Mimi's Demons

Chapter 26: Acquisition of a Lackey

An old man with fluffy gray hair came to meet her after breakfast. He had round glasses, a perfectly rotund grandpa belly, a dark blue button-up shirt, the distinct smell of Old Spice aftershave, and her kidnapper.

"Daughter," said Duke, looking cleaner than he had in a while. His stomach wound must be better now. "This is your tutor, William Shacketts. He's got a PhD in teaching and several degrees in various subjects. Long and short, he's a very smart man."

"At least an educated one," said Mr. Shacketts.

Mimi looked him up and down for demons. Finding none, she smiled at him, only to look at her wannabe father with a frown.

"What's the catch?"

Duke raised an eyebrow. "I'm your father? I'm supposed to provide for your education? Didn't you know parents do that?"

She huffed. "Don't play dumb, this guy's gotta be expensive. What are you planning to get out of me?"

The old man, Mr. Schacketts, looked between Mimi and the mafia boss with high eyebrows.

Duke gave a grin that was more just baring his teeth than actually smiling.

"A smart daughter who's not obsessed with gore."

Mimi scowled. She found herself doing that a lot around this guy.

"You're not going to make me pay it back later, are you?"

"Well, I'll expect you to pay it back in educating my grandchildren, does that count?"

She didn't know what to say to that, though her face did a bunch of spazing that made Mr. Schacketts chuckle.

"Definitely a different kind of child, for sure," he raised his hand to Mimi, which she shook after a moment of hesitation. "I think we'll get along just fine."

"Me too," said Mimi.

Duke frowned, probably not liking how easily Mimi took to Mr. Schacketts compared to him.

Mimi just glanced at the flickering shadow around his figure that never fully formed into anything and resisted the urge to give him a dry look.

"Then, I'll leave you to your first lesson. I'll see you afterwards, kitten."

"Yeah." Mimi squirmed, sucking her lips to her teeth before pushing out. "Thanks."

Though Duke left, Omen stayed by the doorway in his usual straight, hand-behind back pose. Today his turban was a bright purple instead of his usual white, which Mimi had made sure to complement him on, earning her a rare smile.

The study that had been prepared for her had a desk that looked every bit the CEO's mahogany monstrosity, except shrunk to kiddie size. She tried very hard not to think about how much this stupid furniture would cost as she sat in her cushioned office chair and pulled into it, though that didn't stop the little thrills of having a chair and desk that fit just right. There were two bookshelves with only a smattering of books on it, a white board, a display screen that could be pulled down, a globe, tall windows, a projector, and several cat posters with "You can do it!" and similar sayings on it. They look so out of place in this manor flickering with scuttling demons that she'd laughed hard on first seeing them.

Mr. Schacketts took his place in a high, cushioned barstool up front and Mimi opened a notebook she had requested for notes. She preferred doing them by hand, though the Wannabe had offered to get her a laptop or tablet. He still had, but it lay untouched in one of the desk drawers. A cathead jar held all her nice, multicolored pens and pencils for her note taking.