by A. W. Cross
By playing nice.
Which meant apologizing to her.
Could he do it? As far as he was concerned, he hadn’t done anything wrong. How could he make his contrition sincere? He was an awkward liar.
He sighed and glanced around him. His feet had taken him up the main street where the magician plied his trade. Today, in his place, a young woman played a violin, the haunting melody creating a cascade of colors over her head that fell like the northern lights. Her long hair was knotted on her head, streaked with the same fashionable cerise that had been applied to Pine’s.
That gave James an idea. It would be a small token, but at least it was a start.
***
James rang the doorbell at Joseph’s early the next day, before Joseph was likely to leave the house. A pang of anxiety almost made him turn around. What if Joseph didn’t answer the door? What if he was still angry? What had Pine told him about yesterday?
He set the bags he was carrying down on the step and wiped his hands on his trousers. Why was he so nervous? He hadn’t slept well last night, even once he’d planned his atonement. He’d tossed and turned, reliving what Pine had had told him and struggling to refute it. He’d thought the time away from her and some sleep would’ve made things clearer. But instead, his mind was even more disordered. He wasn’t used to feeling that unsure of himself, and he didn’t like it. Damn her.
Why is Joseph taking so long? Should he just leave? Joseph would contact him when he was ready. He picked up his bags again, just as the door opened.
Joseph stood in the doorway, looking as exhausted as James felt, dark circles under his eyes and his hair even more unkempt than usual. He said nothing, but stood aside to let James in.
The living room was empty, granting James a reprieve.
“She’s upstairs,” Joseph said.
“I’m sorry about what happened yesterday, Joseph. I’m still not entirely sure what happened.” Why wouldn’t his hands stop sweating?
Joseph smiled at him, his expression kinder than James had dared hope. “I think both of you finally let out things that have been building inside for a long time. It’s a difficult situation.” He gestured for James to sit down. “With the way you feel about synadroids and how Pine feels about us… Throw in a spark of attraction, and things got…heated.” Joseph raised an eyebrow.
“We’re not attracted to each other,” James protested. How could Joseph even think that? Especially after what had happened the day before? Attraction was the last word James would use to describe how he and Pine felt about each other.
Joseph laughed. “That’s what Pine said too.”
She did? “Joseph, she’s a machine. Sentient or not, I could never—”
Joseph cleared his throat. Pine stood stiffly in the doorway.
“Pine, I—” James flushed. Insulting her was not going to help him. He cast about for something to say. “You’re looking better.”
That, at least, was the truth. The reason for Joseph’s insomnia was obvious. Pine’s skull was again covered by smooth skin, her arms those of a young woman. They must’ve spent the entire night in the basement workshop.
She looked small and fragile, and even more out of place than she had with that outlandish hairstyle. “Yes, well, that’s what so great about being a machine—all it takes is a bit of glue and it’s like it never happened. I mean, it’s not like we have feelings or anything.”
Of course she isn’t going to make this easy. James proffered her the bags, his token of surrender. “I…uh…brought you something.”
Pine didn’t move. “What is it?”
“Open them.” He set the bags down in front of her. What would he do if she refused?
She looked at Joseph, who smiled at her and dipped his head. She picked the bags up and carried them over to the other couch. “Which one should I open first?”
Maybe this was a bad idea. Was it too late to grab the bags and run? “The purple one.”
Pine pulled out the tissue paper and reached inside. She kept her hand in the bag, and an odd expression crossed her face.
“Well, what is it?” Joseph’s eyes were sparkling—he seemed more excited about the contents than Pine. What if he thought it meant more than it did? Especially after his comment about a spark…
Pine withdrew her hand. She held a shining mass of hair.
“Hold it up.” Joseph nearly snatched the hair from Pine’s grasp. James had never seen the older man so giddy.
Pine obeyed, putting the cap of the hair over one hand and shaking it out. She pressed her lips together as she combed her fingers through it. It was the hair she’d admired the day before.
