by SM Olivier
“I don’t think her age should be a factor,” Jace said coolly. “She’s had more life experience than the average person. As she stated, it has been an adjustment for all of us. The program here is sound. Does it need work? Yes. Changes don’t always happen overnight, but it’s headed in the right direction.”
I could see Paul and Will nod out of my peripheral. Jace always seemed to know what to say. He had a natural ability to make people listen to him and put things into perspective.
April laughed. “Don’t get me wrong, dear. I wasn’t questioning her maturity. I can see she seems to have her head on straight. My sister is four years older than her, and I wish she could carry herself in the same manner. I was asking because I didn’t want my people coming in here and feeling uncomfortable and struggling.”
“I’m sure they will,” I stated practically. “This isn’t their home. I’m sure many of them have never been away from home or experienced the things we have but it doesn’t mean that we don’t stand behind the operations. Maybe if we weren’t grossly outnumbered, the learning curve for the Nons wouldn’t be as steep. They have already been exposed to the gifted community in one way or another. With a little help, we can all focus on our main mission and forget our differences.
“Sometimes we have to sacrifice some creature comforts for the greater good. I’m sure they will learn and adjust as we have.”
“Paul has been receptive to most of my suggestions,” Will spoke up from the end of the table. “He’s not unwilling to try to make the transition move smoothly.”
“What about the food?” Brad asked. “This food is amazing, but the food served to us earlier is a bit subpar. Our people grow and raise their own food. They won’t be satisfied with what comes out of that cafeteria. It isn’t what they are accustomed to. We could hardly ask them to leave their friends and family for this.”
“We are contracted out by the government and have civilians running the kitchen. It is comparable to what our troops eat when they are overseas,” Paul stated with a frown.
“Therein lies the problem,” April stated with natural grace. “We aren’t overseas. My people shouldn’t be treated like they are. The food at lunch today was overcooked, dry, and tasteless. If you had a competent cook in the kitchen, all of that could have been prevented.”
Paul looked taken aback by her blunt statement.
“I think I can help remedy that,” Drake spoke up. “I am a chef, of sorts. I have experience with ordering and creating a menu based on what’s available to me. I was going to ask you if I can assist in that when we return from our excursion. With a little bit of guidance, I’m sure your staff can be trained to prepare flavorful food.”
“I own several restaurants myself,” Remy added. “My brother was able to stay within budget and still produce delicious dishes. I can also assist with my experience if you’ll allow us.”
Warren nodded. “I also noticed you have an eco-system in your lowest level, capable of producing some crops all year round to produce fresh vegetables to supplement what you receive. It’s cheaper in the long run and tastier,” he added with a smile.
He played the part of the dignified man, but I could see now the passion in his eyes when he talked about growing stuff. I imagined he was one of those men that lived off the land and had a hand in making their community self-sufficient. By the way April smiled and nodded, I knew she loved that about him.
Paul looked thoughtful for a moment. “I would like your input, Remy and Drake, but we really don’t have the man power to grow our own food. This facility was originally created for the politicians and affluential people of society in the case of a natural disaster or an attack. Another facility for that purpose has been built since then, so a lot of their long-term planning was left behind,” he explained.
“If you provide the materials needed, we’ll provide the people,” April gave him a satisfied smile. With or without his agreement, she wouldn’t be sending her people here without ensuring them some comforts to what they were accustomed to.
“Do you mind if I help with that project?” Jaxson spoke up. “I’m learning agriculture science in school, and I was assisting Remy with his latest restaurant for a farm-to-table concept.”
He looked excited about the idea. I had completely forgotten that he had been fascinated by growing things, too.
“Splendid idea,” Warren said in a mock posh British accent. Most of us laughed at his impersonation, further proving my theory that he enjoyed making people laugh.
April, Brad, and Warren planned to leave early in the morning and promised to send a team and additional personnel to assist our growing operations by the beginning of next week. I had the impression that we had finally swayed them to support us. We could no longer work as individual communities if Horatio wasn’t contained to only one part of the country. We couldn’t limit ourselves if we hoped to beat him at his own game.
Will and Steven had a good rapport in the past with the Illinois group and they had communicated, but they had never directly worked together. We couldn’t pull all of the Knights from back home to assist us, leaving our community vulnerable. We needed to reach out to all of communities that shared our goals and ask them to send some of their people. Their community could still be protected while lending us a hand.
Many of the communities like April’s tried to keep to themselves. They had a system that worked for them, but none of them had went through training like ours at home, much less anything of this magnitude. I’m sure we would see some that had a background in law enforcement and the military, but they had chosen their quiet communities for a reason. They had gotten away from that way of life. They would have to be retrained in the program Will and Paul was creating.
The rest of the dinner conversation revolved around more of the intricate details in our transitions. April had promised to reach out to other communities and let them know her stance and support of our operations. It seemed like Megan, Beth, Paul, and Will would remain busy as they built the foundation of our potential future.
Will and Megan volunteered to take the children back to the apartment and get them settled for the night. Nadia and Patrick begged to spend the night with them, and Will gave them permission. Alex, Ella, and Nadia wanted to get back to their video games, and Micah and Patrick wanted to get back to their comic books.
