In the tight-spaced bedroom cramped with mediocre secondhand furnitures, the medium sized bed at the corner was filled by a heap of clothes as Mathieu stood before it with crossed arms.
Narrowing his scrutinizing gaze on the pile of drift wears, he stretched out to single out a few clothings as he held it up to examine.
"Hm... This looks too small," he crooked his head, picking up another one. "Yep... Her ass might rip the fabric in half."
A thought then crossed his mind.
"But then again, I guess she can wear it at home..." He sighed, "But I doubt she'd wanna dress so skimpily for my eyes alone though..." He tossed it back to the heap, ravaging through for more slightly appropriate wears.
BHAM!
His eyes snapped up to the sound of what he assumed was the front door being slammed shut.
Did someone just come in? Who? His brows arched. Did he forget to lock the door?... Did an intruder come in?
CRASH!
The loud clash echoed from behind the closed door. His expression immediately loosed. "Nope. Just Karen..."
CLASH!
The door finally flung open, straining the hinges of the door.
Mathieu stared at the person fuming on the other side of the open door. His lips gapped to release an already tired sigh. "I am guessing the interview did not go well at—"
"Who the fuck is that bastard?!" Karen's voice reeked of gnawing rage as her slitted eyes locked on his figure.
"Bastard?..." He thought for a moment, "I am sorry but you will have to be specific because I know far to many of that caliber."
"Drogo Vetter!!"
"Oooh... The clinic's head therapist. I heard he was a cool guy—"
"That superficial man of shallow superiority had the rotten underripe balls to insult me!" Her footsteps drew forth with each revolting word she spat. "That illiterate!"
Her native tongue suddenly overwhelmed her speech, "Fière erreur d'un homme qui manque de tout le calibre de la vie pour me parler comme ça !! (Proud mistake of a man who lacks the whole caliber of life to talk to me like that!!)"
Mathieu's eyes were already far wide by the time she reached the end of her long strongly worded speech of retching hate.
He had to blink twice. "Okay... Now I'm afraid to ask what he—"
"What didn't he do!?!" She snapped, her voice bouncing strongly off the wooden walls.
"That insolent ant-to-existence looked me dead in the eyes and rejected my application after his condescending accusation against my sense of righteousness and assumed my ulterior motive behind my application!"
"Oou!" His lips pursed. "How did he catch unto to us so fast?"
"That's besides the point!!! How dare he talk to me like that!?"
He crooked his head. "You mean telling you the truth—"
"Mathieu!!"
"Okay... Sorry," he dropped his head to look back at the clothes.
Karen spat out a venomous hiss as her fingers rushed through her straightened black strands. "That... Imbécile!" Her teeth ground as her fist only tightened. "I don't even know why you made that uncalculated mistake of picking his workplace out of all the clinics in this entire town."
Mathieu pouted with a saddened grimace, feeling slightly attacked by her direct blame.
"Ugh!" She turned to the wall. "Just wait until I have Daddy tear down that decaying building he calls a job place! And bury every privilege he felt he righteously owns!"
Karen's eyes pulled shut as she pinched the bridge of her nose for a moment. "Anyways... Get me another interview by the end of this week. I don't have time to gravel in the humiliation of your poor choice—"
"That will not be possible."
Her eyes snapped at him. "What!?"
Staring at her with a more serious expression, his lips pressed in a straight line a his eyes stared dead into hers. "Your father specifically selected that mental health clinic."
A drench sense of ice water dawning on her caused her brows to shot high. Her lips were agape for a moment. "What?" She didn't seem to grasp his statement.
"Getting a job as Mr. Vetter's assistant is mandatory for our assignment because of his connection to the target."
Karen's brows twitched.
• • •
Moments later...
Mathieu comforted himself to the soft warmth of the heap of clothes on the bed, snuggling in then as he rested a bowl of popcorn on his abs and his fingers loosely tossing a piece at a time into his mouth; his free hand casually scrolled the surface of his phone.
"Ouuu... This looks broke enough to add to the house's aesthetics..."
But despite the serenity of his personal space, the chaotic strong toned voice behind the closed door sparked a distinct contrast.
Karen's native tongue ranted in a harsh tone, speaking far faster than usual as her pitch hitched higher in distress and lingering frustration.
Spitting out aggressive words to the other person on the phone, Karen's voice fluctuated between to arrogant shouts to mumbles and grumbles as she finally began to end her conversation in a more light hearted tone.
"Oui... Oui..." She sighed. "Oui..."
Seeming like that call had finally ended, Karen took in a deep breath before walking back into the room.
Mathieu's eyes raised to her, "Your uncle?"
Karen nodded.
"So I am guessing he confirmed your father's instructions?"
Her fist clutched tighter onto her phone. "Sadly... I was aware that our client's target is a high standing member of the global annual event, Children's Spiritual Formation and Wellbeing Conference... But I didn't know it's strict invitation privileged Drogo Vetter and only a few members of the church to attend..."
"Yep... He is practically the key to our mission."
Karen's tutted as her eyes rolled. "Talk about shitty luck!... I can't believe that incompetent buffoon is so valuable to my assignment. Ugh!"
"Well, on the bright side, we just have to find another way to make him hire you. Although, I doubt using violence will he wise."
"So what the fuck do you expect me to do? Go back to his office with my tail between my legs and beg for the job!!"
Mathieu waved a dismissive hand. "I am sure we will find a more... Suitable method with consideration to your ego."
Rolling her eyes once more as her fingers met when hair, Karen finally huffed before looking back at Mathieu.
Her brows knitted.
"By the way," she rose her hand to point. "What's with the heap of rags you're lying on?"
"Rags?" Mathieu snickered. "Well then, it means I picked the best ones for the roleplay."
Slowly pushing up to stand on his feet, he stepped aside to give her a better view. "These are your new clothes I bought—"
"I would rather grind my tongue on a porcupine's balls than to wear those flith."
Mathieu forged a dramatic gasp. "You wound me with your words!... They're drift wears!"
Karen chuckle with a disgust look at what he had the audacity to tell her to bring close to her skin.
"I am calling Rafael to shop for me actually clothes and have them shipped." She turned away as she tapped on her phone.
Mathieu then looked back at the plain simple wears he had spent so much to buy — at least to him.
He pouted. "But I really liked them..." A sudden thought immediately seized his focus as his brows quirked. "Wait a minute... Do porcupine balls have spines?..."
He pulled out his phone with his other hand holding his popcorn. "Let me google it."
Karen on the other hand, remained standing at the door as she scrolled through her phone for the images of the clothes she wanted to select and order.
"By the way, Karen, I almost forgot to tell you..." Mathieu skimmed through his browser text unhinged, having Karen's attention still fixed on her screen as well.
"Your father locked all your accounts until you sign Drogo Vetter's employment letter."
Her fingers froze as her eyes peeled wide.
Her head slowly craned over her shoulder. "What did you just say?"
"Hm?" Mathieu raised his head to look at her. "... That we're broke."
Her skin crawled.
Broke?... It played in the back of her mind. A word Karen knew she'd be dead before ever having it attached to her name.
"Oh..." Was the only sound to escape her jaws clinched as her lips tugged into an unusual smile, her brows twitching subtly.
"... Je brûlerai Drogo Vetter quand tout sera fini... (I am going to burn Drogo Vetter alive when this is all over...)"
Her finger tightened to the edges of her phone — the dark screen cracked.