Charlie~~
When I knock on the apartment door, an envelope marked with the blue seal of Somnia in my hand, I'm a little bit drunk.
It would be easy to clear my head. To be sober in five seconds or less, but I don't want to.
All I needed to get drunk in the dream was the desire for it and some alcohol.
Delivering Dad's messages isn't something I do much anymore. I have an employee for that. But he decided to take the rest of the day off without any notice. This morning Dad was on my case about Nora, telling me I needed to keep an eye on her, which I was, until he decided he needed me to deliver a message and didn't bother giving me a name. Whoever is about to receive this message has likely done something wrong and is about to pay for it.
That's why I don't care if I'm drunk on the job. What's the difference to this person? They probably won't even be around next week, and besides I'd have to be a really good drunk for them to notice in the few seconds it takes for me to hand over a letter.
The door slides opens, and my sobriety comes rushing back when I see the girl from Nora's orientation standing before me, one hand gripping the door and the other holding a kitchen knife.
She's still dressed in the standard uniform, but it looks fresh. She must have found the spare in her closet. Her hair is damp, and she smells faintly of lemons, the complimentary soap that's provided when someone first moves in. The bottles are like those my brother Kyle brings back from hotels. Dad's rich, but Kyle loves his free stuff. It clutters up the shelves in our room next to the models I built of the outside world. Tyler who keeps our bathroom pristine, makes him keep it out of the bathroom if it doesn't fit in the box he's designated for Kyle.
Behind her, on the couch is Tye, and seated beside him is Nora.
After seeing Radia, I'm not shocked at Nora being here. Most pairings stick together for at least the first day. I'm not even shocked to see Tye; Dad has his hand in this, and I want to know the extent of it.
Tye does look shocked and even like he'll die of mortification, not that he knows what dying means. Death isn't a concept in Somnia.
Mortification definitely is.
His mouth opens and closes as he stands to his feet. "Charlie."
At that, I drag my eyes back to Radia and put on the smile I use when I'm in a meeting and know Dad will kill me if I'm rude. "I see you've already met my employee, Tye. I'm Charlie Pace from Somnia's welcoming committee." Whatever the hell that is. "Radia Dacy, right?" I ask as if I'm only seeing her for the first time.
Her grip on the door and knife hasn't loosened. "Yes."
Nora stands a few feet from Tye, her gaze going between me and him.
"Perfect." Crouching down in the hallway outside her apartment, I twist to the side and reach far enough away that I'm out of her eyesight and imagine a gift basket with fruit and chocolate and toiletries and soap with a smell that doesn't remind me of cleaning supplies.
The basket now in hand, and envelope in my pocket, I straighten, holding the gift out to her. She's forced to put the knife down to accept it.
"You know him, Tye?" Radia asks over her shoulder.
"He's my boss," he confirms. Yes, I'm his boss. Dad is not.
YOU ARE READING
Asleep
Science Fiction(Free to read + a paid bonus chapter) In a time when kidnapping is a common occurrence, Nora is about to become her father's science experiment. Nora believes she's starting a new job, working alongside her father, but instead, she's trapped inside...
