74: A Blast from the Past

Quincy St. Martin

The world seems different somehow, but I know it’s me who’s changed... is still changing.

It’s not just the enhanced senses, but something inside makes me see the world in a different way.

Sitting between Genesis and Caspian in the auditorium, everything looks familiar, yet so alien. We are surrounded by familiar-looking strangers. I mean I don’t know these people, but I’ve seen them around enough that they look familiar.

For example, in front of us, sit the three girls I secretly called ‘The Sundress Squad,’ though they’re not wearing sundresses today.

My interaction with them was one time when I gave them the finger after they insulted me and my hobo hoodie. That was on my first day of school.

Most of the others, I’ve never had any interaction with of any kind at all, yet their faces still seem familiar. I once felt like I was one of them.

Or maybe I once wanted so badly to ~be~ one of them. Now, I feel detached. I feel sort of like a lion in a herd of zebras. Not that I want to hurt the zebras, but they seem so fragile. I feel more than ever now that I’m not part of this big crowd.

As I sit here, my connection and sense of belonging are only with these two beside me, Caspian and Genesis. Caspian told me that this might be the last week of our lives as students here. So, very soon, I won’t be seeing these people anymore.

I’m okay with that. No attachment. No lingering sadness. I consider it another chapter of my life, closed.

“You okay, baby?” he asks, his green eyes inquisitive. I guess he senses my strange mood.

His hand, which has been stroking my thigh, now moves to graze my cheek. He can’t seem to go five minutes without touching me.

Yup, I’d follow him anywhere. Even though I don’t know what’s waiting for us in Russia, the unknown makes me nervous, but knowing that I have Caspian and the rest of the pack behind me makes me feel stronger. I can’t deny that I’m excited too.

I’m always up for a new journey. A new challenge.

“Never better,” I tell him as I take his hand and twine our fingers together.

He smiles, and our eyes lock. Sometimes I feel too much, like right now. I love him so much it hurts. He brings our hands up and brushes a kiss over my knuckles.

It’s just as well that this might be my last week here. Sitting through a lesson next to Caspian is not conducive to a learning environment. I don’t recommend it. He’s much more interesting to focus on than the topic of natural resources sustainability and international trade. It’s hard to ignore the heat of his eyes on me while the class is going on. Every time I glance at him he’s already looking at me.

Whenever our eyes meet, my brain starts to malfunction.

On top of that, he’s acting like a bored, errant child. One moment, his hand is on my thigh, and halfway through the lecture, he’s playing with my hair.

Then he’s whispering funny idiotic things in my ear.

***

We rush out with other students after the lecture is over.

Genesis is eager to get some sandwiches and a smoothie from the café, but when we’re just a block away, we see Constantine on the curb, leaning on the side of his car.

He’s reading a book that looks tiny in his big hands, seemingly oblivious to the looks he keeps getting from people, especially the girls around him.

He stands up and tucks the book into the back pocket of his jeans as soon as he senses us. His face lights up when he sees his mate.

“Bye, you two!” yells Genesis as she goes running into his arms. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” There goes Genesis.

“See you later!” I yell back, though I doubt they can hear us.

“With Red, I think the list of things she wouldn’t do is pretty short,” says Caspian with a grin. “Want to go explore what’s on and off the list with me?”

The idea sounds tempting, but I poke his chest with my index finger, “Café first, mister!”

He laughs as he tucks his arm more securely around my shoulders. The phone rings in his jacket pocket. He looks at the screen, and his whole demeanor changes.

“I have to take this,” he tells me. “You go on inside. I’ll see you in a minute.”

He puts the phone to his ear and says something in Russian while he tracks me walking into the café.

Club Espresso Degree Café isn’t too busy right now. There are only three people at one of the tables and one person ahead of me at the counter.

Cat is behind the counter alone. Her straight, short purple hair fans out to cover her cheeks as she works. The person in front of me leaves, and I step right up.

“Hey, Cat!”

She lifts her eyes up, and her eyebrows raise when she sees me. Then a big smile overtakes her face. “Quincy! Where have you been?”

“I… Around,” I reply. I’m still not sure what to tell people about my disappearance.

“You didn’t show up for work. I called you, but I only got your voicemail. Evelyn called you. We were getting worried,” she says.

“Well, things happened,” I say. “I’m sorry I made you worry. Is Adam very mad at me for not showing up?”

“He’s not happy about it,” Cat replies with a wince.

He’s mad at me. Obviously.

“He got some of us to cover for you the first couple of days, and then he shuffled our schedule around the next few days. Yesterday, he hired a new girl to replace you. I’m sorry.”

“I understand. He has a business to run, and a lot of students would be interested in filling the position. It was my fault, I deserved it.”

The café is in a very convenient location, and the hours are very flexible to fit in with our class schedule, a perfect job.

“He’s not in right now,” she tells me. “So, what happened? Everything’s okay though, right?”

“Well…” I lift my left hand up to show her my rings. “I got hitched.”

“Get out!” she exclaims. “Get. Out!” she says louder.

“Oh, my God! You’re serious!” she shrieks, grabbing my hand to take a closer look at the rings. “Oh wow! Who’s the lucky man? Wait! Don’t tell me. It’s the gorgeous sex god, isn’t it?”

“If you mean Caspian, then yes,” I say happily.

