Young Writers Society

Kris' eyes brightened. "Seventeen vouchers? That's awesome!" She paused. "I think that I might have one-upped you though..."

"Oh, I got more than that." Rana waved her hand vaguely. Her wallet was packed with them at that point. She just figured seventeen showers would be just enough time staring at a shower wall to forget about the feel of all of their slimy fingers on her legs. She couldn't very well discuss business right then and there but she murmured under her breath. "We've got work to do."

Kris twisted in her chair and saw the first speaker climb up onto the stage. He adjusted his suit and ran fingers through his carefully-sculpted blond pompadour as he stepped up to the podium. "Good evening," he said, leaning in towards the microphone. "It's so exciting to see that we have a great crowd here today. How's everyone doing?"

"Can we make it non-rhetorical?" Rana said under her breath.

Kris shot her a glance and joined in the crowd yelling, "Good" like a hive mind. Which, they were, so.

"Thank you all for coming out tonight! We are excited to be able to honor some people who are making a real difference in our community."

Kris fought the urge to roll her eyes.

"But you don't want to hear about their accomplishments from me! That would be so boring! You want to hear from the men -- and women -- themselves. And what better person to start with than the Leader of the Senate, Mitchell Connolly? Please join me in showing our appreciation to Senator Connolly as he takes the stage to share in his own words what he's been able to accomplish this quarter."

Making a real difference? Oh, you mean me? She resisted the urge to sarcastically lay a hand over her chest. What was it about Kris that made her so unable to maintain her composure. Off on her own? Giggly little kitten. With Kris? The snarky bitch Rana actually was as a human.

She glanced over at Kris and considered making a quip, then thought better of it and looked back towards the stage, resentfully clapping along with the rest of the crowd.

"Good evening, everyone," Connolly said, adjusting the microphone for his short stature. "I am very excited to share with you some of the positive changes we've been able to accomplish this quarter. These changes would not be possible without the support and contribution of each of you, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you."

He continued to speak, but Kris zoned out, drumming her fingers on the table. The audacity to claim that this quarter had been positive in any way when more people than ever before were starving on the streets blocks from this party. Most politicians didn't even try to hide how self-centered they were. It was ridiculous. Infuriating. Enraging...

She took a deep breath to calm herself down.

Rana's gaze was locked on the speaker, but silent rage bubbled up in her the longer she listened, so she decided to instead focus on happier matters instead. She had a lot of food vouchers. She had the location of two warehouses. Apparently, Kris had had a good night, too. That was something.

When it seemed like McDork's speech was about over she looked over at Kris and whispered, "Can we go now?"

Kris looked around the room and begrudgingly nodded. "Let's slip out."

"Aw yeah." Rana stood up and politely made her way through the crowd -- waddling around like fat cattle -- and then stepped outside and waited for Kris.

Kris waited a few more moments so as not to appear conspicuous, and then quietly made her exit. She weaved her way through the crowd with plenty of "excuse me" 's, "pardon me" 's. She stepped out into the fresh air and spotted Rana just outside the exit.

"Did you have fun?" she quipped.

Rana fixed her in a glare icy enough to freeze hell. "One guess."

Kris smirked. "Get anything useful?" She stepped into the street and flagged down one of the circling limousines.

"Two warehouses -- including a transport tomorrow -- and a fuckton of vouchers. You?" Rana answered, still not looking directly at her so they wouldn't draw attention.

"Damn. Maybe I should pimp myself out too." Kris glanced around to be sure that no one was around and then turned towards Rana. "I had a promising warehouse location lined up, and it fell through at the last second, so I only got one."