Well This is going to be fun

Posted on Fri Aug 20th, 2021 @ 9:43am by Antonia Hall [Keller]

Mission: Jumping Right In
Location: Seattle
Timeline: -2 weeks before MD1
1112 words - 2.2 OF Standard Post Measure

Toni was not having a good morning. She had, since waking at 6am, endured several phone calls from her mother and her older sister, all on the same topic. Money. Then, her father's lawyer, and one of her means of contacting him, had phoned to give her the latest 'orders' from her father concerning her living in a small dingy 2 bedroom apartment in a rather low socio-economic area of Seattle, that and her refusal to buy a new car rather than the old clunker she had brought when she had moved to Seattle, several months ago. He, had informed her that her father had, against her wishes, brought a house in one of the more affluent suburbs for her, and supplied a brand new Car for her. Which her reply was a rather predictable 'NO'.

Then her mother, had called back again to demand money. And had, learned somehow, about Toni's fathers acquisitions,(Toni Suspected, that her father's Lawyer was a paramour or past lover of her mother) thus she deemed Toni had more than enough money to pay her credit card bills and give her a little spending money - 5000. Her mother was so far batting 0 with Toni that morning, she had other things on her mind rather than paying her mother's bills, which her current husband refused to do. Which was rather normal when the marriage started to go on the rocks.

Anastasia had been drafted in by her mother to brow beat the 'responsible' daughter, as it was obvious that their mother had promised her a portion of the 5000 dollars. And thus when the lift doors opened, Toni was in the middle of the 10th phone call of the morning, and she was fast wearing down on her resolve NOT TO Give them money, it had been a stance she had only just recently undertaken.

Toni didn't like the fact that her mother and sister, and even her little sister to some extent, saw her as a bank, because neither of the three of them could hold money in a clenched fist. She had been the family bank for years. She had worked her way through university, and any deposits from her trust fund were moved into a savings account which earned a lot of interest, which is what she saved to use in such circumstances, or invested what she could. But she was getting tired of being a bank. Being the family bank.

Even her father, a trust fund kid from a very wealthy family, agreed with his lawyer when he said to get out from under her mother's thumb. But Toni knew that, with the headache that was brewing behind her eyes, that her caving was getting close.

"No Ana. No." She said softly as she could into the cell phone as she juggled her phone, handbag, and the go-bag she brought just in case and headed for her desk.

"Ana I said no. Look I am at work.." She broke off at her sister's mocking laugh. Ana never understood, none of her family, with maybe the exception of Amethyst, Antonia's need to work in the law enforcement field, and her enjoyment in doing her job.

Anastasia's idea of work was to show up for make-up, and saunter about reciting lines, earning a pay check for that and selling skin lotion when she felt the need. Oh that and sleeping with as many producers and directors she could.

"Ana, I have to go, sorry. The answer is no. And will be no. You and mother will have to find another way to pay her cards." She hung up the phone and dropped the phone onto her desk, considered taking out her side-arm and shooting it, but instead, placed her handbag on the desk and shoved her go-bag under the desk as she pulled out her chair and turned her computer on. She sagged down into it with a groan and with eyes closed she reached out and turned her private cell off. That would give her a few hours of peace and quiet. Until her mother chose to try her phone here at the office. Maybe she would get lucky and be out of the office or in a meeting or in a lab somewhere... Somewhere where no phones from the civilian area were permitted.

She pushed the phone into a desk drawer and pulled out the Advil she had stashed there. It wasn't even 8:30am and already her head was pounding. She dry swallowed two of them, and put the bottle back and then stowed her side-arm in the second drawer down which she locked.

Then she sniffed around. No coffee yet. She bit back a groan. Fine. She stood and headed to the small kitchen area and put the coffee on. Coffee and Advil was going to be the cure of the day she had a feeling.

"Hey Toni!" A voice called out.

She turned to find Jeff, her boss standing there. "Yes?" she asked as she wished she could just have coffee in peace.

"I need to speak with you. Come on up here" He waved her towards his office.

"b-but Jeff... Coffeee!!!" She moaned. "I need Coffee or else I am going to be cranky all day!"

"I'll buy you Starbucks later"

Sighing she grumpily stomped up the stairs to where he was waiting for her. “Ok so now what?”

He grinned. “You remember last month when we were in Washington to help our Washington team?”

“yeah?”

“Well, General Highlaw is here to talk to you.”

The General had been apart of the investigation and his contacts had helped finding their culprit.

Toni studied Jeff’s face. “Me?” She asked softly.

“Yeah, he has something he wants to talk to you about.” Jeff nodded and waved her into his office. He did not follow her however.

Toni entered the office and found herself face to face with General George Highlaw.

“General”

“Antonia.” The man said calmly. “I am glad you could spare me some time. I have a project I would like to discuss with you.”

He waved her to a chair.

Half an hour later, he left, and Toni returned to her desk, her mind swirling with information. Jeff left her coffee on her desk and she picked it up absently. Three hours later she was on the phone to the general, accepting his offer and an hour after that, Jeff and her team was saying good bye to her as she cleared out her desk.

Two days later, she was on a plane to Melbourne Australia. And from there, she took a C130 to Antarctica and her destination, the Stargate program.