Twisted

by J. L. Meyrick

  “Excuse me?” Rose asked, unaware of what was going on.

  “Your friend here was trying to read my notes. I was simply offering an exchange of information.”

  “Mhm, sure.” Rose raised her brow as she pulled out her equipment from the overlarge bag she brought with her, setting up a tripod ready for the speech. Liliana turned to help her with the setup. “Just ignore him, Lil, he’s not worth it.” She wasn’t sure if Rose meant that for Liliana or for herself. Rose seemed to blow up at Tim more often than Liliana did, so it wasn’t just her that didn’t like the pompous asshole.

  The surrounding crowd was getting louder as the group waited for the speech to begin. Suddenly, it didn’t just seem to be the press present. Members of the public surrounded the reporters. Some seemed intrigued, but some seemed unhappy. With what? Liliana wasn’t sure, but she didn’t like the look on some of their faces. She was unsettled to see the lack of security in the Plaza, especially because the Mayor was about to go on stage in front of a rather large, and loud, crowd of people.

  Slowly, a noise came through louder than the crowd, a chant carrying over the sea of reporters. Liliana couldn’t quite make it out yet. She turned to Rose, brows furrowed in worry.

  “This is going to get interesting, isn’t it?” She took a step closer to Rose, as if to gain better protection from her friend.

  “Do you think they are pro or con? Is the Mayor in danger from this? I hope the Supers are on standby.”

  “Why aren’t the police here? There isn’t any proper security!” Liliana disliked the Mayor’s apparent refusal to utilise the police. He much preferred the superheroes that protected the city. “He shouldn’t rely on the heroes so much. They aren’t always available, surely they lead their own lives.”

  “What’s wrong with relying on the Supers? Isn’t that the point of them? They’re here to protect us, to keep us safe from the bad guys.”

  If there was any position Liliana and Rose disagreed on, it was the Supers. While Liliana was grateful for the work they’d done for the city over the last ten years, they were the exception, not the rule. People couldn’t trust them to be there every time or there would be no crime, no danger. They couldn’t trust heroes. Rose essentially just wanted to do trust falls with them all the time. She was losing her sense of danger, of self-preservation. She would always tell new people about the time Sentinel saved her life. A getaway vehicle was about to crash into her. Thankfully, he arrived just at the right time.

  “Well, we will never agree about the Supers, Rose. Though I do hope they are around, I’d rather not be in the middle of a riot or anything today. That’s getting a little too close to the news for me.”

  Liliana heard a chuckle to her side. “Yes, Tim?”

  “No, don’t worry,” he sighed. “It’s cute, really. You don’t like the Supers, but you’re happy for them to help when you need them. They’re not here just for you, you know that right?”

  “Of course, I do. Just because I don’t agree with how people treat them, doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate what they do.” Liliana was getting to the end of her tether with Tim, to be honest. Why did they have to be paired together in the press section? The organiser clearly wasn’t aware of their history together.

  “Sure,” Tim drawled, looking down on her. Liliana looked back at Rose, sharing a look meaning that Liliana was one step away from launching herself at Tim.

  “Lils! There you are!” a voice called over her inner monologue planning out what she would like to do with Tim if she were truly able. Her heart jumped as she heard the voice that both calmed her down and got her all riled up, differently, all in one go.

  “Max! What are you doing here?” Liliana let him into the private area, feeling much more comfortable with him standing next to her.

  “Hi there, handsome,” Rose said, looking Max up and down.

  “Calm down, Rose, you know I’m taken,” Max joked. Liliana loved their relationship. If another woman heard what they said to each other, they’d think something was going on between them. Of course, it helped to know that Rose was gay. She was more likely to steal Liliana than Max.

  “Shame. I’ll repeat what our girl here said. What are you doing here?”

  “Hi, love,” Max dropped a quick kiss on Liliana’s soft lips. “Same as you guys, I suppose. I want to know what the Mayor is going to say. It could impact some work I’m doing.” Max looped his arm around Liliana’s waist, pulling her gently towards his side as he spotted Tim over the top of her head. “Mr. Westfield, I hope you are keeping well.” Polite, yet curt at the same time. Max shared Liliana’s opinion of Tim since long before they bumped into each other, apparently.

