned to the woman in the wheelchair. "Hi Ms Taylor. How's your leg? I heard about the accident."

"I've been better," Ms Taylor said. Her left leg was in a cast. Everyone had heard about the car accident. Her car had been totaled. She was lucky she escaped with just a broken leg. They shook hands.

Her mother walked out with a man Talia had never seen before. Must be another client.

"Talia," Elaine said. "I thought you would have been here earlier. Phillip was waiting." Juniper poked her nose into Elaine's hand.

"I met a friend on the way and Juniper had to confess her love to him," Talia said. Juniper hung her head. "It didn't go too well. He turned her down."

Elaine chuckled and patted Juniper's head. "It's okay. You'll meet someone else."

"It's good that you're here," Ms Taylor said. "You can take Phillip for a walk."

"Mom, I'm not a dog," Phillip said.

"You've been stuck inside the house for weeks doing assignments. Go outside and get some color."

"And get Talia to eat something. I'm sure she skipped lunch again," Elaine said.

Talia smiled sheepishly. "I had most of it and a really big breakfast."

"A bowl of cereal is not a big breakfast."

"I didn't just eat that. I had a calzone too."

"A calzone? Where did you get that?"

"One of the kids I'm tutoring gave it to me."

Elaine sighed. "Talia, you know you're not supposed to just take food from people. Ms Wilson is the one who takes care of your food."

"Mom, if you'd seen his face, you'd know why I couldn't say no, and he even went through the trouble of calculating carbs." Talia took out her phone and showed her mother the graph. "See? Perfectly fine."

Her mother huffed. "Just don't make a habit of it. Is this the same boy you told me about this morning?" Talia didn't answer but her face gave her away. "I need to meet this boy soon. Phillip, get her to eat a snack but not something too heavy so she can still eat dinner. That graph is showing a downward trend."

"I don't think we have much of a choice," Phillip said. He leaned closer to Talia and whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "I'm too afraid to challenge them."

"I told you that boy has a brain in his head," Ms Taylor said. "Have fun." Elaine wheeled her into the office.

Phillip looked a little worried then forced on a smile. "So, where are we going?"

Talia thought about it. "Buy me an ice-cream cupcake."

Phillip laughed. "I'm supposed to buy you food, not ice-cream."

Talia grinned. "Yeah, but you will anyway."

Phillip threw his arm around her shoulder and led her to the elevator. "You know me too well."