Birthright: Battle for the Confederation- Turmoil (39 page)

He caught
her looking at his drink, so he gave her another quick smile.  “Nothing
smoothes over a rough day like drinking something with flames in it,” he said
quickly.

“Must have
been a hell of a day,” she replied cheerfully.  “That’s some high octane stuff
you’ve got there.”

“Well, I
have two good friends who are together; they’re going through a very rough spot
and have placed me right in the middle,” he responded.  “There’s been some
yelling, throwing of living room accessories, and to tell you the truth, this
bar,” he gestured with his drink to the noise and commotion around him, “is the
quietest I’ve had it in days.  So, here’s to a relaxing evening in a noisy
bar.”  He raised his glass to see what she’d do, and she tipped her own in his
direction and took a sip.

She looked
thoughtfully at her glass, and Garrett sensed that she was waiting for him to
say more.  He didn’t want to appear too eager- women could sense desperation
like predators could smell fear- but it seemed as though she was willing to see
what he’d try next.  So, he’d oblige her.

“You
look,” he said while pretending to study her carefully, “like you’re trying to
come up with a better story than me.  To upstage me, if you will.”  He raised
an eyebrow and waited.

 “Are you
a psychic, psychologist, something like that?” she asked only half seriously.

“Actually,
I’m a Political Studies and Analysis major,” he replied truthfully.

“Eww,” she
made a face, and Garrett couldn’t help but smile genuinely.  “I feel sort of
dirty now.”

“You get
used to it,” he replied with a grin.  “I find it interesting to study people;
try to see what makes them do the things they do.  Watching politics as it
relates to interplanetary issues provides a lot of fodder for analysis.  Lots
of people doing lots of bad things, and all that.”

“It will
keep you busy,” she admitted. 

“So, are
you still in school, contributing to society, seeing the galaxy?”

“Just
graduated,” she said.  After seeing his expectant look, she replied,
“Accounting.”

“Always
jobs to be had there,” he said.  “Though you never answered my first question:
are you trying to come up with a better story than me?  You realize the one
with the worst tale gets a free round; that’s how things work.”

“Hmm,” she
said, and put her hand to her chin in a gesture of deep thought.  “It has to be
real, right?  Not just a competition for who can come up with the most
elaborate and well crafted story?

“No,
Fiction Night is on Tuesdays.  This has to be the real thing.  The judges will
expect your best material.”  Garrett couldn’t help it; he was having a great
time with this woman.  It was getting harder to focus on the fact that she was
part of something that was tearing up one of his best friends.

“I think a
guy I’ve seen a few times already has a girlfriend,” she said finally. 

Garrett
was shocked.  First of all, at the implication that she might be blameless, and
second at the fact that she’d tell that to a stranger.  “No man would dare,” he
said in mock indignation.

“Oh, I
think he would,” she replied.  “He’s hiding a few things, but I don’t think he
expects me to figure that out.” She changed the subject.  “So, what brings you
here?”

Decision
time
, Garrett thought.  If one told too many lies, they’d start to get
impossible to keep straight.  Best to keep as close to the truth as possible,
in case it came back to him later.  “Well, you already know I’m a student from
across town.  I was paying a call to a family friend and, being a university
student, I realized my blood alcohol level was dangerously low.  So, I looked
around and found this fine establishment.  Now I’m talking with you.”  It was
good psychology, he knew, to make sure he considered the experience complete
now that he was talking to her.  There was no more adventure to be sought out
now that he was here.

“Now it’s
your turn,” she said, as she slid over to the barstool next to Garrett.  A
thrill ran through him.  He wasn’t sure what he expected, but he sure hadn’t
planned on liking her, that’s for sure.

“My turn
for what?” he asked innocently.

“I told
you something personal,” she continued.  “Now it’s your turn.”

“I thought
this was the ‘whose story was worse’ competition?” Garrett countered.

“Oh, I
won, that much is obvious,” she said easily.  “I’ll take another Brandy Burner,
by the way.  So, something personal.  Not your favorite color; something real,
something groundbreaking.”

She stared
at him, and he finally had to avert his eyes because he felt himself start to
blush under her gaze.  So much for the suave intelligence gathering mission. 
Finally, he gathered himself and went for broke.

“Something
personal…” he began.  “I’m not wearing underwear.”

“You are
so messed up,” she said, but laughed softly and took another sip of her drink.

“I thought
I should go for the most shocking thing I could think up,” he confessed.  “I’m
not trying to send a message or anything crude like that, but I wanted to know
what it was like, and today has been a big day full of new things for me.”  He
gave himself a mock toast, finished the last of his drink, then motioned to the
bartender for another round.

She
studied him for a while and then replied.  “Well,” she asked, “I may regret
this, but I’ll ask; how did it go?”

“I won’t
be doing it again,” he said honestly. 

