TWENTY-TWO

It was three days now since they’d come here, or the third day …Seth had never understood the proper way to increment time like this. Since they arrived early Saturday, and now it was Monday morning, did that mean it had been two days? One? Three?

The heat was unbearable and Seth was losing his patience. He had finally convinced Thomas to open the windows, and at first enjoyed the feeble breeze that followed. But now the house was flooded with humidity so dense and oppressive that Seth imagined he could see it gathering in corners and pooling against the ceiling.

If the heat wasn’t bad enough, Natalie’s silence was driving him nuts. After her meltdown yesterday morning, after sleeping away most of the afternoon, Seth was sure she would have come to him with an apology. But no. She wouldn’t leave the bedroom and wouldn’t speak when he stopped by to see her. She acted as if the pulse was his fault, something Seth had inflicted upon her personally. Worst of all, she wouldn’t even interact with the boys.

After dinner last night, after he downed two glasses of bourbon, Seth found Skylar standing at the back windows and summoned the nerve to approach her. By then the boys were in bed and Thomas was upstairs. Moonlight gleamed on the rippled surface of the lake and she didn’t seem to notice him.

“I’m sorry about Natalie,” he finally said. “Thanks for helping with the boys.”

“I can’t imagine how hard this must be on them,” Skylar answered. “When the world is turned upside down and even adults don’t know what to do, where does that leave a child?”

“I know what you mean. I feel so bad for them.”

Skylar stood there saying nothing. For a while all Seth could hear was wind whistling past the window.

“When I was a little girl,” she eventually whispered, “I thought grownups knew what they were doing. Not all of them, but I was sure a select group of smart people knew how things worked. It didn’t seem possible to live in a world with cars and planes and bridges and the Internet if there weren’t people, you know, in control of it all.”

Seth couldn’t think of anything clever to say, so he waited for Skylar to continue.

“I got into acting when I was young and did my first big picture when I was only fifteen. It was a rude awakening. The director was a big deal and I went into the shoot thinking he was one of those ‘in control’ guys. But he was a basket case. The whole project was an unorganized disaster, and I kept thinking there was no way all this megaphone yelling and standing around in the freezing cold could turn out to be a real picture. But then the movie won two Oscars, including Best Director. And that’s when I knew.”

“Knew what?”

“That grownups weren’t so different from children. That everyone was as lost as I felt. Until that point I had been a good little girl, totally not rebellious because I was afraid to disappoint my father. But the idea that the best and smartest people in the world were as flawed as I was made me wonder why I was bothering to be proper. Why not snort coke and fuck men twice my age and spend two drunk weeks in Copenhagen with a dude who could barely speak English and liked me to shove steel balls up his butt?”

Seth nearly laughed, but when Skylar looked at him there were tears in her eyes.

“I understand how Natalie feels,” she said. “The world is falling apart and no one is coming to fix it. No one is in charge. If the government was, you know, a bunch of thoughtful people with the country’s best interests in mind, this wouldn’t have happened. Someone would have made smart choices to keep us safe. But instead the government is burdened by small men with small minds whose only thoughts are for corporate donors.”

“Personally,” he said, “I’ve never trusted the government. It’s too bloated and wasteful with my tax dollars.”

“Come on, Seth. That’s just a talking point you’ve been trained to repeat. Do you honestly think anything happens in government without the consent of private money?”

To Seth, this was a typical argument made by the liberal elite, which was to blame the problems of society on someone else, either Republican congressmen or large corporations that did what they were designed to do—make a profit for stakeholders. Liberals never wanted to assign blame where it belonged, which was on people who wouldn’t lift a finger to help themselves, who lived on welfare and food stamps at the expense of taxpayers like him. Or they wanted to blame natural events on humanity’s failures. Whether the pulse had been divine intervention or a celestial accident, it definitely hadn’t been caused by humans.

He would have liked to explain all this to Skylar, to talk sense into her pretty liberal head, but he worried that arguments coming from him would sound poorly reasoned and unintelligent compared to her own. She was a beautiful and articulate actress and he was an average man who barely graduated from a mediocre college. Also, he was enamored with her.

