Chapter 25
Ophelia smacked his shoulder a dozen times the moment they were out of the building. “You’re deranged!”
He grinned. “Perhaps, but you like it.”
He put a hand at the small of her back and steered her into the human traffic on the sidewalk.
She didn’t argue with him, despite the downward bend of her mouth, so he knew he was right. Ophelia didn’t like to lie unnecessarily. A compunction he did not share, but admired nonetheless.
“Where are you taking me?” she asked.
“Someplace nice.”
They stopped in front of a French café he’d found bookmarked on her phone. He’d hacked it last night while she slept for something to do. The dirty look she gave him suggested she knew exactly how he’d come across it.
A little harp strummed as he opened the door, and the redolent scents of rosemary and freshly baked bread spilled out onto the street. Her resistance left at once.
“Reservation for Nolan,” he told the young hostess, who tripped over her own feet as she led them to their table.
“I haven’t seen you here before,” the hostess said, smiling shyly up at him. “Have you been in the area long?”
He gave her a flat look that made her clear her throat and look straight ahead.
Ophelia elbowed him.
Be nice, she mouthed.
He rolled his eyes.
Apparently, the cost of keeping Ophelia would be summoning a veneer of nicety for every stray human he crossed paths with.
He pulled out a seat by the window for Ophelia, and she sat after a moment’s hesitation. He took the seat beside her. Sunlight spilled through the window, turning the stormy gray of her eyes to a luminous silver.
“So, I take it you’ve been snooping,” she said, picking up her menu.
“Yes. Does that bother you?”
“Of course it does!” She scowled over the top of her menu. The expression faltered. She blew out a harsh breath, looking away. “It should. What you did was intrusive.”
“But you like it,” he said mildly, leaning back in his seat and stretching his arm around her. His foot found hers beneath the table. “You like that I want to crawl into every corner of your mind.”
She chewed her bottom lip, pointedly avoiding his gaze. He tickled the back of her calf with the toe of his newly-purchased dress shoe—courtesy of Logan’s credit card.
“Stop that,” she said, pulling away as her neck flushed.
“Here you are!” the hostess chirped, returning to their table.
Ophelia looked up, and all the color drained from her face. “Laura?”
Laura clutched the purse at her shoulder in both hands, her eyes darting between Sam and Ophelia. “Hey.”
“What are you doing here?” Ophelia asked.
Laura frowned. “Um, you texted me to meet you here.”
Ophelia’s expression turned thunderous for a moment, but she recovered quickly, laughing nervously. “No, I know! It’s just… you’re here! Wow! Please, sit.”
Ophelia kicked him under the table, wincing as she doubtless bruised herself against his shin.
Laura sat and put her purse in her lap, still looking uncertain. She eyed Sam and leaned forward.
“You could get in so much trouble for having him in public out of uniform like this,” she told Ophelia, with genuine worry in her tone.
“Yeah, I know,” Ophelia rubbed the back of her neck. “It’s, um, just that his designation makes people stare, you know?”
Laura huffed, sitting back. “I’m sure. It doesn’t help that he looks like that. Every head on the sidewalk must turn.”
“Yes,” he said.
Laura gave him a wry grin. “At least tell me you’re taking good care of her, Thirty-One.”
“I am Sam now,” he told her. “Ophelia gave me the name.”
Laura’s expression turned pitying. “Eff…”
“I know,” she said, hugging her arms around her chest. “I’m getting attached, and I shouldn’t.”
“I know it’s hard not to.” Laura sighed, and her gaze drifted over Sam, appraising in a heatless way. “We work so hard to make them lifelike, but sometimes I think we’re going too far. What does Logan think about it all?”
Ophelia stiffened. “It doesn’t matter what he thinks.” She pressed her fingers to her lips as soon as the words left her mouth, looking oddly mortified by them. “Sorry, I shouldn’t… I know you work together. I don’t want to put you in an awkward position.”
Laura’s expression was inscrutable for a moment. Then she leaned forward. “Are you breaking up?”
“I-I don’t know.”
Sam didn’t like that. He nudged her under the table. She gave him a withering look.
“Yes,” Ophelia amended. “I… Yes, I think so. But he doesn’t know that yet. Please don’t say anything.”
Laura blew out a long breath. “Oh, thank God. I hate that guy.”
Ophelia’s eyes widened. Sam made a sound like he was trying not to laugh. Of course, she hated him. She’d seen what he was like when Ophelia was not present, when there was no reason to perform at possessing a better nature.
“I always wondered what you were doing with someone like him,” Laura said. “It just, you know, wouldn’t have been polite to ask. You’re too good for him by a mile.”
Ophelia began to giggle. Softly, at first, and then so maniacally that the people around them turned to stare.
He squeezed her thigh under the table, casting her a concerned look. Her hand fell over his.
“Sorry,” she said breathlessly, wiping her eyes. “Sorry, it’s just… for so long I thought that was completely the other way around.”
Now, Laura looked incredulous. “Definitely not. I’ve met automated mops with better personalities than that guy.”
