Rouge

by Isabella Modra

  “Eli’s Dad? You went out with Mr. Akerman’s son?”

  She sighed as he turned and stalked toward the stove. “Joshua, come on, would you stop acting like a paranoid jerk and-”

  “Please Hunter,” he snorted, whirling around. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

  “Dramatic?” All thoughts of remaining calm vanished from her mind in a wisp. “I’m not the one throwing ice blocks around the kitchen and calling me a billion times!”

  “Well you can’t just disappear in this city without telling me where you’re going, okay? I’m your guardian and you need to respect me like one.”

  “Yeah Joshua,” she nodded. “You may be my guardian and the only family I have, but you’re not my father.” She knew that if she argued things would only get worse, but something was burning inside of her, something she hadn’t let out before. Her entire body tingled with anger and it rippled through her like waves of hot air. Hunter knew Joshua was a sensitive man beneath his creepy, strange interior, but this time he’d gone too far.

  “What are you talking about?” he fumed. A lock of his black hair had escaped from the slick comb-over and dangled over his eyes. “I’ve given you everything you’ve ever wanted Hunter! A home, an education, every worldly thing you desired!”

  “That’s not enough!” she screamed and for a moment, Joshua froze. Eli’s words from earlier in the night still rang like church bells inside her mind. Except what only your parents could give you... “Don’t you understand? You could never give me what my parents could, Joshua. You could never love me as your own because that’s not who you are. You’re just some cold, insecure man with weird phobias and a heart as hard as stone. I was there for you tonight, and you couldn’t even let me have one moment of peace with someone who actually likes me for who I am without thinking I died or something!” She stalked up to him so they were practically nose to nose. Joshua had become terribly pale, but Hunter was too enraged to notice. “I know you think you’re doing the right parental thing, Joshua, by worrying about me twenty-four-seven, but don’t waste your time. I can take care of myself, and I don’t need you treating me like I’m some fucking child of yours!”

  “Hunter, I-”

  “No!”

  At that second, the stove Joshua had been pressed up against burst to life, flames of blue and orange exploding in a ball of invisible gas. Hunter stumbled backwards. Joshua shrieked and dove away from the stove, slapping at the sleeve of his shirt that had caught on fire.

  In her panic, Hunter snatched a dish towel and whipped it frantically over the mountain of flames until all that was left was the charcoaled remains of the stove and a long line of sizzling smoke. The fire alarm blared. Hunter threw the blackened towel into the sink and ran to the door, punching in the code and then all was quiet, except for Joshua who was whimpering like a puppy.

  The two of them stared open-mouthed at their scorched kitchen, and Hunter found no explanation for what had just happened. She was rendered completely speechless.

  Joshua glanced up at her and his eyes widened in alarm. “You’re on fire Hunter!”

  Her heart leapt out of her chest as she looked at her shoulder. A small clump of flames had started crawling up the thick material of her coat, catching onto her hair. Before Joshua had the chance to grab another dish towel from the hanger, Hunter had started madly slapping at her arm until the flame was no more than a black hole in her coat sleeve.

  Silence met them, no sound in the room but their heavy breathing. Hunter stared at her arm, then at her hand, and wondered how she hadn’t been burnt. Her finger traced the patch of skin beneath her coat that had bloomed a soft pink, and something like a vision flashed before her eyes.

  She was inside a fire, burning brightly, flames so loud it was deafening, but she felt peace. She didn’t burn. She simply lay there in the flames.

  Hunter blinked back to the reality of the quiet kitchen and found herself leaning on the bench for support, Joshua much closer than he was seconds before. His eyes were wide with concern and panic. He was sweating more profusely than she’d ever seen him.

  Her eyes darted to Joshua, then the stove, then her arm, then back to Joshua.

  “What the hell just happened?” she gasped, all anger from her outburst subsided. She wasn’t sure if she was talking about the sharp déjà vu of some fire somewhere, or the stove that had burst to life on its own, or both.

  Joshua heaved, completely bewildered.