She stared at James with suspicion. “You were following me.”
He rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, well. I was trying to make sure you didn’t get into trouble.”
Pine snorted. “You did a great job.”
At least she wasn’t being hostile. “Just open the other one.” He needed this to be over.
From the second bag, she pulled out the black jumpsuit. She smoothed the fabric over her lap and ran her fingers across it. This time she didn’t look at James. “Thank you.”
Is that good or bad?
“Shall we see how they look?” Joseph bounded off the couch with an alacrity that amazed James. “Come on, Pine, it won’t take more than ten minutes to set your hair.”
Pine closed her eyes, and James’s temper flared. Was she going to insist on being stubborn?
And so what if she is? The point was that Joseph was pleased.
Wasn’t it?
A few seconds later, she put him out of his misery by following Joseph down the stairs.
While James waited anxiously in the living room, he studied the picture of Mara. He’d only met her a few times before her death, and then, briefly. In fact, one of the reasons Joseph had hired him was because he was so lonely after she died. “It’s too quiet around here,” he’d said, which was funny since neither Joseph nor James spoke very much.
“What do you think?” a voice behind him asked.
James turned.
Joseph stood beaming, Pine at his side.
Heat rose in James’s face, burning with now-familiar warmth. She was radiant, like the dawn rising over the ocean. Although she stood self-consciously beside Joseph, trying her best to shrink, James couldn’t take his eyes off her. Her hair looked as though she’d been born with it. Its deep color made her remarkable eyes even more arresting, and the silky length framed her delicate face and cascaded over her narrow shoulders. The jumpsuit fit her perfectly, her lithe frame making the ‘v’ in front look elegant rather than daring. The rest of the fabric flowed over her body and legs, loose and graceful.
What had he done? He’d warned Joseph how dangerous she was, and yet he’d just made her even more disarming. Again, he cursed her.
“How did you know my size?” She spoke gruffly. How could he answer that? He couldn’t very well say, “I looked up your model number,” after what had happened yesterday and what she’d overheard this morning. That would just set them back to square one.
“I…uh, well, you know, when I carried you into the house yesterday, I—” Great. Now instead of being insensitive, he sounded like a pervert. “I just made a lucky guess.” Change the subject. “Do you like them?”
Pine pursed her lips then gave him a small smile. “I do. They’re…perfect. Thank you.”
Perfect. That was more than James had hoped for; he’d take it, and gladly. Things between him and Joseph should be back to normal now, and that had been the point. Nothing more.
He awkwardly bobbed his head. Standing in front of him now, smiling, she almost obliterated the sight of her yesterday, in this room, peeling off her own skin, the wires and shining metal inside her exposed.
“Can I get you a drink of anything, James? I’m going to have coffee.” Joseph bustled off into the kitchen, humming under his breath as he left the two of them alone.
; “No, thank you, Joseph. I—” I should leave while I’m ahead. But still he stayed.
“Pine, why don’t you show James what you’ve been up to?” Joseph called from the kitchen, where he was squinting at the brewing machine. “Now, how the hell do I—”
Pine hesitated then gestured for James to follow her. She led him past Joseph, and James paused to punch a few buttons over the older man’s shoulder—James was normally the one to make the brews—then into the small backyard.
James’s curiosity was piqued. Joseph had never shown an interest in doing anything with the yard. When Mara was alive, she’d had her beloved flower garden and a fish pond, surrounded on three sides by a flowering-vine-covered fence, carefully tended so that she could relax outdoors on her chaise and pretend she wasn’t in the heart of the city.
The yard was still an overgrown mess, but Pine had clearly been busy. The tiny pond had been meticulously cleaned, scrubbed of slimy algae and tidied of fallen leaves. The water inside was now pure and clear, and swimming in circles was a familiar miniature goldfish.
It couldn’t be. “That’s not—”’
“Amazing Julian’s fish? It is.”
