Bab 5: Nails Painted Red
I answered the phone thinking it may be Luca, but instead I heard the cheery voice of a man from the internet service provider nearby. He said he'd bring my equipment and help set it up. I realized that despite needing the internet especially for my new laptop, part of me was disappointed that it wasn't Luca on the phone instead. Why was I already feeling that way about him?
After an hour the same man from the ISP called, and I let him in. He was friendly with medium length chestnut brown and black dreadlocks with a dusting of gray near his temples.
"So, all we need to do is decide where you'd like them to go," he said adjusting his round glasses.
"What do you think about the bedroom and kitchen?" I asked.
"Sounds good to me. You'll have great reception in here." He was adept at his job finishing in a few minutes, whistling the entire time. "All you need to do is set up your Wi-Fi name," he said with a smile and left.
I flipped open the top of my new pink laptop that Brutus had delivered, then set up the SSID. I named it "Plaid Ascot." A tiny smile played at the corners of my mouth and then I blushed.
After glancing at my watch, I saw it was 3:30 pm. I took out the phone and created a contact for Luca. Out of curiosity, I went to the bay windows and peeked out. There he was in his same looped pattern and although he wasn't looking up at first, he could feel me somehow.
He shaded his eyes to prevent the pinging droplets from stinging him. When I saw him wave, I smiled and wiggled my fingers back. What did he mean when he said I was the key to getting out of here? Suddenly, I touched the outside of my pocket tracing the key's outline.
I reached in and retrieved it, cupping it in my palm. I walked into the bedroom, and I crawled into the closet. I worked my way to the tiny, locked door. I set the key in the keyhole and turned it.
When I opened it there was a cavernous void that instantly made me freeze in terror. There was no question that I never wanted to enter that space. It felt like my insides were being pulled from my chest by a giant magnet … but that would only make sense if I were made of metal.
Panicking, I slammed the door, but not before I could see my breath. I didn't usually believe in things like evil or supernature but whatever was behind that door could hurt me. I felt my heart pounding. Suddenly, I heard my phone's notification go off.
Relieved feeling that someone was thinking of me I backed up and rushed out of the closet. I blocked the entrance hole with some extra boxes from all my delivery goods. I felt safe once I was in the soft light of my apartment. I found my phone on the couch, and opened the messages.
"Lovely network name :)"
I tittered and ran to the window peering down. I watched Luca grin and wave.
"How?"
"Well, I've a phone."
"Right," I sent with an embarrassed smiley face. "Don't you want to get out of the rain?"
"I would but I don't know if I can. It could put you in danger."
"Danger? From Chase?"
"Yeah. He's the sim master, after all."
"Sim master? He didn't master anything after my friends took care of him earlier."
"Really? Huh. Never seen that before. Good on them."
"Come up here. I really need to know more. You keep telling me so many things and not explaining."
I wait, hoping for a silly, sarcastic remark but there is no answer from him. Now that it's night I feel especially alone in the silence. Wait, why was it night? The last time I looked at the time it was 3:30 pm. Now, when I glanced down at my watch it was 3:30 am.
A whirling sensation in my stomach nearly knocked me down to the floor. I felt like I was falling but when I opened my eyes, I was still on solid ground. Was I going crazy? Had I been drugged?
The fear and odd shift in time seemed connected to the scary room in my closet. I shivered remembering how cold it was. Far away, I could hear knocking downstairs. Then a text from Luca.
"Hiya, I'm here."
I couldn't control my relief as I took the stairs down. When I opened the front door for him, he eagerly stepped inside, his height instantly dwarfing me. I was only a little over five feet tall. He had at least a foot and a few more inches on me.
He removed his hat and smiled, flashing his white teeth. As we walked up the stairs, I noticed how alike our eyes were, which was noteworthy. There weren't many people who had gray eyes, were there? I unlocked the door, and he entered my apartment placing his hands on his hips pretending to survey the area with a judging eye.
