Perception (18 page)

“Zoe!” Alison dropped
her fork.

“Just kidding. You
know I’m kidding don’t you, Grandpa?”

Grandpa V just
wiggled his well-groomed eyebrows at me. I smirked back. I had more to worry
about than hurting an over-confident man’s feelings.

Noah was in jail.

Paul had refused to
bail him out last night, absolutely furious that he’d punched Jackson. I wasn’t
used to seeing him seethe and his anger didn’t look like it had diffused overnight.
Paul’s lips were pursed tight, even as he chewed his scrambled eggs.

It turned out
Mitchell was not only a social misfit, but a snitch. He’d come to the lab
un-noticed by me or Noah, perhaps because Noah had been busy knocking the
lights out of Jackson, and then promptly called the authorities.

“Dad, we need to talk
about what happened last night.”

Paul grunted.

“You have to drop the
charges against Noah. Jackson was manhandling me. Noah came to my defense. You
should be rewarding him, not punishing him.”

“Jackson is like a
second son to us,” Paul said. “Why don’t you tell us what really happened? What
were you two fighting about?”

I slumped in my
chair.

“It was just a
lover’s quarrel,” Alison said. “I’m sure Jackson’s sorry. He didn’t actually
hurt you, did he?”

“Just let Noah go.”

“Why were you with
Noah Brody, anyway?” Alison persisted.

I leaned back in my
chair. Maybe because no one else would help me, no one else would tell me the
truth?

“Officer Grant sent
me an interesting video clip this morning,” Paul said through clenched teeth.
He tapped his ring, pressed the appropriate virtual button and a 3D video
popped up.

It was footage of me
and Noah locked in our passionate embrace. I felt my face flush red.

“Turn that off!”

“Zoe,” Alison said,
horror in her eyes. “The maid’s son? What were you thinking?”

“She’s not thinking,
that’s the problem,” Paul said.

“Isn’t that a little
harsh?” Grandpa V said, his face fighting off a grin. He was obviously fully
amused by the drama transpiring in front of him, but I was thankful, and a
little surprised, that he was standing up for me.

“Kids need to spread
their wings, test out temptation.” Grandpa V sneaked me a wink. “I’m sure this
fancy will pass with time.”

“She’s out of time,”
Paul said. “Zoe, I don’t want you to see that boy again.”

I crossed my arms in
defiance. “You can’t force me to stop seeing him.”

“But, he’s not a
GAP,” Alison said. “You must see the difficulty that comes with that?”

I did, but right at
this moment, I didn’t care. At all.

Paul threw his napkin
down on a half-empty plate of food. “You will stop seeing him, immediately.”

“And if I don’t?” I
challenged.

“Then I guess he’s
going to be spending a lot of time in jail.”

“You can’t do that!
He didn’t do anything!”

“Assault causing
bodily harm.”

“Jackson’s fine. I
saw him get up off the floor. He even drove himself home.”

Paul shrugged. “It’s
your choice.”

Tears welled up in my
eyes, and I looked away, not wanting Paul to see me as weak. I couldn’t leave
Noah in jail, but I couldn’t stop seeing him either. Paul was forcing me to
lie. I just hoped I could pull off the charade.

“Ok, you win. I know
it would never work for me to date a non-GAP. I was confused and acting stupid
because I was mad and hurt. But, at least let me tell him. Let me say good-bye.”

Paul let out a deep
breath. “I don’t know. I think the band-aid approach is better in this case.”

“Oh, son, let the
girl get some closure,” William Vanderveen interjected. “She’s had a rough
week.”

I almost felt like
giving my grandfather a hug.

“I’ll give you five
minutes to wrap things up with him,” Paul said. “Then I’ll have him escorted
home. And I’m driving you there.”

It was a better deal
than I’d hoped for.

I felt like all the
air in our family car had been sucked out. Paul instructed it to go to the
police station, and I kept my gaze out the window, reviewing in my mind what I’d
say in the five minutes I’d have with Noah at the Sol City jail.

The courthouse didn’t
look that ominous. Its exterior was stucco painted bright white, like many
governmental buildings in an effort to reflect the sun’s rays and to keep the
well insulated and protected interiors cool.

My sandals made slapping noises on the dark interior floor tiles as a
clerk led me to the overnight holding cells. This wasn’t the place they kept
serious criminals. Those guys were shipped to a facility outside of LA. This
was where people were kept temporarily for misdemeanours, mostly younger people
with too much time on their hands. I’d insisted Paul wait for me in the
reception area, counting on his unwillingness to create a public scene to force
a concession.

Noah got up from a
narrow bunk when he saw me enter the room. He still wore the well-fitting
t-shirt and jeans from the night before, a look that made my heart do a little
flip. A tray with breakfast remnants sat on the floor by the bed.

He ran a hand through
his dark hair. “Hey,” he said approaching the bars.

“Hey.”

“I’m surprised they
let you in to see me.”

I put my hands
through the bars, and he took them sending pleasant waves of emotion through me.

“I had to bargain,” I
said.

He placed his
forehead against the bars. “And what did that entail?”

“I’m not supposed to
see you again. This is supposed to be our good-bye.”

I stood on my
tip-toes, reaching for his lips through the bars. He lowered his head to reach me.
“Supposed to be?” he said through our kisses.

“I’ll find a way to
see you,” I kissed back. “Soon.”

We used up the rest of
our minutes kissing, and though there was a lot I wanted to say, it could wait
until later.

Noah pulled back
gently. “Maybe they’re right, Zoe. Maybe...”

