In silence I watched as the two men walked into the food court at exactly the same pace. And though they didn’t know me, I saw that they never stopped to see if I was following. It was as if they knew I would. And really, what choice did I have? With that thought, I stood and gritting my teeth, I followed behind them. They sat down at the only semi-clean table around and waited for me to join them. I sat down and to my surprise felt relieved and calm. As soon as I was settled the man with an easy smile leaned forward.
“You’re in a lot of trouble Aira Devens,” he repeated.
The man was handsome, very handsome. With a golden honey complexion, he had a cherubic smile and his eyes were the most unusual color I had ever seen on anyone. They were a clear and bright tawny. There were flecks of gold around the iris and they were eyes I knew I could get lost in. His hair was a beautiful dark auburn and messily unkempt, which I thought suited him. He had a kind face and his smile was reassuring, though there was something eerie about it. He was the opposite of his somber partner. I could see laugh lines around his face and with a jolt I realized that he was barely older than I was. Maybe by two or three years. He couldn’t be over twenty-one. Maybe he was one of those people who started young and by the time he was eighteen, like I was now, he was a lethal weapon. A walking killer that hid behind a smile, a modern-day joker.
One thing was certain, these two men were not lawyers.
But what really held me about the auburn-haired man was his eyes and what was under them. He had dark purple shadows as if he hadn’t slept in a long time.
An insomniac, I thought vaguely.
“Are you listening to me?” the kind man asked.
“What? I’m sorry, I sort of dazed out.”
“You would think, that in light of the situation, you would be paying more attention,” the somber man said stoically.
As he spoke I looked over at him. He was dark in every way his partner was light. And he, too was handsome, the kind you see in a movie, the quiet one, the one that stole your heart, but always let it go. His hair was a deep black very much like my own, but his eyes were the exact same shade as the other man, and I realized suddenly that this man had to be of some such relation to the other, and that he was also barely older than I was. However, his eyes didn’t hold any of the warmth that the other man’s did.
This man’s eyes seemed to look straight into me, as if he could tell everything about someone with one glance. Maybe, I mused, he started young, too.
Another weapon I thought.
“I know how much trouble I’m in. I don’t need you reminding me,” I told him.
The cold man didn’t reply, instead the kind man leaned forward in his seat.
“Look, what happened with you father, sorry stepfather was unfortunate, but you’re not a kid anymore. Legally you’re going to be tried as an adult. We can help.”
I knew that, I had turned eighteen not a day before the incident. “Oh, you mean with this?” I said, tossing the card onto the table.
“Well, yes—” the kind man started.
“Cut the crap, if you guys are lawyers then I’m a queen. Eric and Michael Walters of Walter and Co? Obviously, some of it is true because you guys look alike, but you’re both what, twenty? There’s no way you could own your own firm unless you went to school at, I don’t know, fourteen? Or unless daddy bought one for you. So who are you, and what do you want from me? And better yet, why would you even bother?” I demanded.
Instead of answering me the kind man glanced at his partner and grinned. He leaned back and folded his arms across his chest.
“Has anyone ever told you, that you’re exceptionally beautiful?” he asked.
I stared at him in disbelief.
“Are you hitting on me?” I asked, clenching my fist.
It was cruel, but I pushed the anger away. Anger is what had gotten me into this. Still, I looked at the kind man, whose arrogant smile was plastered onto his face. My life was falling apart in front of me, and this man was sitting here smiling and pushing compliments at me in hopes of an easy lay. The unfairness of it hurt.
“Trust me, if I was hitting on you, you’d know,” he laughed.
“Blake, not now,” the cold man spoke.
“Sorry,” he said.
This Blake turned back to me.
“Look, you’re perfect, the ideal height, build and beauty that we need,” he said.
“What are you saying? I’m not a hooker,” I snapped.
Blake leaned back again and looked at his partner.
“Can you do this? You know I’m not good at it,” he said.
“You know what we were told,” the somber man replied.
Blake sighed and focused on me again.
“Okay, let’s start over. Hello, we work for Nerra. We’re here to offer you a job.”
“A job?” I repeated in disbelief.
“Don’t interrupt,” he said.
I glared at him. This Blake may have kind eyes, but he was arrogant.
“Anyway, we’re offering you a job and if you accept, we can make this problem of yours disappear. Actually, we already have, really. But the other problems, the ones at home—we can make those disappear as well. If, and only if, you agree to work for us.”
