The Red to My Grey

by William Dudley Berridge Tuckey

  “It’s nice to meet you…” She froze up as she recognised us; it was the woman among the freaks from last week.

  “Uh Cindy, are you alright? Wait what’s that look for, guys?” Rex asked us, and we tried to play our shock off.

  “Oh, it’s nothing, sir. We just weren’t expecting a new employee today that’s all,” Johnson tried to cover for us.

  “I see. Wait, ‘sir?’ I thought I told you guys to call me Rex.”

  “Sorry Rex, it’s a habit of his, remember?”

  “Oh well, I’m putting Cindy in the finance sector with you guys okay? Try to get along.”

  He walked away and three of us took an exhausted breath out before we confronted each other.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked her.

  “I’m getting a job like everyone else, got a problem with that?”

  “Ma’am. You eat people. So, yes I have a problem with it,” Johnson said sternly.

  “I’m done with that. I just want to be normal like everyone else.”

  “You say that, yet I find that hard to believe,” I said sceptically.

  We soon noticed that she would be sharing the office with us after we were done arguing with each other. Johnson showed her the ropes while I tried to get as much done as possible since our sector had been a bit lacking lately from all the time I took off because of the incident. We spent nearly the entire day teaching her everything and it was after work we spoke to her about what she really wanted. We waited out the front of the building and everyone else had gone home for the night. The three of us of us leant against the concrete wall of the building.

  “So, Cindy. How’d you become involved with those people?”

  “Just call me Cin and as for how I got involved with those psychopaths and monsters, well it was after I met Risk. I’ve kind of been with him ever since.”

  “But you’re not his girlfriend?” I asked curiously, but by doing that I had said too much.

  “How’d you know that? I never said I wasn’t.”

  “Lucky guess, but you want to be, don’t you?”

  Johnson stared at me; he was surprised with how forward I was, a lot more than usual anyway.

  “Wait, have you been talking to him? Has he said anything about me behind my back?” Her tone slowly shifted to a more malicious one as she said that.

  “Yeah, I talked to him once. He didn’t say anything about you though. Why? What do you think he could be saying about you?”

  “Just forget it. I don’t have to talk to you about this kind of stuff. I guess I do have to be a little grateful though. You two really made me feel like I belonged here today, like for a day I was perfectly normal. Thank you for that.”

  She told us we could head off without her. Johnson offered her a lift home, but she said the drive was too far for such an offer.

  “Hmm do you live out of the city? All the trains are finished for the night.”

  She shook her head and explained she lived in the centre of Fellbroke inside a grand hotel, the same one as Anne lived in. It was hours away from our work by foot so, we were baffled.

  “Risk is running me home every night after work, he said he doesn’t mind.”

  “West sounds as if he’s matured a lot since I last spoke with him.”

  “Oh yeah, he’s really something now,” Cin said nervously and it was seconds later that we saw him come sprinting down the street. He stopped in his tracks when he saw us and quickly leapt back behind a tiled roof of one of the neighbouring buildings. “It’s okay; we’re not in any sort of trouble,” she called out into the open street. He came crashing down in front of us, smiling somewhat boastfully.

  “Long time no see, Johnny.”

  “You look well compared to the last time I actually had a good look at you.”

  “Well yeah, it’s kind of hard not to since y’know, I bit the dust and all.”

  He looked to me and waved. I did the same, but we stayed silent as Cin got his attention by tugging on the back of his shirt.

  “Hey Risk, do you mind if you stay the night after you drop me home?”

  “Sure, I don’t mind. Guess it’d feel strange if I wasn’t sharing a den with you.”

  Cin’s face lit up like a candle while Johnson and I stood there with forced smiles on our faces as Risk cluelessly played along. He casually picked her up in his arms and said his goodbyes. Cin waved goodbye with an accomplished smile on her face. They pretty much vanished and Johnson gave me a lift home.