They sat and
talked for a long time, and before he knew it, the bar lights were coming up
and they were getting gentle but pointed reminders from the staff that the
patrons needed to decide where they were going after the bar booted them.

As they
left, Garrett held the door for her, then caught up as she waited out in front
of the bar for him.  “You know, I never even got your name,” he said.

“You never
asked,” she replied with a smirk.

“Please,
oh please, tell me your name,” he said with a hand over his heart.

“Lexa.”

“I’m
Garrett,” he added.  “What are the odds I’ll find you here again?”

“Well, how
much do you like that family friend of yours that you came over here to visit?”

“Not much
at all, but if I can see you as well, I’ll put up with the bad food and awkward
silences that I get there.”

“Alright,”
she said, “if you think it will be worth it…” she trailed off jokingly.

“I’d like
to find out.”

“Ok.  How
about back here Friday night?”

Garrett’s
mind raced.  He hadn’t checked ahead on Arlan’s schedule, or whether Cinder and
Arlan had plans.  Basically, he wasn’t prepared to answer the question, but
he’d be damned if he looked hesitant or indecisive.

“What time
and what barstool?” he replied.

“Eight,
same place we spent tonight,” she said.  “Oh, and Garrett, next time, wear
underwear.  Otherwise, it’s just weird.”

Garrett
awoke the next morning to a knocking on his apartment door.  Actually, it was
more like insistent bashing.  He dragged himself out of bed, quick put on some
clothes from the top of the ‘dirty’ pile, and stumbled to the door.  Never a
morning person, he was confused and just a tad angry that somebody was waking
him up at the unholy hour of… oh.  He picked up his comm unit and checked the
display as he arrived at the door and saw it was after ten in the morning.

He
activated the security screen and saw Cinder standing in the hallway.  She must
have seen the activation light, because she looked right at the lens and told
Garrett to let her in.

He hit the
‘unlock’ key, and the door had barely unlocked when Cinder opened it and strode
in. 

“Garrett,”
she began as she took in his disheveled appearance, “I get the impression
you’re avoiding me.”

Too early
in the morning for his brain to conjure up anything in the way of an effective
denial, he shrugged and sat down on a chair in the small living area.  Cinder
followed and took the chair opposite.  They were sitting near the only window
in the main living area, which offered an unobstructed view of a parking garage
across the street.

“You know
something,” she stated, and simply waited for him, staring.

Garrett
knew this was similar to an interrogation technique called the ‘silent
treatment’.  The silence hung in the air, with the expectation that it was his
turn to say something.  Eventually, the idea was that it would become so
uncomfortable for him that he’d just start talking.  After that, it would be
easier to guide him onto the topic of choice.

He was
unable to fight the technique.  “I don’t have everything I need yet,” he said
evasively.

“Garrett,
I’ve known you long enough to know that you avoiding me means you don’t want to
tell me something that I don’t want to hear.  So, out with it, please.  I just
want to know.  It’s not the end of the universe, you understand.  We’re still
in school, and it’s not like we were going to run off and get married next
month.  But if this is the way life with him would be, I want to know right
now.”

He had to
commend her.  He knew she loved him, but he also knew she was strong enough to
move on if that was what was called for.  He hoped.

“I could
use one more day to put everything together,” he said, but he knew it was
weak.  She just stared at him, and he broke.  “I saw him at a bar across town
with another woman.  They kissed.  I approached her and got her talking.”  He saw
the look on Cinder’s face, and pressed on before she could say anything more. 
“I wanted to know if she was in on it.  Not that the last part could change
anything, but something in me needed to know.”

“This is
the woman who’s cheating with my fiancée, you mean?” she deadpanned.

“I don’t
believe she knows about you.  She said she suspected Arlan had somebody else,
but it didn’t sound like it’s been going on very long.  Not that the amount of
time changes anything either, but like I said, I wanted to know.”

“Are you
interested in her?” Cinder asked in dismay.

Garrett
didn’t have an honest answer.  He thought he might be, but maybe that’s why he
wanted to know so badly if she was a party to this.  He didn’t think she could
be that sort of person, but he barely knew her and would be naive to make
assumptions.  He would find out tonight.  “I don’t know,” he said finally,
unconvincingly.  “I’ll find out tonight.”

“You’re
seeing her again?”

“I said
I’d find out what was going on, and that’s what I’ll do.  I want you to know I
didn’t just jump to a conclusion.  I don’t think I should talk to Arlan yet,
but her I
can
approach.”

“We’re
supposed to go out to dinner tonight,” Cinder replied.  “Let
me
talk to
Arlan.”

Chapter 3

Garrett
met Lexa at the bar right on time, and it was as though they’d picked up in mid
conversation from the other night.  He kept thinking,
does she know about
Cinder
?  He was just going to have to blurt it out and ask her if he
couldn’t find a way to steer the conversation that way soon.

