“Oh,” she said in surprise. “I just didn’t want you to get in trouble for leaving in the middle of the day.” I realized she had a point. Even if I did have the time saved up, I could still get written-up for leaving short-notice without a valid reason. She continued. “I told your boss that you were joint owner in my business, and that normally it wouldn’t interfere with your work, but that a financial emergency has come up that needs your immediate attention.”
I gawked at my computer screen, trying to process what she was saying. Why not just say a family member had died? Or that she was pregnant with my kid? Well, I guess I didn’t have any family that I knew about, and my boss knew I was dating Lily. “And that worked?” I asked in disbelief.
“Yes,” she whispered over the phone. “In fact, your boss was very impressed to find out that we worked closely together.”
I groaned silently, hoping he wasn’t going to end up trying to get me to hook her up with him. Considering the effort my boss had put into making sure that Lily could work here, including the extra sprinkler system, I had no doubt his willingness to let me off the hook for the day didn’t have ulterior motives. I would have rather been written-up than have to deal with that shit.
“And what about Lily?” I wondered.
“Lily already knows I’m coming to get you. I’m sorry that it couldn’t wait, but we need to talk immediately.”
“Okay,” I agreed. “I’ll see you soon.”
The first thing I did after I hung up the phone was say goodbye to Lily. I bent over beside her so we could whisper. It was difficult not showing her affection, but we had to maintain a certain level of professionalism while we were at work. “So I guess Freya’s picking me up.” I said quietly.
She nodded, her orange eyes churning slowly. “Yeah, she already told me. Seems important, whatever it is.”
“Why aren’t you coming?” I wondered.
She shook her head. “I’d love to Sam, but people would think we were just going off to have sex or something.”
Or something? I wondered what the something would entail.
I shrugged, considering the situation. “Maybe we should get married so we can use the ‘family emergency’ excuse without seeming weird.”
Unexpectedly, her eyes started writhing rapidly as her face lit up. “Really?!” She said way too loud.
I stared at her in surprise for a second. Why was she so excited? “Lily calm down – you’re going to explode.”
She bit her lower lip as she tried to control herself. The fire swirling in her irises was just barely staying caged. “Sorry,” she whispered. “But you really want to marry me?”
Oh. That’s why she was reacting that way. I had been thinking about it for a while now, but I supposed we hadn’t talked about it yet. Still, I didn’t feel like she should be so surprised. I had been pretty committed from day one. I shrugged again, not wanting to push her over the edge while at work. This was definitely a conversation we needed to have in private. “We’ll talk about it later,” I whispered. “I just wanted to say I love you before I go.”
She nodded in agreement, but her bottom lip pouted out anyway. “Okay.” She sighed. “I need to focus on this right now anyway.” She gestured to her computer screen. Then, her expression abruptly seemed concerned. “I just hope everything is alright with Freya. She seemed really worried about something.”
I nodded. “Yeah, it must really be urgent.” I was thoughtful for a moment. “Speaking of her,” I lowered by voice even more, “you might want to keep your phone conversations more private. Apparently, Dave overheard you talking with Freya in a suggestive manner.”
Lily abruptly gave me a death glare, though I knew it wasn’t really directed at me. “Imma kill Dave,” she hissed. “That man gossips more than a little school girl.” She huffed out a sigh of frustration. “Stupid above-average hearing. Most useless superpower in the world – all it does it cause problems.”
I chuckled, unable to stop myself. “I love you baby. Try not to kill anyone today.”
“I love you too,” she whispered. “I’ll see you after work.” I could tell she wanted to lean in and kiss me, but this wasn’t the place for it. Showing affection to each other wasn’t worth risking our jobs, though neither of us were hurting for money. I knew I personally could probably go at least a hundred years without working, even after having paid off the rest of the debt Lily had for her specialized implants.
Once I got down to the first floor, I only had to wait for a few minutes before Freya was pulling up in her orange convertible with the black top up. Ironically, orange was her favorite color, which is why she became interested in Lily in the first place almost fifteen years ago. Her orange eyes had captured Freya’s attention, making her curious. It was all downhill from there.
As I slid into the dark leather interior, Freya looked happy to see me, but there was a slight concern creasing her forehead. “Hi,” she said slowly.
“What’s wrong?” I wondered, hearing the worry in her voice.
“I just…” She bit her bottom lip. “Are you up for coffee right now?”
I blinked at her in surprise. Surely, she didn’t just get me out of work for a date. “Sure,” I said hesitantly. I paused. “Why are you so flustered?”
She shook her head, putting the car in gear. “I’m just worried about how you’ll react,” she finally admitted.
“To what?” I wondered cautiously, feeling the car accelerate much faster than necessary.
“To the things I found out about your past.”
“Oh,” I said simply. Could the things she discovered really be that bad? That urgent?
From the stressed look in her eyes, I realized it really must be. I reached my hand out to place it gently on hers over the gearshift. She liked to drive without the autopilot too. She looked at me warmly by the small gesture of affection. It seemed to help settle her nerves a little while we made our way to a coffee shop across town.
