Parallelogram Omnibus Edition

by Brande, Robin

  When I came out of the machine, back into Dr. Venn’s office, the first thing I did was look up at the clock. There was no way I’d been gone for a full hour. It felt like barely fifteen minutes.

  But the numbers on the clock couldn’t lie. And Daniel wouldn’t, either.

  I wanted to go back in right away. But I also knew I shouldn’t. My body was screaming for food, as usual, and when Daniel said he thought I should wait until morning, let myself rest, I knew he was right. But it didn’t mean I liked it.

  Jake was waiting for us outside Dr. Venn’s office. I nearly ripped the bags of food out of his hands. I started eating as we walked to the car. I gave Red his portion, too. And I felt surly and mean and didn’t want to talk to a soul.

  Even when Daniel reached for my hand a moment ago, I was tempted to snap at him, tell him to leave me alone, tell him I needed to think.

  What’s happening to me?

  I give his hand a squeeze, then gently pull mine away. I use it to pet the big dog lying across my lap.

  Maybe that hurts Daniel’s feelings, but he doesn’t say anything about it. I appreciate that. I hate people who keep bugging you when it’s clear you need a moment to yourself. If they’d just wait, give you time, you could get back to normal much faster than if they kept pestering you with “What’s wrong? What’s wrong?”

  But Daniel lets me have my silent brooding. I’m grateful.

  I keep trying to piece together everything I saw. It makes sense that I’d tell Professor Whitfield how to make the machine. If I have one in my world, and another in this one, maybe Halli and I can both go back and forth. She can come here and be herself for a while every day, or at least every now and then, if she wants to.

  But would she want to? What’s here for her? Her dog, sure. But is there really anything else? How is being the famous Halli Markham in this world where too many people recognize her and are in her business any better than the life I caught a brief glimpse of, hiking in the mountains somewhere with a sweet little puppy?

  Halli has no incentive to switch with me, even if I can ever figure it out. I might as well face it.

  The life I can see her wanting is one with Ginny again. Maybe that’s something she could do with the machine. I could tell her how to find that end of the thread and follow it forward to find her grandmother.

  I pinch my fingers against my eyes. I don’t know anything anymore.

  “Headache?” Daniel whispers. I can hear the concern in his voice. I understand why.

  “No.” I pull my fingers away and give him a reassuring smile. “Just tired. My brain’s on overload. It’s been a long day.”

  I’m relieved when Wilkinson finally pulls up in front of Daniel’s house. I could use some more food, something hot to drink, maybe even another bubble bath so I can keep thinking in peace.

  Daniel retrieves the crate filled with files from out of the trunk and starts carrying it toward his house. Red and I are about to follow when Jake lowers his window and says, “Halli, can I talk to you for a minute?”

  Great, now there’s this guy.

  “Sure. I guess. Just a minute.” I walk with Daniel and Red up to the house, then ask Daniel to take the dog inside.

  “I’m worried about you,” Daniel says.

  “Don’t be,” I tell him. “I’m fine. I just need some soup and some of Sarah’s cookies. I’ll be in in a minute.” I clasp his hand for a second, then turn around and head back to the car. I gather Daniel’s coat more tightly around me then bury my hands in the pockets. It’s cold out tonight.

  Wilkinson is still standing outside the car, holding open the door. Jake is in the backseat waiting. I hesitate for a second, then slide in.

  Jake gets right to the point. “I’m leaving in the morning.”

  “Oh.” I wasn’t expecting that. “But I thought … okay. If you have to.” I was going to say something about him going to the party, but really, does that matter? People should do what they want. I don’t really care. I have too many other things to think about.

  Still, I’m curious. “Why?”

  “Your father’s going back,” Jake says. “I thought I’d catch a free ride before I quit.”

  “Quit? Why would you do that?”

  “Because this didn’t work out the way I wanted it to. I think it’s time to move on.”

