Chapter Two -- part one

I ran a hand through my hair, doing everything in my power to not notice just how bad it was trembling. “You realize you still have four hours until your flight leaves,” Friday commented, and I shot a glare in the general direction of one of the many cameras I had positioned throughout the house.

“Yes, believe me, I’m aware of the ticking time bomb.” I ran though my list of stuff again. I had underwear, bras, pants, shirts, a jacket, pajamas, my laptop, my phone charger, my Fitbit charger… Missy rubbed against me and mewed, and I sighed again. Was her kitty litter box clean? Did she have enough food? Enough clean water?

“Then relax, Aurora. This isn’t doing good things for your blood pressure.”

“Don’t worry; it’s normal,” I muttered. The last time I’d seen Lane was almost four years ago now… The fight we ended things on was perhaps the worst one we’d ever had, and while I’d forgiven her — or at least I told myself I had — I still had this pit in my stomach whenever I thought about seeing her again. What if we still couldn’t stand each other? What if things were drastically different? What if she tried to pull some bullshit, “I can see Mom, and she wants to tell you…” I couldn’t deal with that.

I jumped when someone knocked on my door, the cracks snapping through my apartment, and my eyes immediately flew to the file on my side table. “Not now, Martin,” I called and sat down on my couch with my head in my hands. Gods, Mom was dead. She was gone. The mediator between my sister and I. The woman who had done everything possible to raise us the best she could, despite her own struggles and tragedies… I’d never told her —

The rumbling laugh outside the door wasn’t Martin. “It’s only been a few days and you’ve already forgotten me?” I winced and glared at the cameras again.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“It’s been your routine for over a month now, Aurora,” Friday was quick to remind me. “I did not realize the magnitude of the stress you’re under.”

I sighed and went to the door to find Kal’s smiling figure waiting with a cup of tea. The open door brought the scent of cinnamon and coffee wafting toward me, and my stomach rumbled; I’d forgotten to eat… “I’m sorry,” I told him, but I found myself staring at his shoes instead of looking him in the face. Goddamnit, I couldn’t be this weak, could I? I swallowed and looked up at him. “I can’t go today; something…came up.”

He tried for a smile. “Well, it’s not like you’re actually enrolled, so it doesn’t matter.” He offered a steaming cup of tea. “You look like you need it.” I couldn’t stop myself from accepting the cup even as I saw the concern flicker in his hazel eyes; I really did need it. As the warmth spread from my hands through the rest of my body, I realized just how cold I was. Gods, Mom’s dead. It wasn’t fair! She was a good woman, she… I stopped. I didn’t even know how she’d died. What was wrong with me? That should’ve been the first thing I’d looked into! I turned into my apartment without even thinking, and Kal reached forward and grabbed my elbow. “Is everything alright, Rory?…” He tugged me again so I’d look at him. “You look like you haven’t gotten any sleep, and I’d reckon you haven’t eaten breakfast yet either.”

I took a long breath. “I’m fine.”

His lips twitched. “You didn’t answer the question.”

“I—“

“Don’t you lie to me.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Since when is it any of your business, anyway?”

He shrugged. “I suppose it’s not, but regardless. Breakfast? It’ll help get you out of your head, whatever it is that’s rattling around up there.”

“You still have three hours and forty-five minutes,” Friday volunteered, and I groaned as Kal looked at me.

“Where are you running off to?”

“I’m willing to get bagels down the street. That’s it.”

Kal smiled. “That’s a win, so I’ll accept it.”

I gave Missy a small wave. “I’ll be back soon,” I assured the cat, and she just mewed in response as I shut the door.

“Don’t think I didn’t notice your avoidance of my question.”

I shrugged. “Regardless, you’re not getting an answer.”

“Is that a challenge?”

I arched an eyebrow. “One you’ll lose should you turn it into one.”

He sighed, but his eyes still smiled. “Miss Langley, always the enigma.” He shook his head. “It almost makes me think that you like it that way.” It was certainly easier. Kal elbowed me. “Well, at least crack a smile for me then, won’t you?” he implored. “It’s unnatural for me to see you so down.”

I swallowed my retort. He was just trying to help. “I’ll see what I can do,” I assured him.

Kal and I had met when I started attending the advanced computer engineering course at NYU, though “met” was a loose term. I’d started sitting in the back sporadically, and he’d happened to notice.

“You’re not actually enrolled.” It wasn’t a question.

I didn’t bother looking up from my notes. “What does it matter? It’s not like class size has an effect on how much that pretentious asshole gets paid.”

He chuckled, and a handful of papers entered my field of vision. I glanced at the papers — they looked like notes? — and I looked up at the person offering them. “Since you’re here to learn, not to earn a degree, have these. I think you’ll find them useful.”

I actually had found them useful — some of the principles had gone into the creation of my newest computer — but I’d never tell him that…

And then, the day after Martin and I’s bigger heist at Apple — God, that’s when Paul had started hanging more around Martin and bugging me, too — and I’d returned to attending classes

“I know what you do.” This stranger was at my desk again…

“Oh?” I asked and leaned back in my chair.

“9014892,” he said, arms crossed, and while I maintained my face expressionless, I felt my stomach drop. “61,298.30.” The account number. The money we stole. Goddamn Lennard, I swear to God I was going to kill him.

I gathered my books and rose. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said, meeting his eyes defiantly, “but don’t come near me again. Got it?”

He smiled slightly. “I was just going to say good job.”

That made me stop. “What?”

Kal nodded. “Approximately, 63% of that went to charity, didn’t it?”

I remembered the fight I’d gotten into with Martin about that. I’d wanted to fork over the entire sum, but the greedy asshole wanted some of it for himself. That was perhaps the one thing I couldn’t stand about him. “How do you know that?”

“Well, you’ll just have to find out, won’t you?” He was the one to walk away first that day.

When I’d scoured the internet for him that night, I hadn’t found anything. He was as much a ghost as Martin or me.

I’d decided to take an interest in him, then.