It might not be that bad

Shylock just shook his head with a smile.  Maybe this was why Prichard had kept Adrienne on.  She was just good for the accounts.

"Please no," he replied.

"It's not that they're bad ideas," he went on, "it's just that given the choice, I'd rather take advantage of the opportunity to go stay in Hogsmeade on the company purse."

"To be honest, I'm surprised you didn't think of that yourself. We'll have a legitimate reason to be up there, Selwyn will give us the inside scoop on the whole Ilvermorny business and you can talk to him about whatever.  And I can help you hide the body if it all goes tits up."

Adrienne's eyebrows lifted, probably more than they should have done, at his suggestion. "You're saying we should move in together?" She asked, surprised. She was pretty literal sometimes, and just as often oblivious, which she imagined he was only just now learning.

She was about to remind him that they had only just met, but there was a tapping noise at the office's window, and she looked up in surprise. Adrienne stood, crossing over to receive the letter, and quietly thanked the owl that had brought it to her.

Sinking into her chair again, she reached out to her bag, retrieving her wand. She used it to refill her glass of water as she unrolled the parchment. "Fair point about access to people who can help with the story, though," she added, feeling bad about opening up a letter with him still sitting there.

Adrienne lifted her glass to her lips, her gaze scanning over the words in front of her. Her brow furrowed at first, but then she choked on her drink and set the glass back down with a thud. As her coughs subsided and she continued to read it over, she felt her cheeks begin to flame with embarrassment - half because no one had ever spoken to her like that, but half because someone was there in front of her while she read them.

"Oh my god," she breathed, her hand lifting to her mouth. When she moved it away, Adrienne immediately rolled up the parchment and stuffed it in her back, shifting awkwardly in her chair.

"Um," she mumbled, unable to come up with a way to explain herself. "Sorry. I'll, uh, I'll deal with that later." She fidgeted again, forcing herself to look across the desk at Shylock. It was bizarre, actually, she decided. Perhaps those words from Selwyn weren't so unusual but he just hadn't tried them on her before. Even though she supposed she could've asked the man in front of her, she couldn't imagine doing so. Just theorizing about something happening was a lot easier to handle than actually hearing about how it happened.

Merlin, no. She definitely couldn't ask. But it did make her all the more determined to speak to him, even though she couldn't explain the exact reason why. "Actually," she said suddenly, standing up out of her chair. "I'm sorry, I- I should go handle this. Perhaps we can discuss the Hogsmeade thing at lunch tomorrow?"

Shylock just couldn't help laughing. He'd found over the course of this conversation that Adrienne was often unintentionally amusing, and it was an endearing trait.

"Dear Merlin, where did you grow up?" he asked. "Staying at the same inn hardly counts as moving in together. Although if it did, it might explain the Wizarding World's inbreeding problem."

He watched as she opened her letter, wondering whether this was his cue to leave. Though she hadn't asked him to, surely there was no simpler way to get rid of him than the completely understandable wish to read her correspondence in private.

But before Shylock could offer to go, Addie was choking, so perhaps it was better he'd stayed.

"Are you okay?" he was already standing, poised to help on the assumption that it was just a mouthful of water going down the wrong way, when he caught her next words.

It didn't sound good. And nor did having to deal with it straight away.

"Yeah, lunch," Shylock replied absently. "Look, this isn't something about Kaiden, is it? Because you should tell me, if it is. They can't make you do anything."

She was preparing to leave, and head straight to find Selwyn, but Shylock's question took her by surprise. There was a strange sort of concern that she wouldn't have expected from him, given the fact that they'd only just met. Then again, it sounded like he knew more about her situation than most.

"..No, it isn't." Adrienne shook her head, her voice much more level. "Handle might not have been the best word to use. I was just surprised. Honestly, it's fine. I haven't heard from them in a while, whatever that tells you."

Picking up her bag, she slung the strap onto her shoulder and sighed gently. Adrienne couldn't tell if she was feeling impatient or nervous, but she apologized again for having to leave before swallowing and heading out.