ORDERING HIM AROUND

The shift after my words was immediate.

The receptionist nodded quickly and almost stumbled over her heels as she hurried away. Behind me, I heard Kellan burst into a sharp, cruel laugh.

“Oh, this is rich,” he muttered under his breath, but it was still loud enough for everyone to hear, “Do you really think you can just walk in and demand our premium listings? Is this a prank of some sort?”

I ignored him,

He took that as a sign of weakness and his tone was raised another octave.

“I mean, seriously,” he continued as he began to walk up to me, “Do you even know just how much these properties cost? Or are you just here to waste everyone’s time?”

I still kept silent, and the more I refused to speak to him, the more frustrated he was.

The receptionist returned just as he was about to reach me, and she stumbled in with a sleek tablet held tightly in her hands.

“Here are the premium listings, ma’am,” she said, barely managing to keep her voice steady,

I took the tablet from her with a warm smile and began to scroll through it. My eyes flickered as I checked off different checklists; the home I wanted needed to be placed in a strategic location, and it needed to be very secured.

I filtered quickly and I finally found the house that perfectly fit all my needs. It was not too flashy or exposed, and it was definitely not tied to pack politics.

It was a small duplex at the edge of the district. It was clean, private and within walking distance from my mom’s house.

This was perfect.

I checked the price and nodded.

$600,000.

I looked up, and I was just about to speak when another voice cut through the hall, one that froze me in place.

“Nyssa-” my mom called.

I turned and paused. Sarah was walking through the entrance of her office and her heels were clicking sharply against the marble floor as she walked towards me.

Her posture was stiff, and her expression was tight. She was angry, yes, but I could see she was also relieved.

“What are you doing here?” she asked in a low tone,

I blinked at her, and shrugged.

“You told me to leave, didn’t you?” I asked, “So, I’m getting my own place. “

Her expression faltered, and she stopped walking. “That is not what I meant,” she snapped quickly and began to glance around when she realized we had an audience. “You don’t just walk out of your home and not call. Do you know how worried I have been?”

Something cold settled in my chest and I stared at her in disbelief,

“You told me to get out,” I repeated, “So, I did.”

She opened her lips to argue, but no words came out. Good, I turned away from her and pointed at the duplex to the receptionist.

“This one,” I said, “I like this property.”

The girl glanced down at the tablet and her eyes widened, “This is a rent-to-buy unit,” she said nervously. “The total value is six hundred thousand, and the required down payment is one hundred and eighty thousand dollars.”

“I know,” I replied in a calm tone, “I would love to pay the down payment now.”

While I could afford the entire duplex now, I didn’t want to spend much of the money, not until I knew just how much my entire plan was going to cost.

Behind me, I felt my mom grow still, and she stretched out her hand,

“Wait-” her voice was tense, but I didn’t turn.

She walked up to my side and stared straight at me, “Where exactly did you get this kind of money from?” she demanded more than asked,

Before I could answer, Kellan burst out laughing.

“Oh come on, Sarah,” he said, shaking his head, “You should know that this is her just throwing a tantrum. There’s no way she can ever afford that.”

No one else laughed, not this time.

The receptionist swallowed and spoke up, “I can assign someone to you so you can tour the house before making a decision,”

“No,” I shook my head, “I am ready to pay now,”

She swallowed again, nodded quickly and reached under her counter before pulling out a portable card machine. The room grew silent as I reached into my bag, brought out my card and handed it over to her.

She took it with slightly trembling fingers and inserted it into the machine. There was a beat, then another.

Kellan scoffed under his breath as he watched me input my password, “This is ridiculous, there’s no way-”

His words stopped when the card machine read approved. The beep cut through the room like a blade.

“It… It went through,” she whispered,

I nodded, took my card back and slipped it back into my bag.

“Thank you,” I said in a simple tone as I turned around and stared at my mom.

“What? How?” she gasped, “Where did you get this money, Nyssa?”

Kellan was no longer laughing, his face had grown deadly pale.

I nodded at my mom, but I didn’t reply her question.

With an impassive expression on my face, I turned around and began to walk straight towards the exit. Every single step I took was precise and unhurried.

Just before I reached the door, I stopped and turned around.

My eyes found the still frozen Kellan, and I smiled at him,

“Kellan,” I said with an icy tone,

He didn’t respond,

“Call me when my house is ready,” the words landed like a command, and that was because they were one.

Before he or my mom could reply, I walked out, leaving them stunned and frozen in place.