  “Max, how are you?” Tim replied, trying to seem friendly. Max ignored him and turned back to Liliana, who gave him a small smile. She loved it when he saw Tim, he said what she couldn’t. Professional courtesy always got in her way. She could hear Tim cluck his tongue as he made yet more notes in his book.

  “It shouldn’t be long. The Mayor’s scheduled to go on in a minute or two. Are we all set up, Rose?” Liliana asked.

  “Yep, camera’s ready to go. Do you need anything else?”

  Liliana made sure she switched on the Dictaphone, ready to record, and her own notebook was open, pen ready.

  Max leaned in behind her as she got herself ready. “I love to see you work,” he whispered in her ear, hands relaxing on her hips. She felt the heat rising in her body as she turned to say something. Before the words could leave her mouth, her lips were rather busy being brushed up against Max’s.

  “Come on, people. While we are outside, this is a workspace!” Rose called over the sound of Liliana’s heart beating in her ears. Max pulled away, giving her a smirk. He knew what he was doing. She lightly smacked his arm and turned back towards the stage just as a hush came over the crowd. The Mayor was walking up the steps to the left of the microphone.

  “Welcome, and thank you all for joining me on such short notice. I know you all have busy lives, so I will get down to business. In response to the latest in a long line of Powered battles yesterday, the Council and I have agreed to formalise a superhero implementation policy.” Liliana was furiously scribbling in her notebook, the clicking of the cameras around her spurring her on. She was vaguely aware of Max standing next to her, murmuring to himself. He didn’t seem happy with the way the speech was going. The crowds of the public surrounding the press built their momentum again. Liliana couldn’t tell if it was to support the Mayor or not.

  “Several of the Supers have approached me in the last couple of weeks regarding a Taskforce made up of Powered individuals. A Taskforce that would serve the public office to improve the interests of the public. After intense discussion with the Council, we came to the agreement to install a formal Taskforce made up of these Powered individuals.”

  Max was murmuring more under his breath, clearly getting angrier and angrier with the Mayor. Liliana glanced away from her notebook. She had never seen him so angry in their relationship. She half expected him to call out to the Mayor suddenly.

  “This Taskforce will be in charge of city security on the large scale, as well as partially focused on crime prevention,” the Mayor continued, detailing his plan for the new Taskforce. Liliana could tell this was going to be the story of the year, splitting the city down the middle. She feared for what would happen when the two sides met.

  Liliana continued scribbling in her notebook furiously, trying to keep up with the Mayor’s speech. Pain shot from her fingers, up to her elbow, as her hand cramped up. Soon, she would have to stop and rely on her recording of the event. The clicking of the camera beside her kept her at a steady pace. The Mayor seemed to just be rounding out his speech when he made the mistake of asking for questions. Suddenly, the surrounding crowd started shouting their questions.

  “Where is the budget for this Taskforce coming from?”

  “Which Supers are a part of the Taskforce?”

  “Why now
? Why not before all this crime got out of hand?”

  Liliana didn’t bother trying to make herself heard over the crowd. She was too far back from the stage to stand a chance. At least, that was what she thought before Max spoke out.

  “How can you expect the public to learn self-preservation if you mollycoddle them like this?” he boomed out, silencing those around him. Max stood to his full height and stared the Mayor down.

  “Ah, Max, good to see you again,” the Mayor replied, resigned as he realised who had asked the question. Liliana felt a different type of heat rising as half the live feed cameras turned to focus on Max during the back and forth about to happen.

  “And to see you, Mr. Mayor,” Max replied, waiting for his answer. The Mayor sighed before adjusting his glasses. He seemed to brace himself before the coming storm.

  “It is not mollycoddling as you so crudely put it. I am simply keeping my constituents’ best interests at heart. I want to keep them safe; this is the best way to do so.” The Mayor was confident in his answer, sure he had shut Max up. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know Max as well as he thought he did.