When he turned around to face me, I saw how black his hair was … a lot like mine. Why hadn't I noticed this before? It must have been the hat.
"So, what would you like to know, eh?" he asked, his voice sounding slightly deeper. Was he worried about Chase hearing him, somehow?
"Are you serious?" I asked and then he gave me a half smile.
"I'll stop takin' the piss outta ya."
"Excuse me?" I asked with a grimace. That made him laugh deeply. I smirked at him. "How is that funny?"
"I'm joking. Apologies. Okay ... I suppose you'd fancy an explanation about the 'Sim master' and such."
"You can start there, sure."
"Well, your hubby--"
"EX hubby," I emphasized.
"Right, then," he said, stifling a laugh. "Chase is your creator."
"Yeah, right. Chase couldn't create sh*t. We tried."
"You tried," he said, squinting one eye. "I'll be sure to ask for a follow up on that but back to the matter at hand. He's the CEO of Shetland Tech, yeah?"
"Yes, but that doesn't mean he can build. He may be able to run a company but he's not a technology genius."
"What? 'Course he is."
"How do you know that?"
"Because you do."
"Again, with the circular explanations," I complained turning around and grabbing the red wine from the shelf. I held out a glass and tipped it toward him silently asking him if he wanted some. He smiled with a nod.
"Please and thank you," he said. I pulled off the cork and poured some for us.
"Would you mind starting over?" I asked.
"When you were first interested in him, what was it that drew you to him?"
I swirled the wine around in the glass pondering.
"I guess it was that he was smart and into technology."
"Yes. And you read something, yeah?"
"Yes, I read a magazine article about Shetland designing some new technology and how generous he was as a person in spite of all his power."
"Right." Luca took a sip of the wine. I cringed fearing he may not like it, but he seemed happy. "Then you magically ran into him at his premiere. And after that, what happened?"
"Wait, how did you know that? As a matter of fact, how do you know so much--"
"Just go with it, please," he said cutting me off. "Suspend disbelief and have a think on the past."
I went back trying to relive that night. I was at the premiere because I was interested in learning about the "next best thing" in the tech market. I'd planned to bring back the information to my boss at the competing computer hardware company I worked at. We were smaller but if we could just get a little bit of an edge over the others, we'd be contenders.
I was standing in the middle of the red carpet inside the hotel auditorium room trying to find my seat. Only a select group were allowed to go to the private reveal of Shetland's "most brilliant idea yet." As I was standing there, I saw him.
I was in my full-length, glittering red gown, with my hair curled and resting on my shoulders, my nails painted red, with matching lipstick. Chase Barrington had been heading straight for me.
It was a casual, though confident walk up the middle aisle. I had no idea why he wasn't presenting, but when he passed me by, there was electricity between us. I felt like part of my essence was captured by him and I couldn't leave that alone.
I didn't intend to follow him, but I found myself turning around and as he glanced over his shoulder, I had no choice. It was his smile and the mischievous gleam in his dark eyes, not to mention the envious stares and heckling from the rest of the spectators.
When I left the auditorium, rushing by the seated audience members, they all stared knowing that I was following Chase. I exited the room out the double doors into the hotel lobby. And I thought he'd be there, but instead I was greeted by a couple of bodyguards. Besides the two bulky men, I was standing in the middle of the lobby alone. Where had he gone so quickly?
***
When I was up in my hotel room, there was a knock at the door. A very expensive bottle of Dom Pérignon was artfully thrust into my face.
When I told the waiter, I never ordered that, he laughed at me.
"I know that," he said, putting his hands on his hips. I wasn't sure if I should be offended or not but then he slipped me a note and my mind was instantly redirected. It was folded inside a mini-envelope. I opened it and read while the waiter watched me intently.
"Lady Who Loves Red - Please enjoy this champagne on me. If anyone deserves this level of luxury, it's you."
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone