The Gender Game (11 page)

"This is your girl?" another man spoke up. "Violet, did you say her name was?"

"Yup. My wife," Lee said through his plastic smile. He displayed my ring finger to them.

"Good man," the younger guy said, patting Lee on the back.

"Thanks, Simon," Lee said.

Richard and the others weren't nearly as informal as Simon. They nodded politely and murmured, "Congratulations."

Lee took a seat with me on a couch, accompanied by Simon and three others who abandoned the game. Richard also strolled over.

"How many more days of leave will you be taking?" Richard asked Lee, his voice rich and throaty.

"Oh, I'm not entirely sure, Richard," Lee replied. "As you can imagine, Violet and I have a lot to catch up on and a number of things to adjust around the house."

"I understand. Let me know once you have a date."

"Of course."

Lee fell into five minutes of small talk, throughout which nobody bothered to address me. If I wasn't a guilty spy on a hazardous mission for Matrus, I would have been annoyed by that. As it was, I was relieved that the attention was kept off me and Lee tackled all the questions.

Lee stood up. "Well, we're off to have dinner,” he concluded. “I'll catch you around."

"Where are you going to eat?" Simon asked.

"Uh…" Lee said, slipping a hand into his pocket. He bobbed thoughtfully on his feet.

Before he could reply, Simon suggested, "How about The Red Boar? We were planning to go there ourselves tonight. I'm pretty starved now, in fact. You could join us."

Lee hesitated, but apparently struggling to find a polite way to turn Simon down, replied, "Okay. Sounds like a plan."

Other than Simon, four others accompanied us: Luke, Frederick, James and Rocco. The others remained in the billiards room, except for Richard, who headed home.

Lee pulled back with me as the men exited. "The restaurant's not too far from here," he said beneath his breath, "about twenty minutes by car. Though it's in an area I'd hoped to avoid. Not the end of the world though, as long as you stick with me."

On exiting the lab, we headed to the parking lot where Simon offered to drive us in his vehicle. I sat in the back, while Lee sat in the passenger's seat next to Simon. We drove out of the lab compound and passed road after road that was teeming with life. Men with their wives and children populated the sidewalks, milling in and out of shops and restaurants. These were the same streets that had been almost empty earlier in the day.

I sensed us approaching the river that encircled the palace by the subtle change of atmosphere, the breeze seeping through the car windows becoming crisper. We reached a parking lot at the end of a long promenade, beyond which were the river's gushing currents and the tall, well-lit walls of the palace. On our side was a long line of bars and eateries. I immediately noted the lack of women and children in this area.

"There's the place." Lee pointed it out to me. A bright red sign depicting a muscly boar hung above a large, dimly lit restaurant, outside of which was an open-air enclosure of tables. Our group managed to secure a table from a group who'd just finished eating as we arrived.

I didn't have an appetite as we sat down and eyed the menus. I always felt tense around strangers, and particularly these men who were potential obstacles in accomplishing my mission. I told Lee to order me whatever he was having before leaning back in my seat, half in and half out of the conversation sparking up among the men around me. I'd hoped that, as uncomfortable as the meal might be, it would at least prove to be interesting; that they'd talk about their work, and the types of experiments they ran all day in that monstrous lab, but apparently work talk was reserved for work hours. Their primary topic of conversation became a major event that was due to take place soon, a cage fight between two of Patrus' most skilled professional fighters.

I found it endlessly strange to listen to them talk about fighting as a sport, something that people watched for entertainment, when in Matrus any sort of physical combat was discouraged to the point that even a punch could have somebody reprimanded.

Violence was taboo in my world, as much as women getting jobs was in theirs.

"What are your hobbies?" Simon turned to me and asked as the food arrived.

Oh, someone
'
s deigned to ask me a question.

Hm. Hobbies?
What hobbies would be deemed acceptable here in Patrus for a woman? Cooking was the first that sprang to mind. Ironically, I actually couldn't cook to save my life. Lee was a better cook than I could ever hope to be.

It felt like the only thing I knew how to do well was fight.

