by Lynn Donovan
Joseph chuckled. “First of all, they were not hamburger patties. They were kibbeh. It’s a Lebanese dish my grandmother always made. She made them with lamb, which is hard to find in Loville, but if you ask at the meat counter…” He shrugged.
Abbie laughed. “So that smooth-as-silk accent works on other people, too.” Then she looked at the faeries. Gosh. She’d forgotten they were asleep. “Shh.”
“And this—?” She held up the flat bread as she whispered.
“Also Lebanese. It’s called mountain bread.”
She nodded, pointing with her little finger because her thumb and the first fingers held another piece of mountain bread. “Bean salad. But it taste different from what my mom makes.”
“Right. It’s a Lebanese recipe, too. Fava beans, chickpeas, and white beans, a little parsley, olive oil, garlic, and lemon juice, It’s supposed to marinate in the refrigerator for a few hours, but I rushed it. Another secret from Abuela.” He touched her forehead with his. “It’ll be better tomorrow.”
“Mums the word. Your abuela will never hear anything from me.” She crossed her heart with an index finger. “So… all these Lebanese dishes, and yet you obviously speak Spanish?”
He smiled. His white teeth glistened. Abbie stared at the one canine turned slightly out of alignment with the others. It was adorable.
“Well, we speak Lebanese too, but yes. I am third generation, full-blood Lebanese. My great-grandfather came to Mexico a long time ago and since then, we have all been born in Monterrey.”
“Oh, wow. But your English is so good.”
He nodded. “I graduated from high school when I was fifteen. I suppose my exceptional marks caught the attention of a professor in Texas, who gathered students under his arms.”
Abbie chuckled. “You mean wings. He gathered students under his wings. Like a hen gather’s her chicks all safe and sound under her wings.”
“Yes. Wings. He issued me a scholarship that included housing and a food allowance. I got my Bachelors in three years, skipped the Masters, under his guidance, and obtained my PhD in Chemical Physics over the next three years. I visit Monterrey a lot, but I have lived in the United States ever since.”
“Ah.” Abbie tipped her head back and dropped another piece of mountain bread into her mouth. “That explains a lot.”
“What about you?” Joseph scooped a fork full of beans into his mouth and chewed.
“Me? Oh, I’ve always been fascinated with rocks. My mother said I was more like a boy than a girl. She constantly found rocks in the wash, because I had gathered them and didn’t take them out of my pockets before giving her my laundry.” Abbie laughed, then cringed.
“Shhh.” She and Joseph whispered at the same time.
“When I graduated high school, there was no question what I’d major in when I went to college. Karole was already on a fast-track to medical school. I went for geology. I loved it so much, I just kept going until I had a PhD and they made me go get a real job.” She giggled, then sat up straighter. “I also minored in a form of physics that made me a candidate for the VEIL project. Who knew? I went that route because a professor friend of mine told me that a Geology degree alone was only going to land me in a classroom, or a mining operation. He suggested physics for diversity.” Abbie laughed. “I’m sure glad I followed his advice. I love what I do!”
“It shows.” Joseph stared into her eyes. She stilled under his sultry gaze. He leaned closer to her. His eyes darted from her eyes to her lips.
Her heart pounded in her ears as her breath quickened. She wanted him to kiss her. Suddenly, she thought of the spices in the food, the garlic, the hummus. “Wait!”
She leapt off the stool, covering her mouth with her fingers. “Let me go brush my teeth.”
He chuckled, straightening his back. “Yes. We probably should clean up a bit.” He stood next to his stool and carried their plates to the sink. He ran hot water and added dish soap. “You go do what you need to. I’ll wash dishes.”
“No.” Abbie took a step toward him. What was wrong with her? Why did she stop him from kissing her? “Leave them. I have a rule. The cook doesn’t clean up.”
His eyebrows rose on his forehead. His white teeth shown with a wide smile. “Oh, well, I’m not one to break the rules.”
“Really?” Abbie teased. “Well, then, I have another rule. Abbie is allowed to brush her teeth before you kiss her.”
