Final Collection

by Jesse Goodrich

CHAPTER 12

  The first half of the work day seemed slow to Adam who was feeling about thirty feet behind himself, watching his work and interaction not really able to hear or communicate with Danny or anyone else who stopped by. Most noticeable was the fact that Allen had stayed clear of Adam all morning. Adam tried to shake the feeling of disconnection a little before noon by heading to the office kitchen to get some water, hoping that simply hydrating would bring some feeling of presence. The thought of going back to Eva after work was leaving him more than overwhelmed, close to helpless. The conversation with Allen the night before made him miserable, the idea that he would be putting his closest friends and their family in danger left Adam feeling as though he were punched in the stomach. “Hey Adam, I’m sorry I bothered you at your desk earlier.” Danny tried to apologize. Adam looked at the fear and sincerity in Danny, “I should apologize. You weren’t bothering me at all I’m just feeling out of sorts today so I’m sorry.” Adam attempted to make the most comfortable face he could, “Tell you what, I’ll pass on the night out and just bring it right to Allen’s attention that you are interested in staying with us and would like to be a more integral part of what we do here.” Adam was about to ask ‘how that sounded?’ but Danny was already holding his smile back, which was forcing his face to beam. “I can’t promise you anything, other than I’ll talk with Allen, so just focus on keeping up the good work for now.” Adam began feeling more himself as Danny walked away then put his head down and turned the corner as Allen came into the doorway and quickly attempted to back away and leave. “Hold up Allen, I need to talk with you, can we take a lunch around the corner at the café?” Allen held his empty coffee cup in one hand and moved his other hand from the doorframe into his pocket relaxing a bit. “Sure, I need a little break from today?”

  Time lapse

  They sat down with two waters, Allen waiting for his half club with coleslaw and Adam for a cup of French onion soup. Allen spoke first before Adam could take advantage of the few moments silence after the waitress left. “I’m putting you on temporary leave. It’s obvious you have things going on in your life that are distracting you from work.” Adam read the expression on Allen’s face which clearly didn’t match the formal business tone he was using. Allen was a wreck and Adam was entirely responsible. Allen continued, “Of course you will have a place with us when you sort everything out and decide that you are ready to focus when in the office.” Allen breathed a heavy sigh, emptying the weight of frustration and pain from within before he finished. “For the time being I will have Heidi take over for you and move Danny into her position. I get the impression Danny is at least willing to attempt a move up.” Adam watched Allen finish speaking knowing he was waiting for some sort of reply and knew this was how Allen was going to start protecting his family, not just his family at home, but his family at work. “When…” Allen interrupted nearly choking the words out now, frustrated by having to say this to his friend, the one he relied on most heavily at home and in the office. “Effective immediately, I’ll pay for lunch, then go home and call me whenever it is you’re ready to come back.” Allen left more than enough for what they ordered on the table as he walked away just in time for the waitress to come back with the lunch, she watching Allen leave and Adam bowing his head.

  Time warp

  The heat was turned off in Eva’s apartment, extra blankets were laid out instead and she was wearing jeans and a camisole, a sweatshirt for additional warmth and wool socks. As the sun started to settle Eva flipped on the stove light and lit a candle, she knew what laid ahead for Adam and if he could hold on to anything during the reprogramming, it would make it that much easier, it was how she had done it, held on to something so tangible so overwhelming that she could keep connection to reality. Adam would be arriving and she imagined he’d be a little hungry and knew he would appreciate some baked brie and hot cider, if nothing else, the aroma would be pleasant. She looked around the room once more, a request for entry through the speaker filled her apartment, so Eva quickly turned the shades a little more to allow the remaining daylight to come in and fade away before mashing the button to give entry. She pulled her left leg behind her right as she opened the door to see Adam coming down the stairs his coat open as if overheated though snow was covering him and cold was present on his face. He looked up during his descent while Eva opened her door, gave a friendly wave, and smirked a little, but his eyes seemed distant. Adam came down quickly enough that it looked if he might just try to enter her apartment; Eva held her ground, taking up more of the doorway and drawing her foot back out ready to capture Adam. He stopped short of her; Eva waited no more than a blink before pulling him into her arms and backing into the apartment. Adam closed the door as gently as he could with his shoe pushing it completely shut. “I’m glad you came back Adam,” Eva was staring into Adam with glossy eyes; she knew he would, but something about the action, not feeling abandoned by the world crept up in her heart. She pressed her lips to his and he gently pulled her closer his thumb hooked in her side belt loop and his other hand slightly behind the hip.

