Super: Origins (7 page)

She laughed wryly. “It’s a bit of a long story. Let me make something to eat and then I’ll tell you.”

Kurt glanced at the TV, which had gone to commercial. He used the remote to shut it off, saying, “I’ll come with you; this was kind of boring, anyway.”

Lex poked around in the kitchen for a while, finally settling on putting a frozen dinner into the microwave. They sat at the kitchen table as Lex explained as much as she could of the afternoon’s events, showing off her torn skirt as she got to that point in the story.

“Anyway,” Lex said as she neared the end of her description, “they told me that a courier would come by tomorrow with their answer, and that I should be prepared to respond to them by the end of the day if they had an offer for me.” She laughed softly and shook her head as the microwave cycle ended, and she moved to get her dinner. “It sounded a bit pretentious, I thought. I figure I’ll just get a rejection like I have from most of these other interviews.”

Kurt shrugged, looking thoughtful. “I don’t know about that. I’ve never heard of the outfit you interviewed with, but some of these small agencies have odd rules that they follow. They may well send a courier by, so don’t plan on going out tomorrow morning. We can shop for a new suit and shoes for you over the weekend, after we have lunch with my parents on Saturday.”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Lex replied quietly as she felt the unrest in her stomach start. Part of the queasiness came from considering the balance currently on her credit card. She could charge a lot more to it, but she hated the idea. Lex also didn’t relish the argument she knew she’d get when insisting on paying for her new suit herself. No matter how many times Kurt offered she still didn’t feel right about spending what probably amounted to his parents’ money. The other reason, contemplating lunch with his parents, usually made her feel a bit nauseous due to nervousness. Also, the pot pie she’d chosen was cardboard-like on the outside and unpleasantly gluey inside, which wasn’t helping in the least.

“All right, it’s settled, then,” Kurt said with an air of finality, trying to stifle a yawn. “And don’t be surprised if you do get this job. It sounds like they were impressed with you at the interview.”

Lex smiled a little uncertainly. “It’s just like nothing I’ve done before,” she replied. She hadn’t been sure exactly what she could reveal of her conversation with Sauer, so she’d just settled on telling Kurt that it looked like they would want her to do something different than she had been doing, something related to her martial arts training.

“Well, maybe it’s time for a change. And, there must have been a good reason for what they did because
they
contacted
you
, remember.”

Lex nodded, thinking maybe Kurt was right in that regard. They must have decided to contact her for some purpose, and maybe she should just trust in that. She smiled up at him. “Thanks. You always have a way of making me feel better.”

Kurt smiled in a way that made her heart jump. “That’s my job. Speaking of which,” he said, looking at the clock, “if I’m going to make it to my less-important day job tomorrow, I should think about turning in.”

Lex looked at the clock and noted that it was past nine thirty. “You’re right,” she said with a sigh. Then she looked at Kurt through the lashes of half-closed eyes. “So, would you like me to tuck you in?”

He chuckled low. “I thought you’d never ask.”

“Get ready for bed and I’ll join you there,” she said with a smile.

_____________________________________________________________

Forty minutes later in the gym downstairs, Lex hit the heavy bag as she went through one of her many forms. It could be done without using the bag, but she liked to do it this way if possible, since it kept her mindful of what it was like to hit a person, something she needed to remember when using martial arts. She took it easier than she normally would have, pulling some of the hand-intensive blows with her left hand so that her wound wouldn’t reopen. Lex could feel a trickle of sweat moving down her spine, under her t-shirt and sports bra, as she fluidly went through the movements. The bag stuck slightly to her arms as she hit it, and the familiar slick feel of it along with the usual smell of old sweat when she hit it seemed to relax her somehow. As she worked through the catalog of motions, she could feel her heart and lungs speeding up, and she moved with the heavy bag as if it were her dance partner or her lover.