  “Not letting them deal with their own issues, or develop their own backbone, is not in their best interests, Mr. Mayor. Neither is reducing the local police stations to the point of making them security guards. This policy will lead to massive job losses in the authority’s sector. What will you do about that?” Max kept his words even-tempered, but Liliana could tell he was getting himself worked up.

  “The police force will still have plenty of work to do—”

  “Yeah, handing out parking tickets.”

  “—the Powered Taskforce will simply take care of the most dangerous situations, the ones that put our hardworking police officers in real danger.”

  “And who will draw that line? You? The Supers?” Max clenched his fists, frustrated with the Mayor’s apparent lack of concern for his issues.

  “I think that will be all for questions today. Thank you all for coming.” The Mayor scampered off the stage after Max’s last question. Clearly, he didn’t want the public to wonder who was really in charge of this new Taskforce. Max stared after the Mayor’s retreating backside. He wanted to get a few more shots in before he backed down.

  “Max, are you okay?” Liliana brushed her hand against Max’s arm, bringing him out of his stare down with fresh air.

  “I’m fine, love, you don’t need to worry about me. The Mayor will listen to sense one day soon, I’m sure of it.” Max was quiet, focused. Honestly, it scared Liliana a little. He was normally quite carefree and smiley. Now, he was calm, but with a bit of resting bitch face.

  “I need to get back to the office and get this written up, pronto. Are you going to be okay on your own?” Liliana worried about what Max was going to do. She’d never seen him like this before.

  “I’ll be okay. Yates is back at the car waiting for me. I have some business to take care of this afternoon before our dinner tonight.” Max rolled his shoulders, relieving the tension he’d been holding. He stooped to plant a kiss on Liliana’s cheek before turning to walk towards the closest car park.

  “Nice interrogation,” an arrogant voice called over, his tone conveying that he didn’t appreciate the questions Max had shot at the Mayor.

  “Not now, Tim, leave us alone,” Liliana called back before Max could respond. He still turned to stare Tim down, who didn’t seem fazed by the glare at all. The two looked to be facing off for a moment before Tim packed up his gear and walked off.

  “That guy seriously bothers me,” Max muttered to Liliana and Rose before waving goodbye.

  “Is Max okay?” Rose asked under her breath after packing up her camera.

  “I’m not sure. He isn’t usually like that. The Supers are a bit of a sore topic for him, though.” Liliana pondered Max’s motivations internally. She hoped he’d be calmer by their dinner tonight.

  The pair made their way back to the office as quickly as possible; their cab driver was, thankfully, a lot quieter than their last. Liliana spent the quick trip running over her notes, already composing her article in her mind, ready to send over to Tanya who would surely want it done by yesterday. Rose was just as focused, clicking through her plethora of pictures from the short yet powerful speech.

  Tanya was waiting for them outside of the elevator on their floor of the news building. That was never a good sign. She marched them to their desks. “I saw the live footage. What have you got for me?”

  “I’ll have the finished article in your inbox in twenty minutes. Rose has an excellent selection of photos for you as well.”

  “They just need a quick touch-up and they’ll be ready for the evening news.”

  “Forget the evening news, I want the piece online as soon as possible.” She clicked her fingers as if the finished article would appear in her hands. “Make it fifteen minutes, and it better be perfect,” she demanded before storming off to editorial.

  Liliana and Rose shared a brief look before getting down to work. The surrounding office was abuzz with the news of the new Taskforce. The other reporters were looking at it from every viewpoint while Liliana was covering the speech itself. She wondered if there would be any space in the evening paper for anything else to be reported.

  Ten short minutes later, she had the speech coverage sent over to the she-devil for her to pick apart until nothing remained. It was in moments like this that she both loved and hated her job. The fast pace kept her on her toes, and she was continually developing her reporting skills. But the stress, combined with feeling like she was simply a viewer sitting on the side of history, got to her sometimes. She wanted to feel like she had done something with her life, instead of just reporting on other people’s lives. If she were honest, she felt stuck, unsure of what to do next with her life.

