5 Fear of Public opinion

Marcel knocked on the headmaster's office and only opened the door once he heard the response that let him go inside.

Marcel opened the door to see a fifty year old man sitting behind a desk. He had salt and pepper hair and was chubby. To just show how much he was suffering from his weight he was already sweating profusely even though it was still morning and the air was still cool.

Marcel did not go to sit down and instead stood some distance from the desk where the headmaster was sitting.

"I heard you were leaving today" the headmaster sid getting straight to the point.

"Good morning" Marcel replied making the headmaster look up at him. Marcel looked at the nameplate on the desk that read George Finning and looked at the headmaster's face once more.

"Mmmh" the head master replied feeling slightly confused.

"I was supposed to leave today, but can I ask for a two week extension?" Marcel asked politely.

"You're different" the headmaster commented but did not receive a response from Marcel.

Marcel knew that this was one of the people that took advantage of the previous host and knew even though he would be able to escape the orphanage, the kids that would be depending on the orphanage would suffer if they were under the protection of this kind of headmaster.

"Can I get some time to atleast find a job before I leave?" Marcel asked while maintaininga neutral expression.

"As you wish" the headmaster replied.

"I have a request" Marcel said after he heard the headmaster's reply. He knew that he was probably pushing his luck but he did not have much of a choice.

"What is it?" George asked as he put down the pen he was holding.

"I need money" Marcel said straightforwardly.

"I thought you were going to find a job" the headmaster said with a frown.

"I know that the orphanage is supposed to give the leaving orphans at least 2000 dollars when they leave" Marcel said.

If it was a government funded orphanage such a rule would not be applicable. But the founder of the orphanage had put up the rule so that the orphans that left would not resort to criminal activities out of desperation.

"You were supposed to leave today" the headmaster said.

"And you were supposed to give me 2000 dollars today, but I'll take 1800 for the two weeks i'll be here" Marcel said and revealed a cunning smile.

"So I've been raising a fox?" the headmaster said feeling slightly intrigued.

"Does it matter? Take it as i'm paying rent" Marcel replied. Deep down he was already thinking of ways of exposing the headmaster for embezzling the donations that the orphanage had been receiving. The headmaster looked at him and he couldn't help but think that Marcel had changed a lot.

"If I don't give you the money?" George asked

"Well, I could just expose everything" Marcel said confidently. George was quiet for a while before he responded.

"I'll give it to you tomorrow" he said and went back to inspect the papers.

"No, I want it now. I'm on a time limit anyways" Marcel said as he folded his arms across his chest and smirked at George showing the small deep dimple on the right lower corner of his mouth.

"You should at least give-" George started before he was interrupted.

"I'll come back in an hour to collect the money" Marcel said and walked out of the office. Marcel was obviously not aware of all the procedures that George had to go through to acquire the money and instead put him on a very short deadline.

When Marcel walked back to his room, Liam was just finishing getting dressed. He went to his bed and started fixing it up. Even in his previous life he could not stand a mess. Liam looked at him mysteriously as he watched him tidy up the room.

"Big brother Marcel-" Liam started before he was cut off

"Let's go have breakfast" Marcel interrupted and ruffled Liam's wet hair.

Liam stayed quiet as his hand was held by Marcel as he led him out of the room towards the dining area. When they got there Marcel gestured for Liam to sit and he went to get his breakfast.

Liam observed Marcel quietly but did not say much and waited for him to return. He thought that he went to get breakfast first and left him to secure their seat. When Marcel returned fifteen minutes later with one tray that was heavily packed with food.

He placed the tray in front of Liam to watch him eat. Liam hesitated for a moment before he finally found his courage.

"Brother Marcel, should we share?" Liam asked in his childish voice.

"No, I'm not hungry." Marcel replied. When he was in showbiz in his previous life, he would just have one meal a day so he could maintain her figure. Now that he was going to pretend to be a mannequin, he had to be in an even better shape to have some ground in the very competitive industry.

As he watched Liam eat, he felt satisfied for some odd reason. He took Liam for a short walk after his breakfast but he Marcel was completely zoned out.

"Did the headmaster scold you for your tattoo?" Liam asked unexpectedly.

"No, he didn't notice it, are you worried for your big brother?" Marcel asked as he squatted down so he could be close Liam's height. When he was standing up he was already 189 cm, and since he was just 18, it meant he had another 5 years where he could freely add on to his height.

Marcel watched Liam nod in concern and couldn't help but smile fondly.

"Don't worry, this big brother can take care of himself" Liam said as he stood up from his position and grabbed Liams small hand.

The pair walked around for a while before Marcel took him to play with the other children in the orphanage and headed to the headmaster's office.

When Marcel entered the office exactly an hour later he was immediately ordered to sit on one of the chairs in the office as the headmaster busied himself with the finishing procedures.

"Shouldn't you be done by now?" Marcel asked impatiently.

He was very unfamiliar with the banking process. The only response he received was a glare from George which greatly amused him. After a while a person knocked on the door and entered handing George a debit card. After the person left George tossed the card in Marcel's direction and he caught it smoothly.

"Since I owe you nothing, it's better you hurry up and leave in two weeks" George said angrily.

"You're so angry over a few dollars? Tsk Tsk" Marcel said while clicking his tongue and stood up to leave George's office.

"By the way. If ANYTHING happens to Liam when I'm gone, prepare to face the media" Marcel warned and closed the door behind him.

The one thing he knew that stayed consistent over the centuries was public opinion. Especially of people who regarded themselves to be better off than others. They were the most vicious people.