“Cage Body Shop?” Astrid was stunned. She felt like she’d just had the wind knocked out of her and she couldn’t even hide the look of naked shock that was frozen on her face. “As in…Alex Cage?” “As in Michael Cage, Alex’s dad, yes,” Lalita replied slowly, blue eyes studying Astrid cautiously. She was a little worried over Astrid’s apparent surprise-this shouldn’t have been news to her. “And since when did you start calling him Alex?” Lalita wondered. “That’s what he goes by,” Astrid said confidently. “Yeah, but not by you. That’s why I said Jake when I first mentioned him-because that’s what you’ve always called him.” Astrid could tell Lalita was starting to doubt her sanity a little more every time she spoke-her previously bright chatter was steadily getting slower, as if she was talking to a person who wasn’t all there upstairs.
“Oh yeah, of course…I remember. I just…it’s the alcohol…” Astrid was floundering, but it seemed to work. “You never were a drinker,” Lalita said with an amused smile. “Anyway, I’ve got to get back to work, doll. Are you planning to stick around for a while? I’d really love to talk more. You seem so different.” Lalita seemed really nice-even if she was a bit obtuse-like she could have been a genuine and very good friend of Astrid’s in another life, but she didn’t know how much more feeling around in the dark she could do without looking like an idiot or telling Lalita everything. “I’d love to stay and talk, but I really should go,” Astrid told her. “You’ve been drinking. At least stay long enough to get sober and don’t give me that crap about you’re fine either,” Lalita added fiercely, pointing her finger in Astrid‘s face. She uncurled her long, tan legs from underneath her, grabbed Astrid’s empty glass as she straightened out her uniform made up of shorts and a fitted white tee, then gracefully made her exit from the bar back into the employees section.
Astrid sat there in the booth still as a stone after Lalita left. Her mind was reeling with the little information she’d gained that was more concrete than anything else she’d ever had. She started to run over the new facts inside her head, but Lalita was back in a flash holding a basket of warm, buttered rolls, a napkin and a pen in her hands, which effectively interrupted her chain of thought. She put down the rolls, placed the napkin on the table, scratched the pen across its surface and handed it to Astrid who glanced at it and shoved it in the pocket of her jeans. “Call me sometime so we can catch up.” “Do you want to order anything else?“ she asked as a side note. “I‘m sorry, I should have asked before I took my break. I was just so surprised to see you…it threw me off.” “No, it’s okay. I’m fine. I’ll go ahead and pay for the drink though.“ Lalita took the cash Astrid handed her, conveyed her apologies that she might not be able to see her again before Astrid took off and gave her one of her quick hugs-she seemed to be getting a lot of those tonight-but Astrid was a little more prepared this time and gave Lalita two awkward pats on the back.
As Lalita straightened up again, she kept a hand on Astrid’s shoulder with a strange expression on her face. Astrid gazed inquiringly at her, but before she could voice her concern Lalita smiled. “You’re so tense.” Was it that obvious? Astrid wondered. “Relax. That‘s why people come to bars” she told Astrid in a mock whisper, exaggerating her facial expressions by opening her mouth wider than necessary to form each individual word. Seeing Astrid smile and shake her head at her comedic display, Lalita chuckled and trotted back off to work. As Astrid’s smile faded, she slumped back, throwing her feet up under the table into the seat opposite her, regretting the drink she ordered. She felt completely sober, but it wouldn’t do to leave with any amount of alcohol in her system and get pulled over or worse, get into an accident.
Still, she just wanted to go home. She had a lot to think about and it would be hard to concentrate if Lalita kept popping by, not to mention there was a man who kept staring at her from one of the pool tables. A few more drinks and he’d probably pluck up enough courage to come talk to her. Sure, he was a handsome guy, but she was just not in the mood. Astrid grabbed a roll from the basket and began tearing it apart and eating slowly, thoughts churning in her head. When she first came in, she was very aware of the band and the roaring amplifiers, but sometime in the last forty minutes, the band had taken a break and now the music was coming from a jukebox. It seemed to calm the atmosphere a little, which made it easier for Astrid to think. She didn’t have time to get too lost in her own musings for, just as she predicted, pool table stalker man came over.
