Synnr's Hope - Kate Rudolph Page 0,6
tired of serenity.
The walk over to the main house took about ten minutes. There were vehicles that looked a bit like golf carts that could be used to travel between the different buildings, but today Lena wanted to walk. Crowze’s whole family lived on his estate, and he had siblings and parents with him in the mansion, but Lena hadn’t met them. She wasn’t sure if that was on purpose and she didn’t care. The humans weren’t barred from visiting Crowze’s place—they’d been given free rein of the grounds—but they were still working out what that really meant.
It was only in the last week that they’d truly started to believe that they wouldn’t be snatched up by Apsyns again.
Lena made it up the front steps before her doubts started to creep in. Was this just another way of infringing on Crowze’s hospitality? Would it be better for her to head back into the city and find a way to do this on her own?
She turned around, but her getaway was stopped when she spotted Crowze coming up the steps behind her.
He smiled and greeted her. It was a nice smile, and a genteel greeting. It was almost difficult to believe he was a soldier. Today he wore a light blue suit-like outfit, though the tight fit and long jacket reminded her more of something from the 1800s, and he carried a thick book with him. “It was a perfect day to read in the shade,” he said.
Clearly he didn’t have a problem with leisure. “It is pleasant,” Lena agreed.
“Was there something I could help you with?” He nodded towards the door before carefully stepping past her and opening it, then ushering her in. It happened so quickly that Lena didn’t have a second to come up with an excuse not to enter his house. She followed after him. He set his book on a side table and shrugged off his jacket to reveal a dark shirt underneath. He kept on his shoes, so Lena did the same. She was still figuring out the etiquette.
They ended up in a room that overlooked the front yard, sun streaming in through the windows. Instead of a couch, there were half a dozen separate chairs, all in different shades of blue, in a semi-circle facing the large windows.
Crowze took a seat. Lena didn’t want to stay for long and chat, but if she kept standing there she’d feel like she was giving a report to a superior, and that was a feeling she could do without. She sat, but perched on the edge of the seat, ready to spring up at the first opportunity.
“I wanted to thank you again for all you’re doing,” Lena started. “I know you’ve said you don’t want repayment, but—”
Crowze held up a hand. “Please, don’t think of it. I’d be insulted if you did.”
Lena grit her teeth. She’d seen this game play out plenty of times on Earth and there were no winners. She set it aside... for now. “Of course. In the spirit of that, then, there is one more favor I’d like to ask.”
Crowze sat back in his seat and smiled. “Please.” Did he like doing favors? Did he get off on it? Or had Lena just seen the bad in so many people that she couldn’t recognize a genuinely kind person when she came across one?
Whatever his feelings, she’d take the help. “I’ve been working in some form or another since I was eighteen. I started as a soldier, then went into law enforcement. And I’m going to go crazy if I don’t have something to do. I’m not sure what the process is to find employment, if I need any sort of identification or government clearance. But I want to work. Can you help me?”
Crowze’s eyebrows scrunched down as he considered her question, and the humming sound he made didn’t give her much hope. “Your residency papers are in the process of being filed. It can be difficult to get work before it’s all official, or so I’ve heard. But let me do some asking. Is it the work or the money? I ask because it may be easier to find something on a volunteer basis.”
“I don’t want to be a leech,” Lena insisted. “But I really just need to be doing something.” She hated how needy it came out, but she was desperate.
“Give me a few days and I’ll see what I can come up with. And once your paperwork is filed, all of