“No, I mean, it’s just hard to like, date anyone else after him,” she says, eyes flicking to the museum doors, like he might just come outside now that we’ve invoked his name three times.
“Absolutely. Those are some big robotic boots to fill.”
“No, I mean people find him intimidating,” she insists, like I’m just not understanding. It’s adorable that she’s concerned for my safety. Oh, I’m in love. I want to scoop her up into my arms and tell her,“Babydoll, your ex has more to worry about from me.”
“Some people, sure.”
“I don’t date bad guys,” she says bluntly, and ok, I do see that she was trying to hint at that earlier now.
I pull back, nodding slowly.
She worries her teeth into her lower lip, waiting for my response. I don’t know that I have one. It doesn’t sting quite as much as it does feel like turning a corner and running full tilt into a brick wall.
Bad guy, I mean, come on. I’ve never even double-parked in my life. But I do pirate movies, so maybe she’s right.
I shift my weight from one foot to another and take half a step back from her. I let out a breath and thumb my chin. “Ah, you know what, you’re right. We’re on different sides.”
“Sides?”
“I mean, yeah. There’s Steel Heel, everyone who supports his megalomania, and then there’s all the guys he kicks through windows,” I say with a grimace, gesturing to show how these two things don’t exactly overlap. “Dinner would be out of the question.”
“Lunch too.”
“Don’t take breakfast off the table just yet. Or coffee.”
“I think even coffee might be pushing it.”
She sighs, her brows crinkling apologetically. It sucks that she’s pretty, even when she’s rejecting me.
“Well, when you put it that way, I probably shouldn’t show you anything about the ooze. My boss might consider that corporate espionage.”
“Oh. Yeah, you’re right.”
“Sorry.”
“No, don’t be. It was kind of you to offer.” She gives a little shake of her head, making her earrings and her hair move hypnotically again.
We lapse into a quiet awkwardness, the both of us trying to figure out how we want to extract ourselves from this moment. My watch beeps, and I realize half an hour has passed out here with her.
“I gotta get going, before someone notices that I’m gone.”
“Me too.” She nods, and I take that as my cue to begin climbing up the side of the museum to the roof. As I pull myself up onto the slanted surface, she calls out, “But, um, I really enjoyed getting to talk to you. I guess I’ll see you around?”
“Probably not. I work the night shift. Oh, but I might see you at work,” I suggest, settling into a crouch on the roof again. I spread my wings and let the wind fill them, getting a feel for the direction it’s blowing in. “This isn’t going to make it awkward the next time I have to kidnap you, right?”
“I won’t make it weird if you don’t,” she laughs as she scoops up her purse from propping open the door and slips back inside. The sound of the crowd inside fades as the door swings shut behind her.
I sigh, only once I’m sure she’s gone. “See you on the news.”
6
Lacey
The sound of rush hour traffic coming off the highways and overpasses is finally dying down at seven p.m. It’s one of the few hours I can really get away from it all.
I’m parked behind an abandoned church near city limits. A cold wind sweeps over the marshy field nearby, rattling my car as I sit in the driver’s seat with the engine turned off. The rain on my windshield melts the lines of telephone poles and brickwork together in a wash of dreary colors.
Adrianna’s voice blares through the call on speaker. “Ok, but like, how big a favor are we talking? Like I was hoping to sell one of my kidneys and pay off a loan, but I guess if you ask nicely—”
