The Gender Game

by Forrest, Bella

  "So, uh, what's on the agenda today?" I asked him. I was wondering what time Viggo would come for me, though he wouldn't have called yet. It was still too early.

  "You're not going to see Viggo today." Lee's answer came.

  I stared at the back of his head as he hunched over the sink.

  What? Why? I wanted to blurt. But I held back. Why was I so bothered anyway whether I saw Viggo or not?

  It was the abrupt reminder of Lee's power over me that threw me off.

  "I've already left a message on his phone," he said.

  “All right," I replied, trying to sound unruffled. I needed to cooperate with Lee, not fight him, for everyone's sake.

  "Instead," Lee went on, "you're going to help me with something down at the lab." He turned away from the sink and sat opposite me at the table with a glass of water, still not meeting my eyes directly. He reached into his right pocket and pulled out a phone. "Alastair is due to make a call in about… one minute."

  Barely a few seconds after Lee had spoken, the phone rang. The number flashed up as "Mariana"—apparently a disguise, presumably in case Lee's phone ever got stolen. Lee picked it up and pressed it to his ear. "Yes."

  He uttered a few more "yes's" and "fine's", before handing the phone to me.

  "Yeah?" I said.

  "Good to hear from you, Violet," Alastair's pitchy voice replied.

  "Things are going fine," I told him flatly, before he could ask the question. "There's really not a lot to talk about. The banquet is drawing closer and we're preparing for it as best we can."

  "Good. Good. We're very glad to hear that." A pause. "You'll be seeing your brother soon, and you're making your nation proud, Violet… Never forget that."

  I answered with silence. Alastair requested to be handed back to Lee and I handed back the phone wordlessly for Lee to wrap up the conversation.

  "So, about today," Lee went on. "We need to leave for the lab in half an hour. I'll explain more on the journey."

  I stayed in my seat while Lee left the kitchen. I heard him open the front door, then came his crunching footsteps in the driveway. The garage door creaked, and then an engine sounded: not a motorcycle. It sounded more like a car.

  I headed to the window to see a brown five-seater roll into the center of the drive. Lee killed the engine, got out and hurried back to the house.

  I met him in the hallway. "I didn't know you had a car," I commented.

  "I rented it yesterday," he said. "Forecast predicted it would be rainy, and we can't afford to get wet today." He eyed me. "If you're ready we might as well leave now… Though we’ll need to fix you up with your disguise first."

  My curiosity, or rather, apprehension, was growing regarding what exactly Lee had in store for us. I followed him up to my bedroom where my costume was kept. Things felt awkward again as he got up close to put on my wig and help me with my facial hair and contact lenses. But his expression remained businesslike.

  I changed into the body suit before pulling on a deep brown suit. Then, after popping some Deepvox pills and checking my appearance with Lee, we left the house.

  "You sure this costume is a good idea?" I asked as we got in the car. I felt uneasy about going to the lab dressed like this. People had seen me before as a woman. They might recognize me even in this disguise. Plus, how would Lee explain who I was if we bumped into someone?

  "Don't worry," Lee replied. "I've thought about it."

  Watching the road slip away beneath us, my eyes glazed over as we rolled down the mountain. I tried not to worry, but failed. I didn't like feeling dependent on anyone—man or woman. In fact, I abhorred it. I hated not being clear on the plan in my own head. But it wasn't worth causing more tension between Lee and me. I had to keep biting my tongue. This will be over soon.

  "Since it's early on a public holiday—the late King Patrick's coronation," Lee said, "the city won't be crowded. And the lab should be mostly empty. You're going to install one of the explosives we'll need for the lab… The one we require to blast open the egg's glass casing."

  My heart skipped a beat. "Are you serious?"

  "Quite serious."

  "I have no idea how to handle explosives."

  "Again, don't worry. I'll advise you what to do."

  "What about the other explosives?" I asked him. "Have you installed those already?"

  "No, but the others I've figured out how to handle without you. It's just this one you need to take charge of."

