Hey guys :) Sorry it takes so long... I'm just...slow...
Anyhoo, thanks so much for reading!! ENJOY! :D
Chapter 13.
"Has he ever seemed that...flirtatious...before?"
My face burns up a few degrees more, and I keep my gaze down on the table. "No."
"You are completely positive?"
"Yes."
"You aren't...hiding anything?"
"No-"
"We understand that this is such a personal subject Cecily, but we must know. The subject has not physically harassed you in such a manner before?"
I want to dig myself into a hole and just get buried in it. Right now. I'm glowering in humiliation at the table, wishing I could smash my head into it as I answer. "No. He hasn't."
"He has not...mentally communicated anything of...such a nature?" The woman that they'd brought in to question me seemed determined to interrogate me like I was the one requiring punishment. Her voice was stern and he eyes seemed to blaze with the ferocity of a bulldog, which I will admit she closely resembled.
"No. Never." I force my eyes up from the table to meet my interrogater's. "I promise I would have told someone. This is the first time he's ever...done anything like that. Ever."
Her eyes narrowed but then she abruptly packed up her hand tablet - which I'm sure she'd been recording me on, because she didn't type a thing - and then left the room. I turned around and opened my mouth to ask if I could leave and she didn't even turn around to answer me, like she'd just sensed what I'd wanted to know.
"Stay put."
Then she slammed the door shut with a powerful bam and I was left alone.
Good Gracious.
I slump to the table in front of me, my cheek hitting the cold surface and staying there. Why the hell did Subject R have to do that? Be...flirtatious or whatever the hell it was. Because its been screwing everything up! The moment I'd left the holding cell I swear to god, Mrs.Feng, Mr.McCaulty and Geoffry all jumped me at once, blasting me with questions, lifting my arm up to check for bruises, stammering out sentences as they realized what kind of questions they were asking.
Before I'd been hauled off to be checked - as in stripped down, black lighted, showered and rechecked - I'd gotten the feeling that Mrs.Feng had been curious as to what he seemed to have wanted; Mr.McCaulty was apparently pissed at me for explaining the Panic Button; and Geoffry just seemed downright peeved that I hadn't got out of there sooner.
So all in all, my three bosses were all angry with me. And it isn't even my fault.
I sigh, turning my head so that my forehead is against the cool table.
Ugh. As interesting as this is - WAY more interesting than testing building materials - it's exhausting. And terrifying. And aggravating. So my switch in jobs at the Facility is interestingly, terrifyingly, aggravatingly exhausting. That about sums it all up...
My mind wanders back to Subject R, with is bright blue eyes, glinting with naughtiness as he purposefully ran a hand down my spine, hiding a grin. My face heated up in embarrassment. Why did he do that? He's been so determined to not speak to us or attempt any communication, and yet he'll...flirt with me?
Ugh. I need an Aspirin.
My spot on the table is beginning to get warm, so I pick my head up and then gently plop it down on another place about two inches away, savoring the temperature. It doesn't cure my headache, but soothes it. Keeping my head on the table like this kind of squashes my nose but I don't care, its almost relaxing...
As I attempt to drift away into a nap for sanity's sake, my mind again dredges up Subject R, apparently determined to keep me from relaxing. His curiosity at my Panic Button turned into something akin to Sexual Harassment, though he'd acted like a mischievous fourteen-year-old. Yet it hadn't been just curiosity as he'd...searched me. There'd been purpose in his expression, carefully hidden under his bright face. He was looking for other technologies hidden on my body, and then just seemed to realize he'd been feeling me up...and then noticed my burning red face.
Ignoring the feeling of humiliation roaring up inside me again, I focus on what I'd just realized about Subject R; he's an actor.
Or, at least, he's good at hiding what he's really doing.
He thinks quickly and uses every opportunity to learn more about us, rather than the other way around. He'd discovered my Panic Button and then immediately assumed there would be more, and checked for it. He hides his cunning behind an innocent face, though when his dark side comes out - the memory of him glaring full-throttle at Helena hits me, and I shiver - he's downright intimidating.
And there's his other quality... A small voice whispers in my head, and another shiver racks my body, and suddenly the cool table doesn't feel so calming. His ability to somehow get into my mind... I wish he'd done it to Helena... I think, sitting up slowly and then rubbing my forehead, feeling a flat indent in my skin. Then I wouldn't be the only one trying to explain what I'd experienced. I'm not a liar. I know there are some who think its all bullshit, but it isn't! I know what happened...sort of...or well, at least I know he did something to me...
I hear a click and immediately sit up in my chair, and regret that decision. Oh crap...sat up too fast...spinning head...shit...
I turn my head slowly to see Geoffry standing in the doorway now, looking to be blocking it with his body as Mr.McCaulty stands behind him telling Geoffry to stand aside and allow him in. I can hear Mrs.Feng too, though I can't see her past Geoffry.
Geoffry does not move - despite Mr.McCaulty's threats and Mrs.Fengs harsh words - and pegs me with a hard look, his lips tight.
Oh jeez... I think. Geoffry's going to yell at me...!
