Page 90 of Total Exposure

Jesus fucking Christ. I sigh. “Hello,” I say. “I didn’t expect to see you again.”

“I’m here every day,” he says, looking up at the waitress to say, “I’ll have what she’s having,” pointing to my plate. The waitress nods, and then Mike turns back to me. “So, how’s work today?”

Jordan is paying for his lunch. He’s going to leave in like two minutes.

“People treating you good over there?” Mike nods his head, indicting the government buildings across the street.

“Fine, yes.” Jordan is checking his watch. And when he looks up, he’s staring right at me. He smiles, then gives me a two-fingered wave. Almost… a salute.

I put my gloved hands on the table again, one on either side of my plate, and this time, I stand up.

“Hey,” Mike says, covering one of my hands. “Do you want to go out some time? You know, like a real date or something? Dinner? Maybe drinks after work tonight?”

I stare down at Mike, unsure what to say. I don’t think I’ve ever been asked that question before.

“What?” he asks. “Why do you look so surprised? Don’t tell me people aren’t beating down your door to ask you out. You’re so beautiful.”

“No,” I snap. Rudely. And then I sigh, because I don’t want to be rude to this man. He was nice to me yesterday. And I really needed his help at the time. He kinda saved me, in a way. “I’m sorry,” I say. “I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I just… I don’t date people from work.”

Which is a lame excuse because obviously I don’t work with him.

But he shrugs it off. “It’s OK.”

“I have to go,” I say, fishing into my wallet to find a twenty-dollar bill and placing it on the table next to my uneaten sandwich. I turn around, find Jordan gone.

My heart skips a beat. Then I see the back of his winter coat, passing through the front door.

I rush after him, intent on getting what I came for.

Which is stupid. I realize that. Because I have no idea what I came for. Did I expect him to… what? Fuck me in the bathroom?

Why? Why does that thought even come to mind?

When I get to the door, a whole crowd of people are entering, and I have to say, “Excuse me,” several times as I push past them, oblivious to their reactions, and when I get outside I look around. Wildly. People pass me, staring, their watching eyes glued to mine. Entrancing me in the poison of their gaze.

I don’t have my scarf on. They can see most of my face. Which sends my heart racing again, but for all the wrong reasons. And by the time I hastily put it on, Jordan has disappeared.

Again.

Fuck.

Chapter Thirty-Four - Ixion

I’m waiting for her when she comes home, my cameras trained on the front door like a cat watching a hole in the wall for a mouse.

She is rumpled. Hair tousled, breathing hard, cheeks red from the cold, and beautiful in all her disheveledness.

I feel like maybe this is the real Evangeline. That this stupid goal of spying on Jordan has taken her somewhere she’s been before, but hasn’t been back to in a very long time. Like it’s giving her power.

Why? I have no idea.

But I think… I think I really like the powerful music maker.

She takes her coat off, throws it on the floor, then her gloves, and her hat, and her sunglasses. She looks up at the chandelier. At me, looking at her through the black bulb. “What the fuck?” she screams. “Why can’t I just catch a break? I mean, I’m out there, putting myself out there, and he even looked at me! Waved! And this stupid guy who thinks… I don’t know what he thinks… is distracting me, asking me out on a date! A date?” She shakes her head, like the idea makes no sense to her. “I just want a few moments to spy on Jordan. Is that too much to ask? Where else does he go? You have to know. Tell me. I feel like I’m making an effort here and the universe is just laughing in my face!” She squints her eyes up at the camera bulb. “Are you laughing at me?”

I chuckle. But say nothing. Not even a push of the intercom to let her know I’m listening.

“I know you’re listening,” she says, eyes fierce, expression defiant and vulnerable at all the same time. “Say something.”