by Olivia Myers
“Uh, no, he’s someone I met here,” Quinn explained. “He used to work for my grandfather.”
Jason’s smile widened. His green eyes twinkled. He was still as gorgeous as ever, though not as tall and well-built as Ivan. “Listen, Quinn. How about getting together tomorrow? For old times’ sake?”
Quinn didn’t see anything wrong with it, although she felt Ivan tense up. “Sure,” she said. She gave him her number and said goodbye.
Ivan didn’t say anything about it afterward, but she found it odd that he seemed unusually quiet and uptight in the car on their way back home.
***
The still life painting on the canvas looked exactly like the fruits she had laid out on the table. When she stepped back to study what she’d accomplished, she couldn’t help feeling proud for having done a good job.
“Quite impressive for someone without practice,” she said aloud, nodding her head. Her long blond hair was piled up in a messy bun on top of her head. She hadn’t had time to put makeup on because she woke up excited to get started on her painting.
“Very nice,” someone remarked from behind her.
She turned around and felt her heart skip a beat when she saw Ivan in a simple shirt and pair of jeans. Now he looked a lot more “normal,” except for the fact that his arms were covered with steel.
“I’m glad you like it,” Quinn said, feeling herself blush. He seemed to be making an effort to become a friend and not a servant to her.
“Of course,” he said, moving closer to admire her work.
Quinn observed him with fascination as he studied the details of her painting up close.
“The strokes are professional, and the colors are very vivid and realistic… Wonderful blending,” he murmured.
She was stunned. This time, she was absolutely certain that he was either an artist in the past or was often exposed to art.
He stopped then, stood up straight again, and stepped back. “Should I have the chef bring your lunch here?” he asked, obviously changing the topic.
“No,” Quinn answered. “Let’s go find him in the kitchen and we’ll all eat in the dining area.”
As they made their way to the kitchen, she wondered if she could trigger more in his memory if she exposed him to more art and music.
Before they feasted on the sumptuous meal that had been prepared, Quinn navigated her way through the Morgan Estate app on her smartphone and made sure to play music in the dining hall.
He actually smiled when he heard the first few beats.
While they were enjoying their food, she started talking about her love for art. He listened to her intently, looking interested.
Then all of a sudden, the look on his face made her stop talking. He looked stricken, all the color draining from his face.
“What is it?” she asked. Instinctively, she leaned forward and placed a hand on his.
He looked down at her touch, but visibly relaxed afterward. He tried to regain control of his thoughts, breathing in and out deeply. He shook his head, probably not wanting to bother her with such negative visions.
“Did you remember something?” Quinn persisted. “What is it? Tell me, please. If you can. If you want to.”
“I saw myself. I was painting on a very huge canvas,” he began, his face ashen, his eyes distant. “Then all of a sudden, there was blood all over the canvas in front of me and even on the floor. There was a dead man in the room. I don’t know what happened.”
Quinn felt sorry for him as she watched him struggle with his memories. He was obviously tormented by the past, and she thought that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to help him remember. Maybe there was good reason for this.
“Excuse me,” he said, standing up and leaving his plate unfinished.
She didn’t see him again that day. One of the servants told her that he was resting in his bedroom, so she let him rest. Maybe he needed time to be alone.
That evening, she ate dinner by herself. She felt so isolated, as if she was about to go insane in that colossal house. She couldn’t even appreciate the delicious salad and pasta she’d consumed. At that very moment, all she could think about was that she did not belong in this place. This was someone else’s life, not hers.
An alarm went off from her smartphone. When she looked at it, she was surprised to see a live video feed that was being sent from the front gate. It showed Jason smiling at the camera, with some other people behind him who all looked familiar.
A female voice came on, the same one from the security hologram at the gate. “They claim they are your friends, Miss Morgan. Should we let them in? We will make sure to scan their identification cards.”
Quinn narrowed her eyes in confusion and surprise. She’d thought Jason meant the two of them would get together and catch up—not a whole party. But she found herself nodding eventually. It wouldn’t hurt to welcome them. She was, after all, feeling lonely.
When she met them in the living room, she was astonished to find that one of them was Alison, a popular girl who, in their high school days, had despised Quinn. She saw Quinn and rushed over.
“Quinn! I miss you!” she gushed loudly. “How have you been?”
“I’m okay, thanks,” Quinn said with a baffled look on her face. “Alison?”
“Yes, it’s me!” Alison said cheerfully. “Oh, my gosh! So the rumors are true. You are damn rich already! Your house is so big and fantastic!”
“Thanks,” Quinn mumbled. She turned to Jason with a questioning look.
He gave her an awkward smile. “I’m sorry we came here unannounced, Quinn,” he said. “I ran into them online and mentioned that we saw each other yesterday. So we decided to come and surprise you. I hope you don’t mind.”
“We thought you might need some company,” the other girl said. Quinn remembered her as someone who’d been a year or two behind her in high school.
“Tricia’s right,” a red-haired guy said with an excited grin. “How about you give us a tour of the place?”
“Oh, sure,” Quinn said. She didn’t have any choice, did she?
The guy, whom Jason introduced as Brad, had supposedly been in their same class too. She could not remember him, though.
