The Significant (7 page)

      
“Hey, hookers do the same thing,” Raphael
said with a shrug.

      
“Yeah, but that’s sex.”

      
“So?”

      
“Sex is different.”

      
“How?”

      
“It just is. It’s, like, instinct or
something. All humans need sex, so that’s fine.”

      
“All humans need to talk to someone,
too,” Raphael pointed out. He sighed heavily and took another puff of his
cigarette. “Don’t get me wrong, I think those fuckers are messed up. But like
you said, if they’re willing to pay for it, you should exploit it.”

      
“You should have seen the little girl
today,” Kailynn murmured. “She was sitting in the corner, drawing, while her
parents screamed at each other how much the other ruined their life. The
robot
was making sure that the child was
fed. It was sickening. What kinda parents are those? And this other guy
yesterday, he was so terrified to talk to me, that he just sat there and
stared, and then he continued to say sorry because he didn’t have anything to
talk about.”

      
“Shit, that’s fucking stupid. Why would
he waste the money, at that point?”

      
“You should see these people,” Kailynn
murmured. “Kinda feel sorry for the fuckers, actually.”

      
Raphael immediately turned to her, his
brows furrowed.

      
“What?” he laughed brokenly. “You feel
sorry
for the privileged-as-fuck
assholes in Anon?”

      
“I just told you about a fucking kid who
never speaks with her parents,” Kailynn said sharply. “Don’t you feel sorry for
her?”

      
“I never spoke with my parents, either,”
Raphael said.

      
“That’s because they’re dead.”

      
“And so are yours.” Raphael turned over
and looked at her seriously. “Remember who killed your mom? Anon Officials. And
you’re sitting here telling me you feel sorry for them?”

      
“I’m just trying to get Theo and the
others out of Uren, and it’s fucking depressing to see how desperate they are
to talk. Life is fucking depressing, you know?”

      
Raphael sighed and flopped back down on
the bed, lifting the cigarette to his lips.

      
“Next thing you’ll tell me is that you
think the Elites are good leaders.”

      
“Fuck that,” Kailynn barked a laugh. “As
soon as I have enough to get Theo and the others out of Uren, I’ll never go
back to Anon.”

      
As much as she wanted out of Companion as
soon as possible, she had no idea that her status as a Significant would lead
her to the job that would change her life forever.

Chapter
Six

      
Kailynn did not like most of the clients
she found herself with, but she tried not to dwell on her disgust. She went
through each client, focusing only on the amount of money she was collecting.
Every night, she would count up the green, blue, yellow, and white credit chips
she had stored away, figuring out how much more money she needed to free Theo.
She figured she could free most of them in one payment, and then the remaining
members could be released at another time, once Theo had sufficient protection
from the gangs that sought to kill him.

      
She needed a big-paying client to partner
with her so that she could get the money quickly. It had already been five
months. She was worried she was running out of time. She knew that Venus could
decide any day to kill her brother.

      
After another night of no appointments,
Kailynn was staring at the ceiling, her mind fluttering with thoughts and
worries. A soft chime at the door alerted her to a visitor.

      
The door opened and a familiar face
entered.

      
“Jacyleen,” Jak greeted, walking into her
dorm room.

      
“Hi,” she said slowly, noting the drawn
look on his face. “Is everything alright?”

      
“Yeah,” he assured. He grabbed her desk
chair and rolled it over, sitting in front of her, resting his head on his
hands on the back of the chair. “I need to talk to you about something.”

      
“Okay…”

      
“This conversation didn’t happen, if
anyone asks, alright?” Jak looked at her seriously. Kailyn turned and dangled
her feet over the edge of the bed, cold fear stabbing her gut.

      
“Alright, but you’re making me nervous.”

      
Jak sighed heavily. “I know that you’re
taking tougher jobs for the higher pay,” he said quietly. “I don’t want to know
why you need the money, so don’t tell me. But…considering you
do
need the money, I think you’re the
person I can come to for this job.” Jak hesitated. “I can’t really tell you
details, but there is a client, an extremely
wealthy
client, that is asking for a Significant for an entire
month.”

