by J B Cantwell
Or maybe he was just bored with the party scene.
In any case, he was with me. It seemed to excite him to be involved. And after what he’d done for me, I knew I’d be able to count on him in the future.
I turned back and saw that the bartender had slipped away. I looked all up and down the bar, but she was nowhere to be found.
The thought of her confused me, a splinter in my brain, a word I couldn’t remember. But she was gone.
Finally, I turned to join the masses. I found it interesting that nobody, not one single man, swooped in to escort me out of the building. Everyone was just running for it as if the loss of their lenses was as bad as the threat of loss of life. All together, they scurried for the exits.
I wanted to smile, to laugh, even. But surely someone would see. As it was, I’d already taken a huge risk up on the roof. You could never tell if cameras were around, and if they were, whether they worked in the first place. It was possible, though, that the whole event with Damien and Grant had been recorded.
So be it.
I hid my smile and headed for the exit. People were steering clear of the elevators, obviously scared that they would become trapped or, worse, that they would plummet to their deaths.
All of this was ridiculous, of course; the lights were still on. The device only attacked the radio waves of the cell towers. It was just strong enough to scramble the information each of us carried in our chips. But they didn’t know that, and neither should I have.
So I took off my heels, gathered up my dress, and followed everyone into the stairwell.
Twenty floors.
Down we go.
The concrete of the stairwell was cold and gritty on my bare feet, but I was able to move around nimbly without the extra height. As I descended, I was stopped several times by people stepping on the back of my gown. I tried as hard as I could to gather the heavy layers of fabric together, but the dress was just so big, and the stairwell so crowded.
Finally, on the 14th floor, I’d had enough. I ripped my gown from beneath someone’s foot and stepped to the side. The stairway was dimly lit, and dress after dress scurried down the stairs. Black lace. Blue taffeta. Sparkling nude.
But no red.
They tripped on their own dresses, their heels getting caught up in the fabric. They yelped and screamed tiny screams full of drama. But no one rushed to help them, and no one rushed to help me, either.
I stepped from the stairwell and out into the hall, catching my breath. Nobody followed. I turned and walked toward the bank of empty elevators. I was just about to press the button when I heard a voice behind me.
“Audrey!” Grant said. “I saw you sneak out. This is nuts, isn’t it?”
I wanted to smile, to be excited, but now that I was in the middle of it, I wasn’t so sure. What had I expected? Maybe I’d thought that, devoid of all of our usual societal signals, people might come together somehow.
Instead, they were running away.
“Yeah. It is nuts. Did Damien ever come-to?”
He shook his head.
“I don’t know. He was still down when I left. Man, what a rush! What else can I do?”
Suddenly, things seemed quite dangerous, and it was my fault. I’d dragged Grant into this situation without even giving it a second thought. He didn’t know everything, but he knew enough to sink me, even by accident. A stray word at a bar, a story told to someone trusted, anything could happen to entice him into talking.
I had no choice, though, and it was too late.
I shook my head, feeling lost.
You’re better than this. You’re a soldier, for God’s sake.
Okay. Think.
“I don’t know what’s next. But I will soon. Until then, we should lay low. You should get back on those stairs.”
“What about you? Why are you taking an elevator?”
I shook my head.
“I don’t know. I just felt—trapped in there. All those people, and they’re all freaking out and—”
He approached me and put his hands on my shoulders, staring into my face with unmistakable kindness.
“It’s okay,” he said. “We did the right thing, right?”
“We did? What about you? This could ruin you. You realize you could get arrested, even tortured for what you just did. And I’m just so sorry that I got you involved.”
“Are you kidding me? I’ve never felt so alive!”
I shook my head.
“This isn’t about feeling alive, Grant. This is about something much bigger than just that. You’re involved now when you should be running in the opposite direction. These people, they’re terrible, they’re evil, they’ll—”
I realized I was starting to get hysterical.
“Breathe,” he said. “It’s nothing you can’t undo, right? And I know just as well as anyone else how evil people can be.”
He let go of my shoulders.
“Do you think I like this? The same parties. The same vapid people. I saw the same thing you did when I came down that staircase. Nobody stopped to help. It was every man for himself. Chivalry is dead, right? Well, it is. And someone needs to pay for it. These people can’t see an inch beyond themselves. Maybe being forced away from their lens screens they’ll finally start looking at each other again.”
I stood still, but where I’d been on the edge of tears before, now I was just angry. Just as angry as Grant was.
I smiled wide, willing my fearful tears away.
“Where’ve you been all my life, love?” I said.
“Waiting right here.”
We went down the rest of the stairs together, hand-in-hand. It wasn’t so bad. We’d waited a few minutes for the crowd to diminish. Some people were still running down, passing us, still panicking. Others, many of them older, gripped carefully onto the handrails, fear in their eyes.
“Grant,” I said. “Let’s help.”