He laughed. “Then hurry back. That kiss is waiting for you.”
She turned with a giggle and rushed to the bathroom. She fumbled with the toothpaste, squeezing it too quickly onto her toothbrush, it fell into the sink. She groaned and applied another, lesser, amount and turned on the water. She brushed as quickly but thoroughly as she could, then wiped her mouth. Applied some lip gloss and ran her fingers through her hair. After housing over a dozen faeries, it was a hopeless mess, but she tried to put it in order. She turned right and then left. If only she had changed clothes while he was gone to the grocery store. Oh well…
She entered the living room. Joseph was sitting on the floor, next to the doll house. He looked up at her. Placed a finger in front of his lips. “Shhh.” They are starting to wake up.
She looked inside. A few faeries sat up, others still reclined. But they were definitely waking. Disappointment washed over her. Did this mean she wouldn’t get that kiss? She sighed and sat beside him on the floor.
She exaggerated a smiled, demonstrating the cleanness of her teeth. He looked at them, as if inspecting her work. “Muy bien.”
“Muchas gracias.” She giggled.
He feigned surprise. “¿Hablas español?”
“No. But who doesn’t know ‘thank you’ in at least five different languages? Around here anyway.”
“You have a point. There are a lot of eggheads around here.”
They laughed. His mirth faded as his eyes gazed into hers. Her breath caught as her heart sped up to a rate that couldn’t be healthy. But who cared? She leaned toward him, as he moved closer to her. Their lips touched gently, like a rose petals at first. Joseph touched her back, pulling her closer, his kiss deepened. She melded into him.
Suddenly, panic washed over her. She sat up straight. Her eyes darted all over his face. “I- I’m sorry.” She stood.
Joseph looked confused. “Did I do something wrong?”
“No. I- I don’t know.” In her peripheral the faeries took flight.
“Look at the prism stream.” “They are aligning even more than before.” “This is fascinating!” “Make them do it again!”
Abbie’s heart filled with a desire she had never felt in her life. She wanted to pounce on Joseph. She stepped into his arms. “Kiss me again!”
He considered her, his face taut with uncertainty. “Are you sure?”
“Oh. You have no idea how sure I am.” She pressed closer, tilting her head back, closed her eyes, and… waited. Anticipated. Ahh, she wanted him to kiss her!
At last, his soft, warm mouth touched hers. She pressed in harder, grabbing the back of his head, and digging her fingers into his thick hair. She devoured his mouth with such a savage rage. She wanted more! MORE! She shoved him back against the divan, but he slid out of her grasp. Her eyes flew open. What was wrong?
He looked at her with a furrowed brow.
“What- what’s wrong?”
“Abbie. I don’t think this is you.”
“What do you mean? Of course it’s me. Look, I’m standing right here! Please, let’s do this!”
He glanced at the faeries. They all hovered above the doll house. Their faces were filled with enthralled excitement. Joseph stepped back. “No. It’s not. It’s them. They are doing this… to you… to us.”
The swarm lowered slightly, as if they shrugged in flight as one entity. “Look at them, Abbie. They are way too invested in being right there, beside you. They are pressing these emotions into you. I don’t know how, but they are. Just like when they first came out of the fog. They did
this to me, only it was different. They made me paranoid and angry. It was all of a sudden, and I didn’t realize it wasn’t my own feelings. But now…” He leveled his eyes with hers. “Now, I’m certain. They affect our emotions, our feelings.”
“You don’t want to be with me?” Tears sprang into Abbie’s eyes.
“No, that’s not what I’m saying.” He jammed his fingers into his hair, pulling it back over his head. “I do want to be with you. But not like this. I really think these creatures are so fascinated with… love. It’s a new discovery to them, and they are manipulating us to demonstrate the act of love… for their amusement. Do you get what I’m saying?”
His eyes roved over her. “Yes, I am intrigued by you. I want to get to know you better. But they are affecting what we feel and causing us to move way faster than I would ever—”
Abbie stared at him. Giggles trickled from the faeries beside her. A fog of confusion swamped her brain. She knew what she felt, she wanted him. Here and now! Like she’d never wanted anybody, ever before!