At the same time, Lex found her mind wandering to a subject it had returned to again and again lately. She wondered if it was normal to feel like such an outsider with your partner’s family. Worse, the feeling had grown over the past few months to the point where she’d begun feeling more like a stranger even when it was just her and Kurt. Many things he seemed to understand naturally she felt she never would, and vice versa. Sighing, she made an effort to let go of those feelings, telling herself that, due to her bad upbringing, she just didn’t know how to connect with his family yet and that she had a case of nerves due to the mention of marriage. Smiling at herself, she punched the heavy bag squarely and moved on to the next sequence.

As she showered after her workout, Lex thought that tomorrow she'd apply for and follow up on job applications like she usually did, and she’d wait. If someone called for an interview (not a really common occurrence these days, but it happened), she would try to put them off until later in the afternoon or another day.
Nothing wrong with giving the M Agency one day
, she rationalized.

By the time she’d finished with her shower and puttered on the computer for a while it had gotten to be after midnight, and her hair was dry enough that she felt she could go to bed without causing it to twist into undesirable shapes by the next morning.

Yawning, Lex settled in next to Kurt and cuddled into him. He moved slightly in his sleep, pressing up against her. She felt a heavy weariness settle over her, and fell asleep in moments.

She sat on a big rock overlooking a rushing river, the uneven surface rough against her hands as she leaned back. She could hear the dim pounding of a vast waterfall in the near distance and could even taste it in the tiny, clean breeze that blew by. The day looked slightly overcast and chilly, but she felt a great sense of peace seeing the water running by, the little bit of sun casting a glow over everything and the dark tree branches brought out against the sky by their lack of leaves.

She knew where she was, having dreamed like this before, and she smiled as she turned to her right. “Uncle Joe,” she said with a smile, as if she hadn’t been sitting here with him the whole time.

The spare man beside her smiled gently in reply. Her uncle was a writer, an excellent one, and she had always admired him. She’d gone to visit him in Buffalo, NY, years ago, and they sat now as they had many times before in her dreams, watching the river and talking. He would sit there in his plain, durable clothes looking a lot like a farmer, gazing up at the trees, listening intently to what she said, and asking questions that made her think further. She loved these dreams more than any other she had.

Since she knew it was a dream, she explained to him what had gone on that day at the interview, leaving nothing out as she watched the water, throwing the occasional rough pebble into the river. He nodded, listening patiently and hearing out what she wanted to say.

When she finally finished, she looked at her uncle, trying to read his reaction. “So, what do you think?” she asked.

Her uncle laughed softly as he turned to look at her. “The question is, what do you think? How did you like this place? Do you think you could be happy doing that type of work? How about the people you’d be working with?”

He paused for a moment, looking at the trees overhead before continuing. “One of the things you may want to think about is the fact that when you start something new like this, it will change your life.”

She’d thrown a puzzled look his way at that, so he turned to look at her as he went on. “It doesn’t necessarily mean the changes will be huge, but they may be. You’ll gain new relationships and may even lose some old ones. The differences may be large or small, for the better or not, but our actions have repercussions way beyond what we can see.”

She sat quietly for a while, trying to soak in what he’d said and trying to ignore the little chill that slid down her spine. “I’m not sure I follow exactly,” she eventually replied. “It’s just a new job, isn’t it?”

Her uncle smiled at her again. “Is it?” he asked. After a pause, he added, “Try to give it as much thought as you can. Just because they’re in a hurry doesn’t mean you have to be.”

“What do you think I should tell them?” she asked, trying to cut to the point, feeling that her time with her uncle was growing short.

He looked her in the eye. “I can only tell you what I would say, from my perspective. That wouldn’t help you make your decision, since there are things you want that I probably don’t even know about.”

She tried to ask more, but her uncle’s voice trailed off then, mixing with the splashing rush of the river and the distant roar of the waterfall. The scene faded away into darkness, and she slept peacefully on.