“For Nerra, doing what exactly?” I asked, deciding to humor the men.
“First, you would train, and if you graduate, you’ll join our team. You’ll do missions with us.”
“What kind?” I asked my eyes narrowing at him. I didn’t really like where this was going.
But it was the cold man who responded.
“We just told you we made your lawsuit disappear, figure it out.”
I ignored him.
“So, let me see if I have this straight. You two, who I’ve never met, expect me to drop everything and come work for a company I’ve never heard of, doing missions you won’t explain, and all in exchange for making my debt, the bills, everything just disappear?” I said, fluttering my hand like a butterfly.
“Yes,” Blake grinned.
“Have a nice day,” I said, standing.
“Sit down,” the cold man said, and quickly he pulled me back down to the chair with a thump.
I looked at him with wide eyes. He hadn’t even looked like he moved. I wasn’t sure anymore that I had stood up, but the remnants of his grip was still there on my wrist, pulsing as the blood rushed back to it. I looked at them and I felt that same stab of fear from earlier. I took a breath to calm myself.
“This offer sounds nice, but I don’t know who you are or where you’re from. You could be traffickers for all I know.”
“Why would a trafficker go through all this trouble? If I wanted to take you I’d chloroform your ass when you finished your shift and dump you in the back of my trunk,” Blake said bluntly.
The blood drained from my cheeks as I realized he was serious.
“Not the right thing to say right now,” the cold man said.
Blake leaned his head back and sighed.
“Why the hell did that old man seem to think sending us for this was a good idea?”
“The same reason I did—you needed to be doing something because you were driving us all crazy,” the cold man said.
Blake chuckled before turning his attention back to me.
“What we’re saying is true and to prove it, here’s something else. We’re even going to set your family up to live comfortably for the rest of their lives,” he said.
I stared at them.
“Check your account,” he pressed.
“How did you—”
“We have ways, just check it,” he said.
I pulled my phone out slowly and checked my account. What I saw made me gasp. The number of zeros that looked back at me were enough to make me realize that they weren’t messing around. The deposit date was from a few days ago.
“You’re really lucky I didn’t check my account before now.” It was all I could manage.
“We made sure it didn’t show up before the check cleared. You know, to prove that we’re being honest and what not,” Blake replied.
“This money,” I started once my head cleared a bit.
“Is for your family’s disposal if you agree to come with us,” he replied.
“There’s something else isn’t there?” I asked.
Blake suddenly leaned back and frowned. The cold man nodded.
It was then I looked at one of the restaurants. Behind the counter of one of them was James, my boyfriend. The guy who had been through everything with me. The guy who had finally broken down and told me he loved me not more than a week ago.
He grinned and waved before glancing at the two men next to me then got back to the guest he was with. I smiled, temporarily lost in thought.
“You will have to leave him,” the cold man said.
I blinked rapidly as tears formed. I looked back at them and saw that the kind man was looking at me with curiosity, while the cold man was looking at me carefully. I shook my head.
“How long?” I asked numbly.
“Sorry?” Blake asked, not quite understanding my question.
“How long will I have to work for this…Nerra?”
“Until you repay your debt from the lawsuit, the medical bills from your father’s illness, the money in your account, and the amount of money we will use to make sure you no longer exist here. If you come with us, according to the news, you will die tragically in a car accident tonight. The only people who will know you exist is your immediate family. Once your debt is repaid, should you choose to leave, you can. But even if you leave, you can never return here,” the cold man said.
“If you come with us, we will take care of your problems, but your life here will be over. Aira Devens will no longer exist to anyone but your family and Nerra,” Blake finished.
I stared at the identical men as reality crashed around me. If I said yes, I would have to say goodbye to James, my friends, everyone. But my family would be taken care of. If I said no, my family’s debt would continue to spiral out of control, my mother would die in debt and leave it to me and my brother. But I would still be with them, and James. I stared down at the table in silence.
“Okay, as long as my family is taken care of, I’ll join this, this Nerra.”
“This contract states everything, you can hold us liable in court if anything otherwise were to happen.” The cold man said, pulling several sheets of paper from his suit jacket pocket. The kind man leaned back his grin spread wider and his posture relaxed. It was as if despite how confident he had sounded, he hadn’t been sure what I would say.
“Alright,” he said, grinning.
