Smoke

by Mariah Esterly

He followed her, reaching out to brush the hair back from her face. She sighed. “Stop, Vail.”

  “Stop what, Freckles?”

  “You know what. You’re distracting me.”

  A cheeky grin spread across his face. “I didn’t realize that you found me so distracting.”

  She didn’t answer, but reached to take the camera from his hand. His fingers closed around hers tugging her closer. She let him, bringing up her free hand to brace it against his chest. His fingers drifted up, burying themselves in the hair at the back of her neck. “Remember that promise I made you?” He murmured, dipping his head slightly.

  Gertie nodded, barely daring to move. She could feel his breath on her lips as he moved ever so slightly closer, the pounding of his heart under her hand.

  A knock sounded on the door to the apartment. Gertie started to pull back, but Vail held her in place, his fingers gentle. “Ignore it,” he whispered a hair’s breadth from her lips.

  Gertie was tempted to, she wanted nothing more than to let Vail fulfill the promise he’d made to her the night before, but a second later she heard the front door open and Kay’s voice. “Gertie?”

  Gertie jerked away from Vail, and lunged toward the bathroom door, closing it before Kay could round the corner and see them. “Gertie?”

  Gertie pressed her face against the wood for a moment, then glanced over her shoulder at Vail, who was still standing in the same position he had been, totally visible. She cleared her throat. “Kay?”

  “Yeah.” She could tell Kay was just on the other side of the door.

  “I’m just in the bathroom. I’ll be right out.” She edged by Vail, pressed the flusher on the toilet and then turned on the faucet.

  “She has access to the apartment?” Vail hissed at her, leaning close so that his voice wouldn’t carry.

  Gertie shrugged, letting the water run. “She said someone in 3rd should have access just in case something happened to me.” Vail was glaring at her and she sighed. “It seemed logical at the time.”

  “You didn’t think to mention this before?” He went invisible.

  “It didn’t seem pertinent. She’s never just dropped by before.” Before he could respond Gertie shut of the water, waited a beat and then opened the door, a smile plastered on her face.

  Kay was lounging on the couch, her long legs crossed at the knees, idly flipping through the channels on the TV. She was dressed in the most casual outfit Gertie had ever seen her in, jeans and a white t-shirt that said love across the front in black cursive. Her blond hair was pulled into a ballerina bun high on the back of her head. She glanced up as Gertie entered the room.

  “Hey! What are you doing here?”

  Kay dropped the remote to the couch and arched an eyebrow at her. “What? You aren’t happy to see me?”

  Gertie shook her head and flopped down on the couch, curling her legs under her. “It's not that. I’m just surprised. You never come over unannounced.”

  Key turned toward Gertie, reached out and took her hand. “I’m just worried about you that’s all. You’ve been acting super weird lately. I thought maybe you were upset at me.”

  Gertie tilted her head. “Why would I be mad at you?”

  “For all but abandoning you last week at the bar?”

  Gertie couldn’t help the snort that escaped her. In terms of all the things that had happened that weekend, Kay leaving her to make out with random guys was the least of her worries. But, of course, Kay didn’t know that.

  Kay’s smooth skin wrinkled as she furrowed her brow, looking hurt. Gertie realized that she was truly concerned that Gertie was mad at her, and was genuinely apologetic. “Oh, Kay, no,” she hurried to reassure her. “It's not that. I’m not mad at you at all. I’m just still having a hard time adjusting to living here. Sometimes I miss my family and it puts me in a mood. And Mr. Lott has been getting worse.”

  Kay’s blue eyes were sharp. “Is that why he sent you home this week? Did he try something? I swear I’ll kill him if he did.”

  It would be so easy to agree, to say yes, and then to let Kay’s indignation on her behalf to smooth away any other questions. But Gertie was tired of lying. She shook her head. “No, he didn’t try anything, at least not anything more than normal.” She looked down at their joined hands and picked her words carefully. “The truth is that I had an accident on Friday.”

  Kay sat up straighter. “What? Gertie!”

