The entire arrangement with Hugo has been a massive disappointment. I don’t know whether there’s any ready solution for his heartache; I don’t even know if we’ll be able to let his daughter live long enough for him to try again.
Hugo has been understanding, but inconsolable.
I still feel heavy with his deferred pain, residual grief coursing through me, unprocessed. I have to occasionallytalk myself out of a dark mood when an emotional load is particularly fathomless. Sometimes I can’t decipher between what’s been borrowed and what belongs to me.
Right now, I’m trying to focus on the crisp evening air, and not the incessant buzzing in my pocket.
My pager has been going off for hours, but the notifications have been nearly constant these past thirty minutes. I already know, without looking, that when I finally check my notifications I’ll have to scroll through a hundred angry messages from Adam.
He’s been giving me moment-by-moment updates on the situation unfolding at Nazeera’s house.
Apparently, he walked in to discover Rosabelle asleep in James’s arms. As if this news wasn’t bad enough, the admission was followed by a litany of profane remarks riddled with typos—a result of having been sent in rapid-fire succession.
Is this a fucking joke??????>
SHE’S A PSYCOPATH
JUST LIKE YOU
I don’t mean you’re a psychopath bow
now
But you know what I mean
Its s o weird that nazeera doesn’t have any furniutre
THEY”RE TAKLING HER OUT TO DINNER
WHAT THE FUCK
Did you say they could dtake her out to dinner
They said you said they could take her out
I CAN”T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENNG
You hve to fix this
GET THE FUCK OVER HERE
I’ve granted myself the gift of sixty seconds before I reach for my pager again. I need some time to ground myself.
“Hey, are you sure you don’t want to go incognito?” Kenji says suddenly. “People are freaks around you. If you get spotted things might get weird.”
I manage a tight smile in response.
I don’t usually spend time in the capital city on foot, despite the tremendous efforts we’ve made to restore and rebuild the area. Ella was the one to establish the seat of government in this region; it was all her undertaking. The resulting metropolis is an objectively stunning accomplishment, a marriage of old and new architecture meant to mirror the culture of the next generation: evolution without erasure.
The Waffle is situated at the heart of the new capital; and the surrounding region is referred to as New Capital City, or the NCC. The truth is, I really enjoy walking through the world my wife envisioned for us. But I can’t spend extended periods of time in public because too many attempts have already been made on my life. Of course, there’s also the issue of other people.
The ones whoaren’tinterested in killing me.
“I’m serious,” Kenji says. “Remember when that woman took off all her clothes and threw them at you? And then she was just standing there—naked and screaming.”
My pager buzzes again.
“I keep trying to forget,” I say dryly. “But you’re always reminding me. You really seem to love this story.”