      
“A
month
?”

      
“Yes, but…” Jak stopped, hesitating
before starting to speak again. “Basically, this person is paying for a very
discreet Significant to be at the home of a friend. The one paying is not the
one who wants to spend time with a Significant.”

      
“Paying for someone else?” Kailynn
murmured. “For a
month
? Sounds like
this guy has a lot of money to throw around.”

      
“He does,” Jak affirmed. “However…he
requested that the Significant be a woman, and someone who has not been a
Significant for long.”

      
Kailynn raised her eyebrows. “Sounds like
a red flag to me…”

      
“He says that the person he wants to
spend time with the Significant doesn’t like anyone who is fake, and
apparently, they think that all well-trained Significants are fake.”

      
“Sounds about right.”

      
“He requested someone with a bit of an
attitude. So, naturally, I thought of you,” Jak said. “Are you interested?”

      
“It’s all pretty shady…” Kailynn
murmured. “Did he say who the friend was that he’s paying for?”

      
Jak looked at his hands.

      
“Yes,” Jak muttered. “I trust the client
with you, but…” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Kailynn, this is a very
important job, but it’s also very dangerous. This person is not supposed to
spend time with Significants.”

      
Kailynn narrowed her eyes. “I thought
that only Syndicate Elites—” Her eyes went wide and she gasped. “A
Syndicate Elite
?”

      
“Shh…” Jak said, motioning her quiet,
even though they were already speaking quietly. “Yes, I can’t reveal a lot of
information to you and, naturally, this can never get out. You would have to
remain completely silent about who you are seeing, what you are there for,
everything
. At the end of the month, you
would come back and say that you went on some business trip with someone and
that was why you were gone. You could not ever tell anyone about this.”

      
“…how much are they going to pay?”

      
“Fifteen thousand a day.”

      
Kailynn’s eyes shot wide and her jaw
dropped.

      
“
Fifteen
thousand
?”

      
“Part of that payment is for discretion,”
Jak added. “Interested?”

      
“Hell yeah, I’m interested.”

      
“You need to be very careful,” Jak
whispered. “It’s not completely unheard of that a Syndicate Elite asks for
discrete services, but even then there are strict laws. You are not to touch
the Elite, and you are
not
to have
sex with them. They are bound by law to remain celibate. I don’t know the
punishment for Elites breaking the law, but anyone who breaks that law with
them is executed,
quickly
.”

      
“So basically all of the Elites are
forced to be blue-balled their whole lives?” Kailynn laughed. “I guess that
means they are dedicated to politics if they are willing to give up sex.”

      
“Jacyleen,” Jak sighed, “please, tell me
you understand.”

      
“I understand,” Kailynn assured with a
nod. “Since this is all so discrete, how much of the fee will I get?”

      
“If you stay discrete, you’ll get
eighty-percent,” Jak said. “We’re only going to put on the books what would
normally be paid for a nobleman business-trip deal. The rest of the payment is
under the table.”

      
“How are the Elites going to keep this
hidden from Venus?” Kailynn asked skeptically.

      
“I don’t think they do.” Jak shook his
head. “I think that Venus allows them time to talk to a Significant as long as
it is a rare occurrence and they do not break the rule of celibacy.”

      
“Don’t worry,” Kailynn laughed, rolling
her eyes. “An Elite is the last person I would want sex with, anyway.”

      
Jak sighed heavily and nodded. “Okay. You
will not have Nyx for this. The less people that know where you are, the safer
it is. Tomorrow, between noon and two, you will take public transportation to
Syndicate Central and go to Anon Tower. There is a code that will take you to
the level of the Elite you will be seeing.”

      
“What should I pack? Formal? Casual?”

      
“A small selection of both, just in
case,” Jak answered, standing. “But no more than that. I’m sure anything you
might need while there will be provided for you.”

      
There was a knock on Isa’s office as she
powered down her NBC chair.

      
“Come in.”

      
The door slid open and Remus walked into
her office.

      
“That was impressive what you did with
the trade embargo,” he congratulated. Isa sighed and shook her head, resisting
the urge to roll her eyes.