  Gertie held up her free hand. “I’m okay now, but I ended up hurt pretty badly and I was still pretty out of it on Monday, so Mr. Lott sent me home for my health.”

  “What happened?”

  “I fell and hit my head on the coffee table. I don’t remember much after that.” That was the truth.

  Kay’s blue eyes scanned her face, looking for signs of the injury, her free hand came up and brushed Gertie’s bangs back. Gertie smiled. “I promise, I’m okay now.”

  Kay dropped her hand and sighed. “I wish you would have told me. Did you see a doctor?”

  Gertie nodded. “Yes, I saw a doctor who took very good care of me, and I am healing nicely. Don’t worry.”

  Kay’s eyes scanned her face, searching for some sign that Gertie was indeed okay. She must have seen what she was looking for because after a moment she asked, “and you swear you aren’t mad at me?”

  “I swear.”

  Kay grinned and started bouncing on the couch. “Good, because I have the best idea.”

  Gertie couldn’t help but laugh at her enthusiasm. “What’s the idea?”

  “I think we should spend the rest of the day watching movies and eating junk food and then tonight we’ll go out just like this and go do karaoke.” Gertie raised an eyebrow at Kay’s casual outfit and Kay hurriedly said, “okay maybe not just like this, but not what I normally go through. I love dressing up, but sometimes it’s just exhausting. I know this place that, like, no one from work goes to and it’ll be just you and me and we can make total fools of ourselves and no one will care. What do you say?”

  Gertie had no idea where Vail was, but she could feel his eyes boring into her. He wanted her to say no. She should say no. There was too much else going on. They needed to figure out how to get the camera to go invisible when Vail did. They needed to try to figure out what exactly had happened that Friday. And why the Chancellor was watching her.

  But Gertie needed a break. She needed to relax and just forget everything for a little bit.

  Kay was looking at her expectantly. Gertie nodded. “That sounds amazing.”

  Kay squealed and hopped off the couch, slipping her feet into a pair of black flats. She scooped up her purse and moved to the door. “I’m gonna run home and grab an outfit for tonight, and then I’ll stop at the store and get snacks. I’ll be back in twenty.” The door slid shut behind her.

  Gertie stood from the couch and moved to the bathroom. She could fairly feel Vail’s frustration radiating toward her. He was waiting fully visible, his grey eyes stormy.

  She hesitated just outside the door. “Are you coming in?” He snapped.

  “Are you going to yell at me?” She asked quietly. “Because if you are, the answer is no, I’m not coming in there. You can’t be mad at me for wanting to spend time with my friend. You just can’t do that. I need this.”

  He took a deep breath and visibly relaxed as he released it, easing the tension from his face so he looked less turbulent. “When have I ever yelled at you?”

  She considered for a second. He hadn’t. Ever. She’d yelled at him in the halls of the Office, but he hadn’t even raised his voice at her. She raised her chin an inch and stepped inside the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

  “I’m not mad,” he started. “Maybe frustrated. Not at you. Not with you. I just…” His fingers laced through his hair, making it stand out in odd angles. “I thought we were making progress… with the camera.”

  Gertie felt her face redden.

  He wasn’t talking about the camera.

&n
bsp; She took a step closer to him, brushing against him as she reached past him and picked up the camera where it rested on the bathroom counter. He stood still as a statue as she held up her hand offering it to him, her other hand resting on his chest.

  It took him a while to realize what she was doing, but after a moment he resumed the position that they had been in before Kay had interrupted them, his fingers buried in the hair at the nape of her neck, Gertie stood on her tip toes bringing her lips closer to his. He hovered, and Gertie smiled. Leaning close, so her lips brushed his ear, she whispered, “I think we’ve made all the progress with the camera we’re going to make for one day, don’t you think?”

  He nodded, lowering his head.

  “Good.” Gertie pulled back, leaving the camera in his hand. “You might want to hide that somewhere. We don’t want Kay to find it.”

  She left him there, standing in the bathroom with his mouth open.