  “Jake, if it’s because of me—”

  “It is because of you, but probably not what you think. I was serious about wanting to work for you, Halli. I think we’d make a great team. But it’s pretty clear you don’t want that, and the truth is, I’m tired of lying to you.”

  I’m guessing the next words out of his mouth are going to be about how he’s been hiding his feelings for me all this time. How he’s loved Halli ever since he was a kid and Ginny told him stories about her. And how now that he’s met me, he’s still in love with me. It’s flattering, but it’s not what I want. And I don’t need some guy to put himself out there and confess his feelings when I’m just going to have to turn him down.

  So I try to head him off. “That’s really nice of you, but—”

  “How is it nice of me?” he asks. “I’ve been doing what your parents wanted ever since I picked you up in Colorado. They had an agenda and I’ve been helping them. I should have said no from the very beginning. But then I doubt I would have met you.”

  “What are you talking about? How have you lied to me?”

  “You want the whole list?” he says. “Okay. I told you you could trust Monsieur Bern. You can’t. I told you not to trust Mrs. Scott. You can. I think you figured that out for yourself. I told you—”

  “Wait. Hold on. Why did you lie about Mrs. Scott?” I remember it clearly: Jake telling me after the board meeting that I needed to be careful with Mrs. Scott—that she and Ginny hated each other and had been enemies for years.

  I couldn’t believe it. Mrs. Scott had just stood up for me against Halli’s father in the board meeting. He tried to pressure everyone to vote on the purchase of my shares, but Mrs. Scott is the one who said that since I was a 49 percent shareholder, I should have as much time as I wanted to learn more about the company first. She told me how much she admired Ginny, and offered to help me in any way she could. She told me I could stay with her any time I was in London—even on short notice like when I asked her if I could come back with her the next day.

  All of my instincts told me I could trust her, but Jake tried to change my mind. And then when she visited me in the hospital last week, he was so rude about throwing her out. I assumed at the time Halli’s parents didn’t want us talking, and now it’s been confirmed.

  “But we stayed with her when we first got here,” I say. So obviously Jake hadn’t been trying too hard.

  “Against my advice,” he says, “yes.”

  I wonder what other lies he’s told. But I don’t wonder enough to want to keep talking about all of this. The truth is, what Halli’s parents say and do and want doesn’t have anything to do with me anymore. I’ve got a lot bigger concerns to deal with.

  Although I am curious enough about one thing. “So why have you told me so much about my parents? Like what they’ve been saying behind my back? Some of the time you act like you’re on my side.”

  “I’ve always been on your side, Halli. I’ve just gone about it the wrong way. I was stupid. I shouldn’t have cared about my job. I should have just come to you on my own. Maybe then you would have hired me.”

  “Maybe,” I say honestly. “I don’t really know. Although I still don’t know what I’d hire you to do. It’s not like I’m running a company the way my parents are.”

  “You’re about to invest in a new one,” he says. “I could have helped you with that.”

  I pinch my fingers against my eyes again. I do have a little headache, but I know it’s not serious. Just too much noise, too much talking, when what I really need is some time alone.

  But then one more thought occurs to me. “Why did you show my father Sar
ah’s invitation to the party?”

  Jake seems surprised by that. But he recovers quickly enough. “He wanted to leave this morning. He knew by yesterday afternoon that you weren’t going to meet with any of those professors he lined up. I told him it was because you were already bored with the whole idea of being involved in their company, and that if he gave me a few more days, I could probably talk you into selling him your shares.”

  “You said what? Jake, I have no intention of—”

  “I know,” he says, cutting me off. “I know. I was just trying to buy more time with you. I told him it was hard to get you alone—you were always with Daniel or Sarah or your dog—but if he’d let me stay until the party, I could figure out a way to talk to you there. Then if it still didn’t work, I’d fly back home.”

  “So then why are you leaving tomorrow?”

  “Because there’s no point,” Jake says. “It was clear to your parents last night after I told them about the interview that you’re going to do whatever you want. They know they can’t control you.”

