Saphora: vol.1 Retention (The Athena Universe) (13 page)

“Whoa, hey, wait for me! Geez
,” he said with a laugh, shaking his head. Johnson and Glover chuckled behind them.

“Good luck,
” Glover snickered, crossing his arms.

“Yeah, he’s gonna need it,
” Johnson agreed.

“So, uh, how old are you?” Roland asked, giving quick glances over at Saphora as he drove along the highway. One hand was gripping the steering wheel, while the other was on the stick shift.
Saphora stayed quiet as she stared out the window at the passing trees along the side of the road. A few moments went by before Roland cleared his throat and tried again.

“
Hello
. Anybody there?” he asked a bit mockingly. Saphora sighed, and grudgingly turned her head so that she could look at him. He glanced over at her again, this time looking a bit longer after seeing that she was actually giving him her attention. They had been driving for about ten minutes in silence. “Oh hello! I was beginning to think you were dead,” he chuckled. Saphora rolled her eyes, turning away from him to return her gaze towards the window.

“You must think I’m young
,” she scoffed.

“Yeah? And what makes you say that?” he asked, shifting gears.

“Talking to me like I’m a child,” she said, somewhat mumbling. There was a slight pause before Roland’s next words.

“It’s called sarcasm. And you don’t have to be a child to get it
.” He glanced over at her turned head. “Just stuck up,” he mumbled. Saphora blinked, and turned again, her head in somewhat of a tilt.

“Excuse me?”

“Look, all I asked you was how old you were.”

“You also accused me of being a murderer.”

Another awkward silence.

“Okay, I’ll give you that
,” he said, nodding. Saphora shook her head, looking back out the window.

“Gee, thanks.”

“So are you going to answer my question?”

“I’m in my twenties.”

“You’re not going to give me a number?” he asked, as he switched lanes, coming closer to the exit that he needed to get off at in order to get to the zoo properly. Saphora groaned.

“I don’t
know
a number. I can’t remember my birthday, or what year I was born. Fran thinks she found me when I was around the age of seven, okay?” she said, leaning her forehead against the palm of her hand.

“Oh …” He nodded, shifting gears again as he slowed down to make way for the exit. “So that would make Fran what, like, mid-thirties? Early forty?”

Saphora spazzed as she started to reach for the lock on the car door. She’d had enough of Roland. Figuring she could walk the rest of the distance to the zoo. She couldn’t believe the insensitivity of this man. Not only was this man pressing on her nerves, but he had the profound stupidity to think that the age Fran found Saphora had anything to do with her own. Her nerves were wearing thin. She pulled the lock free on the door, causing Roland to become alarmed. He jerked his head towards her, as the car swerved in his shock. She moved to open the door, but Roland reached over and took hold of her hand as he began to pull the car over.

“Hey! What the heck
are you doing?!” he shouted, trying to keep her hand away from the door. She grunted, trying to jerk her hand away from him. In the process, her subconscious awakened her power. Her rage fueling her power to forcefully swing the car over to the side of the road, as her hand snatched away from Roland. He screamed, as an angry truck driver honked their horn. They both lunged to the left against their seatbelts. Roland scrambled to get his hands back on the steering wheel to steady the car. Once it stopped wobbling, he looked around frantically, trying to piece together some logic of what just happened.

“Did you feel that? The heck
was that? Wind?” he said, as his head swiveled around in bewilderment. Horror fell over Saphora as she gripped onto the car door for dear life. Her head spun with the dying motions of the car. Was it happening again? She didn’t want to believe it. She didn’t want to think of that day again – believe what had happened. She stared at her trembling hands, balling them into fists before scrambling to unbuckle her seat belt. Roland watched her as if she’d gone mad.

“What are you doing? What – wait, wait!”
Roland shouted as Saphora opened the door to the car and pushed herself out. She stumbled when she did, but continued to walk forward a few steps before stopping and getting a feel for where she was. Roland turned off the car and opened his door, stepping out and turning around to yell at Saphora, who was trying to remember which way to go after walking past the exit.

“Are you mad? Get back in here! There could be another gust of wind!” he shouted at her as he looked around to see if there was some explanation in the clouds above. Saphora turned around, glaring at Roland.