  “What a bunch of strange people we’ve met over these past few months,” Johnson said to me as we pulled up at the front of my house.

  “No kidding. The Natsuki’s and everyone involved with them, they’re wild to be around.”

  “Take care of yourself, Wade; things were simpler when it was just the two of us.”

  I thanked him and went inside. I walked past everyone and went straight up to my room where I dropped my stuff and fell on the carpet. No one was in my room for once, so it felt good to just lie there. It wasn’t long though until I saw my phone light up with an incoming call, I almost didn’t want to answer it until I saw it was only from Dan.

  “Hey what’s up?” I said with my face against the carpet.

  “I’m working in the café tomorrow and I was wondering if you want to come by for a bit?”

  “Yeah, sure I guess. It’s better than being stuck at home all day. Is Em gonna be there?”

  “Yep, so be sure to bring Angel along, alright.”

  I agreed, and we made plans to meet up for tomorrow. I got changed and went to go to bed when I bumped into Angel while she was in the bath as I went to go brush my teeth. It wasn’t awkward for the both of us to be around each other like this anymore. I sat on the edge of the bath while she floated with arms crossed over the bath with her head resting against them. She asked me how my day was, and I told her all about the new recruit. Angel happily listened to me while she played with her long black hair. I tried to ask her the same, but that’s when she wrapped her arms around my neck and rubbed her wet cold face against mine. Her soft dripping body pressed against my back, drenching my shirt and her long dark hair fell heavy against the right side of my body.

  “How my day was? Let’s just say it could do with some love.” She kissed me and time I really came back to my senses was when I woke up late into the next morning, lying in only a pair of shorts beside a half-asleep giddy Angel covered by only the sheets.

  “Hey Angel, wake up. We’re going out soon,” I poked her on the cheek to try and get her moving; she smiled and held me tighter.

  “Stop, that tickles,” she said softly.

  “Huh? But I didn’t…”

  “Wade!” she shrieked while still asleep. I could only imagine what she was dreaming of.

  About an hour after we fully woke up, we went to the café. It was a quiet day, there were only a few customers sitting down reading newspapers or happily chatting between themselves. Em was sitting against the counter with baby Chloe next to her in a highchair. Dan was cheerfully washing the dishes in the sink while he hummed away to himself.

  “Hey Wade, thanks for coming to keep us company for a bit today,” Dan greeted me.

  “No problem bro, I’ll buy everyone a round of coffee.”

  “You seem upbeat today; sleep well by any chance last night?” He looked to Angel who was completely smitten by Chloe, holding her in her arms.

  “Yeah, you could say that…what about you?” I asked without really thinking.

  “Yeah, I sleep well every night ha-ha-ha,” Dan said with a flustered face and Em hugged him over the counter to the point of where he could hardly breathe.

  “Danny! You’re making me blush! I love you so much!” She was loud and making a scene, but I could tell the customers were regulars as they all looked over their shoulders for only about a minute before turning around and going back to what they were doing.

  “You two are what I imagined being a couple would be like. When
I was in that house, I didn’t really know anything. I thought I was going to be alone forever, but when I escaped and started my new life. I pictured so many different ways of living. I wasn’t sure which one was considered normal or at least the right way to live,” Angel opened up to us as she rested Chloe on her lap.

  “Angel, there’s no right way to live and what we have is far from normal. All you need to do that it’s in here feels like it’s burning, that everything you experience makes it throb,” Em lectured her while resting her hand on Angel’s heart. She nodded and grabbed at her chest.

  “Yeah, I do feel that way every day.”

  The door chimed as we looked back to see both my Dad and Celia walk inside. Dan welcomed them inside and they sat down beside us. Angel hugged up to Celia after handing Chloe back to Em. I sat and drank my coffee keeping my face down at my cup.

  “Thought you’d drag Celia out of her room, did you?” I asked him.

  “Actually, she dragged me out; she’s been really clingy lately now that I think about it.”

