Little White Lies

Charley smiled as she saw, for the first time in almost a week, an inkling of the normal Lily. The tiny bit of happiness she’d allowed herself crashed with the footfalls that stormed behind her. Charley turned as Wyatt barreled into the living room. He pointed at Stuart, a firm line to his lips, turned, and pointed outside without a word. Behind him, James and Cael hurried into the living room. Stuart’s wide eyes told her Wyatt needed some explanations.

“Uh-oh.” Charley rose as Stuart did. “Wait, Stuart.” She walked back into the living room.

Wyatt turned to her. “No, Charley, or whoever you are. I’ll help you find your boy. I’ll do my job. But that bastard there owes me some explanations.”

“No, Wyatt, he doesn’t,” Charley said.

Wyatt cocked his head.

“But I do,” she said.

“I’ll talk to him, Charley.” Stuart started to stand again.

“Outside.” Wyatt pivoted toward the front door and with one foot, stepped forward.

“No.” Charley’s answer hit her mark. “Stuart, sit. Wyatt? You talk to me.” She stalked through the living room as Stuart sat back down.

Lily stopped stirring, and James and Cael let her pass.

“Follow me.”

Without a word, he did.

She stepped outside, onto the front porch. Once Wyatt joined her, she closed the door with a slow and meausred control to her movements. The evening’s sun had long since set, bringing along a significant drop in temperature. She shivered, wishing for her blankets, a jacket, or something to cover her arms, though the chill came from yet another bout of nerves rather than from the cold.

Wyatt’s silence added to her anxiety, but Charley turned to face him as he stood just outside the door’s edge, his arms crossed over his chest.

“Why did you leave me?” Wyatt started the moment their eyes caught.

Straight to the heart. Charley dropped her gaze.

“Oh, now you don’t want to talk?” Wyatt threw his hands up into the air. They fell against his slacks with a thud.

Charley raised an index finger, hoping he’d give her the minute she needed. Two deep breaths later, ready to explain, she prepared to launch into the story. “You remember what happened in Montreal?”

“Yes.” He nearly spit the answer.

“The fact that I changed physical shape right in your arms?”

Wyatt nodded at her, but she caught the hesitation.

“I’m a mimic.” She waved her hand in front of her face. “It doesn’t matter. You saw. You know. I can take others’ shape.” Charley took a deep breath before she continued. “Seventeen years ago, you nearly caught me when you and Stuart were changing a flat. Sixteen years ago, I wanted to get to know you but realized you had your whole life ahead-”

“Don’t give me the ‘whole life ahead of you’ shit. I don’t give a fuck.” His eyes reflected the pain his voice projected.

“Well, since I’m a lot older than you, and have a lot more experience with life, that’s how I looked at it.” Charley turned her gaze to the tiled porch.

“How old are you?”

“Don’t you know you’re never supposed to ask a woman her age?” She drew a small smile from him as she looked back up. “Two hundred and thirty-four-almost.”

Wyatt’s eyebrows rose but he quashed further expression. “And you don’t look a day over sixty.” A small chuckled emanated from him.

Am I getting through to him? Or is it angry sarcasm?

“I opted for an exchange student so you’d know she had to leave. I agonized over doing it, though. James even gave me his blessing to go.”

“Go where?” Wyatt asked.

“With you.”

“You could have told me. You could have been honest.” His shoulders relaxed, though he stiffened again.

Charley’s frustration level ratcheted up a notch. “Are you kidding?” A small laugh flew from her. “Eighteen and in love-what did you know? You about freaked when I showed you my eyes on the dance floor. How would you have reacted if I told you I could change shape and was a couple centuries old?” She laughed again. “You’d have had me committed. Most of us don’t last this long. Gotta throw that in there.” She angled her head to him.

“What do you mean?” Wyatt frowned and shook his head. “I get that you can change shape, though I don’t understand it. Were you about to die or something?”

Charley restrained her smile. He’s interested. “When we find a match, it… changes our lives forever-literally.” Charley paused. So much to tell. How do I say this so he’ll believe me? “Anyway,” she began again. “After you and Stuart came here that night, Lily and I decided we’d make it look like we’d actually returned to New Zealand. We planned the whole airport thing, just never got on the plane. Unfortunately for me, Stuart had been pissed enough to come after Lily who’d turned into Mira to make our farce more realistic.”

“Why did Lily have to be you?”

“I can’t mimic anyone on my birthday. If I try, that is the form I’ll hold for the remainder of my life. It’s one day a year that I must be me and only me. It’s a permanent eighteen-year-old day.”

At Wyatt’s blank stare, Charley figured she should explain further. “I’m eighteen on my birthday. Every time.” She waved a hand in the air. “Anyway, mimics usually find the right mate somewhere before their hundredth year and make their final change-to live a normal life-like yours. We want to grow old, live, love, laugh, and eventually pass away. But we can only do that if our match shares a birthday with us.”

“Oh,” he said.

“I’d promised a number of people I’d walk away from you, and I knew it was the right thing. You were too young to take on what I’d need… long term. And, I do keep my promises.”

“So, you had to leave.” His tone remained dark but softened.

“Yes. Lily pretended to be me, but Stuart followed her.”

“Good ol’ Stuart.” Wyatt chuckled. “Always the man in the wrong place.”

Charley agreed, though she owed a lot of her sanity to Stuart. “Apparently, Lily didn’t do a great job in her transformation-she’s younger and not as experienced, but she was willing. So Stuart saw through it, and she had to bring him back here to explain. Since that point, he’s been a part of our secret, but he didn’t know all of it.”

“Who else knows your not-so-secret secret?”

“A number of people in the government but not just in the U.S. Most simply don’t believe it. You remember our dinner when Stuart told us all what Julie’s father said?” Charley smirked at the memory.

Wyatt nodded.

“That’s what most people who can’t believe think. For me, it’s more about being able to be anything I want. Because I’ve also been blessed with a photographic memory, I am considered one of the world’s greatest weapons, so our illustrious government keeps me on their payroll and helps keep us… under cover.”

Wyatt cocked his head.

“Stuart had no plans to join the Army.” Charley mirrored the tilt of his head. “The government takes care of us. It takes care of those who learn the truth, too.”

“Oh.” Wyatt moved to the seat next to Charley.

“When Stuart found out, he was forced into service without much explanation… only that it was for the security of the nation.”

Wyatt tilted in the other direction.

“Then, this one time, we were on separate missions. I got caught away from Cael and James. American military came in as insurgents opened fire. We fired back. I recognized Stuart, told him who I was, why I was there, and what I needed. He blinked once, since we hadn’t seen each other for a few months, and grabbed my arm. He believed me at that.”

She closed her eyes at the memory.