“Yes. I’m furious, thank you for asking. I’m walking the rest of the way to the zoo. Just go back to your job.”

“What – If I left you to walk all the way there I wouldn’t be
doing
my job. Get back in the car!” he shouted, reaching his hand out to her. She scowled.

“I don’t need some wannabe cop who’s trying to get with the caretaker of a woman he just recently accused of murder, driving me around like I’m some sort of helpless child!” she said, beginning to walk off towards the exit. Roland jolted forward around the car towards her, but stopped when she turned around to face him again.

“Okay, okay. Look – I’m sorry. Please? Just get back in the car okay? I won’t talk to you the rest of the way if you just get back in the car.”

“No.
You just want to meet Fran. And I’m not going to let her talk to some pretentious snobby little-“

“
Whoa
! You have got some
serious
anger management issues. Geez – I – Look. I just don’t want you to get hurt with this crazy weather. Will you please just get in the car? I won’t even get out when I drop you off. I swear,” he pleaded, taking a step towards her.

She groaned, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to tell him why the car swung over the way it did. And maybe, she thought, that if he didn’t speak to her for the rest of the ride, or speak to Fran when they arrived at the zoo, that it wouldn’t be that unbearable. Looking around, she tried to make a quick decision, feeling her temple pulse.

“Yes? Okay? Please?” he asked, gesturing to the car.

Saphora glared in his direction, the gaze landed on the car. She didn’t answer, but she walked to the car, sure to stay clear of Roland. He sighed in relief, dropping his arms and groaning. He shook his head, grumbling under his breath as he followed opposite her to get into the driver’s side.

“What the hell was I thinking?”

“Do you think this is going to be big enough?” Fran asked Brad as she helped him carry a large boulder into the new exhibit that was being built. He chuckled, shrugging his shoulders slightly as he backed into the exhibit’s entrance and guided Fran towards an area near a tree for the location of the boulder.

“Well, it
is
a pretty big bolder,” he said teasingly. Fran laughed and rolled her eyes as they set it down by the tree. They groaned as the weight was lowered and Fran stretched her back before leaning against the tree’s trunk.

“The exhibit, Brad
,” she clarified, even though she knew that he knew what she meant.

He smiled, leaning
forward and resting his hands on his knees. He looked around the exhibit. It was the largest exhibit that had ever been built at their zoo, and one of the largest in the world. It took up seven stories, and was nearly as wide as the entire building. It was big enough for a small river, and had trees that nearly reached the ceiling. There were wall-length windows on each floor that the exhibit covered, and plaques of information on the species that was being moved in the next week or so.

“Hell I hope so. Look at this place. I mean, geez. Why didn’t they just put it in an exhibit that was outside if they needed this much space?” he said, standing straight again and continuing to look around. Fran’s eyes followed his as she thought about it and shrugged.

“They said because it’s such a rare species, they didn’t want it being overwhelmed with the crowds of people. At least in here it’s limited to the glass, I guess,” she said as she crossed her arms, leaning more flatly against the tree. Brad grumbled, looking back at Fran.

“I guess. Is it really the last of its kind? I’m surprised they’d let a rundown town like our
s have it.”

“We are not rundown. I heard the owner spent his life savings on getting this thing. He thinks it’s going to up the business around here.”

“I hope it does. We already had to sell all of the winter animals. The kids were
devastated
.”

“I know. I almost cried with them when t
hey asked about the polar bears,” Fran said, putting her hand on her heart dramatically. Brad laughed, shaking his head.

“Don’t
use the kids as an excuse. You were going to cry anyway,” Brad teased. Fran pushed his arm as they laughed.

“Oh come on. You can’t blame me. They were so cute! I’m going to miss them. You can’t tell me you’re not going to miss them
,” she said, her hands now on her hips.

“Yeah well, I guess so
,” he said, looking up and around the exhibit again. And as he did, something caught his eye. Someone, specifically. He had thought he saw Saphora standing on the first floor of the building, looking into the exhibit to watch them. “Hey, speaking of kids … Isn’t that yours?” he asked, pointing a finger up at her from his folded arms. Fran tilted her head, ready to deny the claim, thinking that she was still in interrogation. But when she looked up, she was shocked to see Saphora looking down at them, looking anything but happy. They shared a tense eye contact that shared both Saphora rage, and Fran’s apologetic plea.