  “It…” His eyes moved back and forth between the smoking kitchen bench and Hunter, whose hair had been singed and was still emitting ribbons of smoke. Hunter watched as understanding suddenly dawned on him. It was such a shock that Joshua’s eyes widened.

  “What? What is it?”

  He caught his breath as if his throat had suddenly shrunk. “It… I…”

  “Joshua, what?”

  He swallowed, put his hand on his chest and shook his head. “Nothing. I guess I was just thinking about your parents.” He gave her a pained smile and told her he was going to bed.

  “Wait, what was that? With the stove?”

  Joshua tried to shrug, but his shoulders remained stiff and his head twitched. “I guess it was just a spontaneous combustion. I must’ve leant on the gas or something. I’ll have someone come and fix it tomorrow.” He turned his back to her. “Goodnight Hunter.”

  Still in shock, Hunter had no answer for that and watched him climb the stairs to his bedroom, where the door opened and closed softly.

  Fire really scared Joshua. She didn’t blame him; it had killed two of his best friends. Hunter often thought that was the reason for his obsession over all things cold.

  Still, she had a strong feeling this was different. The situation couldn’t be explained.

  She forgot the mess in the kitchen and instead made her way to her own bedroom, where she stripped off to her underwear and shoved on a T-shirt. It was a vintage band Tee, and it reminded her instantly of Eli. As she climbed under the covers and went to bed, the events of that night passed through her mind in flashes. She couldn’t believe it had only been a half an hour ago that she and Eli were standing in the snowstorm talking about school. It felt like a dream compared to what went down in the kitchen. As she lay under her covers, the skin on her arm unscathed by the fire tingled and Hunter felt suddenly queasy. Something weird had happened that night.

  Spontaneous combustion my ass, she thought, stoves just don’t burst into flames.

  eight

  Joshua waited exactly an hour before leaving his bedroom. Listening to Hunter as she moved from the kitchen to her bedroom and back and forth between the two was increasingly difficult, considering she remained so quiet and his bedroom was upstairs, way out of earshot. He liked having the upstairs bedroom; he could keep the temperature as cold as he wanted without Hunter getting a chill.

  About fifteen minutes after the house was completely silent, Joshua was certain she’d retired for good. His mind racing and with no intention of sleeping at all - not after what had just happened - Joshua knew exactly where he needed to be.

  He crept through the cold house, still in his neat pants, shirt and tie, and collected his other key-card, which he kept in the freezer. Hunter would never find it there. As quietly as he could, Joshua left the apartment and moved to the stairwell.

  Their building was quite fancy, but not nearly as fancy as some hotels Joshua had accommodated during his travels. In fact it was quite a dull building, with the same gray colors as the sky before a storm and a feeling of complete emptiness. Joshua had lived there with Hunter since she was just a small child, and he liked it. It was comfortable and convenient and would always be his home.

  Joshua climbed three stories down and came to the fifth floor. He strolled down the tiled corridor, his expensive shoes clapping lightly on the smooth stone, and stopped in front of room 57. He swiped his key-card in the door and stepped inside.

  Room 57 was his little secret. Hunter didn’t know he owned it, and h
e hoped she never would. It was something of a sanctuary. He spent almost as much time here as he did in their apartment upstairs, but he always worked late into the night. Sometimes Hunter asked him why he arrived home so late from the university or where he was running off to at eleven at night. She must think he was seeing women or some ridiculous assumption such as that.

  But Joshua had no interest in women. In fact, he wasn’t sure he ever would. Not after what happened to Liz.

  True love was a foreign feeling to Joshua.

  Room 57 used to be an apartment as homey as his own upstairs when Joshua had first purchased it many years ago. True, it appeared that way when one entered. There was a homely couch in the right corner facing a small television screen, with a few works of art across the custard-yellow walls. One room led to a bedroom and small ensuite, the other led to a simple kitchen with a fridge and no microwave. But these dull decorations were only a cover for what lay behind this room.

