After the door closes, he turns to me, holding up a finger. “I have to take this.” Then he ducks into the kitchen where he proceeds to talk in a low voice.
I look up at the ceiling and realize there’s writing and drawings up there. Something very old, probably. Sloppy, and hurried, and faded, the words say ‘Sparktopia was here’ in large, looping red letters that billow across a white banner that spans an image of a black tower.
Certainly not something Tyse did. At least it doesn’t come off as his handiwork, but what do I know? I met the guy two days ago.
I catch him saying, “Be there in a few,” in a low voice before turning to me. He sets the phone down on the small countertop and meets my gaze. “I’ve got work today. I’ve got to leave and I’ll probably be gone until after dark.”
“Oh.” I’m disappointed and this one word comes out before I have time to rein that disappointment in.
“But I’ve got an idea for ya. A way to spend your time. A job.”
I sit up, pulling the covers around me. “A job?”
“With Rodge. Down on Eight where they have the services. He’ll give ya work, he’s always short-staffed.” Tyse pauses to smile here. “So you can pay me back for the clothes and shit.”
Is he serious about the payback? I can’t tell. I get the feeling that Tyse Saarinen has more coin to his name than he lets on. Sure, he lives in a free tower with spark addicts, doesn’t have a regular job, and is suffering from a biological tech mistake that has clearly derailed his life, but he’s not the least bit desperate. There’s an air of satisfaction about him and people worried about coin don’t act satisfied.
“It’s a good job, trust me. Having Rodge on your side is a huge plus in this tower, Clara.”
“I’m not complaining. You don’t have to sell it to me. I’ll do it. What else am I gonna do? Stay here all day and snoop throughyour shit?” I laugh, because it’s a joke, but Tyse doesn’t seem to find it funny. “I’m kidding. Geez. Lighten up.”
Tyse shrugs. “Whatever. I don’t care if you snoop. But ya better be careful, you might not like what you find.”
“What does that mean?”
But he doesn’t answer me. Just turns, goes into the bathroom, pulls the curtain closed behind him, and a few seconds later all I hear is the sound of a shower.
I blow out a breath, wondering for the millionth time if any of this is real.
It doesn’t seem likely that three days ago I had a completely different life in another… world? Time? Not sure. But I was there, in that version of Tau City. And while I had to agree to some seriously unpleasant conditions regarding a certain god inside a tower, in the grand scheme of things it was not all that bad.
I had a boyfriend—maybe not officially, like with quotes around it and shit, but everyone knew that Finn and I were a thing. That we were getting married. I had my own floor of rooms, and my little circle of friends, not to mention more coin than I could ever spend. My social calendar was overflowing with dates, and galas, and dinners, and events. Plus the odd tryst whenever Finn and I could pull one together.
Now I’m living with a stranger in a seedy one-room apartment inside the very tower I just walked into a few days ago, except… it’s not that tower at all. I own one set of clothing, have no coin to my name, and my immediate destiny lies with a man named Rodge who is perpetually understaffed.
Which begs the question…whyis he always short-staffed? Is he a dick? Is he cheap? Does he smell?
A chortle escapes past my lips because it’s… insane. That’s it. That’s the only word to describe my life at the moment. It just makes no logical sense at all.
The shower stops and the bathroom curtain swishes back open. Tyse appears, soaking wet andcompletelynaked. His eyes find mine as he reaches for a towel folded neatly on a shelf. But he doesn’t smile as my mouth drops open in surprise, just shrugs. “Sorry for the flash, but I don’t normally have guests so I didn’t properly think this moment through ahead of time.”
Then he snatches the towel and disappears back behind the curtain. Only to reappear a few seconds later with the towel wrapped around his waist.
My mouth is still open in surprise when his eyes find mine again. “You’re rethinking it now, aren’t ya?”
I shake myself out of the shock. “What?”
“That ‘not even a tiny one’ threat you threw at me last night.” He chooses some clothes off another shelf, then disappears one more time to change.
I haven’t even recovered from the sight of his ‘flash,’ as he called it, when he once again reappears, wet, but dressed. He grabs his boots from near the door and then walks over to the chair under the window and takes a seat.
His grin is wide and he watches me as he slips his feet inside his boots and starts lacing them up. “Well?”
“Well what? Am I…rethinking you?” I huff. Because… well. I kind of am.
“No. Are ya gonna get out of bed and get dressed? Because if not, I’ll leave ya here and you can make your way down to Eight and introduce yourself to Rodge without my help. I’m in a hurry. Stayn’s got work for me and it’s kind of important.”
Well… this is awkward. Because no, I do not want to go down to Eight and explain to a man I never met that I now work for him. But also, I do not want to get out of bed wearing nothing but underwear under this shirt just so he can make fun of me again.
