Page 25 of The Genius
My hand had squeezed the drumstick so tight that the meat was all mushy.
“I’ll be right back,” I muttered, making my way out to the center aisle. When a service-bot passed me, I threw away my drink and food, drying my hands on a napkin while taking two steps at a time up the stairs.
I was in good shape but was still breathing hard when I made it to the sixtieth row and could see Tristan and the woman only ten more rows up.
“Tristan,” I called out but he didn’t hear me over the noise from the crowd. Natura, however, did see me, and her whole face stiffened.
Maybe it scared her that I was running up, red in the face, and shouting his name.
She got up, saying a few words to Tristan and moving away from me toward the aisle on the other side. Tristan hadn’t seen me yet but called after Natura, shaking his head, and telling her to wait for him. She continued to make her way out of the row, not taking any time to listen to him.
“Tristan,” I called again and forced myself through an entire row of people who pulled their legs to the side to let me pass. I reached the aisle just in time to block Natura, who was coming down. She stopped abruptly when she saw me standing right in front of her.
“Marco.” Tristan lit up behind her, not seeing her reaction. “What a coincidence. I didn’t know you were here.”
“I wasn’t supposed to be.” I looked from her to him. “Nero couldn’t make it, so Storm gave me his ticket.”
“Oh, you’re with Storm?”
“And Hunter,” I added.
“Oh, okay. Do you remember Shelly?” Tristan had a wide smile on his face and swung a hand toward Natura.
“Shelly?” I looked back at her and gave a shake of my head in response to his question. I had only ever known one Shelly and this woman wasn’t her.
“She worked at the school for a short while in the beginning,” he elaborated. “I thought you’d remember her.” Tristan came closer, stopping a step above me. “Shelly had a sister named Rochelle at the school.”
I heard what he was saying, but it made no sense. The Shelly I’d know had been petite, flat-chested, and far from pretty. This woman was much taller and drop-dead beautiful. There was no resemblance between them.
“I remember Shelly. I used to call her Brainy,” I muttered in disbelief, studying her closely. Maybe her eyes did look a little familiar.
“That’s right. Shelly and I both work for Advanced Technologies now.”
“I didn’t know that.” My eyes were willing her to look at me, but Shelly’s gaze darted around looking everywhere but at me.
“It’s okay, it’s been ten years since you last met and Shelly has changed a lot. I wouldn’t have recognized her either.”
“Ten years, huh?” I starred at her. “Funny, it feels like I just saw you the other day. Although I wouldn’t have recognized you with the new look. What happened to you?”
“I grew up,” she said and looked down at her shoes before she gave me a stiff smile. “Look, I’d love to catch up, but I have to go.”
“What’s the rush?” I asked, stepping in her way when she tried to get past me.
“She needs to use the rest room,” Tristan explained behind her, his eyes looking up at the large screen.
“No problem. I can take Shelly. We’re old friends, after all.”
Before she could object, Tristan gave me a grateful smile. “You sure? I’d hate to miss the last rounds, but I promised our boss, Charlie, that I would act as Shelly’s protector for tonight.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll keep her safe.”
“You don’t mind, do you, Shelly?” Tristan asked her and with her shoulders tensed up, she gave a silent shake of her head.
“Great, let’s meet by the VIP entrance in ten minutes,” Tristan said and hurried back up the stairs while Shelly was running down the stairs. Either she had to pee badly, or she didn’t want to talk to me.
“Shelly.” I grabbed her by the arm and swung her around to face me when we were near the rest rooms. “Stop for a second. There’s something I have to tell you. Something important.”
She seemed nervous and couldn’t look me in the eye.