It was weird that they had actually brought swimsuits to go swimming at her house, without informing her beforehand. They were all being very nice to her and she was thankful for the company. However, she was well aware that they were kissing her ass because they learned she’d inherited a fortune.
She had the chef prepare snacks for everybody. To her surprise, a bartender she’d never seen before presented himself and was mixing drinks on the poolside bar for her “guests.”
After drowning her chaotic emotions in alcohol, she could feel herself loosening up. What the heck! I’m free, I’ve got loads of cash, and I can do whatever I want, she thought.
Jason teased her, until she jumped into the pool with him—in her shirt and shorts.
“You look really great, Quinn,” Jason whispered in her ear as they floated in the heated pool. He’d suddenly pulled her closer, his arms around her waist.
Quinn giggled. The alcohol in her system seemed to have muddled up her thoughts. All she could focus on was the fun she was having. “You’re not so bad yourself,” she said.
He grinned and started nibbling on her ear with his lips and teeth. Her heart began to pound harder. Was this what she wanted?
She pulled away slightly, but that made him grab her again, encircling her waist with both his arms. In a snap, she felt sober again. She knew this wasn’t something she wanted. She pushed him away then and climbed out of the pool in a hurry.
“Hey, Quinn! I’m sorry. Don’t go,” he called as he followed her.
They were both dripping wet as they got to the deck. She grabbed a towel that one of the servants had left for her, and wrapped herself in it.
“Don’t you want to have fun with me? I thought you missed me as much as I missed you,” Jason said flirtatiously.
>
Quinn couldn’t believe him.
“You can leave now,” a booming voice suddenly said from behind her. Even without turning around, she knew it was Ivan. He’d probably woken up when he heard them.
“Who the fuck are you?” Jason demanded angrily. He swiped a beer from the table nearby and took a swig.
“Leave,” Ivan repeated. He had a menacing look on his face that was enough to make Jason recoil.
“Party spoiler,” Jason muttered. He gave Ivan and Quinn a dirty look before grabbing his things and trudging away.
The others didn’t want to leave, however. “Party’s over,” Ivan announced.
“We’ll believe it when Quinn says so, not you,” Alison said in a snotty voice.
“He’s right,” Quinn said. “The party’s over.”
Alison turned around and continued splashing in the pool.
Ivan took his tablet out of his pocket. With a couple of furious swipes, five large men in security uniforms stomped out to the pool area.
Faced with Quinn’s security team, her “friends” had no other option but to end their party.
“Sorry you had to get dragged into this,” Quinn told Ivan once the unwanted guests had gone. “I shouldn’t have let them in in the first place.”
“You were being a good friend,” he simply said.
“No,” Quinn said firmly. Her chest felt heavy. “They’re not even my friends. Just some people I knew from before. Guess they were just taking advantage of my so-called good fortune.”
She felt far from fortunate. She felt like a push-over, and she knew how it looked—her loneliness had gotten the best of her and now she looked pathetic.
A look of concern filled Ivan’s face as they stared at each other. Slowly, he lifted a hand and caressed her cheek. “It’s going to be okay, Quinn.”
Quinn met his gaze. She could feel the intensifying connection between them. “Thanks, Ivan.”
He quickly retracted his hand and walked back into the house. “I’m sorry. That was improper.”
Quinn followed him. “No, it’s all right. I’m happy that you’re treating me like an equal now.”
He stopped and faced her again. “Am I?”
“You’re learning,” Quinn said.
He smiled. For a few seconds, they stood there smiling at each other. Quinn felt something more between them, a bond growing silently, borne of mutual interests and affection and protection—she wanted to protect him, and he seemed to want to protect her.
“You’re still dripping wet,” Ivan suddenly said.
Quinn laughed. “Oh, right. I better go take a shower and change. Thanks, Ivan. I really appreciate your presence in my life.”
“You’re welcome.”
Even as she ambled up the grand staircase, she could still feel his gaze on her.
***
“Oh. My. God.”
Quinn couldn’t help laughing as her little stepsister’s eyes almost bulged upon opening her gift. Elise immediately ran to her to give her a big hug. She then stepped back and proudly held the Louis Vuitton bag above her head. “I finally got a real LV! It’s a dream come true!”
Their mom and their mom’s husband, Andrew, cheered.
“It’s no big deal, really,” Jessica interjected jokingly, trying to dampen Elise’s spirits on purpose. “So what? Quinn got us all LV bags, straight from boring old Paris. No big deal, right?”
“Yeah, definitely,” Quinn said with an exaggerated wave of her hand in the air. “It’s just a tiny fraction in my fortune, anyway.”
Everybody laughed. They were all gathered in the dining hall, enjoying the five-star dinner feast that had especially been cooked for their reunion.
Quinn had never felt happier. This was what it felt like to be surrounded by friends—not that ridiculous party that Jason had forced on her the other night. It was truly amazing to be able to give everyone what they wanted. Apart from the bags, she’d also gotten her mom and Andrew an all-expenses paid trip to Hawaii. She’d given the same gift to Jessica and her boyfriend, Nick. But at that moment, what mattered even more was that they were all together. She was actually going to have an entire weekend with the people who counted.
