"I....see."

I didn't. Not by a long shot, simply returning the plate to the sink as it was before. How on earth she managed to function without a dishwasher god only knows. Granted I don't actually use my own, I have a housekeeper though who seems to operate it with wonderful efficiency and continues to tell me that her job in my house is by far her favourite of her many employment positions. I am sure it is, I never get anything dirty or actually require it to be clean, in fact I am entirely sure she spends most of her time straightening already straight things and making me coffee else reading her book and honestly I hardly care what she does- without her, who would operate the dishwasher? She has distinct purpose. I also suspect Kat enjoys helping her cook sometimes, dinner the only meal in which I have to fend for myself and yet more often then not I just eat out. It's easier. What Amya does I truly dread to think. I continued to lean against the bench as I offered my own proposal, not a decidedly formal one really, I probably should have written it down but for now it would suffice. We seemed to be going for a casual setting and truly I preferred it in such a manner- the woman seeming momentarily lost as she choked on her tea. Forty-eight thousand dollars? Did she want more?

"We can make it an even fifty thousand if you prefer."

Maybe she just liked neat numbers, I understand that, I'm rather partial to them myself to be honest although honestly I truly had no idea that was I was offering for a few months work was more then she believed she would make in a year. Had I know I would have found it almost....stunning. Could people live on that for a year? Her words distracted my thoughts once more, watching her still beneath the lens of the Ray Bans as I brushed aside a wayward lock of golden hair that continued to fall back against my glasses. What she suggested what not unreasonable, my lip quirking slightly at her mention of doing what I do, not having missed the insinuation that she, like most others, seemed eternal amused by my apparent lack of interest in anything to do with my business. That is not entirely true, at least, I rather like the money, I just don't like doing the work and really more people should be honest enough to admit it.

"If that's how you'd like to do it, then that's fine, I- my sister?"

Both eyes lifted in mild surprise at her final words, momentarily caught off guard. Why on earth was my sisters relationship status relevant to my finical accounts? I suppose if she had a partner they could technically sue for more based on his earnings although really that seems more a matter for the legal time then my new data analyst. I offered a loose shrug of my shoulders all the same.

"The last time Sorrell dated I think she was eighteen, she's twenty two, maybe twenty three now and I haven't known of anyone since. She is generally too busy complaining about the injustice of her existence to find a man so I believe she is single, why do you ask?"

Maybe it was somehow relevant to finances, I honestly don't know, although really I was always under the belief unless you got married your relationship status hardly tended to effect monetary values. I shifted slightly, moving to lean back against the bench now, lips parting to speak again before the woman asked once more about my sibling- or siblings apparently, a slightly chuckle humming within my chest. I always have been rather good natured I suppose.

"Fortunately no, Sorrell is my only sibling and I am rather of the belief she may have been an accident all the same, my parents were not wholly dedicated to raising children, they had me because for a while a child was the ultimate fashion accessory in the circles my Mother moved in. As for Sorrell, they had her because they had too much gin one evening."

I grinned lightly again, teasing slightly, though the truth of the matter was not nearly so light-hearted as I attempted to make it. I rarely talked about my childhood, if only because I saw no need. It was in the past and truthfully better forgotten. I'd hardly wanted for anything and indeed neither parent had ever raised a hand to me and yet at the same time I almost wished they had. At least they would have noticed Rell or I were alive then. We had been close once, my sister and I. Things change, I suppose. It was fortunate, truly, that I hadn't accepted her offer for tea or coffee- because I would have near choked on it at the sentence that followed.

"What?"

I take a certain amount of pride really in my ability to actually know when a woman is flirting with me, it happens a lot, truly and as such I have gotten rather good at it and yet honestly, I'm not entirely sure if this women is interested in me....or my sister. Hmm, it might well explain her comment at the door about having no men in the apartment, after all, a girl like her would hardly lack male attention if she desired it. I think I managed to actually laugh this time at my own realisation.

"I'm going to take that as a compliment although unfortunately my sister and I don't look all that much alike- at least I don't think so. She has strawberry blonde hair for a start, much fairer then mine although since I last checked I am fairly sure she is straight unfortunately."

Well, I was starting to get something of an inclination that this woman- might not be. It hardly mattered of course one way or the other although really I am entirely sure she is wasted on other women.

"If it is women you prefer and you don't mind my saying so then truly it is a loss to the heterosexual dating scene- you would have done very well out there."

I grinned lightly once more, flirtation that I was now rather assured was harmless all the same as I moved at last to seat myself on an actual chair at the bench- having failed at all to consider any attraction she felt might well be the result of my less....well controlled power and the subtle effects it tended to have. I simply chose to believe my charm had evidently surpassed the homosexual barrier. Quite a feat really.

"As for the less interesting matter of work however, is there anything you need to know here and now so you can start? I can have most of the information you need sent to you over the next few days and at the end of the week if you come by my apartment we can discuss how you're going. If you find any glaring inaccuracies you can phone me. As I said, I think some people are moving numbers around and assuming I want notice. Don't come by until at least midday though- I won't be awake before then."

Honestly, what was there to see before midday anyway?


k o h l
so you want to play with magic?