"The problem with fighting Lord Vincent so much on his proposed budget is that we need to strengthen our alliance with the Inero," Sir Andrew explained. "On the meetings I sat in with Lord Vincent and Lord Inero, it was clear Lord Inero expected more from us. Between you and me, Sir Garrison, Lord Vincent has expressed concern over Lord Inero's state of mind. He's impulsive and dangerous. Ready to explode."

Like usual, Finn stood by the door and did his best to stay invisible while he waited for Sir Garrison to give him a command. Most of the time, he had things to do around the office. Small projects to oversee, paperwork to type up, phone calls to make to other local politicians, and so on. When Sir Garrison had an important meeting, he liked to place Finn in the room to attend to more trivial comforts so he could be an extra set of ears. Most of the time, diplomats like Sir Andrew, didn't notice or mind.

The big difference between him sitting in on the meeting at Sir Garrison's office, and him being a servant at the council, was that after Sir Andrew left, Finn would get to discuss and advise Sir Garrison himself. It made standing still as a statue, pretending to be a worthless underling, worth it.

Sir Garrison sat with his hands folded in front of him. He leaned in slightly, showing he was paying full attention. "Lord Inero has always followed the beat of his own drum. This isn't anything new. I'm newer to the Terran Advisor Circle, but I've been watching him and his nation for a long time. They're never going to be like us. Lord Vincent should stop wasting effort trying to change their way of life before Lord Inero convinces him to start changing ours."

"Already happening," Sir Andrew mumbled, just quiet enough that Finn almost missed it. If Sir Garrison heard, he didn't let on with a reaction of any kind. Louder Sir Andrew said, "Our Lord asked me to come see you in an effort to convince you to relax a little on your inquiries, and to hopefully reassure you that all of our budget needs will be met both now and in the future. I, personally, wanted to advise you against causing too much of a disruption. Everyone in the Advisor Circle is looking to become the next Lord after Vincent's turn is up. Most say you're the one who should take on the job."

For a moment, Sir Garrison didn't say anything. One of his many gifts was his ability to always say the right thing. Finn had never witnessed him do otherwise, though he was positive it'd happened. No one was flawless. Sir Garrison was pretty darn close, though.

He tapped his fingers against his chin. "My becoming Lord Terran has been a circulating rumor since I became Third Council. I'm sure most know that you're going to have the job long before I will."

"I'm not going to run an election," Sir Andrew said.

Finn had to hold his breath to prevent from gasping. A First Council to the current Terran Lord not running for election? When was the last time that happened? Not since long before he was born.

"Why is that?" Sir Garrison asked. "I'll be honest, and say I had no intention of running in the upcoming election. Eventually, yes, I would like to try my hand at the position of Great Lord. The time did not feel like...now, however. There are a lot of other great potential candidates, and I thought more experience would benefit my campaign. Experience you have."

Sir Andrew glanced at Finn, finally acknowledging his presence. "There are a number of personal reasons. Think about it, though Sir Garrison. You might be a better candidate than you think, and I'm not just saying that because Lord Vincent is hoping to convince you to take on the job himself. Expect a call, or two, or three. I believe it's time for us to take lunch, Sir Garrison. Shall we?"

"Yes," Sir Garrison said. "Let's eat. It's easier to think on a full stomach."

The two Sirs left the office. Finn lingered back for a moment, not wanting to give the impression that he was following them around like a lost dog. That was just unprofessional and didn't speak well of his ability to take initiative on his own. If Sir Garrison didn't want him to join them, he wouldn't. He'd have been told if he was welcome, and he knew why he wasn't. Sir Andrew had plenty more to share.

Curiosity aside, Finn was confident he'd hear a version of whatever Sir Garrison was about to hear. Not every detail, as he understood he wasn't of high enough clearance to know every single state secret. He'd be told something, though. At least, he hoped so.

He had a feeling his lunch would be extended as well without him having to ask for it. There were always things for him to do at his desk to attend to while Sir Garrison was out, of course. Getting away with a few extra minutes of break time wouldn't be a huge deal, either. Finn hardly ever abused his time, anyway. When he checked his phone and saw a message from Gage waiting for him, he knew Sir Garrison definitely wouldn't care if his son was the reason for Finn's tardiness.

"Need opinion on new nanny," was all the text said.

Finn checked the clock to see that it was about thirty minutes past twelve. The text was about twenty minutes old.

"Was in a meeting. I can come now," Finn offered.

Gage's reply was prompt. "She's still here."

