"Oh my little angel." His voice was sickeningly sweet as he placed his hands upon her shoulders, his fingers digging into her flesh and instantly she knew that something was very, very wrong. For a frantic moment, Serafina's thoughts went over all possibilities of what she could have possibly missed. She was certain that they were still quite supplied as far as their herbs were concerned, she thought she'd fulfilled all her potion orders and the shop had been doing relatively good lately....hadn't it? Her lips pursed together ever so slightly as she looked up at him, hoping her features didn't betray her concern, "Yes?" She questioned with a marked hint of hesitance. He placed a receipt in front of her, his hand slamming the table a bit harder then necessary. She flinched in an automatic response, her grey tinged gaze looking over the paper in front of her. She could feel the weight of his gaze on her as she briefly looked back up on him with a rather blank stare. "Do you know how valuable that potion is? Why is the money missing?" A frown crossed Serafina's features as she glanced back at the paper in front of her. Frankly, she had hoped he'd never found out about this little...indiscretion on her part.

The customer in question had been a rather demanding man, at least at first with his wants for a potion of death. She had conceded if only because she did know exactly the price they were paid for such creations. And then, quite abruptly, the tables had turned. He'd been kind and caring and witty and took her out on a night on the town and he still had no notion of his name. He'd taken her on a date and with the wooing of his banter, she'd forgotten entirely of the payment she was owed. It had been enough for her, the night they'd spent in the extravagant restaurant with wine and oysters but she could hardly explain that to him. "Um....." Her voice trailed off as she tried to think of a lie but it was always neigh impossible to lie to him. Before she knew it, the entire story came spilling from her sweet heart lips. She had hardly seen his hand coming till it had slapped her across her fair features, her cheek turning red almost immediately.

Serafina jumped to her feet, her reaction of shying away almost as second nature as his hand reaching out to grab her. She danced out of his reach. In situations like this, she often would dash to her room, slamming her bedroom door behind her and placing furniture in it's wake till he gave up yelling at her through the door. Now, however, she eyed the masculine figure between her and her usual reprieve. She turned abruptly upon her heels, striding purposefully for the front door with her mentor right behind her. Fortunately, she made it there first, almost falling out into the cool evening air. She could hear the hiss of his baritone voice behind her, declaring how stupid of a girl she was as she desperately rushed down the porch stairs, trying to place enough distance between herself and him.

She hardly got far, however, his fingers enclosing upon her wrist and she turned to face him, pulling back from him with all the strength the girl possessed. It was enough, for a moment, his gip loosening before the girl realized the momentum the single act had created. For one breathless moment she looked at him before falling backwards and down the short flight of stairs. It was hardly as bad as it could have been, more scrapes and bruises then anything major but for a brief moment the young girl sat at the bottom of the stairs startled. Slowly, her mentor stepped down towards her, her gaze staring at him a rare glimpse of fearful silence.

serafina dubois