Page 65 of Homebound
She silently accepted the stun gun and moved on.
There was no mistake.
Again, throughout the day Arlo remained invisible, an effing phantom tied to the realm of the third floor by tethers of cowardice. But she was determined to wait him out.
Her work was steady but not overwhelming because the second floor was so well staffed. Despite the light load, Gemma had no energy and was barely able to move a full bucket of water around. Her head was ringing and she was afraid she was coming down with a bug.
The next day she woke up seriously sick. But she pulled herself together, made herself eat the yogurt she’d long come to think of as Simon’s, and braved the cold weather made particularly unpleasant by her chills.
In another blow, she hadn’t been able to see Ruby since their first arranged meeting by Marigold’s counter, and the uncertainty was wearing on Gemma. How was Simon? Was he hungry? Cold? Lonely?
Plagued by worries, she felt blazingly unwell. Her head was woozy, the area behind her eyes hurt and made it difficult to concentrate, and all she could do was to make sure she didn’t fall doing her tasks.
Questions loomed about what she would do if she couldn't come back and start taking Simon out again soon. Maybe Ruby could get authorized to take him if she agreed to it. Gemma would have to meet with OO to ask about that. It would be unpleasant, and he’d want to grope her again, but she was willing to ask.
Heck, maybe she should solve her problem by straight out asking him to put her back in with the aliens. Could she entice him in granting her the request? She was pretty sure she could. But her virtue was tied fast to her sense of self-worth. It meant a lot to her.
But so did Simon…
No, it was her fever talking. It’d only been four days. Simon had survived without food for much longer. She needed to wait and see how the cards would fall.
She forced herself to eat at lunch, sitting slumped at the table with her teammates and sucking in the nasty gruel she thankfully couldn’t taste today.
After lunch, she was making her way across the lobby when she saw a familiar preening figure accompanied by a guard. He looked different and it took her a moment to realize that he was wearing civilian clothes.
“Hello, beautiful Gemma! How lucky am I to see you to say goodbye.”
“Number 34! You’re all done, then?” They came together in the middle of the lobby.
“Yep, all done. And since I’m no longer an inmate, you can drop the Number 34 routine. I’m Arc.”
Gemma managed a genuine smile. “I’m happy for you, Arc. Truly. I wish you luck, and to never see you here again.”
He chuckled. “I won’t be back, trust me. But I’ll miss you.”
“No, you won’t.”
“I’ve missed you these past few days.”
He made her chuckle. “I’m surprised you even noticed.”
“Are you kidding? Everyone noticed. Even the mad Weerstra noticed. He’s been pissing into the corridor in disapproval.”
“Somehow I doubt he did it on my account,” Gemma said.
“No, I was just kidding.” Arc reached out and touched a lock of Gemma’s hair, right above her ear. He was large and his eyes were feral. She didn’t flinch but it took an effort.
He dropped his hand from her hair but not his eyes from hers. Arc’s eyes glinted with reflected light, weird, that, in a well-lit lobby.
Then he smiled. “You take care. I know you’ll miss me, but your Rix will be here to keep your company.”
“He isn’t my Rix.”
“Is he not.” There was genuine mirth in his face. “He’s getting better. Soon, he’ll be back to his normal self, and… Let’s just say, I’m glad I’m getting out before shit hits the fan.”
His veiled threats didn’t make Gemma’s pounding head hurt any less. “Why? What’s going to change? I don’t understand.”
“I know you don’t. That’s what made it so interesting to watch.”
