by Kimbra Swain
“We do.” I held up my glass to him and he touched his to it. We both took sips. A beautiful pinot grigio.
“It is good,” he admitted.
“The people here take great pride in a hard day's work, and a job well done,” I explained. I grabbed a plate that George had placed out and put two half sandwiches on it. One looked like ham and cheese, and the other was bacon and tomato. I sat down in one of the recliners with my wine glass and plate. I leaned it back. I pulled my legs up into the chair and began to eat. He sat down in the other chair and shook his head. “What?”
“Why sit in a recliner with the foot rest up, but your feet in the chair?”
“Bugger off,” I exclaimed. He laughed, and we ate. We talked more about his crazy day. I did warn him that Lianne could not be trusted. None of the board of directors which entailed some of the oldest living offspring of Hyperion’s children, could. “I need to throw a welcoming party if you are truly taking up the job.”
“Why do you not believe me? You already showed me everything downstairs.”
“I don’t know. I lost hope. It’s hard to find it again once it’s gone,” I said. “I want to introduce you to my team. The people I trust most outside of George and my grandfather. I have my own little network. They need to know they are working for you as well, now.”
“Working for me?”
Yes, eventually you will get the hang of what we are doing, and you will become comfortable having them work for you. They all have special talents, and are extremely good at their jobs. There are also moves I’ve been making with a few accounts that are owned by the Agency and I personally manage. I’d like to tell you why I’m doing these things, and hopefully it will give you some insight on future events,” I explained, and he turned and gave me his full focus after draining the wine glass.
“Any insight is appreciated. I would hope that you’d tell me as much as you can. I know that you can’t possibly tell me everything I need to know in a single night, or for that matter it may take months. I am quick learner. I can keep up.”
I smiled. I knew that he could. I started telling him about the accounts I moved around, the amounts of money I took and placed in offshore accounts, and shell companies that I created overnight using various aliases. All documented valid identifications, but all owned by me. I told him that I had already instructed the team to start digging. “They have found interesting moves in the geo sector. Mostly mining, fracking and refining industries. There has been a spike in demand for an element known as Osmium and the metals that are mixed with it. Osmium is the densest element on earth. Iridium and Platinum are second and third. Osmium is volatile when at room temperature and when it’s exposed to oxygen. The team has followed these leads on the items it would take to transport and protect such an element. We are also investigating the uses. I instructed them to focus on the geo-business sector. It would be the perfect front for a group of individuals who might want to chop off edges of the continents and cause chaos.”
“Have they found anything specific?” he asked.
“Yes, but not much. A newly-created company was registered as a non-profit organization that fit these certain criteria. It’s called Geo-Enhancement Alliance. They have a simple website that states their mission is to facilitate geo-sector businesses with relations to the public and sponsor fund raising to prevent disasters or aid when geological disasters take place. I have my IT guy doing to the deep digging on the website. I should have some information about that soon.”
“Do you think you’ve found it already? This quickly?” he asked.
“Perhaps, but I imagine that if there were a large conspiracy honed to destroy so much life, that they wouldn’t be extremely blatant. Then again, if you didn’t know what to look for, I doubt a non-profit geological society would not be your first guess.”
“So, what's the plan for tomorrow?” he asked.
“I’ll show you a few basic magic techniques and see if you can pick them up. At the same time, I’d like to see you shift. Perhaps we can do that and get set to head back to Boulder around noon tomorrow. When we get back it will still be early, and we will have some extra time in the day. If I’m going to be spending more time in Boulder, I’m going to have to find somewhere to stay.”
“You don’t mean outside the compound,” he stated. Not asking.
“Not necessarily. I’ll speak to grandfather and see if he has anything pre-warded nearby, if not, I’ll find a place in the compound even if I have to put a bed in my office.”
“You are welcome to stay in my apartment until you find something. My couch is comfortable. I can sleep there,” he offered.
“Tadeas, I would no more invade your private space than poke my own eyes out,” I said firmly.
“Why this is your home? You said, I should consider it mine as well. I know my apartment isn’t this place, but it’s still mine to share if I want,” he said sincerely.
“We will see. Perhaps there is something I can find quickly. I know you need your own space. This is all very new, and I really do appreciate your kindness. I don’t want to intrude. I still feel the need to be delicate with this whole situation. We both have very strong personalities and each have a stubborn streak,” I explained.
“Not pressing your luck, eh?” he asked.
“Something like that. How about this, if we go back and that first day there I can't find anything, I will gladly sleep on your couch. But no more than that, okay? One-time deal and only if necessary. Plus, you have a friend that I truly do not want to upset any more than I already have” I said alluding to Meredith.
“It’s a deal, and don’t worry about Mere. I can handle her.” He got up and stepped out on the patio. I followed him. It was cooler after the storm had blown through. A light breeze still blew. “Will you go with me to class tomorrow?”
I could see this was a sticking point for him. Perhaps if I did return, it would validate him to them. Show that he could pick out someone who did not belong, and build his reputation. I’m sure he didn’t see it that way, but I could look at it that way. I’d do it for him. “Yes, I will.”