Ophelia began to laugh again, and suddenly she was crying. She wiped frantically at her tears. “Sorry. God, I don’t know what’s come over me.”
“It’s all good,” Laura said, reaching across the table to pat Ophelia’s arm. “Let it out.”
“Everyone is staring at us,” Ophelia said, looking down in shame.
“Let them.” Laura shrugged. “If they can’t mind their own business, that’s their problem.”
Sam stroked his thumb over Ophelia’s thigh in silent agreement. She squeezed his hand.
“He was cheating on me,” Ophelia blurted. “I don’t know how long, but…” She shuddered, blinking out another tear.
“I’m so sorry,” Laura said, pressing a hand to her throat. “I thought you knew. Like—I thought you guys had an arrangement. There are a lot of people in open relationships at the office. To be honest, it’s all kind of incestuous between the staff in the coding lab.”
Ophelia looked floored. He should have been the one to tell her, but… he hadn’t wanted to be the one to break her heart.
“So, they’re all…”
“Hooking up with each other?” Laura sighed and slumped back in her seat.
“Pretty much. Each other and sometimes the bots, when they think no one is watching. Sometimes both at once. It’s…
a really weird place. I’ve been trying to find another job for months, but no one can match Automata for pay.
” She pressed her hands to her cheeks. “God, I can’t believe you didn’t know.
I feel like such an asshole. I would have told you sooner, I swear. ”
“It’s okay,” Ophelia said. “I believe you.”
The infernal waitress returned, and the women scrambled to come up with their orders. He ordered himself a lobster bisque to maintain the illusion of humanity. Laura side-eyed him, a little too shrewd for his liking.
He’d taken a chance by contacting her, but Ophelia needed support. He would take worse odds to give her what she needed.
Their food came, and Laura steered the conversation toward work, taking a vested interest in Ophelia’s hesitant explanations of her role at Blue Fairy.
He could see the instant her shell finally cracked.
She leaned across the table and waved her arms as she spoke, and Laura was more than capable of keeping up with the genetics terminology.
When the check came, he took it off the table, risking Laura’s suspicion.
He had no intention of letting either woman pay.
Why should he, when he could treat them courtesy of Logan’s card?
He tapped the stolen holotab against the waitress’s device, and there was an affirmative chime as the money was delivered.
Both Ophelia and Laura were giving him an incredulous look.
“Was everything okay?” the waitress asked.
“It was satisfactory,” he said.
She laughed, reaching for his arm on the table. He slid it away a moment before she would have made contact. Remembering Ophelia’s chastisement, he bit back on the urge to glare.
“Here,” the waitress said, passing him a napkin from her apron. “In case you need it.” She gave a little wave and walked away.
“Wait,” Laura said, leaning in with a frown. “She didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?” Ophelia asked.
Sam looked down at the napkin, inked with a phone number and the name “Sally”.
“What a jerk,” Laura muttered. “It couldn’t be any more obvious that you’re together.”
Ophelia flushed at that, tittering a nervous laugh. “Oh, I-I don’t know about that.”
He folded the sullied napkin inside out and used it to dab at a bit of sauce on Ophelia’s chin.
She made a strangled sound, tugging his hand away. “I’ve got it,” she said, fumbling with her own napkin.
“You do not have to do everything by yourself just because you’re capable of it,” he whispered.
Laura’s gaze on him was altogether too shrewd. Perhaps he’d made a mistake by calling her. He didn’t want to kill her if she decided to turn on them now. It would make Ophelia sad.
“Well,” Laura said, standing and stretching. “I should really get going, but we should do this again.” She stepped around Sam to wrap her arms around Ophelia, who gave a little sigh and sank into the hug. “Seriously, call me any time.”
“Thank you,” Ophelia said earnestly, her eyes had welling with tears. “Really, thank you.”
Laura gave her another squeeze and peck on the cheek. She stopped next to Sam, staring for a long moment. He thought she was going to say something—accuse him of malfunctioning, namely. Instead, she put a hand on his head and ruffled his hair.
“Be good,” she said, and then she sauntered away.
Ophelia let out a long breath, slumping in her chair as they watched Laura recede. “You shouldn’t have done that. That was so reckless.”
“Not reckless, just dangerous,” he said. “You needed someone to talk to. Logan kept you isolated by narrowing your world to him, alone. That harmed you. I do not want to be the same.”
Her expression softened. She brushed a strand of hair from his eyes, and her warm fingertips lingered on his cheek. “How can you be so thoughtful and yet so…”
“Calculating?”
“Deranged,” she said wryly. “You’re a lying machine. Literally.”
“Not with you.” He caught her hand and pressed a kiss to her palm. “Never with you.”
She bit her lip, and her gaze dropped to his mouth. He stayed perfectly still, hoping she would kiss him, but she drew away.
Her cheeks flushed darker, and she couldn’t meet his eye. “So, what now?”
He grinned, his momentary disappointment forgotten. “Now, we run a few essential errands.”