literature

For Your Protection: Chapter Eight

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“I’m exhausted,” Shane muttered at the end of Wednesday’s work day.  From the being carted around all over the city to meeting with people and picking up more junk than he thought was unnecessary he was worn out.
“Exhausted from what?” Lux asked as they sat in Davis’ office waiting for him to show up to go through the final rundown since Shane would only be working a half day tomorrow.  “It is not like you had to do much.”
“I had to deal with you,” Shane joked.  When she didn’t answer he lifted up his head to see her standing on the desk looking…not indifferent.  “Lux, I’m kidding.  These things would be a nightmare if it wasn’t for you.”
“I do not do anything special,” she said as she started to walk around the surface of the desk.  Shane attention was held captive as she strolled around.  Everything looked so different in her world and in her eyes he supposed.
“You…do you ever wish you were…bigger?” he asked after a few moments.  She stopped walked and gave him her full attention which for some reason made his cheeks grow hot.  Those cold green eyes always caught him off-guard.  Her voice always sounded so empty but it was still a human’s voice in his ears.  Her eyes though…they were harder to take in.  “I mean…well…don’t you?”
“I would like to be a standard size, yes,” she said.  “But Davis will not allow it.”
He tried to remember hearing this conversation before but he still wanted to hear about it from Lux.  “Why not?”
“He will not discuss the matter with me,” Lux said.  “He said this is the best option for me right now.  Perhaps he will let me have a full-size model transfer later—”
“How much later?” he insisted.  “That just seems awfully unfair to you.”
“It is not up to me to determine what is right and what is fair.”
“But it should be,” he said as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms.  His suit felt stiff today…and extremely tight so he ripped off the jacked and rolled up the sleeves on his shirt.  “I feel like such a tool in this damn getup.  If only my friends could see me now.”
“Is your attire really so terrible?”
“No.  I guess not, it’s just different for me.”  He continued to lean back and stared up at the ceiling.  “Speaking of Davis though…did you talk to him?”
“I talk to Davis almost every day.  You are going to have to be more specific.”
“About what we spoke about on Monday,” he said.  When she didn’t answer he lowered his head and stopped at the ceiling.  The look on Lux’s face was somehow blanker than usual.  “You know…the thing?”
“What thing?”
“Come on, Lux,” he grumbled.  “If you’re worried about talking about it when he comes back in, I get it but can you at least tell me what he said?”
“I do not know what you are talking about, Shane.”
He arched a brow and looked for any trace that she was lying but he couldn’t find any.  “What we talked about on Monday,” he repeated.  “The diner?”
“You had a naked burger.  I met your friend Airyn.”
“Yes!  So obviously you do remember,” Shane said.
“Of course I do.”
“So then…what about Piper?”
“Piper?” she repeated.  “What is that?”
“It…” he trailed off and leaned forward.  He needed some sort of indication, any indication that she was just messing with him but he couldn’t find anything.  She looked blank.  Confused.  She even went as far as to take a step backwards.  “You…you seriously don’t remember?  She called you ‘Allie’.  You were going to talk to Davis about it.  I figured that things were too busy the past few days but—”
“Shane.  I apologize but I do not know what you are talking about.  I do not know anything about Allie and I do not know anyone by the name Piper.”
He blinked.  She wasn’t lying.  He wasn’t sure how he knew but there wasn’t a trace of a lie in her stoic voice.  But how…
“Is there something I have forgotten?” Lux asked.  “I do not usually suffer from a memory lapse—”
“You really don’t remember?” he croaked out.  “Piper…you and her were singing a song together.  Everyone was cheering you for guys.  You were both amazing.  She said that you reminded her of someone.  Allie, Lux.  You must remember that?”
She shook her head, obviously frustrated now.  “I told you that I do not.  You must have had a dream or something—”
“It wasn’t a damn dream!” he shouted, rising up from his chair.  Lux stumbled away from him but he didn’t care.  “It happened.  You were singing some old song…Ain’t something…”
“Ain’t No Sunshine?”
“Yes!  That’s!  So you do remember?”
“I remember the song but I do not remember singing it with anyone.  No Piper.  No Allie.”
“No, she thought you were Allie, Lux!  She said your voice sounded familiar and—”
“It probably just sounded like Lotus’…”
“That wasn’t it!  We talked about it.  You said that you were going to talk to Davis…” he trailed off.  That was the last thing she had said to him about it.  That she was going to talk to Davis about it.  He stopped angrily pacing around the room and faced her.  “Do you remember talking to Davis on Monday night?” he asked.
“Yes.  After we spoke on the phone.”
“And what did you talk about?”
“That is confidential.  But I can assure that there was no mention of a Piper or an Allie, Shane.  I am sorry that I cannot be of more help.”