Or so she thought until she raised her eyes from her half-eaten roll, not moving from her slouchy position, to glare at him. It wasn’t the same man she’d noticed earlier; this one appeared to be abundantly cockier than the other and much less handsome. He had dark hair, even darker eyes, fair skin and he had a five o’clock shadow spreading across his weak chin. He was wearing a silver chain and a t-shirt that said “Vitamin Me: Have you had your daily dose?” Egotistical and proud of it. Astrid felt a twinge of pity for the human race. Did women really find men like this attractive?
He took the other side of the booth where her feet sat propped up without asking or being invited, which only irritated Astrid more. “Hey Baby,” he murmured pretentiously. “Seriously?” Astrid said cynically, her tone acerbic. She went back to picking at her roll to make it clear that she had no interest in him whatsoever, but he did not move. “Boyfriend stand you up or something?” he asked. He sounded like such a thing would please him greatly. “Presumptuous much?” she replied flatly. He smiled, “I’ll take that as a yes, then.” She was already in a mood, but this encounter was only making it worse. “No. He wouldn’t. And even if he had, it wouldn’t be any of your business.” Astrid kept her eyes down hoping to convey complete and utter disinterest, but when he only laughed and stayed seated, her temper flared. Locking eyes with him finally, she made her feelings plain. “Look jackass, I‘m not interested. Feel free to get up now.”
“Don’t you even want to know my name?” He was still laughing at her. What did she say that was funny? She didn‘t hesitate in giving an answer. “Not in the slightest. It has to do with your presence being entirely unwelcome as I’ve already made clear-or so I thought. Some morons just don’t seem to get it, do they?” The words erupted from her body, getting faster as she talked. The man wasn‘t laughing now. “Don’t play games with me sweetheart. I know how you women are. You all do the same shit. You all act like you don’t care, you all say one thing when you mean another. It’s how you get men to chase you.” His voice got quieter on the last part, putting a special emphasis on the word ‘chase’. It sounded almost like he was threatening her. As he spoke, he leaned forward, getting uncomfortably close. Then, Astrid felt his hand just below her knee; she still had her feet propped up on the side of the booth where he was sitting. He shifted in order to reach better and his hand traveled higher up her leg.
Her blood boiled like acid through her veins as she locked her eyes on his silver chain and willed it to tighten against his throat until it constricted his air supply. He lurched back against his seat and started to move his hands up to pull the jewelry away, but Astrid sat up, shaking her head. “Keep your hands in your lap or I’ll strangle your ass with it,” she promised venomously. “Besides, it’s not moving until I want it to.” She had never used her telekinesis in public and certainly not to harm another person, but she felt this man had earned it. He was obviously one of those pricks who thought all women were put on the Earth solely for his enjoyment and she planned to rectify this misconception.
“Can’t…..breathe…” he gasped. “No shit, Sherlock” Astrid shot back. She leaned in across the table and her voice was serious, deadly even. “Does it look like I mean something different than what I’m telling you?” she asked. He tried to shake his head, but the metal cut into his skin so he abruptly stopped the action. “Good.” He was starting to turn blue so, rather reluctantly, Astrid relinquished her hold on him. After the necklace dropped back down to its normal position, he once again reached for his throat and once again, Astrid stopped him. All it took was a look and an infinitesimal shake of her head and he dropped his hands back down into his lap. She didn’t want him drawing attention to their exchange when no one had yet taken notice. With one final glare, she tossed the remaining bit of her roll on the table, got up and strode out of the building through the exit that was right behind her booth. She walked briskly, but not at a speed that would look suspicious, especially not to any of the drunk fools around her.
Astrid got to her car and drove home feeling a strange assemblage of varying and opposing emotions. She was shocked and grateful that no one seemed to notice what had passed between her and Vitamin Bar-Stalker Man, hopeful that he wouldn’t tell anyone, worried that he would and positive that no one would believe him even if he did. She felt powerful for how she handled herself, surprised that she’d actually done it and was really able to without straining or even getting tired and scared by how much she enjoyed it. The chain was incredibly tight around his neck and she didn’t even have to exert much effort. The whole thing passed in only seconds, but normally she would never have been able to pull something like that off without focusing every ounce of her attention on it. Astrid was bothered by the thought that she might have left marks, but she couldn’t do anything about that now.
She was pleased with having gained some new, factual information about herself from someone who actually knew her, confused about what to do with it all, disappointed in herself for not getting more, curious as ever, furious with Alex, sad that he wasn’t with her, peeved because he hadn’t called, anxious about the future, and thoroughly overwhelmed. Overwhelmed with everything. How was she going to handle it all? She wanted to beat her head against the steering wheel, but was aware what a stupid impulse that was considering she was still driving. She’d find a way to cope and she would get through this-she always did.