Before he could decide what to say, Seth realized they weren’t alone. He turned around and saw Thomas looking at them from across the kitchen.

“I’m going to bed,” Skylar said, and walked away.

Now it was the middle of Monday morning, what normally would have been the beginning of a new work week, and Seth was on the living room floor with the boys playing Monopoly again. Natalie was still in bed, Skylar was at the kitchen table, and Thomas had disappeared into the garage.

Seth was struggling to focus on the game because he couldn’t stop sneaking glances into the kitchen.

“I don’t understand why we can’t go outside,” said Brandon.

“We just can’t.”

“Why?”

“Brandon, I already—”

“But Dad,” whined Ben. “It’s so hot in here.”

“I don’t care how hot it is. You are not going outside. We don’t know what’s going on out there, and I’m not sure it’s safe.”

“Yes, we do!” said Brandon. “I can see out the window. Let’s go swimming in the lake! That would feel so good.”

Seth looked into the kitchen again and found Skylar smiling back at him. A book was open in front of her and he wondered what she must think of him, playing board games and denying pleasures to the twins.

“No.”

“Are we going to sit here and play Monopoly for the rest of our lives? I don’t even like this game, Dad.”

“Me, neither,” said Ben.

The problem for Seth was he agreed with his sons. It was miserable indoors and looked comfortable outdoors. They could be fishing off the dock or swimming near the shore or just sitting in the grass, enjoying the breeze. Who was to say this Larry guy would see them, and why would it matter if he did? If he came by later, starving and armed, he would be outnumbered and easily overpowered.

“Dad, pleeeaaaase,” said Ben.

Seth heard a sound and looked up to find Skylar standing above him. She was wearing a pink tank top and cutoff shorts, and seeing her smooth, delicate thighs at eye level made the boys and their pleas seem distant, unconnected to this moment. What he wouldn’t give to reach for those thighs, to feel their silky texture against his fingertips. Natalie’s own legs had given up their slim sensuality in favor of a robust, industrial girth more suited to domestic labors than wrapping themselves around Seth’s midsection.

“Let’s take them outside,” said Skylar, who seemed oblivious to his longing.

“Are you serious?”

“But be quiet about it,” she said to the boys. “Can you do that?”

Ben and Brandon nodded ferociously. Seth tried not to notice how, from this angle, he could see two inches of leg above the ragged hem of Skylar’s shorts. Her underwear, if she was wearing any, could be only millimeters out of view.

“Then let’s go,” Skylar said.

When they reached the back door, the dead bolt was locked, but Seth knew Thomas kept a key on the molding above. He watched over his shoulder for someone to discover what they were doing, but no one else was around.

“All right,” he told the boys. “Let’s go. Quietly. I mean tiptoes.”

The difference between indoors and out was a revelation. On the porch it felt at least ten degrees cooler than the kitchen. Seth hadn’t realized how much he was sweating until wind pressed his shirt against his skin, which felt cool as ice.

“Dad,” said Brandon. “This is amazing!”

“Can we walk down to the water?” asked Ben. “Please?”

“Sure.”

When the boys were out of earshot, Skylar said, “Ever wonder how it would feel to be a fictional character?”

Seth desperately wanted her to think he was intelligent and was careful with his reply.

“Isn’t that sort of your job?”

“I mean what if none of this is real? Thomas already wrote one film that basically came true. Maybe this is another.”

“How could something like that even happen?” asked Seth. “Isn’t a screenplay just words on a page?”

“Movies are just pixels on a screen, and they look real, don’t they?”

Seth smiled and stared into Skylar’s sea-green eyes. He couldn’t imagine how a man might approach her. Or attempt to kiss her. What sort of armor did a woman wear when she was desired by every man she met?

“I think maybe this is all bullshit,” she said. “That’s why I want to meet this Larry character. It’s time for the villain to make his first appearance.”

“That’s his house,” Seth said, happy to possess knowledge Skylar wanted. He pointed past a huddle of mesquite trees and a ridge of honeysuckle. As they walked toward the lake, Larry’s back yard became more visible. It was heavily wooded near the water but opened to an expanse of grass that approached his enormous brick home. There was an outdoor kitchen that appeared to border a swimming pool.

