Page 24 of One Twisted Lie

He thinks it over for a minute, chewing the inside of his cheek as he cocks his head to the side. I’m not too sure what type of argument he’s having with himself, but one side seems to win when he smiles. “It sounds like fun. Let’s do it.”

We quickly finish our breakfast and head toward the woods. Without cars, the only way to get to Interlaken is to take a quick hike through the forest, but it’s easy enough to get through. Within twenty minutes, we’re in the city center, surrounded by tented booths, smiling at each other as a flurry of people move around us.

“Where do you want to start?” Ozymandias asks, his eyes following a woman as she walks by with a basket of bread.

“How can I say no to artisanal soaps made with ingredients that are sure to burn my balls off?” I suggest, earning myself a chuckle from him. “Let’s just start from the beginning.”

He nods and, without any preamble, reaches for my hand and threads our fingers together. I look down at us with mock offense. I know this seems like a date, and I’ve been inside him, but this feels like a little much. “Um, what the fuck?”

“I don’t want us to get separated,” he explains clearly with a shrug, already tugging me behind him.

“Ew, let go.”

“No.”

I can’t find it in me to argue anymore when he squeezes me gently, the warm pressure of his hand almost comforting. Okay, so it’s not that bad. I can let it slide for today. We walk through the booths together, hand in hand, even the ones that we don’t particularly like. I beg him to skip the menagerie of little figurines and toy soldiers, but he refuses. We definitely love the coffee booth, stopping there and ordering two large specialty coffees with too much caffeine and too much sugar.

“She said they’re made out of lingonberries,” I say, holding a homemade soap up to Ozymandias’s nose at the artisanal booth. “Isn’t that food?”

“It’s all-natural. It can’t hurt, can it? I’m buying it for you,” he teases, already taking his wallet out and handing the lady some bills. “Danke.”

I roll my eyes. “Fucker. Next booth.”

We walk a little bit more until something catches his attention. “Oh, look! Vitamins!”

I give him a weird look as he drags me to the last booth on the right. “Wow, what great enthusiasm.”

“We should get some of these,” he says, completely ignoring me as he speaks German with the man running the booth.

“You know vitamins don’t work, right?”

This makes him pause. “Excuse me?”

“They’re just placebos that companies push out so they can make millions of dollars off the suckers that believe in that shit,” I explain, eyeing the vitamins in his hands distastefully. Fucking smoke and mirrors.

“Carter…” he starts, taking a step back as his jaw drops. “I don’t think that’s right. Vitamins are an actual thing.”

“I don’t believe in them.”

“It’s not something you just don’tbelieve in. It’s science. You’re supposed to be a genius.”

“Exactly, and I know when I’m being scammed.”

He blinks at me a couple more times before shaking his head. He quickly says something in German to the salesman and hands him some money before turning back to me. “Now that I know this, we’re definitely getting you some. I don’t want you getting sick again.”

I go to tell him I’m not going to take the stupid vitamins that don’t work for shit, but I stop. That’s…that’s really fucking sweet of him. I don’t think he actually knows what he said. I don’t think he realizes that his offer—although pointless—speaks to what we now are.

Fuck, we’re actually friends, aren’t we?

“Oh, look!” he says, pointing to a booth right across from us. “They havebündner nusstorte!”

I tilt my head to the side as he drags me to the booth. “What’s that?”

“It’s like a cookie-shaped walnut cake,” he explains, pointing at the bakery case and referring to the thick circular discs at the center. “You need to try some. Can I pick for you?”

“Sure,” I nod, smiling as he excitedly orders for us. Once we get our order, he wastes no time shoving it in my hands and basically into my mouth. I take that first crunchy bite, close my eyes, and groan. “Damn, that’s good.”

He laughs at my enjoyment and bumps shoulders with me, leading me to a bench so we can both enjoy our cakes. This has actually been a great day. The sun is out, there’s a light breeze, people are smiling, children are laughing, and Ozymandias is as charming as ever today.

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