I mouth, I love you too, and she closes the door and I lock it.
I look around my room and go to the coffee maker and put on a cup, turn on the little heater on low and drag the laptop over to the bed, fixing my coffee. I log on to Anna’s movie channel, andbring up Harry Potter, Year One. Some cute little faces wielding magic is what I need right about now.
I spent Saturday meandering around the archive; it’s huge here. I didn’t realize how much cool stuff was down here. Plus, I found some other cool things that I dragged back to my dorm room.
It’s Sunday now, and I hope to see Anna. I know we have to be careful, but not hearing from her for two days is freaking me out. So, I took a walk around the restoration area checking everything out.
A bunch of books ready to be restored, old paintings that I’ve never seen. I grab one of the old, weathered volumes, clear the junk off the top of the counter, and hop up. Snuggling up in the corner underneath the light from the window, I flipped through and immersed myself in reading.
Anna never came back last night or this morning. That has me a little on edge, but then we both knew all they needed to do was check out the video feed from the pool and they would know how I got out of there. I feel a little guilty that it was on Danny’s shift. He’s the one they’re going to blame for losing me.
I hear the door to the archive open, and I slam the book shut. I run over, duck underneath one bookshelf, and slide a cardboard box in front of me.
“Is my bestie in here?” Her voice echoes off the walls
I move the cardboard box back. Anna is standing there in her underwear in her lab coat with only her shoes, and she carries two boxes of pizza and a bottle of Pepsi.
I slide the cardboard box back and climb out. I laugh.
My voice is just above a whisper and scratchy, but at leastsound is coming out. “Oh my God, why are you naked? You scared the shit out of me?”
She wiggles her hips and says.
“I just thought I’d make the delivery interesting. But I’m glad you got your voice back. Writing notes really sucked. Come on, I’ve got lots to tell you, and I’m starving, and I bet you are too, after eating sandwiches from the vending machine for two days.”
I smile and take the Pepsi from her hand as we head into my room. I flip on the light, and she slaps the pizza on the counter, lifting the lid and taking out a slice. I take the plastic cups off the counter and open the Pepsi and pour us a couple of glasses.
I grab the napkins from the corner that I stole from the cafeteria in the restoration department’s coffee room. “I was getting a little bit worried. But I kind of figured you would have to lie low. I’m assuming you stayed away because you’re being watched.”
Anna moves over to the bed, sits down with her slice of pizza, and puts her Pepsi on the floor beside her. “Oh, don’t worry, they know you’re gone. Danny came over last night trying to get information out of me. They know you escaped in that crate, which we knew they were going to find out. It was obvious that was your only means of escape. Moohahahahha! “
I give her a mocking smile and tilt my head. “Did he hurt you? Are you okay?”
She waves a dismissive hand. “Oh, I’m fine. I just don’t think I’ll be seeing much of Danny anymore.”
She picks at her pizza and then sets it on her napkin. I hold her hand as she gives me a weak smile.
My shoulders slump, “Sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”
She waves her hand in the air like it’s nothing. “He thinks it was a betrayal against him, that I should be honest and tell him the truth. I asked him for the truth about why you were locked up; Why would your douche of a husband would do that to you?”
Her eyes water a bit, and she sniffles.
“He said it was none of my business. That It was a private matter, and it was too dangerous to know. When I asked what it was all about and why it was so important to find you, if nothing was wrong, Danny wouldn’t answer me. We argued back and forth for a while, and then I punched him in the throat and kicked him out.” She sighs. “So, I guess we both lost our dicks.”
I can’t help but let out a little shocked giggle. “You punched him in the throat. Was that really necessary, Anna?”
She turns marginally and glares at me.
“Yes, it was necessary. He was being a dick. He wants the truth from me. I should have gotten the truth from him, and he didn’t. Then he started saying that I was going to get locked up too, and I was like, fuck you, and I punched him in the throat and closed the door in his face.”
“And he didn’t try to get back in?”
“Naaa, he was choking too bad, he couldn’t talk anyway, and I didn’t want to talk to him anymore. He just walked away and left.” She lifts one shoulder and picks up her pizza. “Whatever, there are always plenty more dicks in the sea, right Izzy?”
“I’m so sorry Anna. All this is my fault, shit.”
“Screw him. This is their fault, dumbass men and their caveman rules. Screw it. We made a plan, and you got out. Now we just have to get you out of Chicago.”
