Emma leaned heavily on her desk, trying to catch her breath and regain a bit of composure. She couldn't let anyone see her like this. Her reputation rode too thoroughly on her calm businesslike demenor and sharp wits to let anyone catch her having a tantrum. Her office was a complete mess, book shelves toppled, trinkets smashed on the floor, important papers scattered everywhere.   Some part of her no longer cared. What did her reputation matter if she couldn't get what she wanted with it? She took a deep breath and smoothed out her ruffled feathers, pushing those useless thoughts away. Reputation was everything, and she would get what she wanted with it, or destroy everyone trying.   She looked around at the aftermath of her angry outburst and began to formulate her next course of action. Well fist thing's first. She fished her pockometer out of her vest and called someone in to clean up this mess.

Elsewhere...   Zehi pulled his overstuffed pillow over his head in the half asleep hope it would stop the terrible ringing that had woken him up. Ringing was always annoying when one was trying to sleep, but it was doubly so with the hangover he was sporting. Whoever was calling him up should consider themselves a menace to all things good in this world. Such as blissful wonderful sleep, for a very apt example.   "Phone, Sir." He heard his assistance's voice drone from beside the bed.   "Remove it from my room, Merl Ijnadiuz, I'm frightfully busy." Maybe another pillow would do the trick? He reached around for one.   "It's your mother, Sir." Came Merl's flat dispassionate voice.   "Burnt biscuits" He grumbled, pulling the pillow off his head and tossing it to the foot of the bed. It really was a the enemy of all things fun in the world. "Fetch me a sherry would you, Merl Ijnadiuz? And a bit of cake. I'll take them here in bed."   "Very well, Sir." Merl turned to leave as Zehi blinked into the painful light of day that was leaking in through the windows.

Zehi steeled himself for whatever was about to befall him and answered his pockometer. "Mother dearest, what a lovely surprise!" He lied as happily as he was able. It was only a half lie, honestly, he was surprised she was calling. Hopefully half a truth was enough to ward off bad luck. Then again, this was his mother waking him, so his luck was already at the worst. He was sure of it.
"What can I do for you this fine morning?"   "Hrm? Afternoon? Already? My the time flies." Drat he was already messing it up. Welp, it wasn't as if his friendly talk was going to keep her from fussing him out for last night's bender.   "Hrm? A favor?" Zehi took the device away from his head and looked at it, surely it was broken. His mother would never ask him for a favor. She didn't trust him nearly enough to be giving him any tasks. Oh please, he hoped she wasn't about to make him... work for his keep. The thought alone made him faint.   He could hear her still talking on the other end, so he braught the pokometer back to listen. "Ah.. and.. pardon my asking, why is it me you're trusting with this?"   He scowled at the answer of 'just get up here and do it' as she hung up on him rather rudely. Well she was just going to have to wait until he'd had breakfast. He wasn't some sort of common housekeeper she could bully about after all! Not that he's say that to her face, mind you.

Merl frowned to herself as she evsdropped on the conversation. She was timing it so that she'd enter as soon as Zehi hung up.   She knew his mood after talking with his mother would be a pouty one, so she'd made sure to bring extra cake, lest he try and pull her into bed with him.   While she didn't mind their relationship in the slightest, she knew if he was late meeting with his mother Merl would likely be the one to pay the price.   His mother had already fired her twice in the past, she wasn't about to make it a 3rd just yet. And given what she'd overheard, Mrs Emma was in a terrible mood.   She took a calming breath and opened the door.   "Ah! Merl Ijnadiuz, perfect timing! As always." Zehi beamed, mood lifting as soon as his eyes landed on he extra cake. "I don't know how you do it, but you always know just what iI need."   "Luck, sir" She lied flatly, as per tradition.