2. The Fox

"So, yeah," said Andrew, rolling the corner of Sam Larson's resume between his fingers. "Two weeks ago I was hiking alone and realized nobody would probably notice if I died."

Sam's smile took on a strained quality. He nudged his round tortoiseshell glasses up into his fluffy bangs. "That can't be true…"

Shrugging, Andrew continued, "That—you at least being aware if I suddenly go missing, you know—would just be a cursory gain from having an assistant. You'd have, um…other tasks." He glanced past Sam to the park across the street. Magic's Computer Repair peered out of a little rectangular building with an old red door and three cloudy window panes. At least the view of the park was typically serene, and he could watch the softball games happening if he got bored. But he had no serenity today. Things felt…charged, like the atmosphere before a storm. "What else? Oh, customer correspondence. Don't like that." The hairs on his arms were standing on end; he scratched anxiously at them, still looking out the front windows. "And…getting more customers would be, uh…"

Sam fussed with his pride tie striped pink, white, and baby blue. "Hey…" Andrew spared him a quick glance. "You good, Mr. Vidasche?"

"Ah—sure." His head twitched in something akin to a nod. When he looked back toward the door, he—

He lurched to his feet, his desk chair tipping and clattering into Sam's legs. Lightning bolts of terror lanced ice-cold down Andrew's spine, freezing him in place with his back against the wall.

Sam swiveled toward the door. "What's wrong?"

Through the front window, luminous scarlet eyes bored into Andrew. A wicked smile curved like a scythe on her lips, showed teeth gleaming like broken glass. The faerie's skin was almost transparent in the afternoon light, which seemed to fall through her like she was an apparition. Her burgundy hair was dotted with red poppies that looked like blood splatters in a Tarantino movie. Raising her long hand, she tapped her sharp black nails against the glass.

Tink.

Andrew flinched.

Tink.

Andrew slapped his hand over his mouth to stifle a scream.

Tink.

The dark slashes of her eyebrows rose, and then she vanished.

Andrew blinked and lowered his trembling hand, taking a stumbling step past Sam to scan the trees and every inch of the windows. For good measure, he pushed open the door and leaned outside. But there was no sign of the faerie from the bluffs. He let the door close on his heels as he turned back around.

Sam wore several expressions jumbled together on his blemished face. When Andrew met his eyes, Sam hunched up with an awkward little laugh.

"You didn't see anything?" Andrew gestured with a quavering hand. "Out the window?"

"Er." Sam blushed, his eyes darting away. "Nope. But I could be, I mean, maybe my glasses—"

A little strangled laugh squeezed from Andrew's chest.

So she just manifested especially for him.

This was it. He made that damned beautiful woman bleed, and now she was haunting him. Or maybe she'd kill him eventually. But she seemed the type of predator who would toy with him first. Like orcas did, tossing seals into the air and catching them in their teeth a dozen times before ripping off one flipper at a time.

Pressing his hands over his face, Andrew held his breath for as long as he could before forcing the air out of his nostrils in one elongated sigh. "Well," he said. He came stiffly back to the long desk where Sam sat fidgeting. After fixing his desk chair, he lowered himself carefully into the seat. Adrenaline pumping in his veins helped him muster an easy, sardonic smile as he said to Sam, "Want to bail, Mr. Larson? I've got a sneaking suspicion that my life is ruined, and I may only get crazier from here on out. You are an excellent candidate for an assistant or whatever else you end up wanting to do here, but in no way will I presume to be an excellent employer when I'm…crazy."

Sam leaned back in his desk chair. His hazel eyes roved the little store front with its neat aisle of computer hardware. The desk where Andrew sat was tidily kept with cords wrapped with zip-ties, a cup of tea near Andrew's elbow somehow having endured his awkward and dramatic display.

Sam looked back at Andrew and smiled kindly. "Unless you start taking your crazy out on me, I can't judge you for going through stuff. Your shop looks really nice, and it's close to the buses that go back to campus." He shrugged. "And I definitely appreciate that you've gotten my pronouns right."

Andrew blinked. "Correctly identifying you seems like a given."

"You'd be surprised." Sam raised his brows and looked away.

"Well. Shall we continue, then?"

Nodding, Sam looked back with a smile.

"You said you have people skills, right?"

"Oh, for sure!"

"Good grief. Native Minnesotan, aren't you?" Andrew glanced past Sam again, but there was nothing out of place outside.

"Yeah. Speaking of, your accent is seriously so great," Sam blurted. "Cheerio and stuff." Andrew gave him a look, which made him blush. "Sorry. I'm just glad you reached out. I didn't think those emails to alumni would actually lead to a job—er, presumably—but this shop seems like a perfect place for me while I finish the computer sciences program at the U of M. I still have a year and a half left, but I have certificates in three coding languages…"

Eyes still fixed on the trees, Andrew nodded absent-mindedly and said, "The last half of that program is hellish. You said you want to start at twenty hours, but if that's too much—like around finals season—you need to tell me. And I fully expect you to do whatever you wish when things are quiet, be it homework or whatever else you kids do." He scraped his hair back from his face, his fingers getting tangled near the nape of his neck.

"Crunking, mostly," said Sam.

"I'm sorry, what? Crumpets?"

They both laughed.

Rubbing his neck, Andrew said with eyes downcast, "And I'm, ah…sorry. For my odd behavior."

"Really, Mr. Vidasche, it's okay." Sam straightened.

"You can just call me Andrew," he said. He raised a brow at the eager look on Sam's face. "Oh. Would you like the job?"

"Yes, please!"

"Splendid. I can give you a ride back to campus. I have some research to do at the library. Do you think they have a section on faeries?"