  Joshua crossed directly to the artificial fireplace where a collection of photos stood dejectedly on the mantelpiece, gathering dust. Pausing, Joshua glanced at the one picture he kept of her and felt his smile twitch ever so slightly.

  Liz stood on the beach in front of their shack, only two months pregnant and glowing with laughter in the sun. She had her arms spread out wide, a beautiful, emerald green sarong rippling in the air like a flag behind her. It was the first he’d seen her happy in a while. He had to capture it on film.

  Behind the frame, he found the lever. Just like in a Sherlock Holmes journal, the fireplace swung inward and Joshua stepped into a large, dark room.

  Fluorescent lights blinked brightly, illuminating the room with the pale silver glow he knew too well. Sleek computers on steel desks lined the left wall, and two steel tables jutted out of the other. These tables were usually surrounded by silver plastic curtains, but for now they were drawn back against the wall. At the far end of the room was a large filing cabinet where he kept all his research. There were banks of shelves lined with fossils and rock formations, test tubes and glass beakers, medical and technical equipment. A giant corkboard hung on the right wall over the two steel tables with his many geographical findings and scientific terms, a scramble of notes pinned in order for him to make sense of them visually. A giant glass tank hummed beside the desks, the plants and substances inside it littered with icicles.

  Joshua un-cuffed his sleeves and loosened his tie, as he always did when preparing for work. At the back of the laboratory where he kept his files, Joshua unlocked the second drawer in the third column. Inside, behind a stack of files, he caught sight of their documented videos, the ones he later converted into discs when the technology allowed it. Those were the best and the worst times of his life.

  Hunter would never understand just how much he loved Liz, not only because of the promise he made, but because of how much she reminded him of her.

  And now all his work to keep things secret was coming undone.

  Brushing a tear from the corner of his eye, Joshua riffled through the files. After the fire in the kitchen, a nervous feeling had overcome him. It was a hunch, but somehow, deep inside him, Joshua knew what it meant. Because it wasn’t just a coincidence, no. It wasn’t a spontaneous combustion either. A flutter of something mixed with panic and excitement surged through him as he picked up the file, took it to one of the desks and spread it out over his most recent work. He looked down at the title scrawled in black across the lip and smiled.

  Sitting down in the swivel chair, Joshua immersed himself in his old research notes, the file of information bringing back a flood of memories and emotions along with it. Delight. Anticipation. Pain. Joy.

  It had been a long night and physically, Joshua was about to explode from exhaustion. But the events of his night could not compare to what was happening now, before his very eyes. After analyzing the data and his predictions, Joshua’s heart began to beat faster. He knew this day would come. The evidence was spread before him in his own writing. Oh yes, it had happened numerous times in the past, but Hunter thought nothing of it. This time, it was different. The fire on the stove was the sign. Hunter was the key.

  Joshua let out a shaky sigh.

  “It’s happening,” he whispered and closed the flap of the file marked ‘Feucotetanus’ with a definite snap.

  nine

  “So you start school tomorrow, huh? Excited?”

  Hunter rolled her eyes at Alex Dempsey and angrily folded the corners of the little white take-out boxes. The restaurant was completely dead. Kin, the manager, was taking out the deliveries, so she and Alex were alone in the kitchen setting up for the busy Friday night ahead.

  “I really can’t express how much I hate the people at school,” said Hunter. “They’re complete dicks. I’m particularly not looking forward to facing Benny Layman again.”

  “Yeah but you know that girls mature faster than boys. That’s why I gave up on men. Girls are less complicated.” Alex tucked her bleached blonde fringe being her studded ear and leant against the sink as she polished the glasses. Her smile was always crooked and gleaming in that quirky way that made her sexuality so obvious.

  “I did meet someone though.”

  Alex’s mouth fell open and she nearly dropped the glass. “You what?”

  “Don’t act so surprised! I’m not a total loner.”

  “Oh honey, you are the definition of loner.”