At first, I wasn’t sure why she’d choose a location so far away from where I worked, but I did notice that it was very close to where she lived. Maybe she was just more familiar with the area?
It was obvious she didn’t want to talk about her news on the way, so I made small-talk instead. I told her a little about my day. I also mentioned the situation with Dave, suggesting her and Lily be more careful about what they said over the phone. She thought it was hilarious, laughing abruptly, but agreed.
It was nice to see her laugh, but that crease between her brow reappeared just as fast as it had disappeared. I wanted to reach out and massage it away, but decided to run my fingertips along her thin forearm instead. That also seemed to help a little.
Once we arrived, Freya and I purchased coffee and sat outside at a black circular table underneath a dark green umbrella. The sun was shining brightly, and the sky was bright blue – a beautiful day in May. Despite the warmer temperature, she was wearing a black leather jacket with a red V-neck blouse underneath, largely because her body didn’t react to the heat like a normal person.
While she felt normal to the touch, it took a lot for her to feel uncomfortable in almost any kind of weather. Her body somehow maintained a steady temperature without sweating or shivering, thereby allowing her to dress purely for fashion rather than need.
She also wore a necklace that separated into a multitude of thin gold chains resting on her milky upper chest, as well as black dress-pants and leather boots. Gold buckles adorned both her jacket and boots in strategic locations, making her overall outfit seem elaborate despite its simplicity. Her red blouse especially made her red eyes pop, even more so when contrasted against her black hair and black jacket.
Being in the middle of the day, there wasn’t anyone else outside at the coffee shop, leaving us relatively alone. She had scooted her chair over to sit adjacent to me, with two manila folders in her hands.
She took a sip of her black coffee and then opened the first one, looking through some papers for a
moment.
I was briefly more interested in her cup, rather than the folders. “You drink coffee?” I asked in disbelief.
She looked up at me then, her crimson eyes slightly confused. “Yeah? That surprises you?”
I shrugged, taking a sip of my own, which had plenty of cream and sugar, unlike hers. “I just figured it was a prop or something. I’ve never actually seen you eat anything. Well, except…”
She nodded then, seeming to understand as she glanced down at the pages again. “Eating normal food doesn’t provide my body with any nutrition, but I can still do it if I need to.”
“Then why force yourself now?” I wondered seriously. “You don’t need to pretend for me.”
“Oh,” she looked at me apologetically. “Sorry. I actually like coffee. It’s one of the few things that tastes good to me, other than…you know.”
I nodded. “Good to know, in case I ever want to do something nice for you.”
She smirked at me, but there was still that crease of worry in between her slim eyebrows. She abruptly changed subjects. “First,” she began, “I need you to sign here.” She placed the folder in front of me, with the pages turned back to the second to last one.
“What’s this?” I wondered.
“It’s your agreement to be a limited partner in my business – I wouldn’t make up an excuse like that to your boss only to risk you getting in trouble if he found out it wasn’t true.” When I just gawked at her, she seemed to misinterpret my expression. “You won’t be responsible for any debts or anything,” she reassured me. “That responsibility only falls on the general partner, which is me of course.”
“You don’t have to do that,” I finally managed. “It’s your business.”
She shook her head. “But I want to share it with you.”
“But why?” I wondered. “It’s worth a lot of money. I wouldn’t feel right taking part-ownership in it when I haven’t done anything to earn that honor. You’ve worked hard to make it what it is today, whereas I haven’t done anything all.”
She sighed and leaned back in her chair, taking another sip of coffee. “I’ve put a lot of thought into it, and I’ve decided that I want something official to mark our relationship. I can’t marry you right now, since you can only legally marry one person for tax reasons – otherwise, people would abuse the tax system. So, this is the next best thing I have.”
“Oh,” I said simply. I wasn’t expecting that. “So…this is basically a marriage proposal then?”
I was expecting her to smirk at my joke, but she didn’t. Instead, her brow furrowed even more. I saw a little bit of that fear again I had seen a month ago – a fear that I’d reject her. This wasn’t a joke. She was being completely serious. And she knew enough about my financial situation to know it wasn’t like she was making me rich overnight. She knew I was somewhat wealthy from when I used to take on significantly more lucrative jobs years ago.
I didn’t need her money, which meant she knew full well that I had only one reason to accept this proposal – if I was accepting her, and acknowledging what we had together.
“Does Lily know?” I wondered absentmindedly. “Or are you planning on keeping this a secret? She didn’t say anything before I left.”
“She knows about this.” She gestured to the paper. “And she’s fine with it of course. She’s already given her blessing on our future relationship – you know that.”
I cringed slightly, only because it reminded me of Lily’s mortality. “But?” I wondered, trying to hide my reaction.
“She doesn’t know about the other stuff I have to talk to you about.” She sighed. “If it were only this, then I could have just invited you out for lunch, or even waited until this evening.”
“Are you sure you want to do this now then? I feel like this should be a happy thing, but it’s being ruined by whatever else you have to tell me.”
“Then you’ll sign?” She wondered, looking suddenly hopeful.