Finn started his lunch clock, grabbed his wallet, and headed for the door. Completely forgot he was hiring someone to help watch the little guy. I hope this doesn't mean she's a bust. The diner where Gage worked was normally a ten minute walk. Finn was able to make it there in seven. When he entered, he expected to find Gage behind the counter waiting, not sitting at a table with a gorgeous young woman.

He swallowed before walking over, hoping the interruption would be welcome. Of course it was. They'd just been texting. Why would he tell Finn she was still there if he didn't want to be interrupted? Then again, Gage was weird. If he wanted a discrete observation, though, he should have asked someone else.

"Finn, Dad finally let you relax for a moment?" Gage stood from his chair. "Sorry, Martha, just let me get my friend settled. He's always on a time crunch."

"I can wait," Finn said. "Your dad isn't going to be back for a while. When he's on special lunch, so am I."

The young woman, Martha, gazed up at him with large, amber eyes. She seemed just as transfixed on him as he was on her. "Special lunch? Is that different than a normal lunch?"

"Usually," Gage said. "Could be a date with my mom, a friend visiting, that sort of thing. His way of saying he's spending quality time with a person."

"And as long as nothing immediate needs attending to, his policy is if he gets a long lunch, I can have one too. Especially if I've been on my feet for long stretches of time," Finn explained. "Within reason."

"What a nice boss," Martha said, quietly.

Finn nodded, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically. Gage certainly noticed, because he rolled his eyes, and tilted his head toward the counter.

Taking the hint, Finn gave a slight bow to Martha. "I should still be respectful of how I'm using my time, so I'm going to place my order and let you two finish up. Forgive my intrusion." Even though it's what Gage wanted.

"Only two more questions, then we can all get acquainted with one another," Gage said.

Finn liked the sound of that. He strolled over to the counter and caught sight of a new waitress sitting off to the side. A new waitress who was busier playing with her cellphone than paying attention to the customers. First, he tapped his hands on the countertop loudly, hoping it displayed his irritation effectively. When that didn't get her attention, he cleared his throat—three times.

She glanced up at him, scowled, and finally walked over, pausing only to grab a glass of water before slamming it on the surface in front of him. "Might want to get that looked at."

"Rude, much?" he snapped. "For the record, I was trying to get your attention. Maybe you should do your job instead of check your Scrapbook feed."

The waitress, Lori according to her name tag, leaned across the counter. "What I do on my break is my business. I didn't have to acknowledge your presence. I chose to. Because I'm nice like that. Instead of jumping to conclusions, maybe you should cool your jets and wait for all of the facts. Oh, and I don't have a Scrapbook account. Sorry if you were hoping to 'connect' more later."

"I don't have a Scrapbook account either," he stated coolly. On break. Ugh, duh, what is wrong with me today? He closed his eyes, taking a long drink of water. Once he was collected again, Finn gazed at her. Her chocolate eyes held a rather fierce fire in them, and he instantly regretted putting his foot in his mouth. "You're right, I'm sorry. I made an assumption," he mumbled.

"Wow, you actually believe me?" She gasped. "And I'm getting an apology. You're quite the gentleman."

He shrugged. "When I'm wrong, I admit it. And yes, I do believe you because I know my friends who work here would never stand for such appalling behavior. However, I also don't see many taking their breaks where the customers can see." He gave her a pointed look.

"I ate my lunch there. Then Gagey over there wanted some more fries. Hard to say no when I don't have anything else to do." She pointed to where Gage and Martha were sitting by the window. Then she lowered her voice, twirling a loose strand of her long black curls around her finger. Was she into him? Didn't women play with their hair when they were flirting?

Finn leaned in a little closer. "Like to keep busy?"

"Always." The sureness in her gaze was undeniable. "Plus, it never hurts to suck up to the boss."

The idea of anyone brown nosing their way into Gage's good graces was too funny. Finn laughed a lot harder than he probably should have. Enough that he noticed Gage stop talking to stare at him for a moment. Finn took another drink of water, draining the glass. "By the end of the week, he'll probably be trying to get on your good side. Trust me, he's easy to please."

"No fun." She pouted. "So you two are friends, huh?"

"Yeah," he said. "I suppose I can introduce myself. Finn, I come here at least three times a week and stay longer than I should. It's the special shake and those mushrooms. They're laced with some kind of highly addictive drug, but Gage will deny it until he dies."

Lori snorted. "Keep hearing about these mushrooms that are supposed to be magical. Not buying it."

"Don't like mushrooms?"

"Can't say I'm a fan of eating anything that's a fungus, but my gal pal thinks they're to die for."

