Then There Was New York
Page 8
Jordan: “Where did you go?”
Riley: “I needed to clear my head.”
Jordan: “Is this about last night?”
Riley: “No!”
Jordan: “Then what’s wrong?”
I yanked down my hood.
Riley: “I can’t change back! I thought going for a walk would fix things, but it didn’t.”
Before Jordan could answer, I turned and went into my room. Then I collapsed on the bed and thought that my current state must have something to do with all the stress that I was feeling. I had also never used so much power in such a short period of time.
Jordan: “I will help you.”
Riley: “How did you get in here?”
Jordan: “A locked door isn’t going to stop a teleporter.”
Riley: “Well … how can you help me?”
Jordan: “I’ve been in your shoes before?”
Riley: “You have been blue?”
Jordan: “No, but you forget my other face.”
Jordan suddenly shifted to his red, scaly appearance with horns and all.
Riley: “You’ve been stuck in your—”
Jordan: “Demon form? Yeah, I have.”
Riley: “How did you get fixed?”
Jordan: “We aren’t broken, Riley; that’s the first thing that you have to accept. Our other skin is a part of us and even makes us stronger. Now, to answer your question, a witch doctor named Mamba helped me out.”
Riley: “Mamba? Mamba! Wait, you are fucking with me.”
A hearty laugh escaped Jordan’s lips.
Jordan: “Of course I am.”
Riley: “You’re an ass.”
Jordan: “Do you want me to help you or not?”
Riley: “Yes.”
Jordan: “Sit on the floor cross-legged.”
With nothing to lose, I did as Jordan instructed.
Jordan: “Now, close your eyes while I find us some music.”
About two minutes went by before I heard the sweet sounds of a violin along with a merriment of other instruments. I assumed Jordan must have teleported some kind of laptop or tablet into the room so that he could get the peaceful music to play. It only took one song for me feel my body relaxing.
Jordan: “Now open your eyes.”
Slowly, I did as Jordan instructed. He was sitting across from me and was cross-legged as well. A few seconds went by and then Jordan got on all fours.
Riley: “Uh, what are you doing?”
Jordan: “Yoga. It centers me, and it will help you too.”
Riley: “I don’t know.”
Jordan: “Trust me.”
Nodding my head, I began to do the various poses that Jordan instructed me to do. I could do most of them because, I don’t want to toot my own horn, but I am pretty flexible. There were a few poses that Jordan had to reposition an arm or leg so that it was better for my body or some shit like that. At the very end of our practice, we did something that he called a Shavasana, where I laid on my back with arms and leg spread. Jordan jokingly called it “corpse” pose but I was not sure if he was telling the truth. But I didn’t feel like questioning him as I was uncharacteristically calm and relaxed.
Jordan: “Okay, you can open your eyes.”
Riley: “I’m not blue! I’m not blue!”
I threw my arms around Jordan and hugged him. For the briefest second our eyes met and it looked like we were going to kiss, but a clichéd cough from Jordan ruined the moment. Quickly, I retreated from the embrace and nervously took a few steps away.
Jordan: “I have an idea.”
Riley: “No.”
Jordan: “You don’t even know what I am thinking.”
Riley: “I’m not having sex with you.”
Jordan let out an amused chuckle.
Jordan: “While I would thoroughly enjoy that, I had something else in mind.”
Riley: “What?”
Jordan: “Put your bathing suit on and meet me in the living room in fifteen minutes.”
Riley: “I don’t have a bathing suit.”
Jordan: “I am sure Diane does.”
Riley: “You want me to wear another woman’s bathing suit?”
Jordan: “You’re wearing her clothing now, so what the problem?”
Riley: “It’s a bathing suit.”
Jordan suddenly grabbed both my breasts. I slapped his hands as I was shocked by his actions. After winking at me, Jordan teleported away. It was a good thing that he left as I probably would have slapped him if he’d stayed where he was.
When Jordan popped back fifteen minutes later, he was holding a bathing suit and a beautifully wrapped box. I was curious as to what was in the box and how he had been able to get such a gift and I knew it was an exquisite gift because Jordan always had the best taste in presents. While I was excited to see what he’d gotten me, I was still a bit peeved by his earlier actions.
Jordan: “You miss me?”
Riley: “Come here and I will show.”
Jordan: “Now, now, would you really smack someone who just stole two gifts for you? After all, I had to do a lot of singing and my voice is a bit hoarse.”
Riley: “Such a baby. But why the fuck did you grab my tits?”
Jordan: “I needed to know what size top to get you.”
Riley: “You’re a jerk.”
Jordan: “But you love me.”
And that’s the problem; I do.
Riley: “Fine, I will let it slide if you give me my gift.”
Jordan: “You get to open it this evening. First, put on the bathing suit as we have somewhere to go.”
Riley: “May I ask where?”
Jordan: “Jet skiing in the Grand Caymans.”
Riley: “Why didn’t you say that before?”
