Loveless Ages

Chapter Fifteen

Within two days, Obadiah summons us all upstairs to the lab. When we are seated around the metal table, Obadiah stands up and looks at us gravely.

“We did it!” he finally exclaims, a large smile stretching across his lips. The few people sitting around the table begin to clap and make small sounds of approval.

“Yes!” Josh exclaims, “That’s great!” Xander looks at him for a moment, still not used to his outbursts of enthusiasm.

“Where is it?” Xander asks.

“It’s in the freezer,” Obadiah informs us. Saige nods at this.

“I guess my work is done here,” she says aloud, “And may I ask whom this new reversal is for?”

“No you may not,” Xander steps in, “Thank you for helping us though.” He stands up and walks in the direction of the lab’s freezer.

“What’s next?” Lahar asks, careful not to make any eye contact with me. Xander closes the freezer and turns back to face us. The room becomes uncomfortably silent.

“Malinda,” Saige says, “Can I speak to you out in the hall?”

“Sure,” I nod. Josh stretches his arms out to take Luna away from me and give her to him. I then follow Saige outside of the room.

“Are you going to stand by what you said?” Saige asks me. I bite down on the inside of my cheek.

“About you seeing your father?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“I…I fully intend on doing what I can about that,” I say diplomatically. She smiles a bit. It isn’t a smile really. It’s more like a stretch of the lips.

“So it was a lie,” she says.

“No. No, Saige. It wasn’t a lie. I’m going to try to do what I said I’d do. Really,” I say.

“Alright, well what am I going to do? What are you going to do?” she asks. She shifts her weight onto her other foot.

“I’m not- I don’t know yet,” I say uneasily. She looks both annoyed and disappointed.

“I’m going to the airport and I’m going to catch the first flight back home. If you decide to keep your promise, you know where to find me,” she says. She turns on her heel and begins walking away.

“Saige wait,” I say. She doesn’t listen. She just continues walking.

Josh, Lahar, Xander, and I meet up once again on the research floor. We sit in the room with a blank paper in the middle of our table.

“Now we should come up with a plan,” Josh says aloud, breaking the everlasting silence.

“Shut up Josh,” Xander says. I gave Luna to Obadiah who offered to babysit her.

“Fuck you Xander,” Josh says with a large smile in his face. He turns to face me.

“I think we should come up with a name,” he says.

“A name?” I ask.

“Yeah! Like Operation Neuro-gas!” Josh suggests. Xander looks at him.

“Are you fucking serious?” Xander asks, “Can I please tape his mouth up?”

“Don’t be mad because you can’t come up with any cool ideas,” Josh says defensively.

“Cool or stupid as shit?” Xander asks. I put my hand on his forearm.