Ever before?
Wait. She’d never moved so fast on a guy. Dr. Joseph Assad piqued her interest from across the cafeteria. She’d spoken to him for the first time just this morning… and she really liked him, but what she felt now… this was pure lust. She shook her head, as if to shake the fog from her mind. This wasn’t the way she acted. She had better control of her faculties than this. She was disciplined!
She staggered back. The faeries swooped with her. “It is your prism stream.”
Her hands came up without thought, she swatted them back. Some of them cried out in pain. Her heart clenched. She didn’t mean to hurt them. “I’m sorry.” She looked directly at the swarm. “Please, get back from me.”
They followed her movement. “We not hurt you.” “We press more.” “What you already feel.” “We love the love.”
“Please.” She covered her face with her arms. “Stop… doing whatever you’re doing to me… to Joseph.”
Another step back, she stumbled against an end table. The corner hurt her thigh. “Quit!”
“We love watching your love.” “It’s fascinating.”
Joseph quickly approached Abbie, steadying her from falling over the table.
Her leg hurt. Her heart hurt worse. “You’re invading our privacy!”
The faeries continued. “Mother Righteous does not control you here.” “You can love him.” “All you want.”
Abbie let him hold her. Leaning against his strength, she continued to face the swarm. “No, you don’t understand. We control our emotions. There are rules. Etiquette. Appropriate behavior.”
“But your prism streams align.” “It is you who has love for him.” “We are not—”
“STOP IT! Now!” Abbie staggered back from Joseph and the faeries.
They gasped in unison. Shocked, they hovered in the air, then fluttered back from her. “We are not hurting you.” “Why do you not want your prism stream to align?”
Abbie search her mind. How could she make them understand? “I-we want it to happen naturally. It’s not right for you to force it to happen so fast. We need time. To- to learn about each other. You pressing our emotions is wrong.”
The swarm gasped again. “Wrong?” “Mother Righteous hates love energy.” “She forces us to smash it.” “Your world is different.” “How is pressing love wrong?”
Abbie groaned. “Because…” She turned to Joseph. Pleading silently for his help. He turned to the faeries. “Because love and joy and happiness happen in our world without faeries influencing it. You’re right that this mother righteous doesn’t affect our world, but that doesn’t make it right for you to affect it even though you’re working from the opposite direction.”
The faeries hovered in front of Abbie and Joseph. They blinked. Their tiny mouths hung open. A wave of repentance washed over Abbie, but she held her ground, drawing strength from Joseph’s closeness.
Aura fluttered out of the swarm. “We sorry.”
The other’s repeated her words.
“But.” Aura trembled, clasping her hands around her middle. “But we cannot go back to Velona. We were secretly gathering those who did not agree with Mother Righteous. Her ways are frightening. We think she suspected it was us who gathered rebellious minds. She sent us out to test us.
“Soon we would have enough to come against her. It’s why we were so far from her mountain. We were afraid to be near her. She sensed our truth. Her hate is strong. Then your world went Boom! We knew it was our chance to be free.
“If we go back… Mother Righteous will… wipe our life like she did to Anak. There is nothing left of his life except the colors of his emotions.”
Abbie glanced at Joseph then back to Aura. “I’m not saying you have to go back to your world. I don’t know how, but we can learn to live in harmony with each other. You’re a new discovery to us, and I guess, in a way, we are a new discovery to you. We should study our differences and similarities. Learn more about each other. But—”
“What?” Aura flew closer to Abbie.
“I don’t know how to report that you are here without endangering you. My people are… they don’t handle new life forms very well. Give me time to figure out what to do. And—”
Abbie moved to the stool at the bar and sat down. “Just… please stop forcing your… fascinations on us. Separate yourselves from me… and Joseph.”
Aura’s eyes flitted around the room. “Let you have your privacy.”
Abbie smiled. “Yes. Everyone needs privacy.”