“Shh.” I put a finger
on his lips. “Let’s not think about right and wrong. Let’s just think about
now.”

“What’s going to
happen to me?”

“Dad’s posting bail.
They’ll escort you home.”

The guard approached.
“Time’s up, lovers.”

My fingers sizzled as
I slipped them out of Noah’s grasp. Before disappearing around the corner I mouthed,
“Wait for me.”

Chapter 22

Paul was tracking me.
If I went to the kitchen for a coffee, he got one, too. If I sat by the pool,
suddenly he was fascinated with the outdoor bar. When I escaped to my room, he
sat on the sofa in the living room, working on his e-tablet in full view of the
stairs.

I decided to play his
game and joined him, switching the channels on the TV until I got to a sappy
soap opera I knew he despised. He used to date one of the main actresses before
he met Alison, and apparently it didn’t go well. Melodrama played out in 3D
images. I turned the volume up a little louder.

Jackson had been
buzzing my ComRing non-stop, but I’d been ignoring his calls. I knew he wanted
the chip back, and I could sense he doubted I’d be able to hack into it. Still,
he was worried. I felt certain there was something on it that incriminated him,
and, by the tone of his texts and voice messages, I could tell he also wanted
to talk to me about Noah.

There was no way I
was going to talk to Jackson about him.

So, now that I had
the chip, what should I do? Would it get me into the Sleiman offices? If Liam
had been involved with someone from there, then it might. And if so, what could
I hope to find?

I could go alone, but
I had promised to take Noah with me. Plus, I might need his help. He did have
that handy black tool bag. And, besides, I wanted to be with him.

The separation
anxiety I felt was growing exponentially. Even a short time away from him was
proving painful. I notched the volume up one more level.

Paul finally had
enough and left me for his office at the back of the house.

I didn’t turn the TV
off when I sneaked away to the garage. I buckled in and spoke to the computer
panel.

Nothing. I tried to
start it manually. Still nothing.

Damn. Paul had
disengaged it. I exited in a huff. If he thought taking my pod away would keep me
from seeing Noah, he was wrong.

I left our property
quietly, keeping close to the hedges as I headed north and then down to the waterfront.
I followed the shoreline until I hit a popular foot and cycling path, my fury
building with each step. I was angry about all the lies that were the
foundation of my life. Angry about the secret experiment that had taken my
brother’s life, and the fact that no one was taking responsibility for it.

Angry that I was a
GAP and Noah wasn’t.

When I arrived at the
gates, I walked through without looking up. Once on the outside I found my way
to the transit pod and was pleased that I didn’t even feel one bit frightened
at the prospect of traveling to Noah’s house alone. I passed my hand through
the scan as I hopped on.

It occurred to me
that Paul could shut down my access to finances, but I didn’t think he’d go to
those lengths. At least not yet.

The ride gave me time
to calm down. I didn’t want to arrive at Noah’s in a storm of rage. Deep
breaths helped me get my equilibrium back, and I ignored all the people who
were ignoring me.

My ring buzzed, and
it flashed Paul’s name. I turned it off. Whatever it was Noah and I were going
to do, we needed to do it fast. Paul wouldn’t go down without a fight.

Chapter 23

I heard Noah’s voice
before I knocked, my fist pausing in mid air.

“I don’t think you
should be working anymore. I’ll get more hours at the kitchen. Find a second
job. We’ll get by.”

Saundra’s voice
scratched out, “Noah.”

I peeked in through
the screen door. Saundra was reclining in her chair with her eyes closed, and
Noah knelt on the floor beside her. His back was to me, so he didn’t see me
watching. I was about to clear my throat to let him know I was there, but he
started talking again.

“Ma,” he said. “I
know you’ve made up your mind, but please, think about it again.”

“About what?”

“There’s still time.
We could stop this.”

“Oh, honey.”

“I know you think
it’s wrong, but scores of embryos are discarded every day. They’re already
dead. Nothing you can do will save them. But they could save you.”

“It’s still wrong. In
my heart, I couldn’t live with myself.”

“I can’t lose you,
Ma.” Noah’s voice cracked. “It’s bad enough that Dad’s gone.”

Saundra stroked his
hair, tears brimming her eyes. I felt like such a peeping Tom, observing
something so personal.

“You kids will be
okay,” she said. “I trust in God to take care of you.”

I walked to the end
of the porch and sat down, deciding to wait until they were done.

I didn’t have to wait
long. A few moments later, Noah slipped out, shutting the screen door quietly
behind him.

He jumped when he saw
me.

“Zoe?”

“Surprise.”

He wiped his eyes,
looking self-conscious that he’d been crying. I pretended not to notice.

“I told you I’d find
you soon.”

After regaining his
composure, he sat beside me. Our legs dangled over the edge, thighs touching.

“I’m surprised that your
dad let you out of his sight,” he said.

“He put in a good
effort, but he was no match for me.” I leaned into Noah playfully, hoping to
cheer him up.

He stiffened, his
voice serious. “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

I turned to him
sharply. “About what? You?”

He nodded.

“Yes, I’m sure. Why
do you keep questioning me? Are you not sure? We can unravel things, if that’s
what you want.”

He ran his thumb
along my jaw, and I quivered. “I don’t want that. Of course not. I’m just
worried about you.”

“I’m fine,” I said
gently. “I promise.”

He leaned in and
kissed my nose then my cheek and slowly moved to my jaw line. I shivered and
everything in me wanted to keep going.

But, we couldn’t. Not
here, not now. “Slow down, mister,” I said with a giggle as he reached my neck.
“We still have work to do.”