"How long have you known Lia?" Austin asks as Angel climbs into his bed. "Years," she says moving closer to him. "I don't appreciate your vague time lines, Miss Knite. Days and months have names, clocks and years have numbers - there is a reason for that. Be more precise," he says frowning as she does not stop moving closer to him and then eventually settles on his lap in a straddle. "Well, why shoud I use those names of the week when they are not even the real names?" she asks sliding her hands around his skin.
"What?"
"The days of the week - the names we use are not even their real names so why should I use them?"
"What?"
"Our calendars and days of the weeks come from the Romans. Sunday is actually called the Day of the Sun. Monday is moon day. Tuesday - Tui's day. Wednesday - Woden's Day. Thursday - Thor's Day. Friday, I can't remember but Saturday is Saturn's day. So why should I say what day it is if we don't even use the right names?" Angel says, her face serious as she continues to slide her hands around his skin. He can feel his face pulling into a frown, a confused frown. "You confuse me," he says. "I confuse myself!" Angel says throwing her hands in the air and shaking her head as if she is disappointed with herself - this does not help Austin's confusion. What's wrong with her?
"You are not normal."
"I agree!" Angel says proudly and flashes him a smile then leans in and kisses him. This whole thing is insane. He should not be kissing her, but he can't help himself - she is intoxicating. He puts his hands on her shoulders and pushes her back gently. He needs to keep his head and it's very hard to do so when she is near him, let alone attached to his lips. He has managed to concentrate this afternoon as he worked this afternoon with Mathew. They combed through everyone's backgrounds again, he is convinced that someone on her team knows something. Someone she knows has a connection to the hooded man. He has his eye on Lia - there is just something that does not sit right with her. Austin has nothing on Lia except that she asks too many questions and seems a little too into Angel. He tried to explain that to Mathew and Jona who both looked at him like he was crazy. "That wee girl? She doesn't have a callous bone in her body," Jona had defended her a little too quickly. But, Austin knows from experience - don't ignore your gut instinct. Lia knows something and he will dig until he finds something or nothing, but he will dig.
"None of that nonsense, miss Knite, can you at least try and be normal just long enough to answer my question?"
"Ok, but later," she says leaning forward in an attempt to kiss him again but Austin keeps his hands on her shoulders and holds her back shaking his head. "Ok, fine! I met her three years ago. Funny story actually. I was driving in my car and Lia ran a stop sign by accident - smashed right into me! I need a few stitches and she would not leave my side. She kept apologizing, followed me to the hospital, and then came to the house with flowers, and eventually, we became friends and she asked if she could be my assistant because she still felt so bad and the rest is history."
"Did you do any background checks on her?"
"Yes. Full background checks."
Austin raises his eyebrows - that's rather responsible for Angel. "Do you have any paperwork from those background checks still?" he asks. "Oh, they were all verbal," Angel says with a shrug. Austin frowns deeper. "Verbal?" he asks. "Yup," she says popping the p. "How?" Austin pushes. Angel groans and flops onto the bed. "Oh, Austin! This is boring!" she says. "Just humor me. How did you do the background checks on her?" Austin says pulling her back onto his lap. "I asked her if she was an axe murderer and she said no," Angel says.
"And?"
"That's it."
"That's it? That is not a background check."
"You and I have our own opinions on this, and neither one is necessarily wrong."
"You are absolutely wrong in this."
"You say green, I say Seabreeze - it's all the same thing."
"That is not how the saying goes."
"Whos saying what?"
"You say toMAYto, I say toMAHto."
"You say toMAHto?"
"No. It's the saying?"
"What saying?"
"You say green, I say Seabreeze is not-"
"No, I say Seabreeze."
"I know. But, that's not the saying. You say toMAYto, I say toMAHto is -"
"Why do you say to toMAHto when it would be more natural to say toMAYto?"
"It's a saying," Austin says wiping his face with his hand in frustration then takes a deep breath in through his nose. "You are fucking with me," he says. Angel smirks. "Your brain tired yet? Can we sleep?" she asks. Maybe she is more clever than he thinks, maybe there is more to Angel than meets the eye. But, he won't let her wear him down.
"No. Let me do my job."
"I'll let you do-"
"If you say me I will send you back to your bed. Now talk. No more games."
"Fiiiiiine! I was just fucking about the tomato thing."
"So you don't know anything about Lia?"
"I have known her for three years, the girl cries when she sees a butterfly. I really don't think she is a problem, Austin," she says climbing off Austin's lap and laying down on her stomach. "She asks too many questions," Austin says turning out the light and then settling on top of Angel. "I could say the same thing about you," Angel mumbles as his body presses her into the mattress. Talking to Angel is taxing, he feels like he goes around in circles and he now has more questions than answers. "Get. Off," he mumbles as her bird once again tries to settle on his hip, he is going to cook that bird one day.
Austin blinks his eyes open and panic floods his body immediately. Angel is not under him. He shoots up then forces himself to calm down when he hears her talking on her phone in the bathroom. It's morning and he slept dead the whole night - it's something he still needs to get used to, he hasn't slept a full night since before Angel bulldozed her way into his bed and he has never slept so heavily not to feel her moving - a dripping tap usually wakes him. "Oh, hey sleepy head! Guess you get the morning off! Lia just phoned to say she will meet us at Jona's office for my meeting," Angel says walking back into the room. "Not funny. We need to talk about Lia, Miss Knite," Austin says climbing out of the bed as Angel climbs on it and stands up. "You are beginning to make me think you have a little crush on her," Angel says walking over the bed to stand in front of him. "Stop that," Austin says then lets out a grunt as she jumps onto him wrapping her arms and legs around his body - she is like a monkey.