  Liliana shook herself out of her thoughts. There was no point going down that road. It wasn’t like she could do anything about it anyway. She was happy where she was, her family was happy, and she was practically successful. So that was it. She was going to continue working at the paper, eventually making her way up the company, and she’d retire comfortably. Liliana had her life planned out long ago. So why didn’t it feel right?

  Chapter 3

  “Johnny, there you are. Come with me, we’re going to get coffee.” Rose nabbed the intern as he was rushing past their desks.

  “But we have a machine in the kitchen, don’t we?” His brow furrowed.

  “That swill? You’ll learn to avoid it soon enough, lad, don’t you worry.”

  “Wait up, I’ll come with you.” Liliana needed a screen break. She jogged to catch up with the pair as they were leaving the office.

  “Do you guys get to leave the office for coffee often, then? It doesn’t feel right to me.” Johnathon was skittish, typical new starter nerves.

  “Tanya doesn’t mind if you bring her back a latte. If you come back empty-handed though, duck and cover!” Liliana replied. “She knows we work best while caffeine-fuelled, so she ignores our absences.”

  “Oh, okay, if you’re sure.”

  “How are you finding your first day? You picked the right day for it,” Rose asked, sure he was on the edge of some sort of breakdown.

  “Is it normally like this?”

  “Not usually. The Mayor doesn’t have a habit of announcing ground-breaking policies regularly,” Liliana replied sarcastically.

  “True, I suppose. It’s a madhouse up there. I don’t know how you work so quickly. I don’t think I’m cut out for this.” The boy was getting himself worked up to a panic attack before the elevator reached the bottom floor.

  “Relax, Johnny, take a deep breath for me. Try to calm your breathing,” Rose spoke over him, getting and maintaining eye contact, trying to head off the panic before it kicked in. They were breathing together as the doors to the elevator opened to the lobby. Liliana held back the people waiting to get on the elevator for a moment until Johnathon seemed calm enough to get movi
ng. Unfortunately, this wasn’t exactly an uncommon occurrence in a news building. Stress levels were at an all-time high, people broke occasionally. Liliana questioned her life choices again until Rose and Johnathon brought her out of it by walking past her. Giving herself a little shake, she caught up and left the building with her friends.

  Crossing the street, they walked into their closest independent coffee shop. Liliana and Rose were regular enough. The staff recognised them and started their order before they could get to the counter.

  “Not so busy today, Carl?” Liliana asked over the counter to the short, round man making their coffees.

  “Ah, it’s not been too bad. Had a rush after the speech but most of ‘em were in and out,” Carl replied, expertly pouring coffee and milk into to-go cups. “Anything new for you today?” he asked, nodding to Johnathon.

  “Oh, I’ll just have a black coffee, please,” Johnathon replied.

  “Comin’ right up.”

  Rose tapped her card on the reader, paying for the four drinks. Liliana loved it in the coffee shop. She got a view of the variety of lives lived in the surrounding city. Old and young, rich and not so rich. They all came into this shop. Excellent coffee at low prices would always bring in plenty of customers. There was a small area at the back of the shop where you could sit in plush chairs and read an assortment of books Carl kept for his customers to peruse.

  “Oh, that’s excellent coffee,” Johnathon commented, sipping it as soon as he got it.

  “Johnny! Isn’t that scalding hot?” Liliana exclaimed.

  “Oh right, yeah, it’s hot. Don’t worry,” Johnathon froze, realising what he just did. “I’m okay. Let’s get Tanya her latte, should we? Don’t want to keep her waiting.” He grabbed the latte and headed straight for the door, ignoring the shocked looks on everybody’s faces. Sharing a quick look of astonishment, Liliana and Rose ran after him.

  They were about to follow him across the street when Rose pulled Liliana back hard enough to make her drop her cappuccino. “Rose, what was that for?” she shouted, just as a car door went flying past where she was about to walk. Looking to their right, they spotted something they never hoped to see in person. A fight, but not just any fight, a Super fight.