a light shade of pink from the attention and waved her hand shyly at no one in particular.
“She will be helping us on the next assignment,” he continued. “These are her friends, Malaya Collins and my son Landon. Say hi, and be the friendly people I know you can be.” There were a few chuckles and then everyone went back to what they had been doing.
“Hi, Lily,” someone said from behind Lily. “My name is Shazzi and I would love to sit with you and your friends during dinner.”
“Sure,” Lily said seeing no reason why not. Lily, Malaya and Landon followed Shazzi to the buffet line. As she stood in line she looked around at the room full of strangers. She found the man with the black rimmed glasses sitting on a sofa hunched over a plate of turkey and mashed potatoes. Looking around her it seemed like everyone on the team was very comfortable around each other. They were obviously all friends, and Lily thought they seemed almost like a family.
“So where are you all from?” Shazzi’s southern accent interrupted Lily’s thoughts.
“Texas,” Landon spoke up.
“And your John’s son, right?”
“Yes,” he responded flatly.
“We all go to high school together,” Malaya added.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Shazzi replied. They had reached the trays of food and she was busy loading up her plate. “I eat like a horse, in case you hadn’t noticed,” she drawled when they had reached the dining table and taken their seats. “Always have, always will. I have to say, I’m insanely curious why John has brought you three here, and what exactly you will be doing, but…”
“But we don’t talk business at the dinner table,” cut in Mr. Turner. “You’ll find out tomorrow just like everybody else. Lily, I would like you to come to the team meeting tomorrow morning to introduce yourself better. Landon and Malaya are welcome as well. I’ll go over the assignment, and then you’ll be free until the actual assignment on Saturday. I’m not sure how long it will take, but it might take most of the day. Then you go home on Sunday evening. Not much to it. Enjoy your meal.” He continued on through the room talking to his team members as he went along.
“John’s a really nice guy,” Shazzi said after finishing a bite of turkey. “You’ll like working for him.”
Lily thought Landon would surely have something unpleasant to say about that, but he didn’t. In fact, he was watching his father who was across the room.
“I don’t know if I will be working for him,” Lily finally spoke up. “This is sort of a trial run.”
“That’s what he does for everyone,” she replied smiling kindly. “It’s rare for someone not to want to stay after seeing how great a job it is.”
“How is it great?”
“Well, first of all you’re a member a team, more of a family really. We all spend a lot of time together even when we’re not working. Most of us never really felt like we fit in anywhere until we came here. Then there’s the excitement of the job itself. It can be scary sometimes, but exhilarating. I think the part I like most is knowing how much good we are doing. Even though most people don’t even know it when we save their lives, it’s extremely rewarding. Oh, and then there’s the big fat paycheck. That’s certainly nice.” Lily sat with her fork in midair remembering the offer Mr. Turner had made her in Las Vegas. It was more than she had ever imagined she could make in any normal career field she might aspire to. At the time she had thought it was too much, but now that she thought of it, the amount was probably fair considering the risk involved.
They visited with Shazzi as they ate the remainder of their meal. They told her about life in Texas, and she told them about what she was like when she was their age. When they had finished their dinner, Landon gathered everyone’s plates and tossed them in the trash.
“Well, welcome to the team, even if it’s temporary,” Shazzi smiled and stood to go mingle with the others. Lily, Landon, and Malaya sat and talked quietly with each other. Every now and then someone from the team came up to introduce themselves. Lily would politely respond to them and then they would go on their way.
Everyone else seemed to be finished, and people started waving goodbye and leaving through the sole door in the