  I looked over to Celia and her face went red once she heard him say that. She pushed Angel away from her face and her golden eyes began to water.

  “Dad!” she yelled. Dan and Em burst into laughter and she swung her head around to face them.

  “You’re a cute little thing, Celia.”

  “Wade, I think I just might be jealous. I wish I had a little sister,” Dan teased us.

  “Sigh. No, you really don’t. Are you feeling okay, Celia? You didn’t wrap your bandages too tight or something, did you?”

  “Hmmph.” She turned away from me with her arms crossed and her eyes closed. I ignored her and went back to drinking my coffee. Dad fidgeted around with a thick piece of paper in his pocket with a troubled look on his face. Dan handed him a freshly brewed cup of coffee and went back to drying up dishes.

  “Is that your way of saying have a think about it, Dan?” I asked him as he smiled carelessly as always.

  “Thank you for the coffee, young man, but I think I made up my mind a while ago about this,” Dad handed everyone a sheet of paper each. My eyes widened as I recognised what it was. Angel looked to me with a mixed expression, both of excitement and anticipation. I was surprised how soon it was away, only a bit more than a week away.

  “Ooh a wedding. I was wandering when you were finally going to start handing out invitations.”

  “So, you’re holding it at the nightclub, makes sense. You think Ashlyn would probably help out best she can since the bride is one of the head chefs there.”

  “Dad, when did you actually book the reservation for the club?” Celia asked in a frustrated tone.

  “Probably about just over two weeks ago. Why?” he asked cluelessly.

  “How am I meant to get a nice dress in under a week? I don’t have that kind of money right now! You could have at least told me it was going to be soon!” It may have been a quiet day as far as business for the café, but with us there it was rowdy as ever.

  “I could lend you a dress; I do own a clothes store after all.” Em tried to calm her down.

  “Sorry, I guess I was just nervous about all of it, especially with how you two are and all,” Dad said as he pointed to Angel and me, still watching for our reaction. Everyone then looked to us except baby Chloe in her highchair, laughing happily while playing with her toys.

  “I hope it will be fun,” I said quietly in between a sip of my coffee. Angel’s face lit up as I said that, and she threw herself against me. Everyone laughed and cheered, excited for the upcoming wedding. I could picture it right then and there, Sophia in an extravagant white dress with a shiny new ring on her finger and my Dad in a suit with that stupid happy look he always has on his face. I didn’t mind it and I tried not to think about the negative aspects of it, although it made a part of my head ache deep inside. It was around two in the afternoon when everyone decided they would head home. Angel and I handed Dad our invitations and told him we would be home a little later. We left Dan to the rest of his shift and we went to a bookstore on the corner across from the café.

  The store had an old refurbished look about it; the door was made of wood with a glossy coat over it and inside was somewhat dimly lit with chandeliers with glass bulbs fixed to them. The shelves were well dusted, and the books were all in good condition. We walked inside to be noticed by the owner; it was hard not to notice him. He was large, so large that he was still taller than us even when he was sitting behind the counter at the back of the store. The little traces of skin he left exposed were tough and veiny. The hulking muscles that lined his shoulder and arms as well as his broad monstrous skull were a dead giveaway. Angel’s eyes went violent and cold as she stared him down. I grabbed her hand and pulled her behind me to calm her down.

  “So, you’re Raul I’m guessing. Didn’t expect someone like you to be working in a bookstore though; got any recommendations while we’re poking around?” I said casually, trying to mellow out the atmosphere of the room. He pointed us to some shelves in the left side of the store. Angel was tense, and she gave off a really scary vibe while she was in the store.

  “Look, I realise using you to get back at your father was wrong. I’m sorry. Getting back at him at all was never the wisest move to begin with…I think Risk is still the only one who’s serious about it.”

  I kept silent and pretended not to know what he was talking about, but Raul could see right through me. He could see why I was feigning ignorance from the way Angel was acting.

