Amelia gave a running commentary as they wandered around the room. The building had been an old school and the hall they were in was the old gym which had been renovated to look like a ballroom in France. There were even reproductions of murals and paintings. Natasha could see the hand of the Restorationists.
Amelia walked past a door without mentioning it. Natasha stopped her and asked with a tilt of her head in the direction of the door. “What is in there?”
Amelia sighed. “That is Elysium. Lately there have been Elysium rooms at all the parties. I think it is Hades, though, and not Elysium.”
“Elysium?” Natasha asked only vaguely curious.
“Mmm. Yes, the people there like to take Ambrosia but I think it is more like the story of Hades and Penelope. And the Ambrosia is Pomegranates which trap people in Hell.”
Natasha had to agree with her. “Ambrosia is a very dangerous drug. Why would such intelligent people take something that will make them dependant?”
Amelia said, “Even intelligent people are fools.”
They continued on and Amelia waved to the next room. “These are for gambling. A true Restorationist woman would never step in there.”
She glanced at Amelia. “And are you a true Restorationist?”
Amelia snorted. “My parents are and frankly that means I have to be.”
Natasha glanced in the room and saw Warren.
___
Digger dragged him to one of the gambling tables in the smaller rooms off the side of the ballroom.
“So, why the girl, Warren? I thought you didn’t swing that way. Otherwise, you would have kept Isabelle.”
Warren said, “Excuse me?”
Digger sat down casually at one of the tables and it was clear he was a regular here as they dealt him in automatically. Digger motioned for him to take a seat, but Warren wasn’t in the mood for gambling.
When he didn’t sit Digger asked, “What? Is it because of what I said about your girl?”
This worried him as Digger could be vicious with his words. “What did you say about Natasha?”
Digger said, “Nothing much. Isabelle said she was very common. Not sure about that now.” He looked at Warren and wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Warren snorted. “If anyone is common, it is Isabelle.”
“Hey, don’t talk about my sister like that,” Digger protested, but there was no vigour behind it.
Warren wriggled uncomfortably. He didn’t really want to be there. “Why not, when it is the truth? Digger, can’t we go somewhere to talk. I’ve been gone for a while.”
Digger threw in a card and motioned for a new one. “I’ve just started here. Maybe later. The night is young. Pull up a seat, Warren. Join the game, live a little. You were always a bit of a stick in the mud.”
Warren gave in and sat down. He really wanted to know why he felt uneasy with his friend. There were obviously some memories missing. His head ached as he tried to dig them out.
It was a while later when he looked up from the game and saw Natasha was watching him from the doorway. She had a girl in a fluffy pink dress next to her. Obviously, she had made friends.
He realised then he had been worried about her and he missed her on top of that.
He excused himself from Digger who barely noticed.
Warren approached her. “Do you want to dance?”
She grinned. “Waltz? I don’t think so. I’d only make a fool of myself.”
He caught her hand. “Are you afraid? What if I tell you the waltz is perfect for you? Just follow my lead.”
The girl in pink sighed. “Oh, go and dance with him, Natasha. He is just too gorgeous.”
Natasha hesitated for a second in her denial and he took that as permission and pulled her away from the side rooms and onto the dance floor. He tugged her closer, so he could guide her steps with the movement of his own body. He also liked the way the heat from her body seeped into his own.
He realised then it was easy and that it had always been easy to reach out and touch Natasha. Even though he had been friends with Isabelle before they had dated, he had always been awkward when he had tried to touch her. He had just not wanted to. With Natasha it was very different.
When it came to Natasha, he struggled to keep his hands off her.
He asked, “Is it scary?”
Her hand had tightened around his when he had pulled her onto the dance floor. He could feel her relaxing now in his arms.
Her eyes shivered with emotion. “If I knew the waltz was this easy, I would have let my mother teach me. But I was too afraid I would turn her feet black and blue.”
He grinned. “I trust you, Natasha.”
She snorted. “With the atramento my feet wouldn’t even leave bruises on you.”
A laugh almost escaped before he could catch it. He spun her a little faster as his heart skipped. He had never had this much fun with anyone.
In fact, Hal was probably the last friend he had really enjoyed spending time with. Natasha was a lot like Hal except she wasn’t so confusing. You could never figure Hal out, but Natasha was open. Like the petals of a rose, the more he watched her, the more she revealed. Time would only tell what she would reveal next and he couldn’t wait.
___
Warren had been pulled away by the Dean of his department and Natasha stood on the edge of the dance floor watching the other dancers. Others had asked her to dance and she had agreed though she had only done so to be polite.
She looked next to her when Digger said, “I take it we are too aristocratic for you?”
She frowned at the man. “Hardly. Who do you really think I am, Digger?”
He shrugged and took a sip of his drink. It was amber and from the smell she would say it was brandy. An expensive liquor to drink. It smelt old as well and she wondered if it was from pre-global warming.
He waved his drink around as he said, “My sister says you are just some common girl but I don’t think so. You look bloody expensive.”