Fran had thought
that Saphora would be with the police long enough to get to the station and catch the end of the interrogation. She couldn’t miss another day of work, so she made the risky decision to catch up. She had asked Dr. Lupin to cover for her until she got there. But seeing Saphora staring back at her, it was obvious that he wasn’t able to do that. She swore under her breath and dashed toward the entrance to the exhibit. Brad flinched and stammered as he looked from her to the still staring Saphora.

“What – Fran? H-Hey!” he shouted, following after her.

Fran continued though, not stopping when she rushed past the food cellar and up the stairs towards the first floor of the building. Brad was quickly catching up, and was still trying to get her to talk to him about what was happening.

“Fran? What’s wrong? She’s fine!” he said, trying to get her to slow down.

But she was frantic. She was already near tears at the thought of having Saphora disappointed in her again. But what would she tell her? That she had to work? Saphora wouldn’t go for that. She doubted that she would even speak to her. And if she did, it would be nothing but slurred screaming - or broken phrases.

“No …
No, no. I messed up. She’s mad at me,” she said, shaking her head as they rounded the corner to the next flight of stairs. It wasn’t much longer before they were coming out of the staircase to the floor. Fran immediately started running to where she had seen Saphora, trying to think of what she would say to her when she got there. There wasn’t much that she could think of, but she would at least try. But to Fran’s dismay, when she reached the display glass, Saphora wasn’t there. Not a sign of her. Fran slowed to a stop, and started looking around. Brad caught his breath as he came up behind her.

“Where’d she go?” he asked, looking around with her as they both ga
sped for air.

Fran plunged her fingers
against her hairline in frustration as she spun around, still searching. Her eyes moving faster than her body.

“
Crap
,” she cursed under her breath.

Chapter 6

“Alright man, you okay with locking up the shop tonight?” Jared asked Maverick as he walked into the kitchen to grab his coat from the hooks on the wall. Maverick nodded, seemingly to no one as he turned off the coffee machine after finishing the last batch. He arched his back, waiting for the crack as he took a step back and leaned on the sink’s counter.

“Yes, Jared. For the hundredth time. It’s not like this is my first time closing up the shop
,” he called back to him, crossing his arms and looking around the near empty shop.

There were only a few peopl
e, once again, in the local café. An old couple towards the front, a middle-aged man off to the wall towards the back, and two women sitting three booths behind the couple. It was always slow on Thursday evenings. Jared came back out from the push doors of the kitchen with his jacket on. He was adjusting it onto his shoulders as he laughed, coming around to the front of the counter to talk to Maverick. He leaned on the counter, lowering his voice and glancing around as if he was about to share a secret.

“Yeah, but it’s the first night closing with you know who
,” he chuckled, hinting his eyes towards the back at the humming Liz.

She was finishing up with washing the dishes. Headphones in. Attention off.
Maverick glanced through the cut-out window at the back of Liz’s head. Even from behind the counter, Maverick could hear the sound of her popping her bubblegum. He rolled his eyes, and turned back to look at the smiling Jared.

“Oh shut up, you ass.”

“Whatever you say, man. You know she’s got the hots for you, right? You gotta hit that.”

“I’m pretty sure you already did. No thanks
,” he scoffed, crossing one leg over the other. Jared rolled his eyes and pushed himself up from the counter.

“Oh come on
, Mav. We were drunk. It wasn’t like we were dating,” he said in a poor defense. Maverick nodded, frowning.

“That’s the point, Jared.”

“You need to let go of some of your standards, man. When was the last time you had a girlfriend?”

Maverick groaned, pushing himself off of the counter and walking away from the conversation.

“
Goodnight
, Jared.”

Jared laughed, picking his bag up off of the floor
and slinging it over his shoulder. He gave a shrug and turned his shoulder to Maverick.

“Have fun,
” Jared teased as he left the café. Maverick didn’t dignify his jab with a response. Just shook his head and turned around towards the sink. And when he did, he was startled by the appearance of Liz, leaning in the cut of the window between the kitchen and front counter. He flinched before his body tensed and backed away from the sick to lean on the counter opposite to it. He threw his head back and sighed, as Liz popped her bubblegum and smiled.