Ms. Lourdes POV

Even though it was a Sunday, I was working hard. I had to prepare the contracts for those girls and make sure to protect Fien as much as I could. I was making a career proposition based on their survey and school results. They would need to be accepted by Kath Lyst, and I needed to get permission from all their parents. I hoped they would all be open to it.

Cath (Odes) sat at the other side of my desk, she had come by to show me her new invention, a yuridium particle beam, but after it did nothing, she just started fiddling with it on my desk. I just hope she would not leave any marks on the wood. I decided to let her be. She seemed pretty harmless, and at least she was quiet.

 This was an ambitious project, that could determine their entire future after all. They all would need to become CYA and FBY, and if they quit, they would receive a job offer from the Lyst group to repay the Lyst group's investment. It was a beautiful deal if that was the kind of career you wanted.

I took their school results and compared them to their surveys.

Most of them were pretty straightforward, and I could easily advise a certain direction within the Lyst group. The first big exception was Mia. I had no idea what to do with the delinquent girl. She had been a nail in my coffin for quite a while now, and she was on the verge of being expelled. Her grades were low and she often skipped school.

“What am I going to do with you, Mia?” I asked myself aloud.

“Are you talking about that 6th-grade delinquent?” Cath suddenly asked. I had been so engrossed in the work that I had forgotten she was even there.

“Yes, do you have any suggestions?”

I saw a dangerous flicker in Cath's eyes before she said, “Give her to me. She reminds me of myself at that age, and she is brilliant in the two most important skills to work with me.”

Leaving me no choice, but to take the bait, I said “What are those two skills? I need to present this to Kath Lyst later on.”

“She understands chemistry and physics without being in class. So she is actually quite good at it. She has average scores, but those scores are from someone who never attends class unless there is a test.”

“What, why don't I know anything about her skipping classes unless there is a test? Those things should be escalated and disciplined, you know!” I was a bit shocked. It was good that she was talented, but a teacher not reporting skipping students was a bit much for me.

“I was young too once. Her grades were okay. I told her as long as she kept her grades up, I would not bother.”

I facepalmed. “Teachers are supposed to bother the students if they don't attend! It's more than just the grades!”

“I'm sure the other teachers were giving her a hard time about that already.”

I felt my hands shaking. I held my heart for the answer to the next question.

“What is her second skill, to be perfect to be able to work with you?”

“BL in 2D, yuri in 3D. We are the same. She made some brilliant BL suggestions for the Romeo and Julia play, and just the other day I had this brilliant discussion about Sinsin-sensei with her. Her views on BL are groundbreaking and simply divine. I am sure that when you mention this to Kath, she will want her to join. She might be even fit to join our club nights, now that we started meeting again.”

At least Cath put the science part first, but if I would go by the enthusiasm in her voice, I was sure that the second reason was the one that swayed her. Well, at least she was enthusiastic about working with Mia, it was not like people were waiting in line to mentor the delinquent. Maybe Mia might even be able to help me control Cath a little more.

“Fine, if Kath agrees, I am on board.”

Cath smiled and said “I will put in a good word for her. I am sure I can make things work out.” She then got up and left the room. Had she just been loafing around for this? She always seemed so scatterbrained, but I was suspecting her to be more ad rem than people gave her credit for. She seemed to be pretty sharp when it mattered to her.

The next troublesome case was of course Fien's case. For her future plans, she had noted “I want to become the FBY director and be just like Claire.” Now, that was an original one. But would Kath Lyst accept it? I made a note to prepare her for the role of CYA director. I know it wasn't exactly what she asked, but FBY director was a job she could only do as long as she went to school. CYA director would be a real career path. At least if she went down this road, I would be able to protect her and follow her up more closely.

I put all of my suggestions into an e-mail and sent it to Kath.

Before calling Kath, I opened the drawer of my desk to look at Lisa's picture inside it. I needed some positive energy to charge up before I had another battle of wits with that Lyst woman.

Lisa truly was my protective charm, because instead of needing to call Kath, I just received an e-mail that everything looked great and that she would let Fien join in on parts of Claire's course. She would visit tomorrow to present the girls with their new lesson plans. She counted on me to convince the parents. She told me she had already taken care of Fien's parents. Yes, I know Kath. That is why I am working my ass off on a Sunday. Thank you very much.

I still had no idea what the courses would entail, but as long as the direction of the course fit their career choices, I would not be able to do anything about it. In any case, it seemed to me Kath Lyst was taking this seriously.

Now I would need to start calling the parents and convince them to let their children into this special program. Well, at least I looked forward to the end of this part because it gave me the perfect excuse to end my work with a call to Lisa.

I worked myself through explaining everything to the parents one by one. Eventually, they all agreed on the condition that their child agreed too. The promise of a masters degree and a job for at least 5 years in a relevant function in the Lyst group swayed them all pretty quickly. I think anyone would love such a career boost for their kid.

Those calls drained my energy. I don't like calling people to sell them stuff. 

It had gotten pretty late in the meantime. Lisa should be less busy by now in the brasserie. I wanted to dial her up, but suddenly her name and her picture popped up on my smartphone. “What great timing! I was just about to call you.”

I heard Lisa's voice wavering on the other side of the line. I was sure she had been crying.

“What happened?”

Apparently, Frank's ex had said some very insensitive things about Louis. It hurt a little that she still cared so much about him, but I knew that was just normal. However much I did not like it, Louis had been a good husband to her. On the other hand, it felt good that I was her solace, the person she trusted when things went bad.

Then Lisa spoke some words that warmed my heart “Can we meet tonight? I think I can come over in an hour or so. I don't want to be alone tonight. I know I can handle anything when I am with you.”

Well, who was I to refuse that offer? “Sure, I'm home. I will be waiting for you.”

My evening looked very promising all of the sudden. I would make sure she forgot about her worries and would only be able to think of me.

Yati

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