Sometime later, Lex felt herself floating upwards through veils that were progressively lighter colored. Eventually her eyes fluttered open. As she looked at the clear morning light slanting through the mostly closed blinds, she sat up quickly and glanced at the clock. It read past nine o’clock, later than she'd wanted to wake up. She muffled a curse and jumped out of bed, missing the soft sheets and pillows even as she did.

Running to the intercom, Lex turned it up as high as it would go, so that if someone tried to ring in while she showered, she would hear it. As she quickly pulled her clothes off, Lex called the downstairs desk on the intercom to let them know about the courier and ask them to ring her back if one came.

She finished undressing as she rushed into the bathroom, throwing her clothes into the hamper and starting the shower. Lex frowned as she thought back to earlier that morning, however, remembering waking briefly as Kurt dressed to get ready for work, around seven thirty. She’d smiled sleepily at him and asked, “Why didn’t you wake me up? I could have made you some breakfast or something.”

Kurt had smiled back at her as he’d finished knotting his tie in the mirror. “I could tell you got to bed late, since you didn’t even move when I got up. I knew you had someone coming later to talk about the job you interviewed for yesterday, so I thought you needed your sleep.”

Lex’s smile had grown as she’d closed her eyes again. “Thanks, sweetie,” she’d replied. “Could you set the alarm for an hour from now? I’d like to be able to shower and dress early so that I’m ready in case anyone comes.”

“Sure thing, sweetheart. Just go back to sleep,” Kurt’s voice had floated down to her as she slipped back into dreams.

Maybe he just forgot
, Lex thought, but she still felt her face set in an expression of suspicion as she washed up. She shook her head as she tried to let the questions go, closing her eyes as the warm spray hit the front of her body and deeply breathing in the faint scent of chlorine.

Finishing her shower in record time, Lex smiled as she realized she hadn’t heard the intercom, and hurried to her closet to find a suitable outfit. Since she wasn’t sure whether the courier would come or whether it would involve another interview if they did, Lex opted for a button-down oxford shirt in French blue and off-white dockers and anxiously threw it all on. After straightening herself out in the mirror, including her hair, she felt a little more relaxed and went to the kitchen to fix some breakfast.

When the intercom finally sounded, she jumped at the loud noise and then ran over to the speaker to turn it down. Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she pushed the talk button.

“Ms. McKilliam?” the person from the front desk said, “Your courier is here.”

“Thank you. Please send them up.”

Lex re-folded the newspaper she'd been reading and took her tea out to the living room, opening the blinds to let in the bright blue day. She realized she still felt a little nervous, so Lex sat on the couch and concentrated on breathing deeply and slowly, holding her tea mug and letting the warmth seep into her cold hands, until she heard the knock on the door. Even then, Lex had to hold herself back from jumping at the sound.

She opened the door to see shoulders and had to look up to spot a thin face with dark eyes, lots of dark wavy hair, and what looked like a chauffeur’s cap on the man’s head. She felt a bit surprised at that, never having seen such a thing in real life, but she realized as she drew back from the door that the outfit he wore looked every bit like a chauffeur’s uniform, something she’d previously only seen in films.

“Hi,” Lex finally managed, “come in, please.”

The man walked through the door, ducking slightly. He wasn’t quite that tall, but with the addition of the hat it might have been necessary. He had a large envelope in his hands, and he followed Lex down the entrance hall.

When they got to the living room, Lex turned around to face him. “I’m not exactly sure how this is supposed to work,” she said uncertainly. “Will you be staying long enough for some tea?”

He smiled then, but it came and went so quickly that Lex felt unsure it had ever actually existed. “No, Ms. McKilliam, but we can sit for a few minutes while I go over some things with you.”

Lex sat on the couch, while the man chose a chair not far away. “Please, call me Lex,” she said. “What’s your name?”

Again, his disappearing smile shone out and vanished. “Carl Palmer. Nice to meet you.” After a pause, he dropped the large envelope on the coffee table in front of Lex. “First things first. You’ve received an offer from the M Agency for a spot on their team. In front of you is a set of all the paperwork you’ll need to read and sign before starting your new position.”