I smirked at her. “If it’s what you want, then I’d be happy to.”
She grinned, her concern finally disappearing. “Okay!” However, as I began closing the folder, she stopped me. “I would still like you to sign right now though, so I can get this paperwork filed. We can celebrate the occasion at a later date.”
“Oh, okay. If you’re sure?”
She nodded once eagerly, so I went ahead and filled out my name on that page and then the next. Her brow furrowed again as she closed the folder and traded it out with the other one. “Next up is your past,” she said as she set it down. “We have a lot to talk about, starting with your parents.”
She hesitated, evaluating my expression briefly. Then, with a deep sigh she opened it up, revealing the image of a beautiful young woman with extremely dark skin. She looked to be in her mid-twenties. “I think this is your mother.”
17: Connections and Obsessions
I stared at the image for a long few seconds, not seeing even a slight resemblance between me and the young woman in the photo. For one, she had extremely dark skin, black hair, and dark brown eyes. She looked like she might be from the middle east, though I couldn’t be sure.
Alternatively, I was extremely pale, with blue eyes and light brown hair. There was no way this woman was my mother.
“How do you figure?” I finally asked when Freya didn’t start explaining on her own.
“It’s a complicated story,” she admitted. “But remember that I said I didn’t think this body was your original one, right?”
“Oh. Yeah that’s true. You think I’m a lich.” I sighed. “Okay. Well, you have my full attention, and we have all afternoon.”
She nodded in agreement and took a deep breath. “This woman’s name is Amira Rahal. When she was twenty-four years old, she had a son named Samad who I think is actually you.”
“But what makes you think that?” I wondered.
“Well, because of Samad’s implied ability. There’s no actual record of what his ability was, however I think the name is indication enough because Amira Rahal’s superpower was ability identification. I think she named her son Samad for a reason – more than just because she liked the name.”
“And?” I prompted when she paused.
“In Arabic, Samad means eternal.” She said simply.
“Oh, okay. I think I see where you’re going with this.”
She nodded. “If I had to guess, I’d say the true nature of Samad’s ability was some form of astrakinesis – the ability to manipulate his soul and even attach it to another person. If that’s true, then he is the only super in existence who has that type of ability, which is partly why I think it might be you.”
I looked down at the photo as she spoke, trying to see the woman as my mother. She was super pretty. If she really had been the person who gave birth to me, then I would have been proud to have such a beautiful woman as my mom. I started to wonder how she eventually died when Freya’s words finally sank in. “Wait. Partly?” I wondered, looking back up at her. “There are other reasons why you think this is me?”
She nodded. “I found an old article with her name in it.” She pulled it out as she spoke. “It’s one of the few pieces of evidence regarding her and her child, and it’s the most important in its connection to your current body.”
I looked down at it, eager to solve the mystery, as she pointed at the list of those who had died in a villain attack. Sure enough, both Amira Rahal and her infant Samad were listed among the dead. I felt a twinge of sadness, realizing my potential mother had died young. I couldn’t return my gaze to Freya just yet as I tried to swallow the sudden lump in my throat. “So then, you think that’s when I switched bodies?”
I saw her nod in the corner of my eye. “Yes. When your life was in danger, you switched into a body that happened to have the superpower of regeneration, thereby giving you a permanent body.”
“But how did you figure this out?” I asked, finally looking up at her again.
“I di
d a search on your name – Sampson Archer, and just combed through the results looking for clues.”
“Oh,” I glanced down at the article again. “Then that means I’m mentioned here as well?” I wondered. I then clarified. “Or at least the name of this body is mentioned?” She pointed to the spot for me.
After a second of reading, I felt like someone had punched me in the gut. Suddenly I couldn’t breathe.
“I’m…” I couldn’t speak. “This body…” I took a deep breath. “This is my father’s body?” I finally managed in disbelief.
She nodded somberly, speaking quietly. “Seems that way. They were never married, and your father’s name was never put on Samad’s birth certificate – otherwise there would have been a record that you had been married and had a kid back then. However, the fact that Samad could be shortened to Sam suggests that Amira may have wanted to discretely name you after your father.”
I shook my head, still unable to accept that it was true. “But what happened to my father then? Did I kill him when I took over his body? Did I switch places with him?”
“I don’t know,” she whispered.
I continued to speak, my mind filling with questions. “And why didn’t he marry her? Why wasn’t he on the birth certificate?”
“Actually,” she said, perking up a little, “I was curious about that last part too, so I investigated her family. She was from a wealthy Arab household with very traditional roots. If I had to guess, it was probably because her family didn’t approve of the relationship. Not only did she have a highly sought-out ability, but she was gorgeous. I did find one article announcing her arranged marriage to an Arab prince, but the trail runs cold after that. There’s no mention of it being called off.”
I nodded silently, seeing how that might have worked out. Her family probably disowned her if she refused to concede to the arranged marriage. It’s possible she didn’t include my father’s name on the birth certificate to keep him safe. After all, just because he could regenerate didn’t mean he was incapable of dying.
The Daily Struggles of an Immortal Page 11