I was glad when Lee helped me out. "Other than being a bread artisan, Violet is a painter. An
excellent
painter."

I scoffed internally.

"Wonderful," Simon replied, sipping from his glass. "Next time I come to visit Lee, I'll have to take a look."

Yeah… Good luck getting yourself out of that one, Lee
. He'd have to go hunting for some unsigned paintings to brighten up his walls, though it shouldn't come to that. I was still holding out hope that this mission would only take a matter of days (then I could see my brother again as early as next week!)—though I'd been given no reason to hope this. Nobody had mentioned a timeframe yet, neither Alastair nor Lee.

"What are
your
hobbies?" I returned the question to Simon, hoping to divert the attention away from myself.

But as Simon began to answer, I hardly heard him. Something—someone—caught my eye across the tables.

It was my cousin, Cad. Cad, whom I had not seen in years.

He was with two other young men I guessed were friends. The three of them were moving toward our eatery, already scanning for a seat among the outside tables. He hadn't spotted me yet, but that wouldn't last long if I didn't get the hell out of here. Being surrounded by Lee's colleagues, I didn’t have the time or ability to explain anything to Lee, of course. I immediately turned my back on Cad while lowering my hand beneath the table to grip Lee’s knee. I held it firmly, hoping to instill in him my urgency.

"I-I'm sorry, Simon, you'll have to excuse me… Lee, where are the restrooms?"

Lee looked confused, but nodded toward the entrance of the restaurant. "At the back, near the bar. I'll come with you."

"It's all right," I murmured, biting down on my lower lip. "Stay here. " I feared the two of us standing at once would attract more attention our way. Cad might even think that we were a couple freeing up a table.

There was a moment of hesitation in Lee, when I feared that he would insist on coming with me all the same. But it was just the back of the restaurant. That could hardly be considered leaving him—could it?

I tore away from him, trying to make my retreat as undramatic as possible, even as I was forced to walk sideways so that my face remained obscured from Cad, who was nearing closer and closer with his friends.

The restaurant was huge. It had four main entrances, and I could hardly see through to the back of it as I stepped inside because of all the men moving around. I spotted the sign for the ladies' restrooms at the back, but to my dismay, they were closed for maintenance.
Closed
.
How could they close the restrooms?
The men's were open on the other side of the bar.
Dammit
. I was still the only woman in this place that I could see, so I supposed they'd hardly had any complaints.

I backed into the shadows as best as I could while trying to keep a tab on Cad's movements, which was hard with all the bobbing heads. I caught a glimpse of him entering the building with his friends—obviously having failed at finding a table outside. They were making a beeline for the bar, which meant I needed to move again and fast, but I had effectively backed myself into a corner. There was only one path I could take from here to the main aisles that led to the doors, and that would mean crossing straight in front of Cad.

If he saw me now, it could be a disaster. He would cause a scene and demand not only that I explain myself, but also that I go to see his parents. I wouldn't be able to shake him off and he wouldn't believe the lies that I'd fallen into a romance with Lee. Cad would know that it was impossible. And if any of those scientists heard him talking or discovered we were related… it would be far too much of a footprint for me to leave in Patrus.

My palms were sweating as I kept my gaze trained on the out of service sign on the restroom door and their conversation floated in my ears above the rest of the noise in the pub. They were talking about rowing, Cad was, apparently, as keen a boater as ever.

It was strange to hear my cousin's voice again. Strange, yet comforting. I felt a bittersweet twinge in my chest, wishing I could greet him. But I couldn't stand where I was much longer without looking seriously odd. I sensed that a waiter would be the first to ask me if I was all right.

I twisted ever so slightly, just enough to glimpse the nearest exit. If I moved tactfully, I could slip around the back of Cad and his friends' chairs while they weren't looking. Then I could get lost in the crowd and make my way back outside. I could rejoin the dinner and tell Lee that I was feeling sick and that we needed to leave.

But before I could even begin my attempt to move around them, Lee spoke up behind me.

"Violet?"