Natasha hissed when she realised he meant she was a courtesan. “I take back what I said before. You are too aristocratic.”
She motioned with her head towards the dancers. “You dance, you drink, take drugs, you gamble and you shag. You have all these brains except you guys are completely useless. A waste.”
She went to walk away, but he caught her arm. Just a little too tight to be friendly. He growled. “I make more money than Warren. I can pay you more.”
She put her hand over his on her arm. “You are a worm, Digger, and even if you owned the world, I would never let you touch me.”
She twisted his hand swiftly and he went to his knees. His drink scattered across the floor. He groaned and she said in a chilly voice. “Touch me again and I will rip off your arm.”
She let him go and stalked off.
___
The Dean was effusive as he tried to make Warren come back to work. He thought Warren had a breakdown and promised interns to help him with his workload as an enticement back.
Warren could smell Isabelle before she touched him. She slipped her arm around his waist. He slipped away from her touch. He made some excuse to the Dean and turned to talk to Isabelle. She was pouting because he had moved away from her.
She asked, “Am I not your friend anymore?”
“You aren’t my girlfriend and I never liked people touching me. You know that.” Wiggling out of her touch as she tried to grasp his arm again.
Even when they had dated, he hadn’t liked cuddling much with her.
“It’s her, isn’t it? You think a common girl like that is better than me?” She snapped.
Warren didn’t even try to be tactful. “Yes. Isabelle, we have gone over this before. We don’t suit. I would drive you up the wall and you are mean to people and I don’t like that.”
Her eyes sparked with anger. “Your whore was mean to me. How is she any better?”
He sighed. “Leave her alone Isabelle. You might think you are smarter than her, bu
t she is more ruthless.”
Isabelle huffed. “Now you are just being contradictory. We would have been good together, Warren. Our families are the two pillars of the community in this city.”
He couldn’t help but remember that Hal thought she had the wrong genes to be a Hauser and instead changed the subject. “Before I left, Isabelle, did I come see you?”
She flapped her hand dramatically. “Ha, you never visit anymore. I don’t know why I still call you a friend. It is like you don’t care about me anymore.”
He gave in. “I care, Isabelle. I have just been busy.” He didn’t want to hurt her.
She reached for him and then changed her mind at the last moment and dropped her hand. “It is that woman.”
He knew he wasn’t going to get through to her. He suggested a dance as he knew someone would steal her away on the dance floor.
Chapter Seven
Whatinga April, 2087
Natasha yawned as the limo pulled up. Professor Nasser had insisted they take a limo to the ball. She understood the gesture and had agreed. The limo was like the dress she wore, camouflage. Warren had complained because he said it was frivolous. His dad should sell the limo and get a car which was more practical like one of the cars made by the locals.
Warren asked, “Are you all right?”
She nodded and leaned against him. “Who would have thought talking to people would drain me?”
He said, “I always felt the same way. I usually hide away, but sometimes I’m forced to come out and show myself.”
She smiled. Maybe they had more in common than she had first thought when it came to this shiny and glossy world of the academic.
She rubbed her cheek on his shoulder once they had settled inside the limo. “If I had to live here, I might go to those just to be slightly useful as a dance partner. I doubt that anyone here knows how to change the oil in their own cars, let alone tweak it to increase its efficiency. I don’t understand how a bunch of clever people could be mostly useless.”
“Most of them don’t even know how to drive.” His voice held a touch of amusement as he spoke.
She snorted. “Completely useless then.”
He sounded relaxed and sleepy, like her, when he said, “Mmm, I think so as well. Well, most of them. I think the doctors and professors at least contribute something, but their children are pretty useless. Mother would never let me lie around like they do.”
Natasha asked cautiously, “How did she die?”
He rubbed his face. “There was a gas leak at her lab and there was an explosion. She and two other lab technicians died. A tragedy. They are still rebuilding the lab. It is set to open early next year. My mother would have liked that as she thought the only way to fix tragedy was to rebuild and make something good from it.”
She sighed. “She sounds like a person I could admire.”
He shook his head just slightly as he said, “She wouldn’t agree with you. She felt, even to the day she died, that she still had red on her ledger. You see she was the one who invented the virus which wiped out Auckland.”
That explained some things. “Ah, the mistakes your dad was talking about.”
“Mmm. Together they have saved everyone else and yet to my mother, it was never enough.” His head rested against her own.
She thought of what it would feel like to know she had been the cause of so many deaths. “When it is something like that there is never enough. At least not personally. I think I would have admired her anyway, even if she hated that I did.”
___
Natasha watched Warren as he worked in his study at his father’s house. He had books and papers spread around him and he carefully copied stuff into a book which looked much like Hal’s book. That book sat on the desk next to him as well. He had added notes to that book as well as she watched.
Professor Nasser came up behind her and said, “He will be a while. Do you want to see something?”
Natasha hesitated. “Is he usually like this?”
He said, “He gets lost in his work. You can usually pull him back if you remind him, but I think he is missing this.”