  Lee proceeded to tell me in detail about where and how to correctly install the explosive device.

  Arriving at the lab, Lee punched in the code to get us into the parking lot and parked as close to the entrance as he could. He reached an arm around the back of my seat and removed an unassuming brown bag, which he placed between my legs. Then he handed me a pager, which I stuffed into my pocket.

  Now all that remained was action. He gave me a firm nod before stepping out of the car.

  I watched Lee hurry to the building through the rain. He let himself inside, and his shadow disappeared behind the glass.

  I stared down at the pager. In about fifteen minutes, he should be buzzing me.

  I kept watch of the digital clock above the dashboard, my fingers clenching around the handle of the bag. Soon only one minute was left. Thirty seconds. Ten seconds… The pager buzzed five seconds late.

  I took my cue to leave.

  I pulled on a raincoat that had been stuffed inside the back pouch of Lee's seat, positioning the hood low over my face. I slipped the bag beneath my arm, making sure the overcoat covered it, then exited the car and hurried to the entrance.

  Lee was waiting behind the glass doors and after he let me inside, we immediately parted ways—I headed toward the staircase that was located near the elevators, while Lee headed to the room behind the reception desk.

  I scaled the stairs as fast as I could, breathing hard by the time I arrived on the top floor. Stepping out into the corridor, I recognized it from my previous visit. I no longer had to keep the hood over my head here. Lee's job during the minutes I'd waited in the car had been to stall the cameras recording in the entrance area, the staircase and up here… Just for fifteen minutes. I had to be fast.

  As I reached the door of the lab, I buzzed Lee. A few seconds later, the door clicked open, Lee manipulating it from the downstairs control panel.

  Stepping inside, I held my breath and gazed around. The lab was empty, eerily quiet. I let the door close behind me before working my way toward the glass cabinet at the back of the room. Toward the silver egg.

  This damn egg. There had really better be something valuable in it.

  By using the word "installing", Lee had made this job sound far more complicated than it actually was, at least for today. All I had to do was drop off a package of small explosives and hide them here so that they would be ready for the night of the party. He had advised me where I should put them.

  My eyes panned to the light above me. It was wide, flat, and circular and fixed into the ceiling. Sliding a hand into the front pocket of the bag, I drew out a few screwdrivers before standing on a table. I raised my arms and began trying to find the right fit. I found one that slotted into the screws perfectly, though they were tightly fit. It wasn't a quick process to unscrew all the screws, especially since my nerves kept causing the screwdriver to slip in my hands. I feared I wouldn't make the fifteen minutes in time.

  I exhaled in relief as the light finally came off. I glanced down at the clock by the door—seven minutes left. I placed the light carefully on the table—the last thing I needed was for it to shatter. Then I dug another hand into my bag and pulled out a foil package. I felt four heavy cylindrical objects inside as I stuffed the package through the gaping hole in the ceiling. I positioned them just by the edge, easy for me to reach in a hurry. Then I stooped down for the light fitting and worked as quickly as I could to reposition the screws. It was depressing to think I'd have to go through this all again on the night of
the banquet.

  The buzzer vibrated in my pocket just as I had one screw left.

  Ugh. Screw you, Lee. I'm almost done…

  I had the screw at just the right angle. If I let go, I'd have to start this one again, and I was running dangerously low on time. I spent the next minute refining the angle before leaping down to the floor and tucking the chair beneath the table where I'd found it.

  The pager had vibrated twice more since then. When I pulled out the device from my pocket and checked it, my blood ran cold.

  "GET OUT OF THE LAB!!!"

  My heart in my throat, I grabbed the bag and bolted for the door.

  Out of the lab? What does that even mean? Out of this particular lab, or out of the building?

  But as I reached within ten feet of the exit, I froze. Footsteps sounded outside. I should have checked the pager the second Lee sent the first message. It was too late now. I was trapped.