"Then focus on me," she says smiling at him. He frowns. Angel sighs and kisses the tip of his nose. Austin tries, he really does, he tries his hardest to retain what dignity he has left and keep his frown but when she kisses the top of his nose again he feels his lips stretch into a smile. "Hello, handsome. Your smile rushes through my veins like heroin," she whispers then leans forward and connects their lips, kissing him softly. Austin's mind clouds and he finds himself lost in her. He couldn't pull away even if he tried, but then his body freezes as Angel lets out a giggle when they both hear a gasp from the bedroom door. They turn their heads to look at Phoebe who is standing by the door, trying to stop herself from doing little excited hops - she is not very successful as her shit-eating grin covers her face. Great, any second now she is going to scream and get all excited that her brother is kissing Angel Knite like it's the biggest gossip this year.
He puts Angel down then gives Phoebe a pointed look as she suddenly sprints toward Austin. "Now, Phoebe, you need to-" he gets cut off when Phoebe slams into him and hugs him tightly. Austin looks at Angel who shrugs.
"Don't make more of this than it is Phoebe, don't think that-"
"I don't care who it is. Don't get me wrong I love that it's Angel Knite but it would not matter who it is. You have been a robot and in pain for so long...for a second there you looked human. You are a hero and instead of punishing yourself you should be letting yourself feel the way Angel made you feel just now," she whispers into his chest. Austin closes his eyes for a second then looks over at Angel who is looking at them with a cocked head and a curious face, she gives him a little smile then steps out of his room giving him a little privacy with his sister. "Phoebe..." he says softly. Phoebe lets go of him and takes a step back as she wipes her eyes. "Sorry," she sniffles, "I just love you so much and I get so sad about how hard you are on yourself after all you did...after all you tried to do. I didn't ever think you would love or let yourself be loved again."
"It was just a kiss."
"I know, but you deserve to forgive yourself and I hope this is how it starts," Phoebe says then walks out, still grinning. Phoebe is wrong. He does not deserve to ever feel forgiveness - damed to hell, that's what he deserves. He showers, dresses, and makes his bed then meets Angel downstairs as Phoebe rushes off to her day at work. "She alright?" Angel asks softly. Austin nods as he fills a cup of coffee. "You ok?" she asks. "I am not a toddler that needs to be fussed over," he says leaning on the counter and taking a sip of his coffee as he watches Angel feed her bird. She rolls her eyes then closes it in its cage. "Get ready, you have an appointment at Jona's office then a session at the studio," he says. She rolls her eyes again then turns and walks out of the kitchen. "I am ready!" she shouts back. She is in a mood today, he can tell - she will be a handful today. Great.
They climb into the car and she rambles on about tour with Nate - Nate seems to be a fan too and confirms it when he tells Austin he followed Angels world your a few years back. She offered him a job after she saw him at nearly every show - but obsessive...
Austin tells Nate to stop at a drive-thru and Angel squeals, ordering a ton of shit that Austin has to hold because Lia is not around. Her being normal is vexing. At Jona's office, Nate parks in the private underground parking as the crowd is too big to push through which. Angel skips, hops and says pointless shit as they make their way to the elevator and then rolls her eyes when Lia meets them on Joan's floor and asks if she wants a run down of the meeting they are about to attend. "No. I know what's going on," she says, her voice suddenly monotone, professional - who the fuck is this woman?
Jona is at the elevator door too when they open and Austin waits for Angel to do something over the top or stupid, but she doesn't. "Morning, Jona. Everyone ready?" she asks handing her coffee, milkshake, two half eaten muffins, and sweet tea to Lia. "Yes, they are all ready and waiting for you, Angel," he says. Austin walks behind them to a large board room filled with men and woman in suits then stands in the corner and watches as the woman he had described as reckless, impulsive, immature, whimsical, and bad at making logical decisions - sit down and take control of a table full of stuffy suited people. She challenges everything they say to her and holds them with a hard 'don't fuck with me' stare. She uses words like return on investment, synergy, core competency, sustainability, hyperlocal, freemium, quota, retargeting, and incentivize. She demands control of the room and everyone hangs on her every word. They are CEOs from the various companies she owns, and she owns a lot - from clothing to make-up to property, she even has a company that is looking into some environmental shit and a fucking watermelon farm. Her record label is there as well and she gets stuck into them too. She knows everything about each company and she knows what she is talking about - the woman is clever as fuck. She hasn't just bought companies and handed them over for someone else to maintain while she reaps the rewards. She has built each company up herself and she takes no shit - she expects the best and demands it too.
Who the fuck is this woman? How is this the same woman who talks to her bird or slathers her sticky ice-cream fingers all over her phone?
"What is happening?" Mathew whispers into his earpiece from the other side of the room. "Either she has made us lose our fucking minds and we are now in an alternate universe or Miss Knite is one of the best fucking business-savvy boss bitches I have ever seen," Mathew feels the need to add. Austin would call him out for calling her a bitch, but if he is being honest - he is just as stumped as Mathew. All the news articles he has read have not done the woman justice.
As the meeting draws to an end and the suits pledge their best foot forward to Angel then stand to leave or mill around chatting to each other, Austin is still trying to wrap his head around what he just saw. Angel lets out a sigh, then climbs on the table as she reaches over and grabs a slice of pizza that Jona had just brought in. "At my next show, I want a giraffe hanging out at each entrance - just for fun. It will be so cool!" she says lying down and letting the cheese from the pizza slide into her open mouth. There she is, that's the Angel he knows. She knows what she is doing and she does it her way - unapologetically.