I need release.
I need her.
I need to get my mind off everything, and Ella is the answer to that particular problem.
I know I shouldn’t.
I’ve never relied on anyone for anything in my life, and now I do.
And I know it will cost me one day. Dearly.
13
KAT
PLAYLIST: DUSK TILL DAWN (FEAT SIA) RADIO EDIT – ZAYN, SIA
“Wait here for a minute,” Lilian says, walking over to a desk in the open floor space, where she talks to a young man in a flower shirt with many rings on his fingers. I use the time to glance around Lilian’s office.
No pictures on the wall, except for her framed degrees. Master's in Computer Engineering from Columbia and Economics from Harvard. PhD in Information Technology from Brown.
“Of course,” I say with a scoff and turn away with a shaking head.
My eyes fall onto her desk. There it is, the open laptop with the closed Zeus system.
I glance at Lilian, and she’s still talking to the employee.
My heart pounds as I walk over to it.
It’ll be my death, but I’ll have to.
Have to.
I close it and slip it into my backpack.
I need to get her focus elsewhere when she returns. Change her perception.
I walk back over to where the certificates hang on the wall.
Lilian returns and tells me, “We’re getting out of here.”
“Impressive collection,” I say to her briefly and point at the wall.
“Looks great,” she says, looking at me as she unconsciously packs her bag. “But it’s nothing but paper.”
“You seem to be proud of them,” I say to keep her focusedon me.
“I couldn’t care less.”
“Why hang them here, then?” I ask, and she walks up to me.
“They’re an illusion that impresses others, business contacts.”
I scoff.
“Come,” she says and pulls me with her. “Let’s get out of here.”
I grab my backpack and let her, quietly congratulating myself for my cunningness. Only it doesn’t feel like a win. It feels like the thing it is: Betrayal.