  I feel a surge of pride at that. Those two people who used to intimidate me so much know that I’m too strong to boss around. I wasn’t that girl just a few weeks ago. It feels great to see that through someone else’s eyes.

  Defiant.

  “It doesn’t mean they’re going to give up,” he adds. “They might not control you, but they do control Monsieur Bern. They’ve tried being nice to you—”

  I laugh. “This is nice?”

  “Their version of it,” Jake says. “But now they’ll use a lot harder tactics over the next few months to try to get those shares from you before you turn eighteen.”

  “They won’t get them,” I tell him. “Ever. Ginny left them to me for a reason. Mrs. Scott will support me. There are other board members who will, too.”

  Jake shrugs. “Bottom line, I’m not going to be part of it anymore. This isn’t what I signed up for. Although, like I said, I won’t break it to them until I’m all the way back home. I may be stupid about some things, but not that.”

  “Jake, you don’t have to quit. Not for my sake.”

  “This apprenticeship was always a means to an end: meeting you. And now I have. Like I told you before, it’s been worth it. But I don’t want to have to keep working for your parents on the hope that I might run into you again. You have my card. You can find me whenever you want.”

  Jake leans back against the seat. “So there you have it. Do what you want. I like you, Halli, I’m not going to lie about that. I know you’re involved with—” He jerks his head toward the house. “But if that ever changes …”

  I have to give Jake credit. He made me uncomfortable in the hospital last time with how jealous and possessive he was whenever Daniel was around—even though it was Jake I was with back then, not Daniel. But this time, to see him being so cool and reasonable about my choosing Daniel—he doesn’t know it, but he just gained a whole bunch of points with me. Now I really do wish he’d give Sarah a chance. I think I could really recommend him.

  “You sure you don’t want to stay for the party?” I ask. “You might meet some people you’d like.”

  “No, I need to head back. I’m going to have to look for another job. It might take a while.”

  I nod. I suppose someone else might say, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll hire you,” but I don’t want the responsibility. That’s not the future I see—the future I saw. We’re all on our own out here, Jake and me included. He should do whatever he wants.

  “See you,” I tell him. “Thanks for your help—I know you did help me sometimes. Good luck with whatever you’re doing.”

  I’m about to open the car door when Jake takes my hand in his and lifts it up to his lips. He plants a kiss softly between my knuckles. It’s a lot better than him grabbing me in front of a bunch of reporters and planting a kiss right on my lips.

  I’ll admit it gives me a funny feeling. He’s the spitting image of Will, after all. And he’s Jake Demetrios, the guy I was incredibly attracted to just a week and a lifetime ago. It’s not like my skin is totally immune to that.

  But my heart is.

  “Take care,” I tell him, then I reclaim my hand and exit the car.

  I find my boyfriend sitting on the couch with his father, deep in conversation. But not so deep that he doesn’t look up the moment I walk through the door.

  “Everything all right?” he asks.

  “Perfect. I just need to eat.”

  I head into the kitchen where Sarah and her mom are making what has to be the last of the party food. Red is comfortably stretched out on the rug.

  “Opinion, please,” Sarah says. “Nut ball A, nut ball B.”

  I take a bite of each. “Both.”

  Sarah sighs. “I thought so, too. I’ll be enslaved to this kitchen until we’re celebrating my fiftieth birthday.”

  “Hungry?” Francie asks me.

  “Starving,” I say. She reminds me a little of Elena, Will and Lydia’s mom, always ready to mother me, to set out an extra plate, to make sure I feel welcome and fed and cared for.

  Maybe it’s not so bad that I can never go back to my old life. Maybe I can be just as happy here.

  Or maybe that’s the kind of lie you tell yourself when you’re close to giving up.

  I’m not giving up.

  I thank Francie for the plate of food and head back out to the living room.

  “Ready?” I ask Daniel.

  There’s a crate full of files waiting for us.

  And maybe somewhere in there is a better answer for me.

  58

  I find the drawing almost right away.

  It’s in a file marked Combustion Oscillation. An interesting way to hide it. I doubt anyone would open a file like that on purpose.