He looked confused for a moment, but then saw what I did and dropped my hand. A saw a woman, and I guessed she was in her seventies. Whomever she’d arrived with had abandoned her, left her to save their own skins. A lover? A friend? Family?
“Oh!” she said when Grant took her hand. “Aren’t you just the sweetest.”
“Anytime, Madam,” he said.
She looked behind her. “Mary is another flight up. Would you mind—”
“Of course,” I said. “I’ll meet you at the bottom, Grant.”
“Will do, boss,” he said.
The title made me smile for a moment, but then I realized that he meant it and all of the implications that came with it.
What was I going to do with him? I could barely take care of myself.
He’s a grown man. He knows what he’s getting into.
But did he?
I hung back and waited for a woman I guessed was Mary.
“Hello, dear,” I said when she got down to me. “Are you Mary?”
“Well, you should know,” she said. “Can’t you read it on— oh. Of course you can’t. I—I’m sorry.”
“No worries, Mary,” I said. “Can I help you down?”
“Oh, I don’t know. I’m awfully slow.” She glanced around nervously. “I don’t want to hold anybody up.”
I smiled.
“I think we’ll be just fine. Here, take my hand.”
I held it out, and she looked close to tears as she took it.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Why? Because you need a little help?”
“I guess so. You’re quite beautiful. I was watching you earlier. That Grant is a good fellow. You two are friends?”
Alarm bells rang out in my head.
Careful, now.
“Friendly acquaintances, I would say. We’ve just met once before tonight.”
I noticed that with each step she took, her shoes clicked on the cement stairs.
“Are you wearing heels?” I asked.
“Of course I’m wearing heels,” she said, suddenly indign
ant.
I held up my own shoes.
“If you take them off, it will help.”
She looked down, almost fearfully.
“But what will people think?” she asked.
This poor, poor woman. As good as left for dead by everyone at the party but me.
I smiled.
“I don’t think anyone will notice, do you? People are very distracted.”
“They’re nuts!” she said angrily.
“You’re right. Let me take them off for you. Have a seat.” I indicated the step just behind her.
“But isn’t this an emergency? I don’t know if we should linger …”
I gave her a knowing look, the best I could do without divulging my knowledge about what was actually going on.
“I think we’ll be just fine,” I said. “Don’t worry. We’ll get through this together, okay? Go on, now.”
She sighed heavily, but finally did as I asked. I set my own pair down and unbuckled the straps on her heels. With each shoe’s removal she audibly approved.
“Oh, that feels so much better. Doesn’t it always?”
I smiled. “Yes, it certainly does.”
I took both of her hands and helped her up. She grabbed onto the railing, took a deep breath and righted her posture.
I picked up both pairs of shoes and took her hand.
“Here we go!”
She squeezed my hand and braced herself against the railing, and we made it down the next fourteen flights together, just like that. The door to the stairwell opened into a now-empty hallway. Grant had already made it through the door and was holding it for us.
“You see?” Mary said, indicating Grant. “I told you he was a good one.” She smiled broadly, and I laughed.
“Something tells me he’s not interested.” I gave her a wink, but she didn’t catch it.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure,” she insisted. “I saw the way he was looking at you earlier.”
I smiled, but didn’t say another word.
I guided her toward a bench where Grant and her friend were sitting. Mary sat down beside them, and I knelt down with her shoes.
“Oh no!” Grant said. He got up and offered me his hands.
I sighed. “Oh, come on, Grant.”
“I’m not going to see you kneeling in such a dress. Up.”
I looked up at Mary and shrugged. Then I let him help me up and handed him the shoes.
I longed to sit in his empty spot, but I knew I would never fit with the dress. Instead, I dug my bare toes into the thick, plush carpet. I would be in the back of the limo soon enough.
Grant finished up with Mary’s shoes, then held out his hands for her. She stuck her nose up, just a little, and allowed him to help her up.
“Did you ladies come with anyone? How are you getting home?”
“Oh, my driver will be out front,” Mary said assuredly.
Grant took his charge’s hand and helped her up.
“I’ll look out for you ladies,” he said. He looked back at me, smiling. “When will I see you again?” he asked.
I suddenly realized that he didn’t know where to find me now that his chip was on the fritz. We had no way to communicate.
How strange. I’d been without a chip before, but this was the first time I’d talked to anyone in the higher echelons without the ease of having one.
“I’ll find my car,” I said. “We’ll wait for you. What was your plan for getting home?”
He laughed.
“Honey, I’ve never needed to have my own ride home. I always end up in a car with someone or other.”
I raised my eyebrows at this insinuation, then shook my head and laughed along with him.
“Alright,” I said. “We’ll wait for you.”
I turned to Mary.
“Are you going to be okay with my pal Grant, here?”
“Oh, I suspect so,” she said. “What is your name, dear? Without the lens I have no way of knowing.”
I smiled, and for a moment I couldn’t decide what I should tell her. My fake name? My real name? Something entirely new?
I leaned in and whispered in her ear.
“It’s a secret.”
I stood back up and smiled a mischievous smile, and the look she was giving me back told me she understood. She had known a time before the chip, before the lens. I wondered if she was even able to guess at what I was up to. Maybe. Though, I suspected that if she did, she wouldn’t disapprove.
Once both ladies had been escorted to their cars, Grant and I looked at one another, letting out deep breaths.
It had been quite an hour.
“Miss Page,” I heard Albert say behind me.
I turned, and I had rarely been so relieved to see someone in my life. Albert meant cover, protection.
“I’m sorry, Miss,” he said. “I had to park around the block. Things were insane out here. Only now is it starting to clear. Would you like me to fetch the car or walk with you?”
I looked up at Grant. My feet now hurt again, not from the shoes, but from the scratchy concrete of the stairs and the sidewalk. Still, I was wary about being left on the street, even with Grant to protect me, as I was sure he would. Damien, as injured as he may be, would have no reservations about calling out his attack dogs on me, especially after the blow he’d sustained.
“We’ll walk,” I said, and Grant nodded.
“Whatever the lady says.”
“Whom do I have the pleasure of meeting?” Albert asked, a little bit protectively, I thought.
I smiled. The chip scrambling was working down here on the street, too.
“This is Grant,” I said. “He’s coming with us.”
Albert stuck out his hand and Grant took it.
“Pleasure, Sir,” he said. Grand nodded. “Shall we?”
“Yes, please,” I said.
As safe as I may have been with two men flanking me on either side, I was still nervous. Had anyone seen? Cameras? Someone curious? Someone who, for whatever reason, was paying attention?
It was too late now.
“Tell us what’s been going on,” I said to Albert as we walked.
“Well, my chip went haywire, and at first I thought it was something wrong with my lens, but then I saw that everyone else was checking theirs, too. I had been circling the building, waiting for you to come out, but the traffic backed up as soon as people began spilling out from the party. Sorry for being so far.”
“Oh, that’s no problem,” I said.
The truth was that I’d hoped he would be immediately present, limo waiting right out front. But the mayhem inside hadn’t been predictable, and nobody would’ve been able to cut through the hundred cars that were already jockeying for position.
“Here we are,” he said, clicking a button to unlock the car. He opened the door to the backseat and stood back. I sat down as gracefully as I could and pulled my legs in after me. It took a few moments to gather up the fabric of the dress and stuff it all in, but I was finally completely sheltered by the limo when Grant poked his head inside.
“You in there all the way, princess?” he teased.
I glared, then let out a long breath of relief.
Safe.
For now.
Chapter Five
“So, where to?” I asked Grant once we were both tucked into the car.
“What, do you think you’re taking me home?” he asked, laughing a little. “I was hoping to see your place, actually.”
Up front, Albert’s eyes flashed back at me. He was listening, and it made me feel better. It meant that someone out there was trying to protect me in a world that I felt utterly alone in.
“That’s fine,” I said. “You can come over. I have plenty of room.”
And why not? He deserves answers.
He smiled.
“Excellent.”
But what would have been a three minute ride quickly turned into a half hour, gridlocked by cars. People were everywhere, all over the s
idewalks and spilling into the streets.
Panic.
“Everyone just breathe,” I said quietly to no one in particular.
“That was quite a trick,” Grant said, his face plastered to the window.
“I hope it calms down,” I said.
“I wouldn’t count on it.” Then, he indicated Albert. “Is it safe?” he whispered in my ear.
“As safe as I am with you,” I said.
“So, not that safe.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, considering you barely know me, I might argue that entrusting me with the jobs you have over the past four hours has been somewhat reckless.”
I smiled, but suddenly I was nervous. Was he right?
Of course he’s right. What are you doing?
But what could I do? He had helped me immensely tonight. Without the attack from Damien, I might’ve been able to swing it alone, but I had been in real danger then; I’d needed the help.
“I guess it’s too late now,” I said.
He smiled.
“Well, I’m glad was able to help you, if that’s any consolation. And I’m glad you felt able to trust me.”
It was possible that I was totally wrong about Grant. He could be playing for the Champions, the Service, anyone.
“Where do you come from, Grant?” I asked.
“Here,” he said. He raised his arms up. “Born and raised in this beautiful city.”
This gave me pause, and my smile faltered.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” he said. “My money is all but gone. I just keep up the party circuit to save face. You know, people may be able to see our designations, but they’re not able to see our bank accounts.” He smiled and winked.
“But why are you excited about all this? Won’t it hurt you?”
“Maybe you’re not the only one that’s too trusting,” he said. “Maybe I’m the fool that followed the beauty in the red dress tonight, and I’ll regret it. Will I?”
I shook my head slowly.
“I really have no idea,” I said. “It’s possible. Even likely.”
“Well, I don’t have my money to entertain me anymore. I may as well use you.”
“I’m just not sure you’re going to want to get into this with me. I mean, it’s not—”