If it weren’t for the situation, this man’s cheerfulness could be infectious, but at this moment, I wanted to take the pen the cold man was holding out to me and stab him. I shook my head viscously. Those thoughts weren’t going to help anything.
“I’m not signing yet. I want to say goodbye,” I said, staring them down.
“Why? He’s going to think you’re dead in a few hours,” Blake said, glancing at James. He furrowed his brows.
“Not just to him, to my brother and mother,” I said.
“Be sure to be thorough. You will never see him again. And by the time you leave us, you will be older and he most likely will have moved on,” the cold man said.
“Yeah, he’ll probably be married with kids and stuff,” Blake added.
The cold man glanced at Blake, a slight frown playing at his mouth.
“Just stating the obvious,” he said, shrugging.
The cold truth of their words stung as the tears started up again. I nodded and stood to leave.
“We will pick you up tonight. We have already explained to your store that you will not be returning for the rest of your shift,” the cold man said, turning to leave.
Blake also stood and started to follow before turning back.
“I don’t think I should have to tell you this, but don’t try to take the money and run. As I’m sure you’ve figured out we have a lot of resources, and finding you wouldn’t take more than an afternoon,” he said, smiling and following his partner.
They walked towards the exit at exactly the same pace.
It was a friendly warning. But as I watched them leave with a sinking feeling, I realized the chill I felt was from the fear of his words. If I tried to run, they would find me. There was nowhere I could go. I took a breath to calm myself. I had been doing that a lot lately. I stood and turned towards the restaurant.
I wish the steps to him had taken longer to walk, but instead time pushed me faster, as if urging me to this new chapter in my life. Suddenly, I was in front of him.
James beamed as he pushed a stray hair off of my face.
“Hey,” he said softly.
I smiled, relishing the amount of love he put into that one word. James was tall with a medium-toned build. He had dark brown hair that was messy and fell into blue eyes that accepted everything around him for what it was. He had freckles sprinkled across his nose, no doubt from his days spent surfing in the sun. I could count them.
I stared at him wordlessly, concern filled his eyes.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, putting his hands to my forehead. One of his coworkers whistled but as always, he ignored them.
“What’s wrong?” he repeated.
“Nothing, I…When do you get on break?” I asked him.
“Right now. Hey, Travis, cover the register. I’ll be back in an hour,” he said.
He headed into the back for a moment before returning with a helmet in his hands. I followed him out quietly. He handed me the helmet as we arrived at his Yamaha. I put it on as he got on and climbed on after him. As he backed out I leaned on him and closed my eyes. I had wanted this last memory. This was how I remembered him most, this bike was how we met. Our drives together were my most treasured memories with him.
I thought of the past two years. Every afternoon and dinner I had spent with James had convinced me that life wasn’t all about how much money you owed or where you wanted to go to school. It was about being happy and around people you loved. Love found me in the rundown town I had always dreamed of leaving far behind. And now I had gotten my wish.
I opened my eyes and realized that we had arrived at the park near my house, the one we had waited out a storm in. It felt like yesterday. I got off and started fumbling with the straps of the helmet. I couldn’t quiet grasp the latch. James took my hands off gently and unlatched it for me. He placed it on his bike.
Taking my hand, he led me to the pavilion and steered me towards a bench.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, gently.
“We need to talk,” I said.
“Okay, so talk,” he prompted.
I looked away and took a breath.
“I-I want to take a break,” I said turning back to him.
His eyes widened, and his hands suddenly jerked.
“But why? What’s wrong? What did I do?” he asked
“It’s not anything that you did. I just can’t be with you right now,” I said.
“But why?”
“With everything that’s going on I just can’t handle having a boyfriend right now. And with what you said last week about loving me, I said it back, but after everything that’s happened with our families and what’s going on with mine right now, I realized I was just reacting to your words. I don’t know how I feel right now. I’m so sorry.”
“So, you didn’t mean it? What, someone tells you they love you and you just repeat it back then a week later say I’m sorry I don’t! What were you doing, testing the waters?” he asked.
I didn’t say anything. He stared at me in quiet anger then stood and turned away to some kids in the distance.
“Fine, if that’s how you feel let’s just break up,” he said.
“I’m sorry,” I said. He didn’t move.
Quietly I stood and stared at his turned back. I love you I thought. As if sensing my thoughts, he turned. “Don’t go,” he said, stepping forward and grabbing me.