I yanked the bathing suit out of his hand and ran into the bathroom to change. Looking back over the past three years, I hadn’t been so excited about something in a long while. And I couldn’t believe Jordan had remembered that I wanted to go jet skinning as I had only mentioned it once in passing. Today was going to be a fun day and as for tomorrow, along with every day after, we could go back to being enemies. I just needed one day … one more day with Jordan. Yeah, I liked the idea of spending the day jet skiing, having a good time, and maybe dinner.
When I woke up tomorrow, hopefully, I would have texts saying that Alyssa had been found; that would be the point where I slapped the cuffs on Jordan and turned him over to team Spandex. I didn’t want Jordan to get hurt, but he needed to answer for the bad things he had done. Broderick, however, was a different story as I was still trying to figure out what to do with him. I could let Broderick stay in this timeline and just let it collapse all around him, thus killing the bastard. Another option would be a bullet to his head, or maybe I would inject Broderick with a lethal dose of drugs to see if he survived, sort of like what he did to me. Decisions. Decisions …
Chapter 6
October 8th, 9:45 p.m.
Jet skiing was harder than I thought. For someone with abilities such as mine, I probably should have been better, but I guess I can’t be good at everything. I did manage to make it to about fifty-five miles an hour but I didn’t do near as well as Jordan, who was doing circles around me—like literally.
Perhaps the highlight of the afternoon was when Jordan led me via jet ski to Starfish Island. I am not sure if that was really the name of the place but there were plenty of starfish and I even touched a few. To my utter astonishment there was also even a picnic prepared; Jordan had seriously thought of everything and his abilities to manipulate people with song helped, I am sure.
Jordan: “Riley, are you almost done in the bathroom?”
Riley: “Ten more minutes.”
The truth was that it really didn’t take long for me to get ready but after my shower I got distracted by a phone call I made in the regular timeline. The area where Alyssa was being held was now twenty miles in radius and hopefully soon down to fifteen. It would be on
ly a matter of time until my darling niece was back with me and I truly hoped she was okay.
Jordan: “What are you doing in there?”
Riley: “Straightening my hair.”
Jordan: “We are going to be late.”
Riley: “Are we really?”
Jordan: “No, but—”
Riley: “I have a question for you. Is there anyone else with Ego and Alyssa?”
Jordan: “Why do you ask?”
Trying to see if you’ll reveal any useful information.
Riley: “Oh, I just want to know if you left my niece alone with some strange man.”
Jordan: “Riley, you are going to ruin tonight.”
Riley: “Just answer the question and I will drop it.”
Jordan: “Of course I wouldn’t leave Alyssa alone with a strange guy. There are two nannies, a tutor, many guards, and a handful of scientists.”
Riley: “Thank you.”
I quickly sent a text to Arcadia, in the correct timeline and then put my phone away. Then I took a look at myself in the mirror, somewhat grimacing at the dress that Jordan had bought—okay, scratch that, stolen for me. While the black dress hugged my body perfectly, I wasn’t used to wearing something so revealing. I just had to remind myself that I looked good, which was evidently clear when I opened the bathroom door and Jordan’s jaw practically dropped.
Jordan: “You look … you look … I mean …”
I giggled.
Riley: “Thank you. Shall we go?”
Jordan: “Yes. As for the word I was searching for a moment ago, it was wow.”
After Jordan took my hand, he teleported us to a questionable alley.
Riley: “Where are we?”
Jordan: “It’s a surprise and also around the corner.”
Riley: “You’re not going to try to murder me, are you?”
Jordan: “Just come on.”
Allowing Jordan to lead me around the corner, we ended up in front of this slightly rusted metal door. The air slightly smelled of garbage and I could hear the television blaring from someone’s apartment. A few seconds went by before Jordan pounded on the door, followed by a man opening the door.
Man: “What’s the password?”
Jordan: “Old-fashioned drink.”
Man: “You may enter.”
The man stepped out of the way and we entered the building. The hallway was narrow and led to another door. Where the fuck was Jordan taking me, and better yet, how did he know about this place? My heart was slightly racing as Jordan turned the doorknob as I didn’t know what to expect. Much to my delight, Jordan had taken me to a speakeasy and whatever dark thoughts I had quickly faded away.
Riley: “This is really cool.”
Jordan: “When I popped out the other night I went to a tavern and a guy there told me about this place in New York City that I had to check out. He was the one who gave me the password too, and I thought you might enjoy it as well.”
Riley: “I definitely do. I am just going to go to the bathroom real quick. I will meet you at the bar.”
Jordan: “Do you want me to order you anything?”
Riley: “Nah, I want to look at the menu first.”
I really didn’t need to go to the bathroom; it was more that I wanted to check and see if Arcadia or someone from her team had responded to my text. Sure enough, I saw a message telling me that the information I’d provided would help with an attack plan so that there wasn’t any chance of Alyssa getting hurt or Ego, plus his team, moving her.