He'd come to see if I was all right. And he either had not been informed about my cousin or simply hadn’t seen or recognized him.

I was already picturing Cad turning to Lee, and then following Lee's gaze toward me. I didn’t have time to think. My gut instinct took over and I found myself darting forward, past the out-of-order sign and into the ladies' bathroom.

My heart raced as I gazed around the stalls. I spotted a window above the line of sinks and, kicking off my shoes and hanging them over one wrist by their straps, I climbed onto the sink and pushed it open. Gripping its frame, I hauled myself up to find myself above a trash yard around the back of the building.

Swinging my legs over, I leapt and landed on the roof of a trashcan. I slid off, tearing the hem of my dress in the process, and landed on the puddle-strewn ground. I quickly slipped my shoes back on before hurrying toward the gates that marked the exit of the yard. Thankfully, they weren't locked. I rushed through them while trying to tidy my hair and straighten my dress. Taking a deep breath, I leaned back against the yard's wall.

Lee would probably go barging into the ladies' room after me and suspect that I had climbed through the window. I guessed he would climb through, too. I would wait here for him to emerge, and then the two of us could roam back to the tables before taking our leave.

I couldn't help but wonder what was going through his head right now, though. He might be doubting me, thinking that I'd decided I wanted to get out of all of this and tried to escape while I thought I could. If I hadn't had a reunion with my brother dangling ahead of me as a carrot, the notion of running away would probably be tempting, but even that would require a level of insanity I didn't possess. I'd be caught, and probably thrust into jail… And jails in Patrus were rumored to be a woman's worst nightmare. I would be better off in a Matrian detention center any day.

As for Cad, I'd gotten out of the building before he had been able to see me properly. The most he would've seen of me was my back. Although Violet was not a very common name, I had to hope that he'd write it off as a coincidence and not think any more of it.

I clasped my hands together, waiting tensely. The street was dark, except for a single strip light a few hundred yards away. It cast eerie dancing shadows on the brick work surrounding me.

Where was Lee? Why was I still waiting for him? It occurred to me that maybe, rather than climb through the window, he might've gone around the front and would be making his way to the back alley now.

I started moving toward the crowded street that ran perpendicular to the alley. I'd feel easier waiting where there were bright lights and people, but as I had almost reached the busy sidewalk, a group of men turned the corner. Big, heavy-set men with identical tattoos—a solid black square beneath the left ear. They had the rough appearance of farmers or manual laborers: sun-tanned skin, windswept hair, baggy clothes, and clunky boots.

Almost colliding with me, they stopped abruptly, their eyes raking over me curiously. Balling my hands into fists, I kept my eyes firmly on the ground while attempting to dodge and slip past them. But one of them—a man with a pockmarked face and a jungle for eyebrows—apparently wasn't done looking at me. He moved directly in front of me, blocking my path.

"What are you doing alone?" he asked.

"What business is that of yours?" I said through gritted teeth. He clearly wasn't a warden.

I moved to push past him but again he obstructed my way, taking a step closer to me this time.

"She's too well dressed to be a stray," one of his companions muttered.

I glared into the eyes of the man looming over me, refusing to be intimidated. I could have flashed my ring to show him that I had a guardian, but I wasn't a Patrian girl. And I wanted him to know it. He couldn't just push me around.

I could tell that my stand aggravated him. His arm shot out to grab my wrist, but I had already predicted his movement and with a sharp chop of my right hand, I knocked his arm aside and jerked backward.

His eyes lowered to where I had struck him, which would soon show bruising, and then raised to me again in disbelief.

I hadn't been sure why Lee had been hesitant to come to this part of town, but perhaps men like these were the reason. The man surfaced from his surprise and lurched forward, giving me no choice but to remove my stupid heels again and hurry back. I was feeling angry and frustrated enough to get into a physical fight with him, but I wasn't quite that stupid. Even if I outsmarted him, which, judging by the slowness of his reflexes, wouldn't be all that difficult, now more than ever I had to control my temper. Plus, he wasn't alone.