That left us with no responsibilities for the children tonight. I had a hot shower, ice cream, a movie, and pajama’s calling my name, but first clean-up. Jemmy, Rachel, Troy, Noah, and Jaxson volunteered to help corral the kids back to the apartments and get them set up on the game system.
Beth was thankful for the opportunity to not worry about the children while she made sure the Illinois council was settled in for the night. I heard Brad murmuring to her about Cora before they left the room but was unable to hear Beth’s response.
I tried to shake the despondent feelings that threatened to engulf me. I still had nightmares of Steven’s death. I still wondered if I should have done things differently. I wondered if I should have listened to the small voice within that had warned me all day long. I knew it was useless plaguing myself with the ‘what ifs’ but my heart and brain continued to war with each other.
“Are you okay?” Jace asked quietly as I began loading the dishes onto the serving cart Paul had provided us.
“Yeah,” I said quickly.
Jace and Remy exchanged a look, and I knew they didn’t believe me. I wasn’t the greatest at deceiving them.
“That was an amazing meal,” Paul said to Drake. “If you have time, would you like to follow me to the kitchens? I can give you our budget and give you the list of companies we order from.”
“I would love to,” Drake responded with a smile. “Blake, do you want to come with?”
“Sure. I can load these up in the dishwasher,” I volunteered. “I’m sure the staff are gone for the night, and it would be rude to have our dirty dishes waiting for them.”
“Tha
nks,” Paul gave me a tired smile. “That would be great.”
He looked exhausted. It couldn’t be easy being in charge of a facility of this magnitude. Especially with the changes that were coming in the next few weeks. Horatio had been silent, and I didn’t trust it. None of us did.
The attempts to reach my brother Kade were useless. He hadn’t responded since the last time I had seen him. I was beginning to worry. It didn’t help that Ella hadn’t produced a picture or a dream since we got here, either.
“I’ll come help,” Remy took the cart from my hands.
“Me too,” Jace added.
We headed down the hall and to the DFAC. It was eerily silent when we entered it. The chairs were put on top of the tables, and the floors smelled heavily of pine cleaner. It was fairly pristine in here.
I followed Paul, Drake, and Jace into the swinging double doors behind the steam tables that kept our food warm during service. The kitchen staff wasn’t very adept at cooking, but they knew how to clean, that was for sure. It made me feel better knowing my food came from a well-kept kitchen.
Paul and Drake headed to the kitchen office located in the back-left hand corner. Jace, Remy, and I headed to the wash rack. Remy pulled down the trays for the glasses and dishes.
“Should we trust Noah, Jaxson, or Troy with our movie selection tonight?” Remy asked dryly as we started loading up the trays.
“Well, we know it’ll be comedy if its Jax and Noah, but it could be some military war movie if its Troy’s choice,” I laughed.
“True story,” Jace bumped me lightly with his shoulders. “They’re not that hard to predict.”
“None of you are,” I teased tongue in cheek.
I was suddenly reminded about what Drake and I discovered this afternoon. I wondered if it worked for all of them.
Remy, Jace, can you hear me? I asked them.
The both looked at me inquiringly and nodded.
I laughed. No, think about your answer. Then respond.
I could see they were both trying to humor me, but they both said Yes, simultaneously.
I laughed and clapped my hands realizing it had worked. I could hear them loud and clear.
They looked at each other in astonishment. Then back at me. “I wonder if it works, if we’re not talking to you,” Jace said thoughtfully.
I shrugged. “Try it. Try to talk to Jaxson.”
We looked at each other for a moment. “No. If he could hear me, I couldn’t hear him.”
Jaxson, I called.
What’s up beautiful? was his immediate response.
Can you hear anyone calling your name? I asked
Um no. Should I have? His tone was confused.
Yeah, but no worries. I’ll explain later. I told him.
Aww why are you being so cryptic? Answer me now! I could hear the mock whine in his voice.
Hahaha dream on, Mr. All American. You can wait until we return to the room. Maybe you should have helped with the dishes, too, I joked.
Not fair, Blake! He scoffed. Alex wanted me to go with him,
and you know I can’t damage these beautiful throwing hands with dirty dishwater.
They have a dishwasher, I responded wryly.
I chose to block him from further conversation. He was going to be impatiently waiting for my return now. He had zero patience.
“He couldn’t hear you,” I informed Jace. “I know when I first started talking to him it was only on occasion. Especially when I was scared or anxious. Since then, I can communicate with him whenever I want to. Maybe you need to keep on practicing.” I theorized.
“I tried to talk to Drake,” Remy shook his head frowning. “He didn’t respond either. I think this way of communicating is only open when you’re involved. Although maybe with practice we can talk to each other…”
“Okay let’s try it,” Jace nodded.
How did you learn about this new…trick? Remy teased.
I couldn’t stop the blush that came on my cheeks. Drake thought something earlier, and I could hear him. He didn’t realize he had projected his thoughts to me. I hedged.
