Terror (12 page)

“What was that?” Gaia asked. “Are you cold?”

“No,” Jake said listlessly.

“What is it? You look so distraught.”

“Honestly, I think I'm just really worried about you. I know it's ridiculous, but I'm having these morbid daydreams about you getting hurt.”

“Really?” Gaia said. “That's weird. I don't mean to be flippant here, Jake, but I think you're kind of obsessing for no reason. I'm always in a little danger, and now's not nearly as bad as it gets.”

“Not yet,” Jake said.

Gaia flashed Jake a look of incredulity. “You're really freaked out about this, aren't you? You think there's like a gang of demons after me. I can't believe how spooked you look.”

“I am,” Jake said. “You're right.”

“Did you talk to someone or something?” Gaia asked. “You said you had a run-in”

Jake looked at her, then looked away. He'd been hoping to get into this part a little later, once they'd sat down and had a few bites.

The butcher placed two sandwiches on the
counter, steaming piles of meat too big to be contained by thin slices of rye bread. “Pickles?” he asked.

“Please,” Gaia answered.

The man walked a few paces back, opened a fridge, and pulled out what appeared to be four whole cucumbers. He sliced them in half and threw them on a plate.

“Jake. Answer me. Who did you run into today?”

“It was your uncle,” Jake said. “I ran into Oliver.”

GAIA CHEWED ON HER PICKLE AND said nothing. They hadn't spoken since they'd sat down at the
When Harry Met Sally
table. When Jake had told her he had been hanging out with Oliver, Gaia had lost her appetite.

Just the thought of them talking—behind her back, no less—made her nauseous. She knew she should be psyched that Jake cared enough about her to be concerned, but the fact that Oliver was behind his considerate behavior rendered it null and void.

Jake stopped chewing and looked at her. “What's wrong? What happened? I've lost you.”

No. I'm fine.”

Jake let out a hearty sigh. “No, you're not. You're blatantly annoyed at me. You haven't evert touched your pastrami yet, but when I ask, you say everything's fine.”

“It is.”

“Come on, Gaia. Please talk to me.”

I don't feel like talking.
Gaia picked up her sandwich, looked at it, then put it back down. “It's just that… I don't understand what you're doing talking to my uncle about me. No one wants to be talked about, you know.”

“Well, I think he would prefer to talk to you, actually. When was the last time you talked to him?”

“I don't know. Like a week or so ago…”

A deep, grave look came over Jake's face. “Are you sure? Because Oliver claims he ran into you on the street the other day and you ran from him. Is that true?”

“I don't know. Maybe.” Gaia felt suddenly drained and exasperated.

Jake clearly wasn't standing for Gaia's evasiveness. “Anyway, the reason why I've been freaking out today is that I ran into Oliver. He said you're in serious danger, that there's a new threat on the streets. A whole network of street soldiers are after you. He thinks you should take taxis and stay inside unless you're with someone like me. He also thinks you should carry a cell phone.”

Gaia snorted out a laugh.

“What's so funny about that?” Jake asked.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Come on, Gaia. Don't be like that. When you have people looking out for your safety, you should be psyched and try to accommodate them.”

“Right,” Gaia said. “Assuming that they
are
in fact looking out for my safety.”

Jake put down his sandwich and cocked his head. “You don't think that's what Oliver's doing?”

Gaia grabbed her sandwich and lifted it to her mouth. She took a bite and, chewing, found that she wasn't enjoying it as much as she should have been. It was the same moist, chewy slab of deliciousness it had always been, yet it was somehow unsatisfying. The thought of Jake—her main ally in the world right now—being misled by Oliver out of good intentions was literally leaving a bad taste in her mouth.

“Gaia?” Jake said.

“What?”

“Are you just gonna not answer?” he asked.

Gaia finished chewing and swallowed. “No, I can answer. To be honest, I don't trust Oliver. I know his underlings have been following me. He admitted that….”

“Right,” Jake agreed. “But only to watch out for you. To make sure you're safe.”

Gaia's jaw felt tight. His naïveté was maddening. She had to get the message through to him without losing her temper. “Have you considered the possibility that those two guys who attacked us, who were blatantly pretending to be muggers, were sent by Oliver?
It's very possible, you know, maybe even probable. He hasn't always been happy-go-lucky Uncle Ollie. Why should I trust him?”

“Aw, Christ, Gaia,” Jake said. “Give me a break.”

“Of all the times I've been attacked in that park, I'd say Oliver was behind a quarter of them. So just because he's convinced you that I'm in trouble, that there's some”—Gaia made quote fingers—“‘new threat on the street,' if you expect me to call you every time I leave the house now… well, you're sadly mistaken.”

“All right, fair enough,” Jake said. “I don't know about all that, about your history with him. I just know the Oliver we hung out with in Russia, and that Oliver was on your side. Even you said he was a new man, and you two seemed very close to each other. So I don't understand the sudden change of heart.”

“It's confusing, I know. But welcome to my life. I learned early on that it doesn't pay to trust anyone because the distinction between your friend, or your uncle, or your boyfriend, and your mortal enemy is about this much.” Gaia used her thumb and forefinger to suggest a very small amount.

“So what, now you think
I'm
the enemy?” Jake asked.

“No. But I'd certainly feel more comfortable if you weren't hanging out with Oliver.”

“It's not like we went
bowling.
He stopped me on the street to say he was worried about you. And to ask me to tell you to open the letter he sent you. That's all.”

The unopened letter.
This was a conversation Gaia was dead set on avoiding. She knew this recently developed personality quirk did not speak well for her current state of mind. “That's not the only reason I question your trustworthiness,” Gaia threw in quickly, hoping to skirt the other issue. But the second she'd said it, she regretted it.

