Chapter 354: Lie to mama.
Sienna never let her children go anywhere without the ability to protect themselves. Ali had a foldable pan in her bag pack and pins with poison that held up her hair.
Slowly, the little girl removed the bag and dropped it on the pristine bathroom counter. She opened the zip, and took out her pan. With surprising strength, she leaped up like her father had trained her to do, and swung it like her mother had trained her.
The hawk beast woman staggered back, clutching her face, blood dripping from her nose.
One of Ali’s attendants rushed from a bathroom stall, pulling down her clothes. Two guards rushed in, and took one look at the hawk beast woman and their little boss. They grabbed both combatants--Ali, still growling, pan in hand, and the bleeding hawk beast woman.
Back at the table, Elias was just beginning to argue about fireworks with Eli when one of his bodyguards approached with the head waiter.
"My Lord....there is a situation in the bathroom. Young miss Ali is involved."
Elias’s ears shot up. "Situation?"
He rushed to the bathroom, tails flaring. His daughter had gone to the bathroom with an attendant and two guards. What had happened? The sight that greeted him in the corridor leading to the bathroom nearly made him faint. His daughter stood proudly, pan raised like a gun. A hawk beast woman was standing with her own guard, nose bleeding, restaurant staff fluttering around her.
Elias’s jaw dropped. "What...what happened?"
Ali pointed at the woman. "She shoved me and refused to apologize. I defended myself. Mama will be proud."
The woman wailed. "She attacked me!"
Eli arrived with more guards, one look at the mess and he laughed so hard he nearly fell over.
"Let’s go." Elias gestured gestured to Ali.
The woman shrieked. "You can’t leave. Your daughter hit me, she broke my nose!"
Elias replied coldly, "And you shoved her. Be glad that she was not hurt, or else, I would shove you out of a window."
The woman gasped.
Ali’s nose pointed in the air, and her eyes gleamed with pride. "Just wait until my mama hears about how I was shoved, you will have to worry about more than your nose." Her words were not just a warning, they were a promise.
Elias grabbed her quickly, before she could decide to swing the pan again.
On the way home, Elias pondered on the failed lunch, while listening to his daughter complain about the fact that she was not half-full! He wondered why he had even tried to fix things in this way. Maybe it was best to let the women in his family do as they wished with the party. All he had to do was show up anyway.
He looked at his children and said softly, "Let’s not tell your mother about the bathroom incident."
This was another mistake.
Eli raised an eyebrow. "You want us to lie to mama?"
Ali blinked innocently. "I can never lie to mama, she will be so mad. She is scary when she is mad. And she will be proud of me for defending myself like she taught me."
Elias groaned. "No. She will be furious. She will say I failed to supervise you. She will say I chose the wrong restaurant--"
"Piggly Wiggly." Eli said, while shaking his head. His young eyes were full of judgement for his father that had made many bad decisions today. "mama would have taken us there. If Ali doesn’t eat in the next thirty minutes, she is going to call mama in tears."
Elias’s ears drooped. He took his phone and cancelled his next two meetings. "Piggly Wiggly it is."
This quieted Ali, but it didn’t take away Elias’s worry. As long as Sienna heard that he wanted the kids to keep a secret, she would spark like a haystack in flames.
Meanwhile, Sienna sat in her office, paper work stacked high, Mija hovering beside her, and her aides rubbing their temples. A fox beast man in her office was wailing, hands flailing like broken wings. He was also rolling ob the ground, sobbing so loudly that even the birds outside had gone quiet to listen to him.
It had been going on for ten minutes.
Sienna sighed. "Sir, please state your case. Rolling around on the floor is not helping anyone. This office deals with issues affecting women and cubs. You are a man, perhaps you need to see my husband, father-in-law or an elder like Tomlin."
The man sat up, hiccuped and opened his mouth, "I....."
Everyone leaned forward, expecting words, but then he collapsed again, rolling across the carpet. Nothing was explained, just more sobbing.
Sienna tapped her pen impatiently. "Sir, are you here seeking a divorce? A mediation? Are you lodging a complaint against a superior? Speak, for heavens sake."
The man leapt to his feet, waved his arms dramatically, then fell to his knees. "My...." he whispered.
Everyone leaned in eagerly.
Sienna gestured with her hand for him to keep going. "Your what?"
The man clutched his chest, squeezed his eyes shut, then flopped onto his back, moaning.
Mija muttered, "Is this a meeting or a theater?"
Sienna waved Mika over. "Who is he? I am supposed to be going over the adjusted breakfast and lunch menus for schools within this city. I should be speaking to the investigator sent by the department of education right now. Get rid of him."
Mika whispered, "He is Mr. Dyson Hiller, from the department of education. He is the investigator you are supposed to be speaking to. I have no idea what he is doing."
Sienna sighed. Evey time Dyson seemed about to speak, he dissolved into melodrama. The audience kept hoping he would say something, only to be disappointed. It was like watching a play with no script, just endless crying.
Just as Sienna was about to lose her patience, the door was opened. A messenger from court rushed in, clutching a sealed envelope.
"Lady Sienna," he said breathlessly. "You have been served."
Sienna blinked. "Served? What do you mean?"
He took a picture of her hand reaching for the envelope. "You are being sued over a broken rattle. You have been summoned three times electronically and you refused to answer, so I was sent. The owners of the rattle claim they want more in damages than you paid."
Sienna stared at the papers, then suddenly burst into laughter. She clutched then to her chest,eyes sparkling. "Finally!"
Mija gawked. "You’re...happy?"
Sienna leapt from her chair, and grabbed the messengers hand. "I am going to court. Mija, invite elder Mini and you can both stand in for me in this meeting." She ran toward the door, waving the papers like a victory flag. "I am being sued! Over a rattle! This is the best news I have heard all day. It’s glorious!"
Her laughter echoed down the corridor as she disappeared, leaving everyone stunned.