“So what happened to your mom and dad and brothers, Jess?” Quinn asked.
“Sorry, they couldn’t make it,” Jessica said. “They have so much work to do over the weekend. My brothers wanted so much to come, but Dad had grounded them because of their bad grades.”
Elise laughed. “So typical.”
“I know,” Jessica agreed with a laugh. “Runs in the blood, I think.”
As they dug into the yummy concoctions on the table, Elise launched into an animated and slightly overstated narration of their experience on the private plane. Obviously, the experience had been uniquely fun and unforgettable for all of them.
“We were treated like royalty, Quinn!” she ended.
“I’m glad,” Quinn said. She then began to share with them her own experiences in the mansion—how she often got lost inside, how she’d made friends with some of the servants and assistants, how so many new “friends” have been springing up and pestering her.
“Figures!” Jessica said with annoyance. She knew the story about Jason and his party-loving friends, and had already warned Quinn not to be too kind, trusting, and accommodating especially now in her new status.
Suddenly, in the middle of Quinn’s story, Elise gasped. “Who’s that?” She pointed toward the garden just outside the sliding doors of the dining hall.
Everyone looked. Quinn saw Ivan in the shirt and jeans that he usually wore now, talking to the gardener and appearing to give instructions. She shook her head in disbelief, knowing that he still couldn’t tear himself away from the duties he’d become accustomed to.
The day before her family and friends had arrived, she’d had Carmela Rodriguez set him up with a couple of potential employers in town. He’d actually landed a job as an assistant in an art gallery. It was an achievement for him, his first step toward independence. It made Quinn happy and proud to see him progressing away from his cybernetic programming.
Jessica, who was sitting beside her, nudged her. “Is that the cybernetic guy you told me about?”
“Yes,” Quinn answered. She couldn’t help smiling as she looked at how relaxed he seemed to be. Since that time he’d recalled a bad memory, they had never discussed it again.
To everybody else, she explained, “That’s Ivan, who used to work for my grandfather. I’ve released him from his duties, though. Even though he’s a cybernetic human, I’ve been teaching him to be more independent and to gain back his humanity.”
“He’s a cyber what?” asked Elise.
“That’s nice, honey,” her mom said.
“Well, whatever that means, I sooo envy you!” Elise exclaimed. “I would love for a hunk like that to follow me around and be at my beck and call!”
They all had a good laugh.
“Seriously, though, he’s really, really gorgeous,” Elise pointed out, giggling. “Quinn, can I borrow him as my prom date please?”
Jessica giggled.
Quinn shrugged, grinning. “Ask him yourself, Elise.”
Elise pouted. “I don’t know him.”
“Now look who’s chickening out!” their mom teased.
The teasing continued until Jessica shushed them. Ivan was approaching.
“Guys, I’d like you to meet my friend Ivan,” Quinn introduced.
Ivan looked shy and uncertain, but he greeted them all politely.
“Why don’t you join the fun, Ivan?” Andrew offered. “Have a seat.”
He did, and over the next few minutes, Quinn observed him as he opened up to them little by little. He was learning fast. Her heart soared with pride.
“Your eyes are twinkling,” Jessica whispered to her after a while.
“What?” Quinn said, puzzled.
“You like this guy, don’t you?” her best friend whispered. “I know
you too well, Quinn. Don’t deny it.”
Ivan was engaged in a conversation about sports and cars with Jessica’s boyfriend.
“Keep it down,” Quinn warned with widening eyes. She knew Ivan had extra-sensitive hearing. Perhaps it was an offshoot of those built-in programs they had placed in his system.
When the evening’s excitement winded down and everybody disappeared into their respective rooms, Quinn was left on her own. She couldn’t sleep yet, so she decided to take a walk on the open grounds surrounding the mansion.
Except for a few security personnel, there was nobody else awake.
The moon was shining brightly, along with the shimmering stars that blanketed the night sky. Quinn paused underneath a tree. She closed her eyes and leaned back against the trunk, feeling exhausted yet happy. It would probably take her a lot more time to completely adjust to this lifestyle, but she realized that when her loved ones were present, everything becomes easier to accept and adapt to. Even the great wealth felt like more of a blessing than a curse, when she had wonderful people to share it with.
“Hey,” a soft voice said, making Quinn open her eyes and straighten up. She was even more startled to see Ivan towering over her, his head almost touching a hanging tree branch above them.
“Hey, you’re still up,” Quinn said.
“I can say the same thing to you,” he responded with a big, wide smile.
Quinn almost laughed. He was actually grinning!
“What’s so funny?” he asked, his smile turning into a worried frown.
“You,” she said without hesitation. “This is the first time I’ve seen you smile like that. You’re becoming more human every day.”
That made him chuckle.
Quinn gasped. He was laughing. Laughing, when she hadn’t thought it possible.
He paused, his dark brown eyes widening. They didn’t say anything for a few seconds. Then suddenly, he chuckled again. “You’re right, Quinn. I feel more human now, and it’s because of you.”
Quinn could feel her heart racing as his penetrating gaze seemed to look right into her soul.
“I’m happy for you,” she whispered.