Guild of Tokens: Trainee

Conference call

The wine was red tonight. A bottle of Carignan from their last trip to the South of France. Beatrice had mixed memories about that vacation. On the one hand, who could be unhappy lounging on a Mediterranean beach? But on the other hand, it was the last time that she and Garrett had had sex and the result of that act was quietly sleeping in the other room.

Garrett's glass remained full, for no sooner had he poured it than his work phone had rang. That was two hours ago and he still hadn't returned from the bedroom. Well, whatever. If he didn't come back soon, she was going to be forced to drink his glass, as the bottle was nearing its end.

Her marriage might not have been firing on all cylinders, but at least Kate's progression had been going smoothly. The girl had performed admirably on the raid, although Beatrice was glad that they hadn't actually run into the Guild, not just because that was always a bad time, but also because she could just picture Kate inadvertently getting both of them killed. Maybe some krav maga and light weapons training was in order.

Beatrice took another sip of the Carignan and closed her eyes. She thought about the latest spoils of the raid. It was also too perfect and that worried her slightly. Was the Guild that dense to have overlooked the mattress? Were they looking for something else? After all, if the old woman had the ink, who knows what else she was hoarding in that apartment? But Beatrice couldn't dwell on such things now. Still, a test of the ink was in order before she made any more plans.

Doreen's letter was currently soaking in alcohol downtown, which would separate the ink from the paper. That would give Beatrice a little bit to perform some trial runs without wasting the pure ink left in the bottle. Now that she actually had a sample in hand, Kate's research with the diary would likely bear more fruit. Speaking of fruit, Beatrice made a mental note to start lining up preparations for the fall, as her apple stash was running low. But that was a longer term project and she hoped Kate would be ready in a few months with a little more seasoning.

The buzzing of Garrett's phone on the coffee table brought Beatrice back to the present. Which was odd. Because Garrett was still in the other room. It vibrated again and she picked it up to bring it into the kitchen so she could get back to her brainstorming.

That ended up being a mistake. Because as she put it down on the kitchen counter, another buzz went off and Beatrice saw the string of text messages that had caused all the commotion.

"When is this call going to be over :("

"If it keeps going any longer, how u going to come over 2night?"

"dont worry ill wait up for u :)"

Beatrice stared at the messages. She wanted to take the phone and chuck it out the window. Or smash it with a hammer. Or go over to that little tart's apartment and shove it down her throat. Instead, she picked it up, walked slowly over to the bedroom, and opened the door.

Garrett was sitting on the bed in his boxers in front of a laptop, talking too loudly about shutting down some factory in Malaysia. He looked up at her and gave a half wave, and then when he saw the phone in her hand, his eyes went wide. Beatrice let the phone drop from her hand, and then, without another word, walked out of the apartment and escaped into the night.