“But how?”
Pine grinned, clearly pleased with herself. “My mouth.”
Had he misheard her? “Pardon?”
“My mouth,” Pine repeated with a sly smile. “During the…distraction, I rescued her. It didn’t seem right to put her in my pocket.”
James laughed. It was a surprising side of her. “But how?”
Pine gazed down at the tiny fish, her smile gone. “Magic.”
“And you had her in your mouth all that time? Even when—” James faltered. Were they ever going to get past that?
“Yes, I did. It was easy, being a machine and all.”
They couldn’t go on like this, not matter what they both felt. “Pine, I’m sorry. It’s not easy for me—”
“Having to consort with a synadroid?” She lifted her chin as she glowered at him.
He glared at her, his regret dissipating. “Yes. Just like it’s going to be hard for you to not always be the martyr.”
“Didn’t Pine do a fantastic job, James? She’s going to do the whole garden.” If Joseph noticed the tension between them as he came into the yard, he gave no indication. “In fact, she’s going to go out tomorrow and shop for whatever tools and seeds she needs to replant the entire thing.”
“Really?” James didn’t care about the garden, but Joseph wasn’t seriously considering letting her out unsupervised, was he?
“Yes. She’s been here long enough now. I think she’s ready.”
Was he joking? After what happened the other day? “You think she’s ready to go out on her own?”
Pine glared at him, but he refused to wilt in the face of her anger. Her feelings about it were the least of his concerns.
“Of course not,” Joseph said, as though it were a ridiculous idea, which it was. “You’re going with her.”
“What?” they said in unison.
It was obviously news to Pine as well. I’m not surprised Joseph didn’t tell her beforehand. She probably would’ve refused to go outright.
“Pine, I know it’s unfair of me to expect you to sit inside all day. But I’m still not convinced it’s safe for you to be out on your own yet. Until it is, I figured James should act as your protection.”
“But I—”
“Pine, we made a deal,” Joseph reminded her.
What? What kind of deal did he make with her? James didn’t like the sound of that.
“Yes, but I thought you—” A quirk of Joseph’s eyebrows changed her mind. “Fine.”
But James wasn’t going to give up so easily. “But what about all our work, Joseph? Blue’s got a lead on those—”
“That’s the beauty of it, James. Pine’s also going to work for me. So with the two of you, we’ll get the same amount of work done in half the time.” Joseph folded his arms over his chest, pleased, and waited.
How could he show Joseph this was a bad idea? He couldn’t come up with anything plausible. Damn. “Okay. When do you start?”
“Tomorrow. Today, Joseph and I are going shopping.” The expression on her face was unreadable.
“Which means, James, my dear boy, that you get the day off.”
A day off. What would he do with himself? He usually filled his life with as much work as possible. Unless… Maybe Blue can spare some time for a chat today. If anyone had the insider knowledge on synadroids, it would be the Blue Fairy. “Thanks, Joseph. Okay, Pine, I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.” A flash of gold caught his eye and he peered into the pond again. “What did you name it?”
“Her. Cleo,” Pine replied. “By the way, Joseph disabled my safe word. You have no power over me anymore.”
James bit the inside of his cheek and walked through the kitchen door. Was that the deal they’d made? How could he deactivate his best guarantee for safety? James sighed. He would just have to trust that Joseph knew what he was doing.
Perhaps Blue will put my mind at ease. His pace quickened as his brain raced through all the questions he wanted to ask her, although he wasn’t yet sure what he would do with the information, especially if it wasn’t good news.
Ugh. When did life get so complicated?
Despite himself, he glanced up at the house as his car pulled away, almost hoping to catch a last glimpse of Pine. She’d followed him to the doorway, and stood watching him, her haunting eyes filling him with unease. That, and something far more disturbing.
Doubt.
