Novel Full Chapter 56: [2.29] An Employer-Employee Relationship
Chapter 56: [2.29] An Employer-Employee Relationship
I pulled out the Spy x Family volume and held it above my head.
Iris jumped.
She was 5’2″. I was 6’1″.
She missed by approximately a mile.
“Isaiah. Isaiah. This is cruel. This is unusual punishment. I will report you to the authorities.”
“Which authorities?”
“The… manga authorities.”
“That’s not a thing.”
“It should be.” She jumped again. Still missed. “You’re the worst brother in the entire world.”
“I’m your only brother.”
“THAT’S WHY YOU’RE THE WORST ONE.”
I lowered the book and handed it to her. She snatched it with the speed of a striking cobra and immediately retreated to the couch, curling up with her prize like a dragon guarding treasure.
“Volume eight,” she breathed. “Finally. FINALLY. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this?”
“About two months, I think.”
“An ETERNITY.”
I dropped onto the couch beside her. Pulled out my own purchase.
Iris glanced over. Her eyes widened.
“Wait. Is that for you?”
“Maybe.”
“You bought yourself manga?”
“Harlow made me.”
“Harlow made you buy yourself a present.” Her voice dripped with skepticism. “One of your employers physically forced you to spend money on something you wanted.”
“She’s very persuasive.”
“Uh huh.” Iris poked my arm. “You’re changing.”
“I’m not changing.”
She grinned. “My brother is finally learning self-care and it only took three weeks with those girls to do it.”
“It’s one manga.”
“It’s a start.” She flipped open her volume. “Now shush. I need to see what happens to my daughter.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a while. Iris devoured her manga with the focus of someone defusing a bomb. I flipped through Cowboy Bebop, letting the art wash over me. The fight scenes were gorgeous. Clean lines. Dynamic angles. Spike’s laziness somehow came through even in still images.
See you, Space Cowboy…
My phone buzzed. I glanced at it without thinking.
Cassidy:this doesnt change anything
Cassidy:youre still annoying
Cassidy:and i’m going to win
Cassidy:enjoy being my pet scholarship boy
I typed back: Looking forward to picking out your collar.
The read receipt appeared immediately. Then nothing. No response. Just silence.
Three… two… one…
Cassidy:SHUT UP
I put the phone away.
“Who’s that?” Iris asked without looking up from her book.
“Work.”
“At ten PM?”
“My employers have boundary issues.”
Iris finally looked up. Her eyes had that dangerous glint. The one that meant she was about to ask questions I didn’t want to answer.
“So. These Valentine sisters.”
“What about them?”
She closed her manga and turned to face me fully. Cross-legged on the couch. Interrogation mode activated. “Tell me about them. The real versions. Not the PR stuff online.”
I sighed. There was no escaping this conversation.
“Harlow is… enthusiastic. Very friendly. Gives hugs without warning. Talks at approximately ninety miles per hour about cosplay and fashion and anything that sparkles.”
“She sounds fun.”
“She’s exhausting in the best way.” I paused. “She also has no concept of personal space. Or professional boundaries. Or the fact that we’re technically in an employer-employee relationship.”
Iris’s eyebrows rose. “Oh?”
“Don’t ’oh’ me.”
“I’m just saying ’oh.’ It’s a neutral sound.”
“It’s not neutral when you say it like that.”
She grinned. “What about the others?”
“Vivienne is… intense. She runs the student council like a Fortune 500 company. I helped her with a dress zipper once and I’m pretty sure she almost had a stroke.”
“A dress zipper.”
“It was stuck. I helped. Professionally.”
“Professionally.”
“Stop repeating my words back at me.”
“Stop making your words sound suspicious.” Iris leaned forward. “The other two?”
“Sabrina is…” I searched for the right word. “Mysterious. Quiet. Reads constantly. Wears lingerie like it’s casual wear and makes you feed her ramen like some kind of purple-eyed vampire princess.”
Iris’s jaw dropped. “She made you feed her?”
“It was a test. Probably.”
“A test involving you hand-feeding a beautiful girl in her bedroom while she wore lingerie.”
When she put it like that, it did sound ridiculous.
“The job is complicated.”
“I’ll say.” Iris grabbed my arm. “And the fourth one? The ’problem child’ one from the tabloids?”
Cassidy.
“Cassidy is…” I hesitated. “She’s struggling. With school. With her family. With herself. Everyone’s told her she’s broken for so long that she believes it.”
The teasing left Iris’s expression.
“That’s sad.”
“Yeah.”
“Can you help her?”
“I’m going to try.”
Iris studied my face for a long moment. Whatever she saw there made her smile soften.
“You will. You always figure stuff out.”
“Your faith in me is terrifying.”
“Someone has to believe in you since you won’t do it yourself.” She picked up her manga again. “Now. I have like three Chapters left and then I need help with my algebra homework.”
I groaned.
“What? You’re good at math!”
“Yes. And I’ve already done math tutoring today.”
“For the broken billionaire?”
“We made progress.” I didn’t mention the bet. That secret stayed between me and Cassidy. “Competition works for her. Points for every right answer. Stakes to keep her engaged.”
Iris perked up. “Stakes?”
“Nothing important.”
“What kind of stakes?”
“Iris.”
“Tell me.”
“No.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I’ll find out eventually. I always do.”
She wasn’t wrong. Iris had a way of extracting information that would make interrogation specialists jealous. But for now, I had the advantage of her manga serving as a distraction.
“Finish your book. Then homework. Then sleep.”
“Yes, mom.”
“I’m your brother.”
“You worry like a mom.”
I couldn’t argue with that.
We settled back into our reading. The apartment was quiet except for the occasional page turn and the distant sound of Mrs. Delgado’s TV playing telenovelas through the thin walls.
After about an hour, Iris finished her volume and retrieved her homework from the kitchen table. Algebra II. Systems of equations. She’d already gotten through most of it, but a few problems had her stumped.
I pulled my chair next to hers and looked at her work.
“This one.” She pointed at a problem. “I keep getting x equals negative three but the answer key says positive three.”
I traced her work with my finger. “Here. You dropped a negative sign when you multiplied both sides.”
“No I… oh.” Her face scrunched up. “Damn it.”
“Language.”
“You swear all the time!”
“I’m eighteen. You’re fourteen. Different rules.”
“That’s unfair.”
“Life’s unfair. Now fix the problem.”
She erased her mistake and reworked the equation. This time she got positive three. A small victory dance followed, which mostly involved wiggling in her chair.
We worked through the remaining problems together. Iris wasn’t bad at math. She just got impatient and skipped steps, which led to careless errors.
Nothing like Cassidy’s situation, where the numbers themselves seemed to wage war against comprehension.
Speaking of Cassidy.
I pulled out my phone and opened my notes app. Started drafting.
Lesson Plan: Cassidy Valentine
Goal: Raise GPA from 2.4 to 2.9 minimum by end of semester
Timeline: 14 weeks
Week 1-3: Assessment and engagement
– Identify specific areas of struggle per subject
– Introduce competition format for all sessions
– Build confidence through small wins
Week 4-12: Foundation building
– Address math anxiety through alternative approaches
– Connect history/english to narrative formats
– Increase difficulty gradually
Week 13: Exam prep
– Practice tests under timed conditions
– Review weak points aggressively
– Maintain competition stakes
“You’re smiling at your phone.”
I looked up. Iris was watching me with that dangerous expression again.
“Am I?”
“Like a weirdo.” She gathered her homework and headed to her room. “Love you!”
“Love you too, gremlin.”