  She paid for it later. All afternoon, Vail was there, following her on silent feet, offering little touches. Ostensibly to let her know where he was, but it seemed unnecessary to run his fingers down her neck as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail. When she stood on tiptoe to reach for a large bowl on the top shelf for chips, he brushed them against the skin of her lower back making goose pimples break out on her skin.

  It was a sweet kind of torture and he knew it.

  When Kay disappeared into the bathroom with Gertie’s curling wand, Gertie turned on the radio. “You should go to the Office.”

  Vail’s voice came from the air right next to her, rustling the hair by her ear. “I’m not going anywhere. This is too much fun.”

  She suppressed the shiver that wanted to work its way down her spine. “You must be starving, and you’d probably like to sleep in a bed.”

  “Are you inviting me?” His voice was husky, teasing.

  Her heart thumped. If she could have seen him, she would have hit him. “No,” She hissed her face flaming. “I just thought, I’ll have Kay with me tonight and maybe you would like to, I don’t know, have a break from Gertie duty.”

  She felt him move closer, felt his shirt brush against her arm. “I like Gertie duty.”

  “Did you say something?” Kay called from the bathroom.

  Gertie turned away from him, toward the bathroom, so her voice would carry. “No, just singing.”

  She felt Vail’s arm slip around her waist pulling her back toward him. “Stop.”

  “Why?” His nose nuzzled her the spot just below her ear. She shivered. Now that was just unfair. This had to stop.

  “Because you’re pawing me in front of Dicie and Atkins and Graves and Chancellor Duncan.” He froze, his palm flat against her stomach. “That is why you should go. I honestly don’t think I can take a whole night of this.” He released her and Gertie moved to pick up her drink off the coffee table, she took a huge gulp and set it back down.

  Vail hadn’t said anything and she took that as a sign that she was right, and he was going to go. “Pawing was the wrong word,” she muttered. That made it sound like she thought him on the same level as Mr. Lott. And that couldn’t be farther from the truth.

  “No, it wasn’t. You’re right.. I’m sorry. I’ll go to the Office and get some rest. Obviously, exhaustion is affecting my judgement.” His voice sounded wrong to Gertie, and she felt guilt creeping in on her.

  “Vail,” Gertie started wanting to apologize.

  He cut her off. “I’ll leave when you do and try to meet you out front when you get back.”

  “Vail,” She tried again, but Kay came sashaying into the living room her hair perfectly curled.

  “How do I look?” She asked striking a pose.

  Gertie smiled. “You look stunning.”

  Kay grinned and grabbed Gertie’s hand, pulling her toward the bathroom. “What are we going to do with your hair?” She asked.

  They settled on a long loose fishtail braid. Kay artfully pulled strands of hair from it to give Gertie the air that she hadn’t tried to make her hair look that pretty. She sat still and silent in the bathroom while Kay applied her makeup, ooing and ahing with each swipe of her brush.

  Gertie couldn’t help but feel guilty for what she’d said to Vail. Granted it was true. Still, the words had come out wrong. What she’d been trying to say is it was difficult to not react to the feel of his hands on her, she wanted nothing more than to continue what they had started earlier in the day, but it just wasn’t the time.

  She was worried about him. He hadn’t been able to eat since early that morning, when he’d gone to the Office to check in and pick up the camera. Sleeping on her bathroom floor couldn’t possibly be comfortable. Beyond that, most nights she woke him by crying out in her sleep while she dreamed about the attack.

  Suddenly, she wished she hadn’t told Kay that she would go out. She wanted to get the camera setup finished. The sooner they were able to get Graves and Atkins what they wanted, the sooner Vail would be able to stop following her around and the safer he would be.

  22

  Vail

  Vail had no intention of going to the Office. He would follow Gertie and Kay for the whole night, without letting Gertie know that he was there. His job was to keep her safe, he’d be damned if he was just going to abandon her.

  If he was being completely honest, the idea of her going out and meeting guys with Kay made him more than a little jealous. He wished that he could go visible and pretend to run into her at the bar, like he had before. He knew she would play along, but his back still ached occasionally from his punishment and he had no inclination to go through that again. Once was more than enough.