“Not me.” The faeries all spoke, but this time, they didn’t say it in unison.
“Well. That’s fine.” Joseph responded gently. “But we humans do.”
Chapter Eleven
Abbie walked across the VEIL grounds. The morning insects sang with the rising sun, crisp cool air chilled her skin, and a beautiful blushing sky made a picture-perfect backdrop.
All in drastic contrast to her sullen mood.
Angered by an early automated call on her cell phone which woke her from what little sleep she had managed. Fatigue saturated her limbs, making them fell much heavier than they should. She trudged toward Director Stettler’s office, trying to let the foul mood dissipate. A team had been called to meet with the director. Staying in an on-site apartment made it convenient when a demand came to join a mandatory meeting with barely forty minutes to spare. She showered, applied some light make-up, and dressed in her normal attire for work. Now all she had to do was walk across the facility grounds.
Now she understood Holly Teak’s brilliance in living on-site.
An odd sensation remained with her. The faeries had agreed to remain in the apartment, in their new home Joseph had bought for them. And yet, Abbie worried about their safety.
The absence of all the faeries affected Abbie more than she could have imagined. She’d met them less than twenty-four hours ago, but without the mass of faeries, she felt disoriented, as if she had been forced to switch to her left hand and expected to function like normal. How could such an unusual change affect her so deeply so soon?
Pausing to pour herself a coffee from the table just outside the director’s office, Abbie looked up the hall. How odd for Stettler to have a hospitality table here. What strange etiquette for the man who typically presented himself as an irate drill sergeant. Did the event in Lab One humanize him somehow? Abbie mused. Or was it Melissa, his secretary?
She thumped a sugar package, then tore the top edge.
“Good morning.” She lifted her eyes to the sultry Hispanic accent. Joseph’s voice warmed her insides better than any amount of hot coffee ever could.
“Good morning.”
“You get much sleep?”
“Not really. About the time I drifted off, my phone woke me and here I am.”
Joseph chuckled. “Me too.” He perused her head. “Where is everyone?”
Abbie sighed, keeping her voice low so that only Joseph could hear.
“Our discussion last night convinced them to try some independence.
Joseph nodded. Pressing a lid on his coffee travel cup, he placed his hand on Abbie’s back to guide her into Stettler’s office. She nearly rose to her tip-toes, but forced herself to walk as if unaffected by his touch.
The Director sat perched on the corner of his desk, as if to portray a casual briefing was about to take place. Joseph and Abbie sat in an obviously borrowed chair and waited for the rest. An eclectic assortment of department representatives filled the room. Some had to stand. Abbie closed her eyes. Crowded offices were her greatest weakness. If only she could hold Joseph’s hand to draw strength and calm her claustrophobia. She focused on sipping her coffee and counted backward by threes.
Attendees made eye contact with Abbie and Joseph, but few said more than, “Morning.” Stettler remained silent, his arms crossed over his chest, his eyes following everyone as they walked in, then he’d simply stare at the door until the next person entered. A frown remained on his face when he began the meeting.
“Well, not everyone is here yet, but we need to get started.” He scanned each face as if mentally taking roll. “All of you are aware of what happened yesterday. I’ve called you together this morning as a team. This team is vital to a successful investigation into this event. Now, what I expect from each of you is—”
Axel Ashton rushed into the room.
“‘Bout time, Ashton.” Stettler seemed to relax. Was this the last of the team to arrive?
“Dr. Crossan—”
Abbie straightened her back and focused on him.
“You tried to raise the alarm and no one listened. I apologize.”
Whoa. Abbie didn’t see that coming! Even though his tone didn’t sound sincerely regretful, the fact that he said the words, in front of these key people, was saying a lot.
Stettler remained focused on her. “Do you have any additional theories as to what happened?”
Who? Me? Abbie blinked. He was focusing on her first? Not the chemical physicists who built the giant crystal, or Joseph who put pen to all the calculations that came out of Teak’s pretty little head, or Axel Ashton, for that matter, who built all the equipment?