  I looked frantically around the room for a hiding place. I had no time to even consider whether diving beneath the table closest to me would be the best option. A few seconds after I'd slid beneath the furniture, the door glided open. Footsteps entered.

  I clasped a palm over my mouth, trying to stifle my breathing. A man in corduroy pants walked past my table, continuing down the aisle. He was dragging behind him a suction cleaner. Why hadn't Lee known about it? I was trusting him blindly. He was supposed to have thought through all this. I'm putting my life in that man’s hands!

  The intruder walked to the end of the aisle and started up the machine. The room filled with white noise.

  My fingers unsteady, I reached for my pager and punched in a message. "STUCK INSIDE. WHAT NOW?"

  I stared down tensely at the device after sending it. Come on, man!

  Lee's reply arrived forty seconds later:

  "STAY WHERE YOU ARE."

  What? For how long?

  The cleaner was moving slowly but steadily toward my end of the room. He was cleaning thoroughly, too, making sure that he got every last bit of dirt out from underneath the tables.

  He was going to find me.

  Just as I was contemplating darting beneath a different table—one further away that would hopefully buy me some more time—the door opened again, and in stepped a second cleaner… also with a suction machine. He started cleaning much closer to me. At the rate he was sweeping across the floor, he was going to reach me in less than a minute.

  "TRAPPED," I paged.

  I clutched the device, waiting with bated breath for Lee's response. It wasn't coming.

  The second cleaner arrived within five feet. Then four. Then three. Then…

  The suction broom took its first swipe beneath my table, missing my left foot by a fraction. Clutching the bag, I spread myself as flat against the wall as I could, leaving as little of me touching the ground as possible. But it wasn't going to be enough. The machine moved forward again, this time aimed directly at my feet. Like a rabbit caught in the headlights, I closed my eyes, steeling myself for the impact while hoping against hope that he might mistake me for a table leg.

  The broom hit me. But as it did, an alarm rang out, so loud it felt like my eardrums would split.

  Although the broom had touched me, the guy became too distracted to check what he'd hit. He dropped the machine, and so did his colleague. The two of them rushed out of the room.

  I took a moment to steady my breathing, drawing in a long, quiet breath.

  Then I moved forward and peered out from under the table. Now I needed to get out while I could.

  Making sure that my mustache, beard and hair were still on straight—just in case I got spotted outside—I left my spot beneath the table and headed for the door. But for the second time, it opened before I could reach it. There hadn't even been footsteps to warn me. I didn't even have time to throw myself under a table.

  It was Lee and I had never been happier to see that man. He scanned the lab wide-eyed before taking my arm and pulling me out of the room.

  The corridor was empty, but he did not head back to the same stairwell that I had come up. Instead we moved in the opposite direction down another hallway, before reaching a red door. As Lee opened it, a damp breeze swiped at my face. It led outside, to a narrow metal staircase scaling the back wall of the building. Lee pulled me outside into the rain and we clambered down the steps as fast as we dared.

  Then, as we kept close to the wall and pulled on our raincoats, Lee led me back to the parking lot. Reaching the car, he opened up the front passenger door. I collapsed inside, stowing the bag beneath my knees. I expected Lee to take a seat next to me and immediately drive off, but instead he whispered, "I'll be back in a minute. I have to go back in and restart the cameras."

  He swept back to the building and through the glass doors. He didn't take long. Three minutes later he was back in the car and we drove toward the parking lot exit. We both were silent until we were firmly outside of the gate and speeding back toward home.

  "What happened?" the two of us demanded at once.

  "I'm sorry," Lee replied first. "The cleaners were not due in today. They were supposed to come tomorrow. A change in the schedule was obviously made, and whoever was responsible for it forgot to mark it in the works calendar. It couldn't have been prevented.” He looked at me sideways. "Did you pull it off?"

  "Yes," I huffed. "It's done."

  Lee nodded, relief washing over his face. "Good girl."

