Guild of Tokens: Trainee

Morning meeting

The girl was late. Ordinarily, Beatrice Taylor would not have cared. She wasn't a stickler for people following her Quests to a T, and could deal with a bit of improvisation if the Quester got the job done. "Results-oriented" would be on her resume if she still had a normal job. But this morning was different. This morning, her usual sitter texted her at 6:15 saying that she had been up half the night sick. And, the last-minute replacement looked more suited for changing tires than changing a diaper.

Beatrice sighed and took another sip of her coffee. She watched the throngs of people on Bleecker Street pass by and she envied the carefree mornings they were probably enjoying. She wished she could return to those days, when all she had to worry about was where she was going to meet her friends for brunch or when Garrett was finally going to propose. But that had been a lifetime ago, before the baby, before Garrett had started sleeping with his analyst, and before she had discovered the Quests.

"I'm so sorry I'm late!" A chipper brunette wearing a pink backpack sprinted up to Beatrice's table in front of the coffee shop, and took the empty seat across from her.

"It's fine. I take it you have the book?" Beatrice studied her latest trainee, who had clearly ran the last few blocks, as her face was flush and her breathing heavy. Good, she thought. She liked it when her trainees were afraid of displeasing her.

The jury was still out on Kate, a sophomore at NYU from Nebraska. The girl fit the new profile perfectly - enthusiastic, hard-working, a desire to please, and most importantly, no strong attachments to family.

"Yep!" Kate dumped her backpack on the table and began ruffling through it, finally withdrawing a leather-bound book.

"Excellent. How is the old professor? Still a disgusting lecher? I hope he didn't leer at you too much. You're just his type."

Kate's eyes widened.

"Wait, how did you know that he had... Oh. This was just a test. Again."

Beatrice smiled. At least this one was perceptive.

"Of course. You think you're ready for the big time already? Do you read the book?"

"I did. Was up all night. Then tried to take a quick cat nap but slept through my alarm. That's why I was la-"

"Then you know that this wasn't something I would leave to the likes of you if I didn't already know I could get it back."

The trainee's face turned sour, her achievement quickly undermined by a few choice words. But Beatrice preferred it this way. Last time she had let a trainee get a big head, things had gotten ugly, and with a baby to take care of, Beatrice didn't really have the time anymore to keep starting from the beginning.

"Oh don't be so sensitive. You did well regardless. Here's your reward."

Beatrice set the stack of iron tokens on the table and took the book. Kate stared at the tokens for several seconds before finally grabbing them and stuffing them in her backpack.

"Thanks."

The girl's earlier perkiness had faded in short order. Kids these days. They wanted a pat on the back, a trophy, and to be enthusiastically congratulated for doing what was expected of them. Kate should be grateful that she was even getting this chance to be her trainee. Did the girl know how hard Beatrice had worked to get to where she was? Of course not. But she had to play with the hand she was dealt, even if it meant a little extra coddling here and there.

"And because you were up all night, here's something extra."

Beatrice withdrew a small green square wrapped in plastic from her pocketbook and slid it across the table.

"What's this?"

"A little something to help you next time you need to finish a paper. It lasts only a couple of hours, so don't waste it, but it's one of my better buffs, if I do say so myself."

The girl stared at her blankly.

"You don't know what a buff is?"

Kate shook her head.

"OK, fine. Think of it as a magic version of the Adderall you've been dealing in your dorm for me. Which it is."

"Oh. OH. Wow, thanks!"

"You're welcome. Don't waste it though. I don't hand those out to everyone for free you know."

"I won't. So, what's my next assignment? Do you have the next volume of the diary? I have so many questions!"

"Easy there, tiger. I'll be in touch. Go get some sleep. You're beginning to sound like a chipmunk."

The girl nodded, grabbed her stuff, and left the coffee shop. If there was one thing Beatrice had impressed upon her trainees, it was that she didn't much care for small talk. She wasn't there to be their friend or their mother. Speaking of, little Jack Jack would be waking up soon. Beatrice sighed again, finished the last dregs of her coffee and headed back uptown to her "normal" life.