Pine trailed behind James on the way to the botanical center. She was being petty, but James being there solely to keep an eye on her riled her. Was it actually about her safety? Or was it more about Joseph keeping track of his property? And why James, of all people? Joseph knew how they felt about each other.
He has a perverse sense of humor if he thinks this is a good idea.
James clearly wasn’t thrilled either. He’d stalked ahead after picking her up, knowing damn well she couldn’t keep pace with his long stride. At first, she’d trotted beside him, but when it became clear he was doing it on purpose, she dropped back, intentionally slowing her gait so that he had to constantly stop and wait for her to catch up.
All in all, Pine was not in a charitable mood. So what if he’d gotten her the hair and clothes she’d coveted? Did he think that would erase what had happened? She still knew how he felt about synadroids, even if, for a moment, his thoughtfulness had suggested otherwise.
Don’t kid yourself, Pine. He didn’t do it for you. He did it for Joseph, just like you’re doing now.
Maybe she could lose him among the plants and wheelbarrows, even if it was just for a few minutes. Maybe he would trip over a rake. She slowed even more, pleased by his huff of exasperation.
A group of men and women was gathered on the pavement ahead. One of them turned in Pine’s direction and— Is that— It can’t be. Daisy?
Pine sped up, her pace taking James by surprise. “Pine? Pine!”
She took off at a jog toward the imposing theatre at the end of the block, a regal gray-stone façade with roundly suggestive cornices. The large gilt name over the door proclaimed it The Red Dove.
James hurried after her, catching up just as she reached the small group milling around outside.
“Pine, what are you doing?”
She ignored him and the annoyance in his voice.
It was Daisy, just not quite as Pine remembered her. Her hair was still a startling shade of platinum silver, her eyes the same rich blue and white of a sunny day, but one side of her face was covered by a lacy half-mask and she wore an expensive-looking brocade mini-dress in a rich, jewel-colored diamond pattern. She’d bent at the waist to hug Pine, her movements oddly puppet-like.
“Pine?” James stood right behind her, casting a shadow over her shoulder.
Does he have to get involved in everything? Well, let’s see how he feels being surrou
nded by synadroids. “James, this is Daisy. She was in my sector of the algae farm.” She lifted her chin in challenge. If he was rude to her old friend…
Daisy put her hand to her cheek and flashed James a coquettish look. “It’s Harlequin now,” she said, extending her hand to him. Inclining her head toward Pine, she whispered, “It’s more suitable for the customers.”
“When did you get here? What are you doing? What kind of place is this?”
“Come inside and I’ll tell you all about it. I’m not technically on shift for another hour. We can catch up.” Harlequin’s smile was dazzling as she clapped her hands in excitement.
Daisy was the first synadroid Pine had seen since she’d gotten to Portfade. What were the chances? If she was here, maybe the city wouldn’t be so unbearable after all. “Of course. James, I—”
“Absolutely not. We’re leaving, Pine. Say goodbye to your friend.” His expression was unyielding, his mind already made up.
Pine’s smile fell. “But Joseph would—”
“Joseph put me in charge. Pine, this place—” He glanced at the entrance and grimaced.
What did that have to do with anything? Nothing. Of course. He just wanted to be an ass. “You can’t tell me what to do.”
“I can. And I just did. Joseph would be—”
“To hell with Joseph,” Pine burst out. “I’ve done everything he—”
“Now, Pine,” Harlequin’s sugary voice cut through Pine’s strident one. “Perhaps James is jealous.” She tucked her arm through his, and as she smiled up at him, she winked at her companions.
Three of them smiled and joined her in surrounding James. They were all as elaborately dressed as Harlequin, one dripping with precious stones, one shining with iridescent scales, and one cloaked in soft fur that looked suspiciously like cat. They ran their hands over James’s arms, his back, his chest. One slid her hand up the back of his neck and into his hair, teasing his scalp. Their laughter tinkled like warning bells.
“What the— No, stop that—” James twisted, trying to push their exploring hands away.