  Hunter whacked her with the cardboard cut-out and Alex snickered. Being there in the kitchen with Alex cleaning and waiting for Kin to return and bark orders and curse in Chinese was Hunter’s favorite part of the day. Sure, working way downtown near the Brooklyn Bridge wasn’t very classy, but here, no one knew about her. It wasn’t at school where people whispered and laughed behind her back. She became a different person at the restaurant, because she could be open and kind. Plus the tips were great. Each little penny went into the car fund she kept stashed away in her room.

  “So… what’s he like?”

  “He’s so nice Alex. I met him at Joshua’s benefit last week. His father’s pretty high up on the executive chain.”

  “So he’s an aristocrat then? Oh babe, those kinds of guys are so high maintenance.”

  “He’s not like that though. If I’d met him, say, at school, I’d-”

  “He goes to Jackson?”

  “Yeah. I’ve seen him a couple of times but never really noticed him.” She shrugged and checked the clock on the wall. They had fifteen minutes until the rush started. “You know how big that place is.”

  “Then he knows about you?”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “That you hammered the Principal’s son?”

  Hunter threw the cardboard cut-out at Alex for the second time and glared at her.

  “I didn’t,” she snapped. “And he knows, but he doesn’t believe it. He kind of keeps to himself.”

  “Like you?”

  “Yeah. He’s a freedom fighter and a vegetarian and wears these dorky square glasses.”

  “He sounds like a poem.”

  “He is. There are no flaws about him.”

  “Honey, everyone has flaws.”

  “Not Eli.”

  “So what does the Iceman think about this little love affair?” she asked, referring to her pet-name for Joshua. Alex had a pet name for everyone. Kin’s was the Firecracker, because sometimes when things were messy on a busy night, he would explode at them and start screaming and throwing pans around the kitchen. Any normal person would be horrified and probably quit, but Hunter and Alex learned to laugh about it. The head chef Craig – who got by working every night of the week except Sunday’s because that was ‘God’s day’ – ignored it too. The other two waiters were only young. They didn’t know any better.

  Hunter hadn’t spoken more than a few words to Joshua in a week. Something about the fire on the stove had freaked him out, and she grew constantly worried that he was hiding something from her. Was he just jeal
ous that she’d ditched him at the benefit to be with Eli, or was it something else, something completely unrelated to her new friend?

  “You know Joshua. He doesn’t exactly wear his heart on his sleeve.”

  “Man,” Alex sighed and flipped her dish towel over her shoulder. “I remember high school. Shittest time of my life. Wait till you get to college, everyone is different there. Honestly, when I became gay in high school, I was shunned and ridiculed and left alone, like you.”

  “Thanks,” Hunter snapped.

  “Seriously. Then I went to college. I swear to Buddha, over eighty percent of people in my lectures are either gay, bi, or sexually adventurous. There are some weird people out there, babe.”

  “Weirder than you?”

  Alex’s eyebrows shot up. “Oh plenty. You think my outgoing personality and beautiful looks are the fringe of all things lesbian? I met this chick with – literally, I’m not exaggerating – a full on beard. She grew it herself.”

  Hunter made a face and suddenly had the irresistible urge to burst out laughing. “That’s revolting.”

  “It really was. And she walked up to me and was like ‘hey-’” Alex nodded her head, looked Hunter up and down with one eyebrow raised and said in a deeply masculine voice, “‘-you look like you know how to have a good time. Want to touch my beard?’”

  Hunter couldn’t contain it anymore and cracked up laughing. The giggles fell out of Alex’s mouth as well as she paraded around the kitchen with a gangster-like swagger, stroking her jaw lovingly. With her stomach in stitches, Hunter straightened up just in time for Kin’s arrival.

  “What you doing?!” he screamed, waddling into the kitchen. “I told you, no laugh! Only work! We busy in half hour!”

  Cursing in Chinese at the two of them as Alex scrambled back to the sink and her pile of glasses, Kin waved about in the kitchen for a few more minutes and then threw open the back door again.