Autopsy of a Mind

Chapter 14: Presumptuous

Alec had miraculously appeared on the last day of employment and cheered me on as I reviewed the draft and turned it in. I didn't see a peep of the obnoxious Mr. Butler, not even his shadow graced the ground floor. As half of the payment had already been made, I didn't have much worry of receiving the remainder of it, so I went back to the apartment, relaxed and happy that I had earned enough money to rent a good apartment. Safe to say, that the wages were beautifully high enough to entice me into working for a criminal psychologist for a week. Not a small amount at all.

I spent my days learning to cook better food and searching for prospective apartments. Yet it was hard to find a place that was comfortable and high security in Chicago at a low cost, especially if I wanted to live near my place of employment.

It was one of those days when my cell phone rang and I stared at it stunned, unwilling to pick up the phone. I couldn't see any reason why Seth Watson would call me in the morning when he was clearly supposed to be at work.

Regardless, I picked the phone up. He sounded breathless as he greeted me.

"How do you know Sebastian Butler?" was the first thing he said after.

"Uh" Confused about why I was being interrogated so urgently I went with the truth. "I translated some documents for him. Is there a problem?" I asked.

"No, no!" He reassured hurriedly. "I didn't know you knew him so well!"

'So well?'

"What do you mean?" I asked, perplexed and a wee bit suspicious about what he thought our relationship was.

"Aren't you dating him?" Thunderstruck, I responded negatively immediately. I was so vicious that Seth remained speechless for a minute. "Can you just explain why you are calling?" I coaxed him to give up information.

"Ah, Sebastian Butler said that he would take on a major case only if you are his assistant."

I squinted my eyes trying to comprehend what was just told to me. Assistant? Me?

"I am not one of his students. Neither am I well versed in criminal justice procedures I don't understand how I can help." It was a valid concern. Moreover, I had not been asked to be his assistant before he declared it to everyone. Especially important to remember was that I had zero interest in getting tangled up with criminals and law enforcement.

"I don't know anything more! Just call him and figure it out!" He was obviously irritated with the whole affair, and probably wanted to be the assistant for this case, but the opportunity was robbed from him. I shrugged it off and decided to give the culprit a call before he spread any more rumors.

The phone rang twice before it was picked up, perfectly timed for someone who doesn't pick up calls without prior notice of said call.

"I thought I would never hear from you again, Miss Lewis. Were you presumptuous to think so?" I rolled my eyes.

"You are rude to begin a conversation without a word of greeting Mr. Butler," I teased. "But I am not calling you to call out on your rudeness ah, maybe a little bit. I am, though, interested to understand why you have been making outlandish claims to the good police officers of Town X." I heard him chuckle. As interesting as the banter was, I needed to clear up the misunderstanding.

"I need an assistant. I think you will do just fine." He stated calmly.

'How presumptuous.'

"I don't see why I have to be your assistant, though. I think there are plenty of people who would like to take on that role!" I exclaimed. I could almost see him press his lips together to keep from smiling.

"Do you want me to compliment you on your professional ethics?" he suggested.

'That would be nice,' I thought, even though that had not been my intention.

"No. I want to know why you want me as your assistant."

'Straight, Evie, give it to him as it is. He thinks too highly of himself.'

"You're the only person I know in this town," he reminded me nonchalantly. "You like doing tedious, time-consuming work that I have no patience for, you seem awfully concerned about social customs and don't bother me when I work. These are qualities that qualify you as a good assistant, in my opinion." As he had mentioned, I was thoroughly flattered. Even though he made it sound like these characteristics were almost sinful, he quite admired them and recognized their importance.

"Might I remind you that I know nothing of this kind of work?" I tried to wriggle my way out of it. If he had declared that he would only work if I was his assistant, the local police who needed his help would pressure me into doing the work. It would be better to reverse the irrational man's plots than convince them to leave her alone.

"I can solve such an easy case myself, Miss Lewis. I just need you to talk to people and be a messenger. You won't be doing much else." He sounded bored. "It will take around five days for me to wrap up the case and you will be paid the same amount of money as your translation job."

"Tempting," I said sarcastically. "I will think about it and let you-" he cut me off.

"No need, just be at the villa by seven tomorrow if you are willing. We have a killer to catch." Then I only heard the dial tone.

He had hung up on me.

I sighed and threw the phone to my bed.

A little extra money wouldn't hurt. I shrugged and went back to searching for a place to stay.

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