Damn it.
I scrambled after her. "What are you doing?"
Without breaking stride, she tossed me a confident smile. "Getting in line, of course. Thatisthe protocol, right?"
My fingers clenched.Oh, I'd give her protocol, all right.
At the front of the line, the two teenage girls were still waiting politely. I called out to them, "Go ahead. He's ready."
I didn't need to tell them twice. Already, they were hustling forward like they'd just won the line lottery.
As far as their names, I had every confidence that Jack could handle the logistics just fine. As for myself, I had a different problem entirely.
I watched with growing concern as Imogen claimed the spot where the two girls had just been standing. Immediately a chorus of complaints broke out behind her.
The loudest came from the next person in line – an older lady in a postal carrier uniform. She looked to Imogen and said, "What the hell are you doing?"
I spoke up. "Nothing. She's moving to the back."
Imogen said, "No, I'm not." She gave the woman a dismissive look. "Don't you know who I am?"
"I don't care if you're Princess Buttercup," the woman said. "I was here first."
Imogen smiled. "Yes. But I was here better." She threw back her shoulders and announced. "I'm a V.I.P."
From somewhere in the back, a deep male voice hollered out, "You mean S.O.B.!"
I frowned.S.O.B.? As in son-of-a-bitch?
Weird.I'd never heard a woman called that before.
Imogen turned and glowered at the crowd. "Who said that?"
A woman's voice called out, "I did!"
"You did not!" Imogen yelled back.
"Well, I am now!" the woman hollered.
Yikes.As much as I agreed with the sentiment, I didn't like the way this was going.
In the calmest voice I could muster, I called out to no one in particular, "Don't worry. Everything's under control."
This wasn't exactly true. Imogen's face flushed a deep red as she turned to glare at me. "Aren't you going to do something?"
"Yeah. I just did."
"I meant something better."
I scoffed, "Like what?"
She made a little fluttering motion with her hands. "Oh, I don't know. Kick them out or something."
I almost laughed in her face. "If anyone's getting kicked out, it's you."
Imogen gave another huff. "We'll see about that."
Yes. We would.