  His heart sank when Kay flagged down a cab. He could do many things, but keeping up with a car was not one of them. Gertie hadn’t asked for the name of the bar they were going to. He wouldn’t be able to follow them.

  While Kay climbed carefully into the back seat, he laced his fingers through Gertie’s giving them a gentle squeeze. She sighed, the tension easing from her face, and squeezed back. Apparently, his lack of interaction with her had been worrisome. She paused before getting into the car, turning her head slightly in his direction to give a small smile.

  He smiled back, even though he knew she couldn’t see him, and released her hand. Taking a deep breath, she entered the car and closed the door. Vail leaned close to the window trying to catch Kay’s directions, but her voice was muffled and he couldn’t make it out.

  As soon as the car pulled away from the curb, he was running in the opposite direction toward the wall between 3rd and 4th. With any luck Dicie would be following the path of the car and he could get to the bar before too much time had passed.

  He was hardly out of breath as he stepped into the elevator. “Twice in one day, you must really miss me,” Dicie’s voice said.

  The doors slid open and he hurried to Dicie’s desk. “Did you see where they went?”

  She spun her chair toward him. “It’s nice to see you too, Vail. I’m good, thanks for asking.”

  “Did you see where they went?” He repeated.

  Dicie rolled her blue eyes and sighed. “Yes, I saw where they went. Gertie is fine. She’s even drinking just water currently.” She tapped one of the screens in front of her, then looked up at him, her eyes narrowed. “What were you doing with Gertie earlier? She seemed… flushed. Also, I saw her shirt move seemingly on its own.”

  Vail couldn’t help the blush that crept over his cheeks. Gertie had been right. His actions did show on the camera. “I hope no one else was watching,” he mumbled, not meeting her eyes.

  Dicie let out a laugh. “Yeah, me too.” Her blue eyes became critical. “You look tired. Go get some sleep. I’ll keep watch and let you know when they’re leaving the bar, okay?”

  “You sound like Gertie.”

  Dicie laughed again. “Good, maybe between the two of us we can get you to actually take care of yourself.” He nodded once and turned away. “Vail?” She called after him, and he st
opped. “I’m going to see what we can do about getting an old feed to send to the Chancellor. To give you a little more… freedom at Gertie’s apartment.”

  He grinned at her. “Thanks, Dice.”

  “No problem.” She turned back to the computer, her eyes focusing on the screen in the bar.

  Vail shook his head. He didn’t know how he’d gotten so lucky to have a friend like Dicie. She’d been with him for almost as long as he could remember, back when he’d been trying to survive after the rebellion. They’d met in the woods outside the wall, and she’d led him to the safe place she’d found. An abandoned house, with broken windows that was missing the roof in many places.

  They’d been able to forage for food in the warm summer months, avoiding the frequent raids Chancellor Duncan had sent to the forest to find the Extras that had managed to escape execution or imprisonment. As fall had crept in and the abundance of berries and roots they’d lived on began to die out, they’d moved closer to the city, until eventually they’d been taken.

  They’d been lucky. The Chancellor's guards hadn’t been the ones to nab them. It had been the Extras that brought them into the Office and cared for them until they were old enough to join.

  Vail made his way to the cafeteria and grabbed two sandwiches and a bottle of water, before heading to his room. Gertie had been right, he was starving. Watching her and Kay stuff pizza and chips into their faces hadn’t really helped his mood any. He’d definitely tried to take it out on Gertie by torturing her with those little touches.

  The problem was it was like torture for him too.

  He all but inhaled the sandwiches and took a quick shower before falling into his bed. Gertie had been right about this too. Sleeping on the floor of the bathroom was not comfortable, but it was worth it to be close to her, to be able to make sure she was safe.

  His eyes drifted closed and he slept.

  23

  Gertie

  The bar that they ended up in was small and sort of dingy. Not like the sleek bars that they had gone to the week before. There was a stage set up on one side of the bar, groups of tables splayed out in front of it, each table had a book of the available songs for karaoke.