Grillfe 3

Ornaka Corce hated the suite. It was filled with luxury furniture and art. Badayas smiled at him as she guided her children to their rooms. Usually, she would be a part of these meetings, but he had come unannounced, and this was a rush meeting. He smiled and nodded to Badayas. Ornaka thought to himself, that in a different world, she would be his and not… . Grillfe walked in from his office all smiles while he could still see the children. Ornaka knew better. Grillfe would have invited him into his office if he were welcome, he wouldn’t have his kids leaving if he were comfortable with Ornaka’s arrival, and he wouldn’t have his leku crossed if he were happy. The children left, and so did the facoid.

“What happened,” Grillfe reached out and gently grabbed Ornaka’s arm.

“Your inspector has been sniffing around the restaurant again,” Ornaka left his reach and walked over to the apartment's bar. He looked for the most expensive drink and poured himself a large glass. “He arrested six people for nothing.”

“Who are they?” Always with the questions ever since he got this position, he never really cared anymore.

“Does it matter? They’re our people. This is why we got you this job in the first place.” Ornaka was still sour over it. He wanted to take this role for the group, but Grillfe had swept the chance right from him.

“You know what I mean. Do they know anything?” He let out a sigh of exhaustion. Ornaka knew he was tired of this argument that they had each time, but it was important for Ornaka to keep him to the standard needed.

“Again, does that matter?” He turned around, his leku crossed, and he bore into the tired man’s face.

“I can’t just let anyone out. The empire is getting stricter about these kinds of things. And after last month’s close call, I need to be more careful.” Ornaka tried his best to hide his rage. He had once respected Grillfe, the man willing to take any risk, to put aside his needs to lead, the man you had killed for their family. Now he was this tired bloated politician just as useless as Orn Free Taa, coming up with any excuse to cover his ass.

“It’s my nephew,” That struck Grillfe. Ornaka knew it would, but it hadn’t exploded the rage from the man that he wanted it to. Instead, the exhaustion just became heavier on him.

“I’ll get him and four others out in the morning,” He dropped himself in a lavish chair. He hardly matched the decor of his home, and he looked like a tourist in it most of the time.

“You get them all out now!” Ornaka yelled, surely disturbing the children. “That’s why we got you there; that’s your scabbing job!”

“Noooo,” The familiar rage emerged, the rage that came from being corned, from knowing no way out but through the rage of a leader. “My job is to get us through, to chip away as much as I can to make sure we get through,” he rose from his chair. It wasn’t a fast motion but a strong one, and he pointed to his children. There was a time that Ornaka would have been included in that we. “I’m the one balancing all these plates. You don’t even know half the things I’ve done for you!”

“Done for me! I don’t care what you do for me I care for what you do for our people and our people are being arrested left and right under that damned constable that you have refused to do anything about.” Ornaka jabbed a finger into his friend's chest.

“That constable is a bloated corpse so full of his own fictional grandiose that I have been free over half of our people and shunk his jurisdiction. But that might be for nothing!” There was shock on Ornaka’s face at the last statement.

“What do you mean for nothing, what happened?” A hush came over Ornaka.

“Last month's job,” Grillfe walked past him and filled his glass. “I had to pull some important strings to keep everything under wraps, and even then, the money didn’t get to Truph and his crew. So I had to make a personal trip to assure him everything was fine. That was noticed, and Lonni Jung reprimanded me for leaving Coresaunt without properly informing the empire. My meeting with Luthen has been indefinitely postponed, and three of my accounts have been seized.”

“And you haven’t told the sisterhood why!?”

“Because you didn’t need to know.” Badayas walked into the room and instantly quelled the mounting aggression. “Please, my children are resting.”

“I’m sorry, Bads.”

“I told Grillfe not to speak of it to keep information from leaking.” She placed a hand over Grillfe’s drink and put it back on the table.

“Ya, the sisterhood shouldn’t notice either. I will be taking out of my paycheck next week to give a generous donation to less fortunate families of Coruscant.” A smile returned to his face.

“This don’t change nothhin. Your slipping, and I warn you I won’t let you take us all down with you.” The two of them together ruined each other. Badayas took Grillfe’s anger, and he kept her from doing what needed to be done.

“Ornaka,” Griffe grabbed onto his arm again. “I won’t let that happen. I won’t let us fall. As long as we stay strong together.” Ornaka broke the grip, turned from them, grabbed his poncho, and left. A seed of a thought planted itself in his head. Grillfe needed us not to fall, but we didn’t need him.