He turned to me and beamed, “Really? You will?”
“Yeah,” I said.
“Awesome. You can help me explain the new stuff to them. Help me show them. I mean, if you don’t have a lot of other stuff to do,” he added.
“Tadeas, we are partners. The stuff I have to do involves you. Where you go, I go,” I said genuinely.
“Thank you so much, Abby.” We stood and listened to the night. My mind raced through all the scenarios I could think of involving the geological alliance. I thought of things to have the team look for tomorrow. I made mental notes of them all. I took Gabriel’s warning to be a metaphor, but perhaps this one time it was quite literal. A very scary thought that somehow humans could cause the continents to fall into the oceans. I thought about the warnings over the years about the San Andreas Fault. The scientists believed it was only matter of time and the “Big One” as they called it, would strike the coast line. Maybe these people were looking for the same sort of thing. A man-made earthquake. I held my breath for a moment and noticed him watching me.
“What are you doing when you do that?” he asked.
“What does it seem like I’m doing?”
“Looks like you are lost.”
“My brain works in overdrive. I thought about earthquakes, and if it was possible for someone to cause a man-made quake big enough to cause the kind of disaster that Gabriel showed me.”
“I don’t even know how you got to that line of thought, but I suppose it is a valid question. But you do you think Gabriel’s vision was literal and not a metaphor for something?”
“Funny you should ask that, because so far I have operated under the impression that it was a metaphor. But what if it is literal? What could cause continents to break up?”
“Those are scary thoughts,” he stepped closer to me. “Does your brain ever rest? I see you zone ou
t a lot. Especially today.”
“Frankly, no it doesn’t.”
“How do you sleep?”
“I had to practice techniques to calm my mind.” “Is that what you were doing the night I watched you do forms in the dark? When Meredith told me about your magic being bound?”
“Yes, I did it every night before bed. I did not realize the isolation in the training areas would be so hard on me. I kept trying to plan every move, and think ahead like I always do, but it didn’t work well. And I had no access to the magic. It is a part of me as much as your arms or legs are to you. I was afraid I would become downright non-functional.”
“After I confronted you in the hallway, you went there?”
“Yes, I tried to think of all the things you must have thought of me at the time. None of them were good. I tried to think of ways to make it better. I gave up. I knew it was over. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too devastating,” I explained. “I started planning. After everyone left for class, I wrote the notes for you. I placed the note in your room, and the two for your suit in the elevator and pressed the #4 button. That’s where my assistant Ashley picked it up and got your suit. She put the notes on the suit and after our fight, it waited on the elevator when I got in. I went up one floor slipped it in your closet. And just so you know it’s not normal for me to intrude into people’s personal apartments, but I was desperate. And I certainly wasn’t thinking clearly after the fight.”
“Which you let me win,” he interrupted
“I did. I had to. I couldn’t put you down in front of all of them. I had already undermined your authority enough,” I said.
He looked down at his hands, “You let me hit you. I tried to pull the punch, but you were extremely good at avoiding. I got in a rhythm.” He put his open hand up to my jaw and lightly touched the place where he hit me. Heat rushed to my face. I forgot what I was saying for a moment.
“It healed the moment my grandfather removed the binding. Seriously, it was no big deal. I calculated the punches and tried to pick the one least likely to hurt. Unfortunately, I had a prior smack to the jaw the day before, also my own fault. I do not hold any of that against you, Tadeas.” He still looked pained. I pressed my hand on top of his. “I promise. I deserved it.”
“No,” he said quietly. “I was angry and provoked you on purpose. You responded to me.”
I looked at him in the eyes, “We can continue to hash this out, take the blame for it, or we can just let it go. I learned something about myself through all of it. I learned wonderful things about you. And thankfully we both aren’t poised to kill each other. At least not at this moment.”
He smiled a little still holding my face, “Not at this moment.” He blinked and seemed to shake off whatever it was and backed away from me.
“As I was saying, I got in the elevator and the suit was hanging there. I went in your apartment and left it for you. I felt intrusive. I’m sorry. I just didn't have time to plan it all out. But I knew I’d owe you an explanation.”
“You are right.”
“Of course, I am, but what specifically?” I teased.
“We can’t keep saying we are sorry. I’m not sorry you came in my apartment by the way. Dinner was great that night. Tension and awkwardness. Fabulous food. It was awesome,” he teased back. I scrunched my nose up at him and laughed. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to sleep. What about you? Ready to shut down the brain?”
“Yes, I am.” I really was, but I had little hope. I headed into the house. We had made it to the hallway and I said, “Watch this.” I paused and said, “Ostia!” All of the front double doors eased to a close in unison. I winked at him.
“I hope you can do more than close doors,” he teased again.
“I can open them, too,” I said.
“Fantastic. I can’t wait to be fighting a two-headed dragon, and you can close the doors for us,” he laughed at his own little joke.
“Silly boy, there are no two-headed dragons.” I paused again, “Everyone knows it’s only one head or four.”
“Four!” he exclaimed.
