Chapter 4 #3
The night air stirred as Wyatt landed. He held three ice cream cones.
By the chocolate smudged around his lips and coating his beard, I suspected there had been four when he started.
Ice cream from Geppetto’s was his reward for not destroying a building.
It should have been funny, or even ridiculous, that three superheroes celebrated with Vanguard’s best ice cream.
“Chocolate peanut butter chunk for Drew.” He handed me the cone with three scoops. I eyed Wyatt. Somewhere along the way, a scoop had vanished. “Wyatt, what have we said about stealing ice cream?”
Orion took his vanilla ice cream before glaring at Wyatt.
“Friends!” Wyatt said. “Janet introduced me to the friend tax.”
I shook my head. I swear, as we helped Wyatt learn Earth customs, Janet did her best to be a chaos monkey. There was no point in correcting him as his tongue slathered his ice cream. As long as there was sugar in front of the big guy, he’d never hear me.
“What do you think LaToya is going to say?” Orion asked.
We moved to the ledge of the building, taking a seat while we devoured our ice cream.
The mention of her name gave me anxiety, not because of her ability to impose fear, but because of what it would mean if we lost this contract.
The thought of Arthur’s face as I delivered the bad news made my heart hurt.
“She’ll take the offer.” My words betrayed my confidence. Even I could hear the uncertainty in my words. “I think.”
“Friend Drew. Have faith in yourself. You are an amazing employee.”
I shivered at the compliment. Wyatt smiled, chocolate covering his lips and beard.
We spent all day working together, and I felt as if I didn’t quite fit in.
Even as we patrolled, my abilities didn’t make me a threat.
I ran defense while they fought. On the rooftop was the only time the insecurities quieted.
It only took an alien, a madman, and a little ice cream.
“It’ll happen,” Orion said. “I’ve seen inside their computers.
They already recreated our app.” I could already hear Arthur lecturing Orion and citing the dozen laws he had broken.
“As much as it pains me to admit it, the app is the easy part. That officer down there snapping photos of us? LaToya can’t buy that goodwill. ”
“You took photos? Without me?”
Orion patted Wyatt on the leg. “Poses and all.”
“That makes me sad.” Wyatt’s back straightened. “But you know what would make me happy again?” He eyed his empty hand, and in a blur, he vanished.
“He’s going to make himself sick,” I said. Wyatt was good at a lot of things; moderation wasn’t one of them. “I can’t carry him up his stairs again.”
“So,” Orion said.
“So?”
“I thought you should know about a recent addition to the board.”
My muscles tensed at the mention of the board.
Orion’s number-one hobby involved a giant corkboard where he tracked his conspiracy theories.
The only person from the office on it was Janet.
He believed she had something to do with global warming.
I wouldn’t be shocked. Last time I saw it, a blurry photograph of Hellion had been added to the corner.
Now that my alter ego had made it into his crosshairs, I feared someday he’d connect the dots.
“Your boyfriend.”
“I don’t have—”
“Booker.”
“He’s not—”
“He’s on the board.”
Better him than me. The tension eased in my shoulders.
As I let out a deep breath, my chest burned, and when I glanced down, I could see a spot of blood.
The stitches must have popped. I shifted the color of the fabric, returning it to light blue.
My powers might not stop an alien invasion, but they served a purpose.
“There’s something about him I don’t like.”
“You added him because he works for the government.” Orion loved to play the mysterious detective. We humored him, but truth be told, he had become predictable. Work for the government? Conspiracy. Too nice? Conspiracy. It didn’t take much for him to connect imaginary dots.
“Partly.” Oh? There was more? “Why him? I saw him in the lobby when I left work. A normal government guy would have been profiling the employees.”
“That’s his job.”
“He had his eyes closed.”
“You didn’t see him in the interview room. That had to be exhausting. Staying at that level while employees have meltdowns?”
“I’m telling you, Drew. There’s more to him than we realize.”
My right hand dropped to my leg, rubbing my knee.
I could almost feel Booker’s hand pressed against the fabric.
Casual and unassuming, that, on its own, was a slight comfort.
It was the sensation of calm flowing through me that stood out.
Just thinking about it, the muscles in my body relaxed, and I—
“Still with me?”
Unfortunately, yes. “I’m here.” I took another bite of my ice cream, savoring the flavor. Try as I might, the calm fled, leaving me rattled as usual.
“I think he’s working with the lizard people.”
“Do you now?” I didn’t buy it, but I didn’t mind hearing his theories about Booker.
It’d make for an interesting conversation next time I saw him.
In the meantime, I’d let Orion continue his outlandish theories.
He talked while we waited for Wyatt’s return.
In turn, I listened, my eyes focused on my knee and the hand that wasn’t there.