“I think he might be cooking something on the grill,” Skylar said. “See that smoke?”

Even though he wanted nothing more than to impress the young starlet, Seth wondered about the wisdom of Skylar revealing her presence to Larry or anyone else nearby. Even if Thomas was being dramatic about his food supplies, the presence of the world’s most famous actress would surely attract visitors the way bugs were drawn to light.

The boys reached the shoreline and raked their fingers through the shallow water.

“Dad!” cried Ben. “There’s something gross floating on the lake.”

“Shhhh!” Seth whispered hoarsely. “I told you to be quiet!”

“But Dad!”

“I’m going to walk over there,” said Skylar, pointing toward Larry’s house.

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“What’s the big deal. I’m sure he—”

“Hi, there,” said a voice.

Seth had been so busy shushing the boys and negotiating with Skylar that he hadn’t noticed a figure approaching along the mesquite tree line. It was a man with wiry arms and a paunch of a gut, dressed in a blue Polo knit shirt and khaki cargo shorts. His hairline was receding from two directions, as if the forehead and crown were in a contest to reach the middle of his scalp. A pair of binoculars hung from a strap around his neck.

“I’m Larry. I live next door.”

Larry reached forward as if to shake their hands, and that’s when he finally recognized Skylar. His face crumpled in a way that might have been reverence or disgust or both.

“Oh, my God,” he stammered. “I’m …I’m so pleased to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Skylar in a cheerful voice that was nothing like her normal speaking tone.

“I don’t underst—oh, wait! You signed on for that film Thomas wrote. Are you guys, like, dating now?”

Skylar stepped backward and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Um, no. I wouldn’t say we’re dating.”

Larry smiled. Seconds elapsed while they stood there looking at each other. Seth hoped he didn’t come across to Skylar this way, so creepy and silent and staring.

“I can’t believe you’re here,” said Larry ponderously. “I love your work.”

“Thanks.”

Beyond Skylar the boys approached, and everyone turned to watch them.

“Dad,” called Brandon. “The water has something floating on it. Like dirt.”

“Yes,” said Larry. “The wind is carrying a fine grain ash. If it contaminates the water and kills the fish, that will pretty much seal our fate.”

When they were near enough, Seth grabbed his sons and pulled them close, his arms slung over their shoulders.

“I’m Seth, by the way. These are my two boys.”

“I was wondering why I hadn’t seen Thomas since all this happened,” Larry said. “I didn’t realize he was hosting guests.”

Larry leered at Skylar again, who, judging by the look on her face, had concluded this journey outside was a mistake.

“Thomas doesn’t talk to me often,” he said. “But he did tell me about The Pulse. It’s a lot like this, isn’t it?”

Larry gestured in a general way, over his head and toward the lake behind him. In the distance, clouds of smoke climbed into the air.

“I thought the rain might have put out the fires,” he continued, “but it didn’t.”

“Well,” Seth finally said. “We just came outside to get some air. Probably should head back inside. Right, Skylar?”

“For sure.”

“Why would you go indoors?” asked Larry. “My house is like an oven.”

“I don’t want my boys to breathe all this smoke.

“From here, though, it looks like your windows are open.”

“I’m going to take them inside. Just to be safe. It was nice to meet you.”

“You, too.”

Larry turned to Skylar and reached again for her hand, which he clasped between both of his own.

“I’m so glad to finally meet you,” he said. “I was a science consultant on several films and met several actors. I even met Roark once.”

Skylar didn’t answer, but the horrified look on her face left no doubt about how she felt.

“Let’s go,” Seth said. He let Skylar walk ahead of him and pushed Ben and Brandon behind her.

“Come by if you need anything,” Larry said as they shuffled away. “Like if you need to borrow a cup of sugar.”

Seth raised his hand but didn’t turn around. He knew they’d made a very bad mistake and wasn’t sure what to do about it. Larry was even stranger than Thomas had made him seem, and eventually there would be a price to pay for having put themselves on his radar.

But what? Would he come for Thomas’ food? Convince others to come?

“And I’ll do the same,” Larry added.