“That greedy son of a…” Newt trailed off as Vee covered her mouth. She removed the other woman’s hand. “Vee!”

“I know. Henri hasn’t been truthful with us, but there’s nothing we can do about it,” the elf said. “There’s no need to let your temper get away from you.”

“This makes my decision look even better,” Terr muttered before drinking more beer.

“What’s that?” Vee asked.

“What decision?” Zoe asked at the same time.

“You might as well tell them,” Kerri told her boyfriend before taking a sip of her beer.

“I’m quitting too,” Terr said.

“I secured him a place in the next police academy class,” Kerri added. “If Zoe hadn’t done what she’s done, Henri probably would give her all of Terr’s runs.”

“That, hire someone else, or just not bid on ever how many runs Terr does a week,” Vee said to nods of agreement.

“Terr, you want to be a cop?” Newt asked.

“Yeah,” Terr answered.

“Why?” Zoe asked. “I mean, I’m glad you’re doing something you want, but…”

“Why now?” Vee asked. Zoe nodded in agreement.

“The opportunity came up,” Terr shrugged. “Besides, I’ll get full health city benefits plus a pension.”

“That makes sense,” Vee replied. “Couriers have to make their own retirement if they can and pay for their own insurance.”

“Zoe can probably get that off her taxes now,” Newt said.

“We can already do that,” Vee said giving Newt a fond smile.

“I know. I meant even more off her taxes now though,” Newt replied returning the smile. “Zoe, are you looking for partners or employees?”

“No,” Zoe answered shaking her head. “I think I want to just make my own way for now without adding the stress of being in charge of more than myself.”

“Well, if you change your mind, you know where we’re at,” Newt said.

“You could always go independent yourselves. It’s very freeing and gratifying,” Zoe said. “I would gladly give you guys a recommendation and I’m sure others would as well.”

“Thanks,” Newt replied.

“Recommendations aren’t the issue,” Vee said. “It’s coming up with the license fee.”

“True,” Zoe replied. “You could always get a loan for it.”

“Banks won’t give us a loan without a lot of collateral,” Vee replied.

“And unlike you, we don’t want to get into debt with the mob either,” Newt added.

“Really Zoe? You didn’t,” Kerri said. She looked to Terr, Newt, and Vee. They just shrugged in answer.

“I didn’t know any better at the time,” Zoe replied. “The only thing I knew about the mob was what I had seen in old movies. And who believes what they see in movies?”

“Depending on the movie, it can be pretty close to true life,” Kerri said.

“It’s a moot point now. I’ve paid them off,” Zoe shrugged.

“You’ve made that much already?” Vee asked after exchanging a stunned look with Newt.

“No. I’ve averaged a grand a day doing an average of three runs a day,” Zoe replied. “Plus, I’ve got two runs lined up going to Greenwich, Connecticut tomorrow that’ll pay 750 credits.”

“That’s not a bad payday for two runs even with them being out of state runs considering that drive shouldn’t take an hour,” Terr remarked. “But shouldn’t you be making more?”

“As I said earlier, I can’t undercut the other companies too much while needing to establish myself at the same time,” Zoe replied. “So, I’ve been bidding on lower paying jobs for the most part except for the ones that go out of the city.”

“Makes sense,” Vee said.

“But how did you pay off the mob so fast?” Newt asked not willing to let that go just yet.

“I’d like to know that too,” Kerri added.

“It was… part of my lottery win,” Zoe said. Newt pouted at that statement while Kerri shrugged.

“Fair enough, the orc said while Newt shrugged and let the subject drop.

“Terr, are you quitting on Monday too?” Zoe asked changing the subject.

“I’m giving Henri a two-week notice,” Terr answered. “That way I can still have money coming in. So, you’re quitting Monday?”

“Yeah,” Zoe replied. “I think I’ve found a niche I can fill until I have a better reputation.”

“Don’t blame you,” Newt said.

“Me either,” Vee agreed.

“Let’s find something to watch or do before Zoe has to kick us out so she can get some sleep,” Kerri said. The others agreed.

*

The Saturday runs to Greenwich were very simple but took up the entire morning. What took so long was waiting for an answer from the boutique’s customers. The cloth samples turned out to be for drapes and a dress. Zoe felt it was dumb to pay a courier so much to just deliver samples for a dress and curtains. But without people doing dumb things like this, she wouldn’t have a job, so she chose not to complain. Zoe enjoyed the ride back to the city and noticed the leaves starting to change on some trees. She hadn’t even realized fall was approaching despite the cooler weather after the heat wave.

“Time does indeed fly,” Zoe told herself as neared Manhattan.