  “I know my father’s done a lot of terrible things, but I was never a part of any of them so, just leave me alone.”

  “Right, sorry,” he said in a somewhat stunned tone before going back to reading one of his books behind the counter. A humble little visit to a plain old bookstore became an uncomfortable one. Angel flicked through the romantic comedies section, giggling to herself every so often while I found a continuation of one of my old books back home, but I couldn’t really find myself enjoying it because of the tension in the air. I grabbed Angel and we bought our books at the counter.

  “Thank you,” she said painfully to him as she grabbed her book and some change from him.

  “You’re quite welcome, please come again,” he said politely. We walked outside of the store and Angel bit me on the cheek impulsively. I looked to her as she held her book decorated by a pink cover.

  “I think I hate that man,” she said softly. I brought my hand around her shoulder and pulled her close to me, smiling cheerfully.

  “Cute.” After I said that she tried to hide her blushing face by burying it against my shoulder.

  We got home about half an hour later and were back to feeling the same as usual. Sophia had just arrived home from work.

  “Mama!” Angel yelled as she ran up to her asking a bunch of questions about the wedding. Sophia answered them all without fail, from everyone who would be attending to what food would be catered. I was impressed with how organised it sounded for something that Dad had basically sprung on us at the last minute. I looked to my phone to see a few messages from Johnson; he and Sabrina had also received their invitations. Johnson was concerned with how I felt about it all. I messaged him back, reassuring him that I was fine with it and not even two minutes later I had Johnson poking his head through the kitchen window.

  “You’re really fine with it?”

  “Yes, I’m fine with it, Johnny. There’s no need to worry about me.”

  “That’s good to hear then. I suppose we speak later about it then.”

  “Laters, Johnny.” He went home, but his visit brought the attention on me from Sophia.

  “Is that so?” she asked while grabbing the back of my neck. She wasn’t squeezing but I felt so nervous that I almost forgot to breathe.

  “Sophy, you might want to give him some space,” Dad tried to help me out a little.

  “Well I’m glad. I was starting to feel horrible planning the whole thing behind your back.”

  “As
long you and Dad are happy, I’m fine with it.”

  The one I was really worried about was Celia who had been practically carefree at this point. She hated Sophia more than anything else, but she hadn’t so much as flinched at the idea of all of it. I looked to her from across the kitchen and she averted her gaze from mine. She had been acting strange at the time and I felt the need to find out why. So, first thing I did was I called Catherine over the phone.

  “I’m guessing you heard the news?”

  “Yup, I got my invitation sitting beside me now. Why are you really calling, Wade?”

  “I wanted to know what’s up with Celia. She’s been acting weird.”

  “She feels bad for always being so uptight, that talk with Anne really got to her, I think.”

  I went to respond when instinctively like she knew we were talking about her; Anne snatched the phone from me.

  “Uh Wade, are you there?”

  “Oh hi there cutie, Wade can’t come to the phone right now. I’ll have him call you back later, ’kay bye.” She hung up my phone and threw it back to me without the battery. She stuffed the battery inside her bra and prompted me to come get it. I walked away and went to my room. Anne childishly chased me down the hallway only to be thrown back all the way down it by Angel and we locked the door. I gave up on the idea of prying and tried to relax. That idea didn’t follow through either as Celia came knocking on my door, asking to go on a walk with her. I went along while Angel stayed behind under the assumption that Celia had something to say that she didn’t want anyone else to hear. We didn’t go far, just a brief walk through the neighbourhood. It was a quiet night with not many cars on the road. I let Celia say whatever she had to say before asking her anything.

  “You don’t have to worry about me y’know? I’m not a little girl anymore. I can take care of myself.”

  “I don’t doubt that. I’m surprised you weren’t frustrated with the news though. You hate Sophia, don’t you? So, wouldn’t it piss you off to call her mum?”