As I made my way over to the bar, I noticed that two women were talking, nay, flirting, with Jordan and he was obviously enjoying the attention. Rolling my eyes, I walked over to Jordan and pulled him away from his newfound companions. There was no way that I was going to be a fourth wheel tonight, especially after squeezing into this tight dress.
Jordan: “What gives?”
Riley: “Those women were hitting on you.”
Jordan: “Hardly. They were just being friendly. When you walked out of the bathroom, you had practically every man here staring at you.”
Riley: “Hmm, any good-looking ones?”
Jordan: “Maybe, I should go back to the ladies and—”
Riley: “Actually, let’s make a bet and loser is in charge of getting drinks, but no powers. No powers.”
Jordan: “I’m listening.”
Riley: “Whoever score a phone number from the opposite gender wins. It has to be with someone you haven’t talked to, and you can’t say why you want the number. Also, no singing or cheating of any kind.”
Jordan: “I hope you picked enough cash off that dead guy because be prepared to lose.”
Jordan walked off towards a group of women dancing. Internally, I laughed to myself because there was no way that I would let him win. After quickly readjusting my bra, I made my way over to a lone guy sitting at the end of the bar. It wasn’t very hard to strike up the conversation and learn all sorts of things about Henry. He was a doctor who’d just ended his shift and needed to unwind after a tough day. Henry was witty and smart, perhaps everything that I should want, so I found myself laughing a bit more than I should. I also shamelessly began to touch him and I could tell that Henry was into it.
Perhaps one kiss could make me forget Jordan, who was staring daggers at Henry and me. Most likely it wouldn’t, but it would be nice to think about someone, even for a minute or two, who was actually a good guy; someone who actually saved lives. Just as Henry leaned in to kiss me, I was pulled me away by Jordan but couldn’t even be mad as I had done that to him earlier. It would appear that tonight would not be the night that I got over Jordan. Maybe once this whole time travel mess was behind us and he was locked away in some cell, I could finally move on.
Jordan: “Excuse me, miss. My name is Benjamin and I really hate to interrupt, but if I didn’t tell you at this exact second how truly and utterly beautiful you are, I would regret it.”
Riley: “Jordan, what are you—”
Jordan: “I know you don’t know me, and I sincerely hope that this isn’t too forward but here is my number. I hope you call me.”
Jordan handed me a bar napkin with a number scribbled on it.
Riley: “I don’t understand.”
Jordan: “You won the contest, Riley. Drinks are on me.”
Riley: “But—”
Jordan: “As I said, you won; now let’s dance.”
I let Jordan guide me onto the dance floor despite my two left feet. We began dancing to some upbeat song that I didn’t recognize the words to. Just as earlier, we fell into the same groove where we were just enjoying one another’s company but then I had to go fuck things up and blurt out a whooping dose of honest.
Riley: “It was the pillow fort with Alyssa when I thought I might, but it was Paris when I knew for sure.”
Jordan: “What about Paris?”
Riley: “That I was in love with you.”
Jordan stopped dancing and stared at me. I felt heat begin to flush in my cheeks and looked away. Suddenly, I felt Jordan lightly grab my hand and I followed him around the corner, heading towards the men’s bathrooms. While I should have been appalled about where this was heading, when he pushed me up against the wall and his lips crashed into mine, I forgot to think.
My hand trailed under the back of Jordan’s shirt as we continued to make out as men walked by. When one of the guys stopped to make a lewd comment, Jordan quickly spun around and decked the man, who instantly fell to the ground. While I knew Jordan’s actions were wrong, I couldn’t help smile before telling him that we should go home. It took four minutes and thirty-seven seconds before we were outside in a darkened corner so that Jordan could teleport us back to the house.
Jordan and I spent the rest of the night, and well into the morning, slowly making love to one another. While I had slept with Jordan before, this was completely different; it felt like coming home and I would never be the same.
October 9th, 8:03 a.m.
Usually I was a light sleeper, but I had only woken up now. I wonder how much I had missed up to this point. It was quite clear that Broderick was obviously stressed about something and if I could think of a way to use it against him—well, good. Now I just needed to figure out why he was having a childlike meltdown, so I pretended to still be asleep.
Jordan: “Broderick. Broderick. Breathe. I am aware that you hate them, but they didn’t do anything to you in this timeline. We can’t just kill them.”
I was assuming Jordan was referring to Mac and Arcadia, the only two people that seemed to have ever gotten under Broderick’s skin. It was because of them that Broderick had found himself in prison. Maybe if I was lucky, the asshole would give himself a brain aneurysm or heart attack from all the screaming that he was clearly doing.
Jordan: “Now let me go so I can wake up Arcadia and we will be to you in a half hour. Yes, a half hour. I don’t know what to tell you. You are just going to have to wait.”
Suddenly, I heard something smack into the wall. Quickly, I scrambled to a seating position due to shock from the noise. When I looked around, I saw a smashed-up phone on the ground.