I think I looked ridiculous in this suit, almost feels like I’m half stock broker half pimp. Do stock brokers and pimps even wear suits anymore? I feel less ridiculous with Destiny standing beside me, a dress that begins midnight blue and slowly begins to morph, until finally a bright yellow at the fringes. The best part, she got us matching sneakers. Standing outside this massive office building reaching into the sky, we probably still look ridiculous. Everyone passing us is in business casual and we’re dressed in what I can only describe as adult prom. I should have brought a corsage for her.

“What floor are we going to when we get in,” I ask.

“Oh, I don’t know. We’re just supposed to speak with the receptionist.”

“Okay, maybe I should take the lead until we get into the actual meeting.”

“Why?”

“Well, these corporate types can be kind of snobby and arrogant. You don’t deal with that well.”

She takes a deep breath and thinks on it for a moment before giving me an answer. “Fair point, let’s go.”

“Hold on,” I grab her hand, “why are they having the meeting now?”

“The sun is setting. These are normal working hours for them. The building is probably crawling with thralls just now beginning their shifts. Vampires will be here later, no different than any other business world.”

“What do they do here?”

“How the hell should I know? Weren’t you leading the way?”

Inside doesn’t seem too different from any of the many office buildings I’ve been to in the past. We pass through a metal detector, the post September 11th normalcy. The security guard returns my keys and her purse. Nothing strange except the fact that he’s an Orc with a Superman haircut. The little curl is sitting right in the middle of his face. Orc hairstyles are very simple from what I’ve noticed. Ponytails for the women, low cuts for the men. The exception being both genders tend to wear some kind of makeshift dreadlocks with items entwined in the hair. I’ve also never met an Orc with a real job before, all the ones I’ve met have been on the criminal side. I haven’t met many but there had to be at least a few good ones eventually. Wait, if someone called me one of the good ones, that’d be racist. Am I racist against Orcs?

“We’ve got a meeting with Lady Chloe and Lord Justin of the House Marson,” I hear Destiny explain to the receptionist.

“Take the elevator to floor 72. You’ll be guided to the meeting room from there,” she smiles.

“I’m going to lead the way on this one,” Destiny mocks me in a deep voice as the elevator door closes.

“Me man, me lead frail woman,” I play along for a moment. “I zoned out, didn’t I?”

“Oh yeah, what were you thinking about?”

“That Orc’s hair. Was it a wig?”

“I don’t know, but I was thinking the same thing.”

We laugh at the idea of an Orc wearing a wig until we hear a slight chime, the elevator has arrived at our floor. Stepping out we’re greeted by two humans in matching suits, no doubt thralls. Silently they lead us past several offices, as the last of the sunlight vanishes from the sky. We’re finally left alone in the last office, three of the walls are made up of glass. I’ve been in nice offices before, but there’s a bar in this one lined with fancy liquors, beyond that there’s no real decoration. I suppose the night sky is supposed to be enough.

“I thought this was going to be one of those fancy balls,” I whisper to her.

“You’re as surprised as I am,” she shrugs.

“Greetings,” a man makes his way in.

“Hello,” I respond.

He’s not exactly good looking, pale almost sickly skin, thin blonde hair, and sunken eyes. Although I suppose the blue eyes and perfect jawline would kick him up a few notches by some standards. The thing he exudes is power. I’m not sure if this is some vampire magic trick or not, but he certainly wouldn’t seem out of place standing next to some politicians.

“Where’s Chloe,” Desitny gets to the point.

“Ah, she mentioned you’d be brash.”

“Didn’t answer my question, Justin.”

“Lord Justin, but I’ll allow your lack of manners due to never being officially part of our family.”

“Hey, let’s all calm down for a second,” I interject.

“Please inform your thrall not to speak to me directly, or look into my eyes,” Justin looks past me to Destiny.

“I’m not a thrall, I can think for myself."

“If you could think for yourself, you wouldn’t address me with that tone.”

“I told you, we shouldn’t have come here,” I stand up to leave.

“Wait, he called us here for something other than being disrespectful. We have something he wants,” Destiny doesn’t budge, so I sit.

We sit in silence for a moment while Justin gathers his thoughts. I make sure to stare deeply into his eyes, not with love but hate. Destiny said these people were arrogant but I didn’t realize it would be the defining personality trait. This guy is a jerk, he would have been a bully in school. Back then I would have called Elias for help. Now, I just want to punch him in the face myself. It’s clear he’s just trying to make us wait right now. Justin claps his hands and the two men from earlier arrive carrying a briefcase. They place it on the desk between us and exit. Justin opens the case slowly, revealing money.

“You and my soon to be wife have had this vicious cycle going for a few years now. There is no need to make this a blood feud. Return the chalice, take the payment and we never cross paths again. Simple,” Justin pushes the money closer to Destiny.

“Here’s the chalice,” Destiny digs in her purse.

The gold and silver of the chalice has been melted down into the shape of a gingerbread man. The jewels that once circled it, are now making up a face and buttons. I start plotting a way out and mentally preparing to fight because I don’t expect this to go over well.

“You are nothing but a common thief with no respect or honor,” the rage is peaking through Justin’s perfect façade.

“You should have sent Chloe. You don’t know me, you don’t know our history. If I am a thief, she made me into that.”

“Fourteen minutes,” Justin picks up the gingerbread as he leaves the desk. “A word of advice, do not cross us again.”

“A word of advice for you,” Destiny stands. “Don’t trust a bitch that loves money because she’ll sell you out too.”

It doesn’t take us fouteen minutes to get out of the building. It also doesn’t take any talking, just a silent ride back down in the elevator. There’s so much to the story, and I didn’t learn anything other than vampires are all kind of dramatic for no real reason. There was never going to be any attempt at reconciliation. Justin and the missing Chloe just wanted to wave some money in Destiny’s face and she wanted to show that no matter the price, she could still be petty. It was a pissing contest between them, and somehow, I’m the only one who got pissed on.