  “This is it,” I tell Daniel. “This is the one I saw.”

  “This exact drawing?”

  “No, a drawing I made, I think. I must have had to copy it from memory.”

  Looking at Dr. Venn’s drawing now, I can see what a risk that presents. There are so many numbers written all over it—dimensions, ratios—I doubt I was able to remember all of them at once. I probably had to copy it in stages, memorizing as much as I could, then bilocating to Professor Whitfield’s lab and writing it all down before I forgot.

  “What do you think happened to the other machine?” I ask. “The Edgar Venn in my world made one, too, remember. What do you think happened to it after he died?”

  “I don’t know,” Daniel says. “That’s a good question.”

  “It would be so much easier if I could just tell Professor Whitfield where it was, and then he could arrange to move it to his lab.”

  “I don’t suppose Dr. Venn would know where it is now.”

  “I don’t think so,” I say. “Elinor said he left and never went back. If it’s like what happened with Dr. Sands, then somebody would have just found Edgar Venn’s body dead in the machine. Maybe they’d think he had a heart attack. I doubt anyone would want to preserve something they may have think killed him.”

  There’s a knock on the door, and Sarah joins us. She’s brought a resupply of cookies with her.

  “No wonder you have to keep making more,” I tell her. “I must have eaten half of them already.”

  “Biscuits are brain food,” she says. “Of course you need them.” She surveys the piles of folders and papers spread all around us where we’re sitting on the floor. “Can I help with anything?”

  “Oh!” I say, just remembering I haven’t told her yet. “You were right about Dr. Venn. You did see two different men in that footage.”

  “Of course,” she says with casual pride. “Never doubt the observational skills of a girl who can detect the false Halli Markham.”

  The false Halli Markham. Something about that phrase is nudging against my brain.

  I close my eyes and try to capture the thought.

  It has something to do with hair.

  Just a littl
e bit of concentration, and I get it. My eyes pop back open. Yes.

  “When I saw myself tonight,” I tell Daniel, “I knew it was me. It was me at the airport, then me at Professor Whitfield’s lab. And both times, my hair was short—the way you cut it, Sarah. Remember?”

  “Yes. Not your hair,” she says gesturing to the ponytail I’m wearing right now, “but … your other hair.”

  “When I visited Halli this morning—”

  “You saw her?” Sarah asks. “How is she?”

  “She’s great. She’s fine. But when I bilocated there—I’ll fill you in on all this later,” I tell Sarah, “—but anyway, my hair was long and I knew if my mom woke up she’d notice. So Halli had to cut my hair. Then when I came back here, it was still long.”

  “So what are you thinking?” Daniel asks.

  “If I’m trying to pay attention to the details and match what I see in the time loop, then that means I have shorter hair there. I doubt I’m having someone cut it over there every time I bilocate. So that means …”

  I look at Sarah.

  Her smile flattens out. “Oh, no. I won’t. You can’t.”

  “You have to, Sarah. Please.”

  “But it’s gorgeous!” she protests. “That hair is your crown. I don’t mean to hurt your feelings, but your other hair was an atrocious, piteous thing. It deserved to be cut—but this!”

  “Scissors?” I ask Daniel.

  He gets up to pull a pair out of his desk drawer.

  “Please, I beg of you,” Sarah tries one more time. “Isn’t there any other way?”

  “Sarah, what you don’t get is that I’m happy about this. It means I’ve figured out another piece of the puzzle. So please be happy for me. And chop it off the way you did in that meadow.”

  “Chop it off,” Sarah scoffs. “I only had a dull knife that day, if you recall. I can do something much more stylish than chop with a proper pair of scissors, thank you very much.”

  “Don’t worry about stylish,” I say. “Just try to make it look exactly like what you did before.”

  Sarah accepts the pair of scissors. I take my hair out of its ponytail and comb it loose with my fingers. It’s been fun having this long, thick mane. But giving it up is a small price to pay for getting to become the girl I saw in my future.