“So how
are your fighting friends you talked about when we met?” Lexa asked.

Garrett
realized this was his chance.  “It’s rough,” he said, not wanting to give her
too much.  “Each has reasons to doubt the other right now.  Didn’t you say
something about a guy also?  He’s not going to show up here and challenge me to
a duel or anything, is he?”  Garrett needed to give her as many chances as he
could to say something about Arlan.

“I think
I’m done with him,” she said with a smile.  “I’m pretty sure he was seeing
somebody else anyway, and I’m not going to be the other girl, if you know what
I mean.  Besides, I need to keep my options open in case I come across anybody
else interesting.”  The way she said it left little doubt that she was as
interested in Garrett as he was in her.

They spent
a pleasant evening together, drinking a little and talking a lot.  As the bar
started to die down and people filtered out, Garrett had made his decision.

“You
know,” he began, “we should meet somewhere other than a bar sometime.”

“You don’t
like this place?” she said with a grin.

“Oh, it
now holds a special place in my heart,” Garrett said.  “But if I had your comm
address, I could arrange for us to meet someplace other than a bar.  Or, I
suppose if you really love the sauce, we could try all new bars all over town.”

“A normal
date sounds wonderful,” she said pleasantly, and held out her hand, into which
he placed his comm unit.  She entered her address and returned it, waiting with
her hand extended so he could give her his own.  When she gave it back, she
leaned in and gave him a light kiss on the cheek and a hug, which Garrett
savored.

“Comm me
tomorrow,” she said, smiling.  “We’ll plan something soon.”

“See you
then,” he replied with what must have been a huge, stupid grin.  He needed to
work on playing it cooler, he realized.  He started walking towards the public
transit station, and passed a drunken bar patron sitting on a sidewalk bench,
slumped forward, hooded jacket up over his head to guard against the light
chill in the evening air.  He walked past and was about to keep going when he
heard his name being called by the man on the bench.

“Excuse
me?” Garrett said, stopping in mid stride.  He saw the man get up and toss his
hood back.  He was not drunk at all; he was Arlan.  A shiver ran up his spine
and he hoped to hell the man hadn’t figured it all out.

Arlan
walked up to Garrett, not yelling in anger or running, but menacing.  Garrett
became nervous.

“What are
you doing, Garrett?” Arlan asked.

“You mean,
right here?”

“Stuff it,
you stinking pile of
sheifah
,” Arlan continued.  “You know exactly what
I’m talking about.  Cinder called off the engagement tonight.  She gave my ring
back.  And do you know why?  She said I was cheating on her.  And here you are,
hanging out in the bar I go to when I want to be alone.  You’d think you were
following me.”

Garrett
realized he needed to stand his ground or Arlan was going to get worse very
quickly.  “Arlan, I saw you kissing Lexa.  Cinder thought you were seeing
someone else, and she was right, wasn’t she?”

Arlan’s
eyes flashed when Garrett said Lexa’s name, and he suddenly realized that
standing his ground might have been the wrong direction to take this
conversation.  “Lexa broke up with me today, too,” Arlan continued.  He stepped
right up to Garrett and poked him in the chest, causing Garrett to backpedal
half a step.  “You’ve cost me two women in one night.  I think you should have
kept your nose the hell out of my business.”

  Arlan
shoved him this time, and Garrett stumbled backwards.  He’d never really been
in a fight, didn’t know any actual defensive techniques.  Arlan probably
didn’t, either, but he was stronger and angry.  That went a long way.         

“You think
you’re so well connected, so popular, all the people you know and talk to but
don’t really like,” Arlan said.  “Well, here’s a surprise.  I don’t like you. 
I kept in touch for the same reasons you played along as well.  We’re not
friends, and you don’t get any consideration from me.  I think you owe me,
Garrett,” Arlan finally said. 

“What do
you want?” said Garrett, almost yelling now.

“I want
you to hurt like I do,” Arlan said, and he sucker punched Garrett in the
stomach as hard as he could.  Garrett doubled over and fell straight to the
ground in a heap.  He couldn’t breathe, and felt like his lungs were
permanently forced into a contracted state that wouldn’t allow him to suck in
air ever again. 

Then Arlan
was on top of him, and he punched him in the kidneys twice.  Garrett yelled in
pain and tried to curl up, but Arlan was holding him prone.

“You know
what I’m going to do, Garrett?” Arlan asked, way too calmly.  It was the
collected voice of somebody that was perfectly aware of how crazy they were
being, and it scared him.  “Every time I see you, I’m going to beat the living
hell out of you, starting right now.  And if I ever see you around Cinder or
Lexa again, I just might have to get angry with them, too.  You got it?”

Garrett
couldn’t have responded even if he’d had something to say.  Arlan hit him
again.  And again.