November
Lucy's Age: 18
The weather was cold enough that I'd donned several layers, but Geoffrey was only wearing running tights and a light gray jacket when he met me in front of my building.
"Are you ready for something a little more challenging today, Lucy?"
I started to say no, but by the time they made it out past my lips the words had turned into an emphatic agreement.
Geoffrey smiled at my excitement and then headed off at something only slightly faster than his usual pace, trusting that I'd be able to keep up. We covered the first mile before I was able to put my finger on why I'd agreed to a route that was even more punishing than what we usually ran.
I needed a distraction, and it was more than just Geoffrey's lycra-covered legs and butt that I needed to be distracted from.
Venice's analysis of why I was unhappy with Calum had been spot on, but it had missed one hugely important detail. The reason that Calum was coming up short was that I kept comparing him to Geoffrey. In any kind of sane universe I would have stuck with Calum instead of breaking up with him a few days after Venice and I talked.
Calum had been nice and safe, but both of the times that I'd seen him before I broke things off I'd just kept thinking that things would have been so much better if he were a little more dangerous. It wasn't until I'd broken things off with Calum and then went and sparred with Geoffrey the next day that things finally clicked for me.
It wasn't just that I didn't want Calum, it was that I wanted Geoffrey. We'd been in the middle of practicing knife techniques and I'd feinted to the left as a precursor to trying to run my pot metal practice blade along the inside of Geoffrey's right arm.
In a real fight that would have helped start bleeding him out and made his knife slippery, only my knife never actually managed to connect with his skin. Geoffrey had captured my right wrist and hit me in the ribs hard enough to knock the wind out of me.
I'd sat there wheezing for half a minute as I'd tried to get my breath back, and all I could think about was the fact that it was nice to be around someone who expected me to be able to take whatever they could dish out.
Being wrapped in tissue paper and treated like a porcelain doll might be nice from time to time, but in order for me to be okay with a guy treating me like that he'd have to have proved that he could tie me up in knots if push came to shove.
I managed to succeed in my attempts to pass my sudden awkwardness off as nothing more than the last effects of how hard he'd hit me, but the truth was that the blow that had put me down this time wasn't physical.
Since then I'd tried everything I could think of to convince myself that I didn't like Geoffrey. He was the closest thing I had left to a living father figure. He had tortured people, including Venice, and he had killed dozens, maybe even hundreds of people.
Every logical piece of my being said that I needed to root out any attraction for Geoffrey, but I just kept thinking about how far he'd come in the last few months.
The situation was rapidly becoming intolerable. I needed to put some distance between us if I was going to be able to keep my feelings under control at all, but if I did that it would just set back his progress.
Venice had been this close a couple of times before, but both times Imastious had been circling Geoffrey for one reason or another and he'd erased his emotions. Every time I was tempted to get out of a run or plead ill to avoid a business briefing, I'd think about just how much time and energy had gone into getting Geoffrey to the point where he would joke with me. I'd remember the way that he'd been coldly weighing my value the first few times that we'd interacted after he'd lost all of his feelings.
Most of all though I'd remember the fear in Venice's voice when she'd first told me that she wasn't sure that Geoffrey would be able to come back from the edge of the void again.
I'd done the best that I could to keep things the same between us, but I wasn't succeeding very well. My attraction for Geoffrey continued to grow, and there had been an odd strain to our conversations lately.
All by itself that would have been enough to make me miserable, but there was Venice to consider as well. Venice and I had talked a couple of times over the last few weeks, but those conversations had felt forced. On her part, it seemed to mostly be about the fact that things were getting more hectic on the operational front, but on my part it was sheer guilt over the fact that I was slowly losing my battle to remain disinterested in the man that she'd loved for the last several years.
I'd tried to tell Venice what was happening, but I hadn't been able to make myself do it. Instead of clearing the air and just dealing with the consequences of my feelings, I'd let it sit there, festering between us. I was a terrible person and a worse friend.
Geoffrey poured on a little more speed as we got clear of the traffic and entered Central Park. I'd been outside of my comfort zone, running wise, for the first part of the run but now I was flirting with the upper edge of my aerobic capacity.
My breath was coming harder now and I could feel the first signs of lactic acid buildup in my legs, but I grinned and just pushed through the discomfort. In a few minutes the discomfort would turn into pain, but for now I could lose myself in the task of simply keeping my legs moving fast enough to stay within a dozen feet of Geoffrey.
We started up the slight incline that would take us to the top of the great hill and I crossed over fully into an anaerobic state. My lungs were screaming now and I was gasping for air, but I kept pushing. We made it to the top of the hill and my body gave out on me. I made it over to a park bench before collapsing, but it was a close thing.
Geoffrey ran for another fifty yards before he looked back, realized that he'd lost me and jogged back in my direction. He pulled down the swath of fleece covering his nose and mouth as he got closer.
"Sorry. It didn't look like that much of an elevation increase, but I should have realized that it would push you over the edge."
I waved away his apology. I'd been demolished, but I at least had the satisfaction of seeing that Geoffrey was breathing hard this time.
"It's not your fault; I could always have just slowed down a little as I started up the hill."
I'd stretched out on the black iron bench within seconds of reaching it, but Geoffrey just lifted my legs up and slid under them so that he was sitting on the bench with my legs across his lap. As far as physical contact went it was about as casual as it came, but it was all I could do to tear my thoughts away from the feel of having his rock-hard quads under my trembling calves with nothing more than a few millimeters of material between us.
"You're getting faster."