  24

  After we returned to Lee's house, he didn't have anything for me to do for the rest of the day, but he preferred not to call Viggo. My voice was too deep to see him, anyway. He suggested that I see him again tomorrow, when my main priority would be to figure out whether his schedule would be changing on the night of the banquet.

  Lee drove me to head office in the morning and took me upstairs to Viggo's floor.

  "Come in," came a familiar grunt as Lee knocked.

  Lee pushed open the door and the two of us stepped inside.

  Viggo sat behind his wide desk wearing a dark green t-shirt, his coat hanging from the back of his chair. A small pile of papers lay in front of him.

  "All right, Viggo?" Lee asked pleasantly.

  Viggo nodded, his eyes moving to me.

  "Violet mentioned the contract. Congratulations!"

  "Thanks," Viggo replied, monotone.

  "Okay, I'd better head off. See the two of you later." Lee turned to me and leaned down to peck me on the cheek before leaving the room. The second kiss he'd laid on me. The first he had laid in public.

  Trying not to get too caught up in mulling over Lee’s weirdness, I approached Viggo's desk. As our eyes met, a smile spread across both of our faces.

  I took a seat opposite him. "How was your day yesterday?" I asked him.

  He shrugged. "Uneventful. Yours?"

  I couldn't quite bring myself to say 'uneventful', so instead I replied, "Fine. Lee had the whole day free and wanted us to spend it together."

  Viggo nodded stiffly, averting his eyes to the table.

  "Mr. Sands must've called you, right?" I said.

  "He did."

  "Well?"

  "They want the fight to be sooner than I had expected. Next week."

  "Next week? Which day?"

  "Saturday."

  The banquet was to be held the Wednesday after. I supposed that meant Viggo's schedule would remain the same, if the fight was to be over days before. Any changes to his training routine would in theory take place prior.

  "Are you able to get any extra time off from your warden duties to train? It's so soon."

  "No extra time off above my yearly allowance," he replied. "I'll figure it out."

  "Who are you up against?" I asked.

  "They've decided they want to escalate me straight to Cruz."

  "Seriously?"

  "Yup," he said, rubbing his jaw.

  "Are you nervous?"

  He shrugged again.

  I guessed that meant no.
<
br />   "So, what's your plan for today? Warden duties until evening?"

  "No, I've got the second half of today free. I plan to train a little, but I'll be heading back home. I think your husband is expecting that I take you with me, and then drop you at your house at the end of his work day."

  "Okay," I said. This would be the first time I'd be alone with Viggo in his house, so far away from other people. I wondered if it might feel awkward.

  Viggo returned his focus to his papers, but said, "By the way, you might be interested to know that the man we reported—or rather, you reported—at number thirty-two will be questioned today."

  "Good," I muttered. I'd done my part, now I had to hope justice got served.

  Viggo finished leafing through the papers in front of him before tucking them into a drawer.

  We spent the rest of the morning outside. The rains of yesterday had given way to a bright blue sky. Viggo had to make another visit to the arms store for a meeting with the manager, which took up a good part of the morning, before returning to head office. He led me to a large conference room on the ground floor, where he met with about fifty other wardens—all of them working under him, apparently.

  I sat in the chair by a corner, a little separated from the men. I didn't want to cause waves by taking a seat right among them. Viggo had three things on his agenda: first he informed them of new weapons that the force was bringing in, as well as giving them a demonstration. Next he spoke about new security protocols to be instigated near "Thickets Bridge"—apparently a bridge located somewhere in the mountains that connected a route to Porteque. And finally, he asked for an update on what was happening regarding the man who had escaped from the recent kidnapping incident, the man I hadn't managed to catch. There were no updates in that regard. Apparently he had escaped, well and truly.

  After the meeting, everybody piled out of the conference room and headed to the canteen for lunch. Viggo and I accompanied them. As we collected trays and served ourselves a hot meal, I felt eyes watching me. Nobody looked directly at me for more than a few seconds, but I could tell the men were wondering who I was exactly, and why I was hanging around with their chief.