As soon as I was in his arms I wanted to take it back. Take it all back, but the image of Aiden my brother came to my mind and I knew he couldn’t. I wouldn’t. And I knew that if James had been faced with the same decision, his brothers would be in his mind and he would have reached the same choice. I knew that if James knew the truth he would understand. And as selfish as it was, I took comfort in that.
“I’m sorry I got mad. Just don’t go. I don’t want to lose you. I love you. If you want to take a break, I don’t like it, but I get it. Finding out about your dad the way you did, and then this thing with your stepdad. It’s too much and I get that. Just don’t push me away, if you need anything just tell me. I’m right here, I always will be,” he said, kissing my cheek gently.
“Thank you,” I whispered feeling my eyes well.
Help me I thought suddenly.
“Do you want me to take you home?” he asked.
“No, I want to walk. I just want to be alone for a while,” I said.
He reached for my hand and squeezed it softly.
“Really, Aira, I’m right here,” he said, smiling despite the pain in his eyes.
“Goodbye,” I said before pulling my hand from his grip and starting the mile towards my house.
I didn’t look back, I didn’t have it in me.
I got to my house in a mess. My makeup from work was streaked with my tears and my stocking was torn from the brambles I had blindly walked into. It was a relief that I saw no one was home. I walked straight into my shower and turned the nozzle to the hottest temperature it could go. As I washed the dirt I felt more tears rack through me.
By the time I was done, steam rose from my skin. By the noise coming from outside the bathroom, I could tell my mother and brother had come home. Sighing, I dried off wrapped the towel around me, and went into my room.
I looked around as if seeing it for the first time. My room was small, but it was decorated with everything I thought I could need as an eighteen-year-old. Pictures of me and the few friends I had. A soccer ball sat in the corner. The secondhand surfboard my little brother had painstakingly earned by selling sea glass and giving to me as an early present. Clothes thrown onto a pile in the corner of one side of the room. I started to change and tried to ignore how badly I was shaking. I pulled a tank top on and walked down the hallway.
My soon to be ex step father had gotten us a new place to live, “One fit for a real family.” He’d told us. It had been big and beautiful, but it never felt like home.
Leaving this place to a tenant had been hard. I smiled as I looked up at all the pictures, the moment we had moved back here had been the one happy thing this past month. I had grown up in this house and the scratches on the wall that had marked mine and my brother’s growth proved it. I was thankful our tenant hadn’t removed it.
I walked into our too small square kitchen. The oven and fridge squeezed together on one side, the small two-person bar right across. My mother had never been a good cook, so I had painstakingly learned the skill at the age of twelve when my father died. I choked on a laugh as I heard footsteps.
“Hey, hon, how was work?” my mother asked.
“It was good,” I answered leading her to the living room.
We sat down on our couch and I looked around trying to memorize everything. How many conversations had my mother and I had in this room? There’d been movie dates and fights, dinner with all three of us. And most of all, there were memories with my father, his picture still sat on the mantle. I stared at it wishing, wondering what would have happened if he hadn’t died.
I heard a car engine and the sinking feeling in my heart told me they had arrived.
“Mom,” I said.
She turned to me.
“I have something to tell you.”
After three hours of arguing and crying, I sat in the car with the two men. When I showed my mother the money in my account and how long it had been there, she sat with broken resignation. I had transferred it all to her. Both her and my brother’s accounts now held enough money for them to be comfortable for a very long time and then some.
I was staring out of the window as I tried hard not to cry. We had already driven past my school. I made them take the long way to the highway even though there was an exit near my house. To take that exit we would have had to go past the park and something told me he was still there. I didn’t trust myself not to jump out of the car and run back.
I jumped when I saw the auburn-haired man, Blake, staring blatantly at me. He smiled.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
I shook my head no.
He frowned. Even frowning he still looked exuberant.
“Thirsty then? You must have some questions? Talk a little! Sitting here pouting isn’t going to fix anything,” he stated.
“Stop smiling at me, it’s pissing me off,” I said, turning back to the window.
“I don’t understand, should I be mad as well?” Blake asked frowning slightly in puzzlement.
“Just stop talking to me. Go bug your uncle or something,” I snapped.
Blake roared with laughter.
“Uncle Blaine, we should stop for food. I’m starving, none of that shitty mall food looked good,” Blake said to the other man.
Blaine didn’t respond.
Blake turned back to me. “Blaine’s my twin brother.”
“Who’s older?” I asked already knowing the answer.
“No idea,” Blake said.
His answer was the first of many surprises.