“Hi Claire,”
said the clerk behind the counter.
Regret flooded
me. I shouldn’t come to a place where I was familiar, even if they knew nothing
more about me than my first name. The overly friendly staff might ask me who
Jason was on a subsequent visit, but I couldn’t turn tail and run now, it was
too late. The only thing left was to cross my fingers that they’d forget I’d
had a companion so I ordered my coffee to go.
Jason asked for
the same then placed a five dollar bill on the counter.
“Is that
together?” The clerk raised his eyebrow at me as he rang in our order. He
almost seemed in disbelief that I could be here with someone. I couldn’t blame
him, I’d come in alone almost everyday for the past year.
“No.” I dug
through my purse for my wallet.
“Yes.” Jason
pushed the bill across the counter.
“No, here.” I
dumped my coins on the counter, one rolling away in my haste. I wouldn’t own
Jason anything, not even the price of coffee.
The clerk’s gaze
flickered between the two of us, clearly trying to figure out what was going
on, so I fixed my most annoyed expression on my face to discourage inquiry.
Whether he took the hint, or wasn’t all that interested after all, he took our
money, handed Jason his change, then poured our drinks. Cup in hand, I left the
coffee shop without another word. What had I been thinking? Jason’s good looks
and sob story were clouding my judgement.
“Have I done
something wrong?” It sounded as though Jason was stomping on the sidewalk
beside me.
In no better
humour myself, I pounded forward. “If you haven’t figured it out by now, I
don’t like getting involved with people.” I was barely keeping my voice under
control. “I avoid relationships to keep myself safe, and now you seem
determined to force yourself and your problems on me.”
Jason grabbed my
arm, forcing me to stop. He stared at me as he breathed heavily through flared
nostrils, then yanked me toward a nearby alleyway. Once we were partially
secluded from the street he released his grip, but the glare he gave me was
sufficient to hold me in place. “You need to look outside your own bubble,
Claire.”
“And you need to
accept that I don’t want to get involved.”
“Then why did you
save me?”
“Bad impulse.” I
shrugged, then walked deeper into the alley. Sunset was still an hour away, but
if getting into the air meant getting out of this conversation and away from
Jason, I’d consider it. I kept my gaze focused on the rectangle of light that
indicated the street on the other end. No footsteps sounded behind me.
“Homian Power
Research.” He was testing me, trying to bait me. I wouldn’t accept the
challenge. “They research humans with unique powers for the military.”
My fingers went
numb. “Fuck.”
To be continued...look for more of the story on Tuesday, April 8th, 2014
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