  Time lapse

  Adam woke to the heater in Eva’s apartment turning on, it gave a large knock as it started, then peacefully breathed heat into the room. Her hair was down and slightly a mess, Adam found it perfect. Eva was watching him wake up, biting her lower lip in a way that suggested she was thinking something or reminiscing about feelings she enjoyed, whatever it was, it forced a grin on Adam. He started to shift his body to face Eva, but she put her hand on his outside shoulder and forced him back down then curled up next to him head on his chest and hand around his waist. She was giving off the most exquisite scent and he couldn’t tell if it was perfume or something in her hair, but it was subtle and gripping. He felt her mouth moving as she began to talk. “Mark will be expecting you later today, sorry, Mark is my handler, and he will be seeing to most of your education.” Adam stared up at the ceiling, enjoying the last moments of last night as conversation led to a new day, “What should I expect?” Eva pulled away a little, remembering the weeks of reprogramming she went through, “Several days of propaganda and fear based education, most of which you’ll be able to handle, but it could last a while and if they feel you aren’t paying attention…” Eva drifted a bit before stopping and restarting, “You are supposed to be ready for education and if they suspect you aren’t as malleable as you should be, Mark won’t hesitate to have you broken. The good news is he will go light in a lot of ways because for whatever reason, you are to be kept alive.” Adam pictured sitting in a dark room alone save a ‘trainer’ holding a hot branding iron. “Is this torture or will I have food and a bed?” Eva pulled herself back in to Adam, “Most of the time consists of harsh imprisonment, but you will be given luxury about one of ten days, it’s a way to see how you are taking to the reprogramming and also to help you feel safe when you are actually with Mark.” Adam didn’t enjoy the thought of becoming friends with someone who was the cause of his discomfort, but reasoned if he could manage it, at the very least, he could help get Eva out. Hopefully he would get enough information in combination with Eva that this whole thing could be closed from existence, ‘City’ she called it, soon he would find out. For now he just leaned his head into her hair, almost searching for the mysteriously wonderful scent, but mostly to kiss the top of her head and gently squeeze her arm to let her know that he cared about her even if he was afraid of what was to come. Eva ran her hand along Adam’s side hoping he would understand that what he was doing was enough action to say how much he cared about her.

  Time warp

  Allen was watching Mallory sleep trying to find his own way to rest. He didn’t want to work in the morning and he didn’t want to imagine how Adam was feeling. “It was the right thing to do; this is what Adam would have done.” He was reasoning and trying to figure out exactly what Adam would have done if they were exchanged in the situation. “He would hav
e kept the distance, made it obvious, apparent. In the meantime, he would have been ready, but how would he be ready?” Allen wondered while Mallory turned her back to him, her shoulder coming out from under the covers. Allen moved the covers back over her shoulder, “I can be ready for a phone call, or a message, but where would I turn, how would I help?” These questions were running through his mind and every time he felt even the slightest notion he would fall asleep, the questions would get faster and louder in his mind preventing him from giving up on a solution. It had only been two days since Allen had put Adam on leave but two days with little sleep was wearing on Allen and falling asleep at his desk in the office wasn’t exactly the most restful. “What resources do I have that I can take advantage of?” Allen questioned again what Adam had meant by this. Apparently his own restlessness was affecting Mallory, he hadn’t said anything or moved except to pull the hair from her face earlier and just recently to cover her back up, his physical motionless didn’t matter to Mallory, she rolled back over facing Allen, still asleep, and managed to gently cover Allen’s mouth as if he were speaking too loudly. Allen pulled himself gently out of bed and into his slippers in order to let Mallory sleep in peace. He let the thoughts and questions slip away for a moment and felt extremely tired, his eyes started to close before he was perked up with fear for Megan and Ryan. The house was quiet so he made his way to each of their rooms with as little noise as he could to see they were sleeping peacefully. Megan was wrapped tight in bed with her stuffed animal squeezed as closely to her as could be possible; she seemed to be enjoying the wonder of dreams tonight. Ryan on the other hand had managed to remove all the blankets from the bed while asleep and was turning as if he were too hot on such a cold night, he was the same as when he was in his crib which made Allen smile for the first time since Adam had told him they needed to talk. Allen heard a noise coming from the kitchen as he shut the door to Ryan’s bedroom, a soft buzzing and realized he was being called at this hour, which hour he didn’t know so he moved into the kitchen and looked to the clock, which could only be read because of the moon shining through the window in the kitchen, “4:11,” he said just above a whisper. He didn’t recognize the number but picked up anyway, hoping that it was Adam calling with all the answers Allen needed to help end or begin an ending to this mess. Allen didn’t say anything at first, although he was tempted to whisper a tired ‘hello’ that wouldn’t have been too much of an exaggeration of how he really felt. The woman’s voice started and Allen seemed to recognize it before she said more than his name.