"Yeah, but still not fast enough. I swear, you're practically a machine. How many years will I have to train before I can keep up with you?"
He'd gone slightly stiff at my comment, but it was the kind of thing that I'd only recently come to know him well enough to catch. As always, the signs that something had put him off balance were gone almost instantly. He turned slightly more in my direction and then shrugged as he put an arm across my legs.
"Lots of years, but don't let that bother you. The important thing is that you're improving."
As my breathing started to slow back down, I closed my eyes for a second and just drank in the sensation of his touch on my legs. I knew it was a bad idea even while I was doing it, but I couldn't seem to stop myself. I tried to keep my feelings off of my face, but I must not have entirely succeeded because when I opened my eyes back up Geoffrey was staring at me with an odd expression on his face.
His face snapped back to the normal, semi-guarded expression that he wore most of the time, and I realized that he knew something was up. His half-poker face was infinitely better than the rock-like mien he used whenever the two of us weren't alone, but I relished the few infrequent moments when his guard seemed to come down all of the way.
My lack of self-control apparently hadn't just tipped him off as to the fact that something wasn't quite right between us. It had also deprived me of the chance to see him at his most vulnerable. Things could have become awkward, but Geoffrey demonstrated more of the smooth conversational footwork that had become second nature for him as he'd left behind the cold cyborg he'd been, and regained some of his humanity.
Geoffrey casually slid out from under my legs and off of the bench. I was pretty sure that it was my imagination, but the motion had seemed almost too casual.
"Come on, we need to get you up and moving again or you're going to get cold and stiff."
I took Geoffrey's hand and allowed him to help me to my feet. Part of me wanted to keep ahold of his hand even after I regained my balance. It would force the issue and bring my feelings out into the open, but I knew it would be one of the most selfish acts I could pursue.
I didn't want to devastate Venice, and I didn't want to freak Geoffrey out, so I forced myself to let go after only a second or so. It was still a half-beat longer than I should have maintained the contact if I'd wanted to keep the appearance that things were normal, but it was the best I could manage.
I silently cursed myself as Geoffrey started back down the hill. I knew the complications that my feelings would create, but I couldn't seem to help myself. Even the knowledge that Geoffrey would be freaked out if he knew what his 'daughter' was thinking didn't seem capable of curbing my desires.
"Do you want to run back home?"
I shook my head. "Not yet, I don't think I could make it five minutes, even at our normal pace. You can run on ahead if you want. I just need to walk for a few minutes."
I expected him to head back home without me. Lately he was even busier than normal, but instead he just nodded and waited for me to catch up.
"You don't have somewhere you need to be?"
"Honestly? Yes, but it can wait. I'd rather not leave you alone out here."
"If you're worried about me being tailed home I can take extra precautions."
Geoffrey shook his head and kept walking. I knew I should find another reason to send him on without me, for both our sakes, but I was out of ideas. We walked in companionable silence for several minutes before Geoffrey looked over at me and sighed.
"I'm sorry if I'm being overly paranoid, the less desirable elements of my work have started to heat up lately and sometimes that makes it hard not to see bad guys behind every tree and rock. I'll go if you want me to."
My common sense was yelling for me to send him off, but my unhealthy obsession with him had one benefit. I could read him better than I'd been able to even just a few months ago. I wasn't anywhere near as good at it as Venice was, but this felt like one of those turning points.
Even now, it was so rare for him to volunteer anything about his life that I couldn't bring myself to waste the opportunity he'd just handed me. I shook my head and then cleared my throat.
"What's going on that's got you so worried?"
Geoffrey reached over and took my arm as we got to a patch of ice on the sidewalk. I'd just hurdled it on the run earlier, but ironically now that we were moving at a more sedate pace it represented more of a danger than it had before. We crossed the ice and then Geoffrey let go of my arm. My disconnect from reality was so bad that I fancied that he'd held onto me for a split second longer than he'd had to, but I knew that was nothing more than my illness talking.
"I've got a…competitor who's been sniffing around more than normal. A certain amount of that is unavoidable, but there are things that I have to make sure I keep secret from him or the consequences could be severe."
"You're not talking just about money this time, are you?"
Pumping him, however subtly, for information was risky, but I had a suspicion that I already knew who the 'competitor' was. If I was right then Venice needed to know.
"No, not just money. Don't get me wrong, there is a lot of money at stake as well, but he's incredibly dangerous and he doesn't operate by what you would call civilized rules of engagement."
"You don't usually compete with people directly. Usually the market itself helps shield your identities from each other. Who is this guy and why can't you just fade back away so that the two of you aren't in direct conflict anymore?"
The risk level had just shot up again, but I'd managed to set the bait with this comment. All that remained was to see whether or not he would bite.
"He…his name is Imastious. I wish that I could just walk away, but the situation is complicated. He's not the kind of person to just let an issue drop."
For a second it looked like Geoffrey was going to say something else, but then he looked off to the left and I realized that I'd pushed him as far as I could go for today. I debated the proper response for a couple of seconds and then grabbed his arm and hugged it in what I hoped was a familial manner.
"Just be careful, Geoffrey. Don't do anything hasty. It sounds like you and this…Imastious have been rivals for a long time. Maybe the situation has changed slightly and you haven't realized it because you're still operating under your initial analysis. Maybe you have more options now than you did way back when."
Geoffrey gave me an odd look, but he didn't say anything. I tugged him into a jog and then let go of his arm. I needed to get home as soon as possible. Venice needed to know about this.