“I’m joking, just one head, generally,” I pondered. I did not need to start thinking about dragons. It had been a very long time since I saw one. Let’s hope we didn’t see any for a very, very long time. I had heard recent rumors of a dragon or dragons in St. Louis, but concluded that would be an unlikely place for a horde of dragons. We reached his door.
“There she goes,” he smirked.
“What? Oh, heh, brain in overdrive,” I said.
“Dragons?” he asked.
“Dragons,” I replied.
He touched my face again. “Get some sleep.” He leaned down and kissed me on the forehead. “Goodnight, Abby.” I felt a twinge of something that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I dismissed it.
“Goodnight, Tadeas,” I watched him go in the room and shut the door. Then he opened it again to my surprise.
“Leave your door open. I won’t sit by if you have that nightmare again.”
I blanched white, “Oh, you heard that.”
“Yeah, I did. The animal in me wanted to rip the door off the hinges and get in there. I thought someone was hurting you, but George stopped me.”
I sighed. “Tadeas, the first day you stepped into my house, I removed the wards that would keep you out of my room.”
He shook his head. “Crazy woman.”
I nodded in affirmation and walked to my room. It’s true. When he stepped foot in my home, I trusted him completely. I knew he would never harm me. Even through the arguments and disagreements, I still trusted him to always do the right thing. It took a while to calm my mind, but I drifted off to sleep and had no nightmares.
He did not return that night. I got up and made coffee. I sat on the couch watching the clouds rolling by wishing I had something better to do when there was a knock at the door. I approached it, and stopped to see if I could sense what was on the other side. A human male stood on the other side, but near him I felt a magical element. I loosened the belt on my robe allowing the curves of my breast to show through the robe’s opening and the full length of my legs to also be in view. I had nothing else on. It would not be hard to distract the man if I needed to do so.
I slowly opened the door to a nervous delivery man. He wore those awful brown shorts that looked like chopped-off dress pants, a button up shirt with a company logo and a nervous, but handsome smile.
“Well, hello handsome,” I smiled at him.
His eyes bulged out of his head. I imagined it wasn’t the only thing bulging. “Um, hello ma’am, I have an envelope here for you. I need you to sign, please,” he said as he offered me a clipboard to sign. Clearly the magic I felt was in the envelope.
“Sure, no problem,” I reached for the clipboard and my robe fell off my left shoulder exposing my naked left side to him. “Oops,” I said sliding it back up on my shoulder. I signed the clipboard, and handed it back to him.
“Have a good day, ma’am,” he said nervously as he reached for the clipboard. I didn’t let go of it.
“Isn’t about time you had a break?” I asked him.
“Um, s-s-s-sorry, no. I can’t take a break right now. My truck is downstairs, double-parked and they don’t like me to leave it very long,” he started to walk away. I walked toward him and backed him into the wall on the other side of the hallway. I could satisfy the urge I had, erase his memory and send him on his way.
“Please, won’t you come in for a drink? Just a glass of water perhaps,” I begged.
“I really shouldn’t,” he said.
Very nice we’ve moved from can’t to shouldn’t. I pressed harder against him and jerked the clipboard out from between us. I leaned into his mouth, and locked him into a deep kiss. He moaned. Ah, yes.
“Let him go, Vanessa,” Mwenye said stepping out of the elevator. The guy looked shocked, and grabbed the clipboard. He ran so fast he made it to the elevator door before it closed behind Mwenye.
“I saw that. What do you have there?” he asked as he walked toward me. He looked refreshed and happy. His eyes sparkled with life. His smile seemed genuine. Good thing he wasn’t the jealous type.
“Mr. Delivery Man brought us an envelope. I had hoped he had a bigger package though,” I grinned and walked back into the condo.
“How crass, my dear. You don’t need a bigger package anyway. You have me,” he said.
I poked my lip out, and pouted, “Yes, but I got lonely without you last night.”
His eyes glittered again, “I'm sure I can remedy your loneliness.”
I sauntered up to him and dropped the robe as he started to open the envelope. His eyes admired me as I approached him. He looked down at the letter in the envelope, and the smile faded. I stopped my seduction. Last thing I wanted to do was set him off.
“What is it, my love?” I asked.
“An invitation. To an auction in Paris on Monday evening,” he explained.
“What sort of auction?”
“These things are never specific. I will have to make some calls to see what is up for sale. I may have to send you in my place. I have meetings with investors every day over the next week. The Director would not approve of a detour to Paris,” he explained.
“Can I take a guest?”
“Yes, the invite is for two people. Would you like to go? There would be a room full of like-minded individuals. I think you would enjoy yourself meeting some of the people in this world that are more powerful than you. Perhaps it’ll make you give up these petty intrigues you have seducing delivery men and such. Your talents are wasted on such things.”
“I’d like to waste my talent on you right now,” I purred into his ear.
“Are you going to Paris or not? I must respond immediately,” he turned and pulled me to him.
“Why yes, I’d love to go to Paris. It will be a nice little vacation. I will miss you though,” I added that bit at the end and he smiled.
