"What did you forget this time?" It took all my resolve not to look up from my libretto as Will bolted past me into his room. The banging of closet doors followed. He'd been back into the house twice since setting off to see Charlotte.
He emerged from his bedroom having changed from his crisp new green T-shirt into his ancient T-shirt with faded band tour dates on it.
"You're gonna be late."
"I'm going!"
Will ran to the door. And stopped dead. As if he'd just had a terrible idea.
"Please come with me, Zeph."
"We talked about this." I snapped shut the libretto that I was pretending to read, careful not to look up. "She might wanna discuss confidential family shit. I shouldn't be there."
Will pleaded with outstretched hands. "But you're so much better at this stuff."
That was a new argument from Will. I was prepared to hear it. And then demolish it elegantly.
"What stuff?"
"You know, talking stuff."
I could understand his apprehension; Charlotte's family had refused to acknowledge him and Mozhgan for decades. But the opportunity for Will and Charlotte to put thirty years of whispers and lies behind them was so worth the nerves.
Courage, Will.
"You're awesome at talking, man. Charlotte's been waiting to talk for so long."
Shibal.
I'd made the mistake of looking up, right into Will's stupid fucking sad eyes. He knew that he'd got me, because he was half-way outta the front door with a victory smile before I'd even said yes.
Libretti and staff paper tumbled onto the coffee table as I extricated myself from my lesson planning. Chuck Taylors clutched in one hand, I followed Will down Seapoint Avenue toward the beachfront.
"Just so you know, I'm not gonna get all Zefissimo and talk Charlotte's ear off while you just chill in silence," I lectured, the picture of elegance as I hopped behind Will, ramming my shoes on before we met the blistering hot tarmac leading to the beach. "You have to talk too."
"I know," he said, trying to fit his giant fucking grin into the confines of a standard-issue Will-smile.
The beachfront café was filling up with the lunchtime rush. We sat a table outside shaded by tired-looking parasols, Will trying to wedge himself out of sight against the café window.
"Sneaky bastard!" I slid past Will at lightning speed and squeezed into the chair he'd eyed for himself in the corner. He was left with a rickety chair in full view of the café's sandy aisle.
"Shut up, Zefissimo." Will collapsed sulkily into the aisle chair, flipping me the bird. I stuck my tongue out, which earned me a bassy little rumble of laughter.
"Hey Will," came a silken voice from behind him. "Haven't seen you for time."
We both looked up into the smiling face of Ted, clearing tables and still looking to me like the most nondescript humanoid fleshbag in Arenosa. Greek script flowed around Apollo and Achilles on bulging tattoo sleeves. Fawning ladies whispered behind menus as he stacked coffee cups onto a tray.
Will turned around in his seat to give Ted a little smile. "What's up, man?"
"Hey, it's Zephyr, isn't it? Good to see you again." Ted held out a fist for me to bump.
I pressed my knuckles to his and started to grovel. "I'm so sorry about...last time."
Ted smiled fondly at me and Will as he worked. "Hey, I should apologize. I didn't know that you two were together."
YOU ARE READING
The Sigma Asset 🏳️🌈 (bxb)║AMBYS WINNER 2022
Mystery / Thriller**AMBYS 2022 WINNER** He'll never play piano again. That's what virtuoso pianist Zephyr has vowed to himself after escaping Sigma, the sprawling criminal organisation that once held him--and still holds his friends--captive in California's mega-city...
