Sarah took in the enormous glass windows and what looked like either free standing weather gauging equipment or some kind of art installation. I could see the yearning to enter in her eyes, but patiently waited for her to write out what she had to say in her pad.
“I’ve only been once as a kid. I liked it back then, but it looks pretty busy today.”
“Fuck it,” I said with a half smirk. “We’re bigger than those little bastards. I’ll just push them out of the way.”
She seemed to visibly relax with that, then grabbed me roughly by the hand and charged us into the building. After some wary looks from the ticket seller at my vest we went inside. I couldn’t help but smile at her excited zeal as she took in all the exhibits and demo stations.
My smile was tinged with a realization that despite how smart and curious she was Patrick probably kept her cooped up in that damn building most of the time. She’d either clam up or change the subject whenever I occasionally fished for info about what it was like living at the laundromat or working for Patrick in general.
It made my heart hurt to think of her as the caged bird she was.
I didn’t know what was going to happen with my MC, and how things were going to shake out with our scumbag employer. There were so many factors beyond my control. Things could go sour at any point and we might have to take off without any warning or hell even if they didn’t when we were done and got our money we’d have to move on regardless. I had no idea how much time I had left with Sarah. A day, a week, a few hours, who the fuck knows?
As shitty of a deal as it was I just had to enjoy the borrowed time we had together and hope everything worked out for us and for her in the end.
I was truly surprised at how interesting they made all the displays as we walked around. There were several times where I was even pulling her into some hands-on bullshit involving engineering puzzles or games with lights and sounds. Why wasn’t science ever this interesting when I was young?
The hours flew by as we made our way through each floor then chilled out in the planetarium where it was so damn relaxing that we both may have knocked out for a few minutes. Throughout the whole building though, nothing lit up Sarah’s face more than the Seven Wonders of the World exhibition. She marveled at all the pictures, scaled replicas, audio and visual displays and poured over every info-dump plaque.
That’s when I saw the true extent of her wanderer’s heart. It was written all over her face and mannerisms. She craved to see the rest of the world. A crazy idea came to me then. What if I asked her to come with us when this was all over? Would she come? The guys might not like it, but I could figure out something with them. I knew deep down that neither of those were the real hurdle.
The ultimate question that mattered was if Patrick would let her go.
When I turned back to Sarah she’d somehow found a piece of paper and a pen and was drawing a picture of a condor flying over the ancient mountain-topped, Peruvian city of Machu Picchu.
“If you could pick one of the seven to visit, would this be the one?” I asked.
Sarah finished the picture with some final flourishes, looked it over, then folded it up and slid it into my front pocket. She looked at me with a demure smile then nodded as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear.
Peru, huh? I’d remember that.
“Hey,” I said with a surprising degree of regret. We’d been there for what had to be half a day and it felt like we hadn’t scratched the surface of what the enormous place had to offer. It’d take us at least a few more visits to really see everything. “They’re closing up soon and I need to stop at the gift shop.”
Sarah gave me a wary glance, then quickly scribbled out a note. “Never took you for a memento kind of guy.”
“I’m not,” I snorted at the thought, then added, “Buck collects spoons. I know it’s ridiculous, but everywhere we go that motherfucker makes us stop just so he can add to his collection.”
The stunned look on Sarah’s face was priceless. She didn’t believe me at first so I pulled out my phone and showed her a picture of his collection. The spoons were all securely in their holders in a leather suitcase. Sarah’s eyes went wide as she took in the absurdity of the picture. Buck was up to thirty or so spoons now. Soon he’d need a larger case to hold them. Sarah laughed, then mouthed the word, OK and led me downstairs to the gift shop.
14
Jezebel
Patrick’s work computer softly hummed in front of me. I could almost feel the expectant unblinking gaze of the room’s cameras watching what I’d do next. My fingers hovered over the keyboard with reluctance. Would I fulfill my end of the deal? Would I fold and feign ignorance?
I’m so sorry, Wreck.
“His real name is Stewart,” I typed.
My every keystroke was a betrayal of Wreck’s trust, yet one bringing me closer to the end of all this.
Patrick wasn’t here when I arrived, but he rarely was at this hour unless there were new guests to meet or entertain. He didn’t need to be physically standing over my shoulder for me to feel his omnipresence. It was my first night into this new arrangement where I would spend my days with Wreck