      
“I have to have an iron fist with those
morons,” she groaned. She smiled warily at the Silver Elite. “I’m surprised to
see you up here so late. Is everything alright?”

      
Remus nodded, looking at the ground.

      
“I need to talk to you.”

      
Isa studied the expression on Remus’
face, unsure if she should be worried about a massive disaster or if it was a
personal problem. It was not traditional for the Golden and Silver Elites to
speak face-to-face, but Isa and Remus were hardly traditional. They had been
close friends since their time in school together, so they found it easy to
approach one another. In fact, most of the Elites in Isa’s Syndicate were
unusual in that sense. While there were still many conversations that took
place through the NCB chairs while working, Isa encouraged all Elites to speak
with her face-to-face as often as possible, which was easier with all the
Elites having known each other since they were children.

      
“Where shall we go?”

      
“Anon Tower?”

      
Isa spent the entire drive worried about
what Remus could possibly have to tell her. She tried not to glance in the
mirrors of her vehicle to the car directly behind her, forcing her mind not to
jump to the worst conclusions.

      
When they pulled into the secured,
secluded parking garage for Anon Tower, Isa waited for Remus to get out of his
car before going to the guest elevator. Using her ID card, the two began the
ascent to the top floor. They did not speak, wary of the cameras in the
elevator car.

      
Isa could tell that Remus was tense.
Having known him for nearly their entire lives, she could discern that he was
not nervous about any disaster or catastrophe that Isa had yet to learn. She
knew he was nervous that she would not approve of something he had done.

      
She would have preferred to handle a
catastrophe.

      
They stepped out of the elevator and went
to the front door of Isa’s home. After walking in the door, they were both
greeted by Tarah, Isa’s young caretaker.

      
“Welcome home,” she said, bowing her
head.

      
“Thank you, Tarah,” Isa said. “Please
bring two glasses of wine to the balcony.”

      
“Yes, Miss,” she affirmed, scurrying
away.

      
The two Elites moved through the spacious
living area to the balcony, stepping into the dusk air as the sun set and the
lights of Anon began to illuminate the city.

      
“Should I be concerned about something
you have done?” Isa asked lightly, glancing at Remus with a teasing smile. The
Silver Elite pursed his lips, smiling thinly as he looked to the balcony under
his feet.

      
“You should not be
concerned
…but you will likely not be pleased.”

      
Isa took a deep breath.

      
“Can you wait to tell me until after I
have my wine?”

      
“I’m probably going to need the wine to
get the courage to tell you,” Remus admitted with a broken chuckle.

      
“Why?” Isa laughed. “Do I frighten you?”

      
“You can be formidable,” Remus played
along. “You would never be so angry with me that you wouldn’t speak to me,
correct?”

      
Isa smiled gently, an unreadable light in
her eyes.

      
“I have always needed you by my side,”
she said. “I could not function without you. You know that.”

      
“You would be just fine without me,”
Remus said, shaking his head. “But that was not my question.”

      
“No, Remus,” Isa assured. “I might not
speak to you for a day, depending on what you did.” She laughed. “Once my wine
gets here, I want you to tell me what’s worrying you.”

      
Remus took a deep breath, nodding, his
expression showing his apprehension. He looked over the growing lights of Anon,
watching the darkness creep over the horizon as the city lit up and the
nightlife began. Isa also watched the city don the mask of nightly
entertainment, tantalizing everyone with bright lights and promises of escape.

      
The balcony door opened and Tarah came
out with two glasses of wine, handing one to each Elite before retreating
inside. Isa took a sip of the wine at the same time as Remus. The Silver Elite
glanced at the wine, his eyebrows high.

      
“That’s very nice.”

      
“It’s one of my new favorites. The
ambassador from Kreon gave it to me on his last visit. I will admit to spending
some money to getting more bottles.”

      
“Kreon wine, that
is
expensive,” Remus said. He took a larger drink of the burgundy
liquid, letting out a long breath when he lowered the glass again. Isa watched
him and then took a large gulp of her own drink.

      
“Alright,” she breathed. “Why did you
need to talk to me privately?”