Ch 23
This is the story of Stephen who can see peoples emotional state as a colour. Slight deviation from the intended plot line in this chapter. Stephen meets Tilly and has his first therapy session with Freida and Michael. Back home, workers arrive to fix an electrical fault and ask too many questions.
Would really welcome feedback. It's the feedback that keeps me motivated to keep writing, so tell what you like/don't like.
All character are over 18 years of age.
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A couple more days went by after my last therapy session with Peter and Monica. I was still living at the hotel and trying to keep a low profile. A week earlier Tess and I had that unsettling experience while we were "In-Unison". This is the term I created to describe the flux induced mind meld Tess and I experienced. I resisted calling Mom, Dad or Jen not knowing whether the mysterious force we encountered had the capability of bugging phones and the like.
I decided to go for a walk and get some air. I greeted Booker who was working reception.
"Stephen", he called out, "I have something for you."
"Oh, OK", I said, I wasn't expecting anything.
He handed me an envelope and returned to dealing with the line of guests that were arriving and departing.
Leaving the hotel, I noticed a mobile coffee cart. A hot coffee and a walk to the park where I could sit and take some air felt like a good idea. The coffee vendor was a cute college aged girl. She had a girl next door look about her. The stand was quiet at this time of day and I was the only customer.
"Hi', I said, "could I please have a strong caffe latte?"
"Of course", she beamed a smile that drew you into her eyes.
"Things look pretty slow", I said making small talk as she turned to prepare my coffee.
"Yeah, it's been slow all day, I was about to close up."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't", I responded.
We shared a little more small talk and within a minute or two I received my coffee.
I swiped my phone to pay for the coffee and asked for her name.
"Tilly", she smiled.
"I'm Stephen, it was a pleasure meeting you."
I said thank you and good bye, and with my coffee in hand I headed to the park which only 200 meters up the road. There was a park bench and picnic table surrounded by a cluster of trees. It had secluded feel even though we were in the middle of the city. The sun was shining although the wind was quite fresh. Turning my collar up against the cold, I took a long draft of coffee and steam filled the air as I exhaled.
I retrieved the letter Booker passed to me and tore open the envelope. The note read...
"Stephen, I've left this note with the concierge so that I could avoid calling you directly, each day at 5:00pm, I'll call the phone in the hotel lobby. Love Jen xxx."
It gladdened me to hear from Jen and I was equally happy she was being careful. Glancing at my phone, I noted it was 3 o'clock, I had time to kill. My thoughts turned to the entity that seemed to try and engage Tess and I. Since Tess went home and I immediately returned to the hotel there wouldn't be anyone to identify as a flux manipulator. That should work in our favour. We were not able to identify the location of the other "In-Unison" pair. Granted we only discovered this aspect of our capability. I would not make an assumption that my capability has any equivalency to this other pair. They might be more experienced or more powerful. They may have been able to get a better location assessment. However, if they didn't pin point us immediately, there would be little evidence linking the family to flux manipulation. Lastly, I thought, if these people happened to somehow meet anyone in the family and ask some leading questions, any lie or even nervousness could be identified. I would need to provide Jen with a story that would not require a lie while not giving the game away either.
I remained in the park for an hour and a half and the remains of my coffee was cold. Disposing of the paper cup I headed back to toward the hotel to wait for the phone to ring. I passed the coffee stand to find Tilly had left for the day.
I scanned the lobby as I entered the hotel. There where the usual staff milling about as well as a few guests. Two caught my eye as they were seated in the lobby. The smallish lobby of the boutique hotel was not a natural spot to camp. I was becoming more and more paranoid. I wonder what that colour would look like? I can't see my own colours.
Checking their colours I noticed the man had a blue aura which morphed pink then blue again. I don't know what the pink meant and that made me more suspicious. The second, a woman in her mid 30s was issuing white and green. Truth and happiness. She was a brunette, about 5'7, c-cup breasts, slim, a pretty face, good looking. Under normal circumstances I might have approached her.
It was approaching 5:00pm and I hovered around the phone waiting for it to ring. The man looked up at me making eye contact, it was unnerving. My attention was drawn to the elevator when it's bell sounded indicating it had reached the ground floor. Moments later the doors opened and a women and young girl, maybe 4 or 5 years old, exited making a beeline for the man. His attention was drawn in their direction, the child squealed, and ran toward him.
He lifted her into the air with a big hug. White, green and a massive pink blast encapsulated them. The women then caught up, gave him a kiss and they all left the hotel together.
I drew a deep breath, maybe I was overreacting.
The phone rang and I immediately picked up the receiver.
"Hello?" I said, not giving my name.
"Stephen! It's me", came the response.
"It's so good to finally talk to you, I didn't want to call the house or your cell", I replied.
"Me too", said Jen, "there has been some odd shit happing here, it could be a coincidence, but I don't think so. There was a power outage affecting 4 blocks, something about some rogue equipment somewhere causing a random spike and flipping off the block. Workers interviewed all the residents, they wanted to come in check our devices. They asked about the people living here and where they were and the like. It was unusual. Definitely suspect."
"Did they enter the house?"
"No, Dad started asking his own questions and they must have thought better of it, they made an excuse and left."
"Anything about me?" I continued.
"Not specifically about you, they wanted to know if anyone else lived here and where they were. We told them the truth, that you were working and staying at the hotel, for the next couple of weeks. Nothing about Tess."
"It was good thing not to lie, they would know. Answering truthfully won't draw suspicion, and with only one person missing and no other flux manipulator present they probably bought it."
"I'd like to talk to Tess", I said cutting myself off as the women in the lobby got up and moved to a magazine stand nearby. Still her colours showed true. I should not be concerned, but I felt something was off.