Jace chuckled. You seem more relaxed and less stressed. I wasn’t aware cooking did that for you.
I crossed my arms across my chest. Maybe after weeks of not being able to, it can be a stress reliever. I said tartly. They were just trying to get a rise out of me.
That’s it. Remy growled. I’m learning how to cook more than eggs, steaks, and anything else that can be cooked on the grill.
I couldn’t help the burst of laughter from my mouth. I covered my mouth. Knock it off!
Never! They both responded simultaneously.
I immediately put up my barriers ending the discussion. “Conversation closed,” I smiled smugly.
They both gave me knowing grins. We were silent for a moment, deep in our own thoughts as we loaded up the trays with the rest of the glasses and dishes.
“This can really come in handy,” Jace murmured as he pulled the door down on the dishwasher. “Especially for this upcoming week.”
“It’s something we should work on,” Remy agreed.
“We need to let the others know when we return to the apartment. Did we get everything we needed for our adventure?” I asked them, recalling that they had finished packing our rucksacks.
“And then some,” Jace nodded. “We should be able to stay out there for at least a week. Although it should take us that long to make our way back.”
When we returned to the room, I stopped short in the doorway, noticing a transformation had occurred to our living and dining room area in the time I had been out. The ugly brown and yellow plaid couch and love seat were now covered in attractive slate grey slipcovers. Three natural, beige reclining chairs were situated between the love seat and couch. Now there was enough seating for everyone and a couple guest.
An empty white cubicle shelving unit was assembled behind the love seat against the wall. A faux fur cream rug covered the VCT tiles in the center of the room with a slate gray ottoman in the middle of it.
Behind the couch was an array of pictures with black frames and white matting surrounding the pictures. On closer inspection, I saw pictures of all my family and friends. There were pictures of Jemmy and the boys when they were younger. There was even a picture of all of us before the obstacle course race over a month ago. Tears sprung to my eyes as I noticed pictures of me and my siblings sprinkled throughout them.
There weren’t many pictures of me after my uncle had been murdered. All the albums of him and me were ‘lost’ in the move to Heidi’s mom’s trailer. I was thankful for Jemmy and Troy’s insistence of taking pictures all the time. Pictures were captured moments our minds sometimes forgot. They helped you recall the exact instant the picture was taken. The sounds. The smells. The feelings.
I stopped to look at a picture of me and Micah standing behind the stove. We were still dressed in our pajamas. Ella was sitting on her knees on a bar stool at the island patiently taking the stems off the strawberries I had given her. She was still dressed in her pajamas, her hair a beautiful mess. Alex was standing on a stool laughing as he pointed at Micah with a whisk. His curly black hair was in disarray. He was shirtless (he had given up shirts to sleep in because Jaxson didn’t wear one, his idol) and had on a pair of flannel pajama bottoms.
I had been teaching Micah how to make pancakes. It had been on one of those lazy Sunday mornings. I could remember the smell of the batter as it hit the griddle. I could recollect the way Ella’s little tongue stuck out when she concentrated. I recalled the sound of Alex’s carefree laughter. I just didn’t remember that candid shot being taken or who took it. It was beautifully simple.
I turned away trying to hide my tears. The old, wooden, worn out kitchen table now had a cream woven runner in the center. They even added a center piece of two hurricane lamps with candles in them, flanking an antique looking white pitcher with white hydrangeas in them. Slate grey cushions were added to the hard-woode
n chairs.
Noah came out of his room with a crestfallen expression on his face a lamp in his hands. “Aww man!” he exclaimed. “That wasn’t long enough! Why didn’t you call?”
Jemmy and Rachel came out of Jace and Remy’s rooms with more art work. “Drake!” Jemmy yelled stamping her feet. “You had one job!” She held up her pointer finger at him.
“Our phones didn’t have any reception,” Drake frowned with a look of disappointment.
“Found it!” Troy came in the room carrying a large mirror with thick Beachwood grey frame surrounding it. He stopped short when he saw me. “Really guys?” he asked in exasperation as he looked at Jace, Remy, and Drake.
“What’s all this?” I finally found my voice when I realized this was all supposed to be a surprise for me.
My mind was reeling. How did they hide this all from me? I knew we had been separated today for an extended period, but I never thought they had different agendas. I never dreamed of them transforming our drab, depressing apartment into our own private oasis. Looking at the things they had already done made me momentarily forget we lived in an apartment buried into a mountain.
“It’s your birthday week, sweetheart,” Jace murmured as he embraced me from behind. His strong arms pulling me into his body as he kissed the top of my head. “Sorry we have to spend most of it roughing it.”
I laughed and felt the tears fall at the same time. As much as I loved hearing Jaxson and Drake admit their love for me, the actions of the others were proof of theirs.
“We made her cry,” Jaxson groaned as he came out of his room behind Noah.
“They’re happy tears,” I said as I wiped them away. I looked at all them. “I don’t care if we have to rough it for my birthday week. I don’t care if we’re back home. I don’t care if we are in this formally crappy apartment. I care that we’re together. No matter where we are. This is so amazing. Thank you, guys!”