A while later I saw a van pull up and back up as close to the trailer door as possible. It had a large dent in the side, distorting a generic moving company’s logo. I shrank down in the seat, unsure, but Alisha appeared at the door and let the driver in with a plastic tote.
My stomach twisted a little again, already learning to associate storage totes with death and blood rather than holiday decorations.
I saw the tote go in and several minutes later, the sa tote ca out, though now two of Alisha’s people were carrying it. Her gaze remained sharp as she observed from the doorway. Then she turned back inside. I was grateful it was actually a bit chilly out today. The sun beating down on the sedan was making it comfortable rather than too hot. I didn’t have to roll the windows down just to breathe.
Finally Alisha erged from the trailer again, pulling her blazer back on with practiced ease and her guard was soon to follow. I sat up, watching as they approached the vehicle, and moved over to let Alisha open the door and sit down.
I expected more tension from her, but she was calm and simply folded her hands on her lap as the guard got in and started to put the car in drive.
I moved closer to her, leaned against her, expecting her to finally shift into sothing more hurting, but she was calm, her heartbeat steady under my ear as she pulled close against her and idly stroked my hair like this was all a normal day.
It wasn’t like her not-okay stillness. When she got to be not-okay, she tended to be rigid and neutral, but she was lax now, calmly pulled out her phone and looked at her ssage log with Tye. Alex was ho safe, thankfully. Tye asked about the Sergei situation, Alisha told him it’d been handled. And when Tye asked what she wanted to do about his territory and assets, she told him they were going to a man called Damien she was going to have a eting with tomorrow.
It sounded like the situation was actually getting wrapped up quite nicely. I tried to relax a bit too, feeling her gentle soothing. My stomach and what felt like the blood in my veins still felt restless, even if I was safe with Alisha now. The uneasy feeling fluttered again. Alisha didn’t sll like gun smoke or anything like that. There was still a gentle sll of her soap and an even subtler sll of her natural skin oils, the kind of human sll that isn’t acrid like body odor, but like… warmth. She showered far too much to ever sll like sweat or oils that had been allowed to fernt or go rancid. But I could tell she had exerted herself recently. I took a deep breath, trying to parse the hand currently stroking my hair lovingly and the hand that had grabbed Sergei’s neck and strangled him as I ran away. It was hard to believe they were the sa hand.
But that was the core of who Alisha was, I figured. Able to love and kill in the sa breath. She held the carrot and the stick.
I wondered if I would ever see her wield the stick full force. I didn’t want to know, to be honest. I knew enough as it was, enough to not be the sa person I was when I t her. I was less afraid, at least… but I wasn’t sure if I was becoming a good person.
Alisha shifted a bit, readjusting her weight against the seat before pulling close again. Her gaze focused out the window, her fingers still in my hair, still teasing tangles out with soothing persistence.
The car ca to a stop at the monitoring center, where she escorted through the cavernous, deserted lobby, and up the elevator. We waited in the breakroom, as usual.
Alisha relaxed, occasionally running a couple fingers through her hair.
Her guard waited by the door, always vigilant, always close.
I took a breath. “Are you alright, Alisha?” I asked softly.
“I’m fine,” she told . “Matteo’s going to bring you ho. Unfortunately I have to clean up Sergei’s ss, make sure his people are aware the power is going to shift again and that his bullshit won’t be continuing on.”
I nodded, reached over to take her hand in silence. And then stared at the far wall. My skin still felt wrong, like I’d been branded on my soul or sothing.
“Kitten,” Alisha said.
“Mm,” I turned to look at her, finding her gaze calm and steady on .
“Do you want to go to Starmaids tomorrow? I won’t tell you to quit, but it is…” she hesitated to say, ‘necessary,’ but my brain filled it in anyway.
“I will resign,” I agreed. “And write a resignation letter tonight. Even if Charlotte is terrible, I still want to give the business itself so amount of courtesy.”
“Professionalism is a skill she could learn,” Alisha agreed. “Or at least so amount of diplomacy.”
We waited in the quiet, only occasionally broken by Alisha pulling closer or straightening out my hair. She doted a bit, clearly holding back the urge to preen lovingly on account of the publicity.
When Matteo arrived, Lili was accompanying him, looking a bit more put together than usual and Alisha urged upright, gave a final hug and sent on my way with them.
I left her, feeling hollow from everything and wanting to pull her close so she could complete . But I didn’t need to know the complex family dynamics she would be dealing with tonight. More so, a young woman’s presence around n that had looked up to Sergei sounded like a bad idea.
So I followed Matteo and Lili as they brought down the elevator and then out to a sporty car idling in the firelane in front of the building. I looked it over only briefly. It was one of those masculine sporty cars that probably only n drove and the badge on it was for Audrix, though I knew little to nothing about the brand itself. Only the impression of Matteo’s vehicle in particular.
Lili opened the back door for and I slid in and got settled on leather seats that had the distinct oily and acrid odor of genuine leather that was recently cared for.
When Lili shut the door behind , it was much like the Escapade’s interior. Overwhelmingly separate from outside.
I leaned back trying to get comfortable as they got in the front and Matteo started driving without another word.
Lili sat still in the passenger seat looking neutral but focused.
My heart beat was audible in my own ears, making too aware of the quiet and it was still quiet after Matteo let back into Alisha’s house.
I was then allowed to be alone upstairs and simply sat down on the floor and stared intently at the wall. My brain was angry, static filling the empty spaces. Finally, I got up, shed my work apron, and then decided to neatly fold it up before drafting the resignation letter in neat handwriting and setting it on top.
Tomorrow would probably be the last ti I set foot in that Starmaids, and hopefully it would be the last ti I ever spoke to Charlotte.
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