Finn frowned. "What about medicine?"

She took his glass and refilled it for him. "I'll take it for the team, because I am always on team me. If it's life or death, yes, I will ingest it, but I won't enjoy it for a moment."

"More for me then. Speaking of, can I get an order of those? Will you be kind enough to put that in since everyone else is busy?" He bat his eyelashes at her, or he hoped that's what he was doing. Sometimes, Finn's pathetic attempts to flirt only came across as strange. Unless she wasn't flirting with him? What if she was simply being nice, and he'd already interpreted her body language wrong?

Lori grabbed a pad of paper and scribbled down his order. "Anything else?"

"Chicken sandwich, sweet potato fries, and the special shake."

She finished writing up the order and handed it off to the kitchen. When she came back, she glanced at the clock. "The things I do to be nice. I didn't even get a 'please'."

"Oh, right, please," Finn said. "I promise I'm not usually so rude. It's just been an interesting day. Distracted, I suppose."

"Interesting? How so?" she asked, leaning across the counter, and she just had to accent the curvature of her breasts when she did so.

Finn did try to be a gentleman as much as possible, so he kept his gaze on anywhere but there. "Work stuff."

"What do you do?"

"Do you always ask everyone so many questions?" He tilted his head to the side, trying to not let his frustration show. Why all of the small talk? She wasn't working, so it's not like she had to pretend to care about what he did for the sake of the job. Wait, flirting involved a lot of small talk. That's right. It was one of the many reasons he was so horrible at it.

With a loud, dramatic sigh, Lori backed away from the counter. "That's how conversation works. I ask questions, you answer them, and we build from there. I'm bored, I'm new, and I thought getting to know some more people would help since Martie over there is my only friend."

"If this was a game, I'd be losing badly," he mumbled. "I guess I didn't think you had a genuine interest in anything I did or thought."

"Why wouldn't I?"

An interesting question. One he'd never thought of before. "I'm not sure. In the past, there always seemed to be an agenda attached to it, or the interest is fake. In one ear and out the other."

"Sad," she said softly. Her posture relaxed some, thankfully. Finn didn't feel so aware of her incredibly attractive body. The perception that she was still flirting with him was still present, but far less intensely. "Here's a true fact about me, new hopeful friend Finn: I won't ask if I don't really want to know."

She's like me. He could only nod. "I'm sure you're about to go back to work. Chances are high I'll be back after I get done over at my job." He paused, debating how much he should tell her. A few details wouldn't hurt, right? "At the Government Center. I work in the offices. Nothing exciting. Coffee gopher, paper pusher, and if the janitor is busy I'll even scrub a few toilets. Oh, and I make a lot of calls to lobbyists and voters."

"When do you get off?" she asked.

"Five o'clock on the dot."

"Too bad I'm done at three. I'm sure I can talk Martie into coming back for dinner with me, so we might bump into you." She winked and headed to the back room. "See you later, maybe."

Finn watched her go, making note of how much more her hips were swaying as she left than they were when she initially came to talk to him. Another sign of flirtation? All of his past dates were done by his initiative. He found an interest in a girl, they talked, and an exchange of phone numbers took place. They had been intrigued enough to take the chance, but he couldn't remember the last time any woman had come on so strongly.

She was definitely a beautiful young woman. Perhaps a little older than him, if not the same age. There was a great deal of maturity about her. Wise beyond her years which meant she was intelligent. She smelled like a dragon, so she'd already bonded with another guy. Bonding was a milestone he had yet to achieve since he had yet to find a woman worth such an investment. A lifetime connection that might not work out? Purity was not a necessity in a potential girlfriend, however, it did bring out his insecurities more when he dated more experienced women.

I can't let that stop me from exploring something good, though. She's so...engaging. Though, something about her didn't feel quite right either. We're just getting to know each other. It's not a date and it certainly isn't a marriage proposal. She clearly said she's looking for more friends. Both she and Martie are. He glanced over at Martha, who was finishing up her interview with Gage.

The two women couldn't have been more opposite if they tried. Lori was tall and curvy, where Martie was short and petite. While Martie seemed to have a touch of the Inero golden tan in her blood, Lori was deep, and dark, and rich with Terran in her veins. And those were just the physical differences. He hadn't gotten to talk with Martha much, but the few seconds of conversation they shared he could tell she had a completely different spirit.

Finn didn't believe in signs, not usually. God, yes, and he knew that God did sometimes communicate through peculiarly timed situations. Something about Martha and Lori felt like more than pure coincidence. What he couldn't decide was if it was a good coincidence, or a bad one.