She lets out a funny yelp and claps her hands. “I’m so excited!” She grabs my shoulders like she’s about to haul me over the counter. “Oh my God! Where is he?”

She peeks around me to see if Caspian is behind me.

“He’s on the phone, just outside. He’ll be in soon,” I answer.

She leans in closer to me and lowers her voice almost to a whisper.

“So how was he? Is he good in bed? Seriously, he is, isn’t he? I mean, tell me he’s phenomenal, please! With that look… I’d be so disappointed if it’s just false advertising. Wait! How big is he? Show me with your hands.”

She puts both hands up with a gap between them and says, “Is he this big? Or this—”

“Hey! What do you have to do to get a coffee around here?” interrupts a guy behind me, sounding very annoyed.

Cat scowls at the poor man and places an index finger to her lips. “Shhh!!! Wait your turn, buddy. This is a very important matter!”

She then motions me to get behind the counter. Oh God! Crazy Cat. I try not to look at the unhappy customer behind me. He must have heard the whole thing! My filter might be broken sometimes, but Cat has no filter. At all.

I walk to the other side as she asks me to, just to get away from the scowling man. As soon as I get behind the counter, she pulls me into a hug.

“Oh my God! You are so lucky! I’m so happy for you.”

“Uh, thanks, Cat.”

She steps back, and something behind me seems to catch her eye. Her eyes narrow, and a devilish delight flashes on her face before she slides her gaze back at me.

“You know, Jenna’s working today. I don’t suppose you want to stick it to her… I mean stick around and say hi to her, do you?”

She smiles sweetly, but I’ve seen that wicked look on her face, so her innocent act isn’t very convincing. Oh, Cat. I look over my shoulder, and sure enough, Jenna is leaning against the wall leading to the washroom.

There are a rag and a spray bottle on a table next to her, but she is busy typing away on her phone. Cat all but drags me to where Jenna is standing.

“Hey, Jenna, look who’s here to say hi. You were telling Adam how worried you were about Quincy not showing up for work. Aren’t you glad she’s all right?”

Jenna lowers her phone to look at us with raised eyebrows. The look on her face says that she’s everything but happy to see me.

“Yeah, overjoyed,” she says flatly. “So, you’ve lost your job. I’m sorry Adam replaced you so quickly.”

Yeah, I can see how sincerely sorry she is.

Cat smiles, and before I can say anything, she replies, “Well, it couldn’t be helped. She was busy getting married.”

She lifts my hand to show Jenna my rings. “Take a look at that! Beautiful, isn’t it? And big!”

I almost say, “That’s what she said,” but manage to bite my tongue just in time. I’m so proud of myself. So proud. Insanely awesome self-control right there.

“Oh,” says Jenna, seemingly lost for words.

Then she blinks and says, “Congratulations, Quincy, though why anybody would get married so early is beyond me. Unless you got knocked up. You did, didn’t you?”

“Nope. Not that I know of,” I reply.

“Hey, sweetheart,” comes my mate’s voice from behind me.

I grin up at him as he slides an arm around my middle from behind. I know he’s been listening. I knew the exact moment he stepped into the café.

He drops a kiss on my upturned face, and then he looks up with that wicked grin on his face. Oh-uh.

“Oh, hey, you’re the girl who barks,” he says to Jenna. “How is it going?”

Jenna’s mouth drops open, and her eyes can’t get any bigger. I hear Cat snort.

I try to pull him out of there before he can wreak more havoc. “Hi, Cat.” He smiles at Cat. “I’m here to pick up my wife, who is not pregnant…yet.”

He then turns to me and says not so quietly, “We better go home and keep working on that, sweetheart.”

“Oooh la laa,” says Cat, who is now back at her station behind the counter. “I fully support that.”

“Oh, my God!” I tug at his arm harder. “I'll see you later, Cat. Say hi to Evelyn and Travis the next time you see them!”

“Hey, I’m not done yet,” he protests as I pull him out the door.

~Yeah, that’s what I’m afraid of~.

“You are nuts! Totally incorrigible!” I say.

He laughs. “I am your totally incorrigible nuts.”

That’s true. “Oh, shut up!” I can’t keep the smile from my face though.

When we get back into the car, I ask him, “So, who called you?”

I feel bad about asking when I sense his good mood plummet. Just for a second, I can see that he’s about to give me a standard answer like ‘don’t worry about it’ out of habit, but he catches himself.

“His name is Chamberlain,” he says instead as he starts the car. “He’s the youngest of the royal advisors, and he called as a friend to advise me to go back as soon as we can. He senses that trouble is brewing. The sooner we get back, the better.”

He eases the car out onto the main road and grows quiet.

“What kind of trouble?” I ask him after a while.

“He wouldn’t say on the phone, but I suspect he must know something. I’ll set up a meeting with him as soon as we get to Russia. I told him that we might travel back in a few more days. Lady Celeste will be able to travel by then. I’ll talk to the others about it tonight.”

I just nod, and with that, he puts the top down. The air is nippy, but the sun is shining bright. The wind is in my hair. The song “My Type” by Saint Motel is playing on the radio. For now, life is good. He turns to look at me. Love and admiration glimmer in his eyes. The sun is glinting in his golden hair.

“I look after what’s mine. I’m going to keep you safe, ~moya printsessa~,” he says with a fierce determination. I believe him.