She agreed with a small, distracted nod as she continued to watch him for a while longer. “Also, Hal showed him her own research and he was biting at the bit to get going with his own research.”
She decided she would take Nasser up on his invite. When she turned, she saw she wasn’t the only one invited to whatever surprise Nasser had planned for them. Megan was there as well. Natasha smiled at the girl and she smiled back. They walked next to each other as they followed Nasser down the hallway.
Natasha asked the professor, “Is this a new plant?”
Megan chuckled and Nasser glanced over his shoulder. “No, I have other interests besides plants you know. Well, sometimes. This is a gift for Megan but I thought you would like to see it as well.”
She could see now that Megan was strung tight with her anticipation. Nasser reminded her of her own father. Kind in his own way and thoughtful. He was a good father.
He took them to a room on the other side of the rather large house. He opened the door and waved to Megan to enter. She squealed when she saw what was inside and rushed to explore.
Natasha went to the doorway and peered in. The room had a large table in the middle and she could see it was the start of a scale model of the city. There were draws of gear to make the rest of the city off to one side.
She leaned against the doorframe and smiled. It was a beautiful and very thoughtful present. Nasser said, “I put in the Edge as well. See here.”
Natasha went to where he pointed. Indeed, he had recreated the coastline of Edge. She indicated a spot. “That is where the desalination plant is.”
Megan looked up from where she had been rummaging in boxes of things that still had to be put out. “Will you help me construct it? With you here you can give me an accurate view of details that I would never be able to get from city plans.”
Since Warren was burrowed in his work, she had free time on her hands. He was relatively safe inside the house. They were still hoping his memory would come back and he would remember his attacker. Natasha chewed on her lip as she thought about the hidden enemy which still hunted him.
Eventually she flashed a smile at the young woman. “I’d love to.”
Megan snorted. “Let me guess, you are bored?”
Natasha laughed. “Spot on.”
Nasser chuckled as well. “Well, have fun you two.”
Megan dropped the box and ran over to him and hugged him. “Thanks for this dad. Since I got fired, I’ve been struggling to find something to do. I love you, Dad.”
He ruffled her hair. “Love you too, sweetheart.”
It warmed her to be part of their lives even if it was for such a small time. After all this was over Warren would realise she wasn’t suited for this world and that they weren’t suited either. They would part. It was inevitable.
___
Warren surprised her by finding her before she needed to shake him from his work. He had a basket on his arm and he looked down at her where she was painting miniatures on the floor.
He asked, “Busy?”
Natasha looked up. “These need to dry, anyway.”
She saw the basket. “Do you have plans for us?”
He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and said in a warm voice. “I wanted to pay you back for all the places you showed me in the city and show you some of the nicest places around University Hill.”
Amused, she asked, “Is this a date Mr Nasser?”
He offered her a hand up from her place on the floor and said, “Of course.”
Natasha took his hand. She stood up cautious of all the small models at her feet. She waved to Megan, who had her head bowed over the large table. “See you later.”
Megan only managed a mumble and Natasha had to smile. It seemed like the obsessive quality was hereditary.
___
Warren took her close by to a
lake which was on the other side of a small wooded copse that grew in the backyard of the property.
Natasha said as she looked up in awe at the living shield which rose from the other side of the lake. “I didn’t realise that the shield was this close?”
He said, “Nobody wanted Mom and Dad’s house because they were scared it wouldn’t be in the shield. Of course, Mom and Dad knew where it would fall so knew it was safe all along. Most of the University was built later. This neighbourhood was almost completely demolished during the fighting.”
He spread out a blanket on the ground but stopped when a guard came to talk to them while they set up. She wasn’t surprised to know that they patrolled the shield. To destroy this city would only take destroying the shield. Coming from Edge she knew better than anyone what the weather was like out there. Without the support of the city for food it would have been suicide.
Natasha sat on the blanket, leaning on her arm, and looked at the lake. She smiled. “I can imagine you here as a kid. Did you feed the ducks?”
There were still ducks as they had migrated during the global warming. They were now trapped inside the shield, but they didn’t seem to mind as it never got very cold here.
He said, “The whole tribe used to come out here at least once a week in summer. Dad insisted that we get some fresh air.”
She chuckled. “Let me guess it was more because you guys would all get sucked into your work. I saw it was a common trait you have with Megan. She is completely involved in making that model.”
Warren said, “It is our curse, I think. All of us are like that. To the point my sister Teresa left to go to Freedom as she said there were too many distractions here.”
Natasha leaned closer to him and kissed him. She asked, “Am I a distraction?”
He chuckled. “Yes, but a good one.”
Her eyes warmed and she kissed him again. “So, you aren’t married to your work?”
He shook his head and pulled her closer so they were lying on the blanket next to each other. “No more than my parents were married to their work and they managed to have six children.”
He kissed her and they did that for a while. Sometime later they got to the food. She had thought they would go back to making out after lunch only he had other plans.
Betrayed Hero (Atramento Book 2) Page 7