Once Astrid got home, she immediately headed for her bedroom closet to find her pictures. She wanted to see if she could spot Lalita in any of them and sure enough, she came across two pictures of a very pretty girl with chocolate brown hair and hazel eyes. She was much different from the Lalita Astrid had met tonight. Aside from the difference in her hair and eyes, she wasn’t as tanned-though her complexion was still beautiful-and she was all skin and bones rather than all curves and legs like she was now. One picture she had of her was in a group and Astrid barely spotted her hiding in the background. The other was one that Astrid had always loved and now she knew that it must have been one of the pictures Lalita mentioned that Astrid had taken in their senior year. Or maybe not Astrid, but whoever she was then. Lalita was lying on her back in the lush, green grass staring at the camera with bright eyes, glowing with vitality, her long hair fanned out around her. The focus was sharp, the composition was pleasing, the colors bold and bright and Lalita looked amazing. It was nice to know there were remnants of her former self in her new personality; a love of photography was one and apparently, a low tolerance for alcohol. Even though Astrid only used the alcohol as an excuse to cover her behavior earlier, it was still true that she was a total light weight.
Staring at the pictures, Astrid played the whole conversation over again in her head. Brief as it was, she got more from it than she initially realized. First, she and Lalita must have been really close friends. There was no hesitation about her whatsoever and she seemed so thrilled to see her and so free. Besides that, only a really close friend could get away with chucking food at you, which Astrid was informed she’d done to Lalita for talking too much. Astrid also deduced that she must have been a happy person before she lost everything. Possibly more open and not as tense as the person she was now, hence Lalita‘s comfort with hugging her. That could have just been part of Lalita’s vibrant personality, but somehow, Astrid didn’t think that was the only thing. Second, was her hair; it hadn’t always been short. Third, Lalita implied that Astrid had lived in New Branch with her grandparents. That was only a few hours’ drive from where she was now. If only she could have found out exactly where. According to Lalita, she’d left or had been sent off (Astrid wasn’t sure which it was) before her eighteenth birthday, but how soon before?
Last, but not least was Jake, who was actually Alex and had evidently been very important to her in that other life. She wondered what the extent of their relationship was and why Alex never gave any mention that he knew her. He could have told her so many things and yet he hadn’t. Why? She didn’t have any pictures of him other than the ones she’d taken herself since she met him-or met him again-and wondered why that was as well. If he was so valuable to her then, she should have pictures of him, right? She was angry with him for hiding such crucial information from her, but most of all she was hurt. He knew things about her that she herself didn’t even know; he knew how impossibly sad she was-he could sense it no matter how she tried to hide it-and still, he kept the things she desperately wanted to know away from her.
Getting upset all over again, she left the pile of photographs on her bed and wandered into the kitchen. She didn’t have a reason-it was just where she gravitated to when she was thinking or didn’t have anything else to do. She’d end up opening the refrigerator, looking inside for nothing in particular, finding exactly that and closing it again. Then she’d move on, doing the same thing with all her cabinets and always she would leave the kitchen empty handed or else only get something to drink. This time, she opted for the drink-non-alcoholic this time-and sat down at the kitchen table. Alex’s note still lay, untouched, in the center. ‘Emergency. Had to Leave. Call you later. Alex.’ Call you later. Yeah. Right. She stared at it until it felt like there should have been holes singed through the paper, then she finally gave in and picked it up again.
This was what had bothered her the entire week ever since she’d woken up to an empty bed and this note on her table. Finally, she knew why Alex had done it. It wasn’t just because he was in a rush or couldn’t find anything else to write on like she’d tried to fool herself into believing. It was his way of telling her. Kind of anyway; a sign of sorts. He hadn’t written his note on a sheet of paper like anyone else would have. He’d chosen to write it on one of the photos that Astrid had stupidly left out on her coffee table the night of the fundraiser. Flipping it over, she once again studied the black and white picture of a gorgeous woman, who looked to be somewhere in her thirties, sitting at a kitchen table with a cup of what Astrid thought to be coffee in her hands. The table was smooth and polished and a reflection of the mystery woman shone beautifully on its surface. She had a kind face, thin and feminine hands and she looked back at the camera with an amused, yet patient expression. Unable to ignore the need to know who this woman was, she dug in her pocket for her phone to call the one person she now knew could tell her.
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CHAPTER 9
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