He suddenly starts gesturing his hand towards himself, obviously wanting me to go towards him. I stand up, immediately wary, but he simply grabbed my wrist and suddenly tugged me out the door, between Mr.McCaulty (I bounced off him) and Mrs.Feng (bouncing off Mr.McCaulty threw me into her, and I nearly knocked her over). As Geoffry pulled down the hallway I could hear Mr.McCaulty and Mrs.Feng saying behind us,
"Geoffry! Where are you going? I need to speak with her-"
"I need to speak with her, and that's an order Dr.Wenton!"
I heard Geoffry mutter something under his breath and then he continued to drag me down the hall at a speedy pace. We reached the end of the hall - Mr.McCaulty's and Mrs.Feng's voices still trailing us, though they obviously aren't in pursuit - and turned left. He dragged me until we reached another four-way hallway and then he picked going right this time.
We only walked until we reached the third door on the right side, and then he opened it and led me inside.
Geoffry let go of my wrist and I walked inside the simple room. It looked like just another break room, but all the furniture was opposite where ours was, and it was a bit messier. I can't help but feel a bit uneasy as I watch Geoffry pull the door closed. Did he drag me down here just to yell at me in private?
He turned around and I could hardly read his expression. Maybe a frustrated set to his jaw, and his eyebrows looked a little tense... He took a deep breath.
"I'm sorry Cecily..." He said, shaking his head and looking down. My heart started to thump a little faster. Oh no, is he going to kick me off the team? Off the entire project?! I open my mouth to begin apologizing but he begins speaking again.
"I didn't mean to just drag you along, but I was just..." He shakes his head angrily. "Just so angry with them...and I didn't want them trying to burst in while I wanted to talk to you..."
I'm stunned by his apologetic tone. "Geoffry? I don't understand what you mean."
He looks back up at me, a smile on his face though he obviously isn't feeling it. "Cecily." His smile suddenly dissolves from his face. "I'm so sorry that that happened to you."
I can feel the confusion melding into my expression. "I'm sorry?"
"I had no idea that he would...no one had any forethought of that...its..."
His struggle for words suddenly brings me to the present. He's apologizing for Subject R feeling me up. Oh good Lord, why the hell is he apologizing?! "Geoffry, jeez, don't apologize!"
He just shakes his curly brown head. "No, I should, we as a team and the leaders of this entire project should have considered something like this-"
"Geoffry stop. Seriously." My heart goes out to him, because he always takes everything so hard! And he puts it on himself every time something goes wrong! I want to walk up and hug him. I know I shouldn't. It wouldn't be professional.
So I take a deep breath and say, "Geoffry, I'm not...traumatized or anything. It was..." My face starts to burn a very bright shade of red but I keep going. "...weird. And I didn't really know what to do, but I don't think he was too incredibly serious either. He was more or less just messing with me...So, really. I'm ok. Maybe a little humiliated, but perfectly fine."
Geoffry opens his mouth and then closes it.
He seems convinced, but still not altogether happy. He sighs and gives me little smile. "Ok. I believe you." Then he walks up to me closer and looks at me in earnest. "But if there's anything you want to talk to me about...please. Do. You can't keep things bottled up, ok?"
"Ok." I say, giving a half-smile.
"But..." He says his expression suddenly very stern.
"What?"
He seems to struggle for words again, glaring at the floor when he finally decides what to say. "I want you to be...careful with Mr.McCaulty and Mrs.Feng. I don't agree with all of their ideas and views. Obviously they don't agree with each other, but..." Anger suddenly flashes onto his face. "...I was appalled at how they reacted to your...predicament."
I'm stunned by his sudden change of subject and emotions. "What do you mean?"
Geoffry shakes his head in anger, nostrils flaring. "Not the slightest concern for you. Daniel was too busy being pissed about Subject R finding out about the Panic Buttons, Ava-"
"Who?"
"Mr.McCaulty and Mrs.Feng. And she was too worried about dissecting every little thing he did to you like it was a perfectly natural occurrence..." He closes his eyes and blows out an aggravated puff of air from his nose. "Despicable. Completely disgusting."
I'm somewhat surprised. I'd always kind of just...known that they had never seems to cornered for my wellbeing, yet knowing that neither of them seemed to have bat an eye over what had happened to me was...at least slightly upsetting. I frown at the ground, feeling a little hurt and insulted. Yet, I'd always kind of known, so why should it bother me?
I thought back to the terrifying moments I've experienced in Subject R's presence. I shiver involuntarily. That's why. I think. Because I know that they're willing to put me in imminent danger without a second thought about it. The risk of throwing me into that cell with a man more than twice my size, built for what looks like dispensing terror is hardly a decision for either of the group directors.
"Cecily?"
My eyes snap up to Geoffry, who is looking at me with worry. He appears to be the only one who cares. Again, my heart is surging for him, desperate for comfort but stuff the feeling back. There's no point in it. Geoffry is just an incredible team leader, not my friend or possible boy-friend. He's a colleague. As my boss he has every right to talk to me about this kind of situation, but in a professional manner.
And I must be professional.
A surge of pride kicks into my system. I really must be professional. They said they picked me just on a whim, but I've worked haven't I? I am the only one Subject R really responds too, and that should make me important. I need to prove that I am worth worrying about. Prove to them that they need me, and that I can do this.
"Geoffry," I say, "I want to have a meeting."
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I'm so sorry its so late and short!! :( I'll have a new chapter up soon! Love you guys a bunch and keep reading!! :)