It…it wasn’t possible.  Dammit!  Why didn’t he know more about Assists?  Could their memories be taken away?  Would…why…so many questions came rushing to him at that moment.  His mind was racing through what happened that day and he was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn’t hear the door open behind him.  He nearly jumped a foot when a hand was placed on his shoulder.
“How was the day?” Davis chirped after smacking Shane several times in a friendly matter.  “I heard you two have been quite busy…”
“Yes, sir…I mean, Davis,” Shane said as he took a seat.  “I’m still very much looking forward to Friday though.”
“Ahh, the first performance,” Davis said, beaming.  “Always a great experience, isn’t it Lux?”
“Yes,” she said blankly.  Her attention was still on Shane.  All this talk about a Piper and an Allie and yet her mind had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.  Normally she would blow it off but he seemed so sure of himself.  It bothered her that she had no recollection of something that was obviously so clear in his mind.
“Sir…do you know anything about a Piper?” Lux asked.
Davis’ usually calm and professional demeanor evaporated.  His eyes met Shane’s and then he lowered his chin to look down at Lux.  Shane could feel the tension spreading over Davis’ body.  Lux looked so innocent.  It killed him.  “What did you say?” Davis asked, narrowing his eyes.
“Shane mentioned something about a Piper—” Lux started.
“I just mentioned that I saw a great performance today!” Shane shouted.  “My friend Airyn works at a diner and there’s another singer who…uh…sings out there.  She’s really good.  Made me think of her and I just mentioned it.”
Davis looked unconvinced.  “I see.”  He kept staring down at Lux.  “Is that what happened, Lux?”
“N-no,” Lux said, for some reason stumbling over the words.  Her face looked conflicted.  “He mentioned something about Allie—”
“Lux!” Shane blurted out as he went to reach for her but Davis smacked his arm away.
“Just what have you been telling her?” Davis asked in a low voice.
“I haven’t been telling her anything,” Shane said immediately.  “I told you.  I just heard about a girl named Piper and—”
“And Allie?” Davis hissed.  “What did you hear about Allie?”
“Nothing.”
“Liar,” Davis said.  “I would advise you not to look any more into this matter and not mention anything else to my Assist, Mr. Pearson.  Since I am fully aware of how much this job means to you, I won’t dock your pay but I’ll only say it once.  Don’t dig in places you don’t belong.”
Shane froze up.  Davis was hiding something.
And Lux had somehow lost the memory of what had happened earlier on in the week.
“Why don’t you take the entire day off tomorrow?” Davis suggested, his voice growing warm again.  “It will be a good opportunity for you to really reflect on what steps we should take from here on out.”
Shane looked puzzled.  “Sir?”
“This is a well-paying job, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“And from the research I’ve done…you could certainly use the money.  Your mother…she’s still recovering, correct?”
Shane swallowed and glanced down at Lux.  “Y-yes.  Yes she is, sir.”
“I see.  Well…I’d like to see that she and your sister are well taken care of.  And that goes for my Assist, Lux, as well.  Can you understand that, Shane?  We all need the same things.  I certainly don’t want to let you go over something as minor as this.  I mean…from what it sounds like it was all an innocent mistake and can easily be corrected.  Correct?”
“Y-yes, sir.  Of course, sir.”  He frowned.  He needed this job.
“So all this talk about Piper and Allie…that’s the last I’ll be hearing about it, correct?” Davis asked.
“Sure,” Shane said.  “Sir.  I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“Well now you do,” Davis said.  “Leave it alone.”  He stood up from his chair and swept Lux off of the desk and set her on his shoulder.  She looked worried – if Assists could…no – she did look worried.  There was no mistaking it.  “We’ll chalk this all up to an honest mistake.  Take the day off and enjoy yourself, Shane.  It’s going to be a busy day on Friday.”
“Yes, sir,” Shane said as he stood up as well.  “I’ll be here on Friday to pick her up.”
“I’m happy to hear it,” Davis said as he waved him away.  “You’ve done a splendid job this week, Mr. Pearson.  I really would like to keep you.”
“I understand that—”
“But you do understand what I’m saying, don’t you?” he insisted.
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m glad.  Have a good night, Mr. Pearson.”
“Yes, thank you,” Shane said as he bustled out the door.  “I’ll see you Friday, Lux?”
“Yes.  Friday,” she called as Shane opened the door and closed it behind him.  “See you then.”
Shane caught his breath on the elevator.  Something…he wasn’t even sure what it was…but something was wrong.
Allie.
Davis.
Lux.
Piper.
Somehow they were all connected.  They had to be.  But how?  And why?
As he stormed to his car he decided he had to know more.  He had to figure out what the connection was between them all.  He knew he promised Davis he would let it go…but how could he?
He had the day off tomorrow which was a start.
He hoped Piper would be performing again.
New chapter! Happy reading! :-)
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Imperial-Radiance's avatar
This is a whole mess of a web, isn't it? So many people. I feel like I'll need to make a flow chart or something.