“Oh, yeah?” Jake said. “What else is there?”

“Forget it. It's not something I really planned on discussing,” she said. Maybe Jake would let it drop.

“Too late now,” Jake said. “Out with it.”

Gaia sighed. She had no out at this point. “It's just that… it's hard to trust you when everyone keeps telling me what a flirt you are.”

She looked at Jake to see how her comment landed. In a word, he looked flabbergasted. Like he had just been told he'd contracted a rare disease.
“What?”
he asked, leaning forward. “Who told you that?”

“I don't reveal my sources.”

“Oh, that's cute.” Jake covered his face with his hands. “I can't believe this…. Since when is Gaia Moore paranoid?”

“Are you saying you didn't write your number on a matchbook for some girl, right in the hallway for everyone to see?” she asked.

Gaia watched his reaction closely. The comment had hit him hard. He had that pathetic wide-eyed, deer-in-the-headlights look she had seen a million
times in movies when guys were called out on cheating.
Busted!
Now she was glad she'd accused him. But as she watched, his expression transformed into something closer to steely defiance.

“What are you talking about?” he said.

“Blond hair” Gaia said. “Junior… ring any bells?”

“Oh my God.” Jake tossed his head back and looked at the ceiling in exasperation.

“Now you remember” Gaia said. “Amazing how details clear that foggy memory right up.”

“I know what you're talking about now,” Jake said. “Amanda Roth. She's my partner in bio lab. We had to meet up after school to do our report together.”

“Right.” Gaia was nodding exaggeratedly. “So you had to write your number on a matchbook?”

“That was kind of a joke.”

“That's funny.” Gaia faked laughter. “A real laugh riot.”

“Oh, puh-leaze, Gaia. You know Amanda. She's one of those skinny little all-black-wearing alterna types. I think she's funny and all, but she couldn't be further from my type.”

“Interesting,” Gaia said. “Terribly interesting.”

Jake looked hard at Gaia. “You seriously think I hit on her?”

It wasn't a question, but a statement of fact. Gaia felt a pang of panic at the slowly solidifying resolve of his expression, but she did her best to conceal it.

“I don't have to deal with this….” Still shaking his
head, Jake pulled a napkin from his lap and threw it on the table. “I won't…. I won't….” Without finishing his sentence, he pulled his chair from the table with a loud screech. “Thanks for lunch,” he said. “Next time I'll try the corned beef.”

“No, Jake. Don't….” Gaia watched Jake turn and walk confidently toward Katz's front door. A chaotic mix of terror, guilt, anger, and sadness competed for emotional dominance within her.
Come back. Damn you! If you turn around, I'll forget about the whole matchbook episode. I'm sorry
…. As if to torment her, Jake seemed to be walking in slow motion. Did he want her to come after him? Gaia jumped to her feet, then realized that she still had to pay for the meal and so just stood there, watching. It suddenly turned into an out-of-body experience, like she couldn't control the muscles in her body if she tried. Jake was opening the door. He was exiting the building. She could see him walking along Houston Street, past the sausage-filled window. There was nothing she could do now. Gaia glanced lazily off to her left and locked eyes with a young woman doing exactly what Gaia would have been doing in her position. Eavesdropping. People watching. Not that that made her more sympathetic at this moment. Gaia stood up and grabbed her bag off the back of the chair. “What're you looking at?” she asked the woman as she walked toward the register.

As
I walked home through the Village, I weighed the pros and cons of going out with Gaia. And the scary thing was, each pro, or what used to seem like a pro-Gaia attribute, was countered by a pretty strong con. For example:

Pro #1—She's hot. This is, of course, the primary motive for going out with any girl, because you're physically attracted to her (whether you're honest enough to admit it or not). And the indisputable fact remains: She's stunning. Beautiful blue eyes, perfect facial bone structure, slim athletic body, long silky blond hair. Even when I wanted to strangle her at Katz's Deli, I would still have admitted, without hesitation, that she was by far the most beautiful girl in the restaurant.

Con #1—It's not enough to be hot. If we were in Comfort, Texas, or Gnaw Bone, Indiana, or some random small town with a much smaller gene pool, then
maybe Gaia's hotness would be reason enough to stay with her regardless of what crap she pulled. But we're in New York. This place is absolutely crawling with hot women. The scary thing is, because I've been so caught up in Gaia these past few weeks, I swear I've stopped noticing everyone else. But as I walked home from lunch today, I noticed. And let me tell you, there are more women of all sizes, shapes, colors, and variations than one man could possibly handle in a dozen or so lifetimes. And I don't have trouble getting women.

Pro #2—She's independent. This, to be honest, has always been one of the most attractive things about Gaia. In the past I went out with girls—like Kristen, my ex-ex-girlfriend—who were a bit clingy. Gaia is the opposite of clingy. I mean, I basically had to bribe her with free Dunkin' Donuts for a month to get her to compete on the intramural karate team. As she has said more
than once, she's “not a joiner.” Which is why, from the very beginning, I promised to treat her differently than every other girl I've dated. I told myself to respect her and give her whatever space she needed. And in response, I would be free to enjoy my own space. It has worked, for the most part. In fact, she's the first girl I've ever dated who's almost too independent, too hard to find. But still, I'm one of those guys who relishes the chase, so it's all good….

Con #2—She's acting less independent by the second. I mean, who the hell could have predicted Gaia would pull that little jealous episode today? And that googly-eyed routine at dinner the other night, while flattering, was kind of off-putting. It made me feel like I was with Kristen again, like I had to protect her and put up with her raging insecurities. Since when is Gaia threatened by Amanda Roth, of all people? The
sad thing is, the only thing left of the independence that I used to love about Gaia is her paranoia, which, frankly, I no longer have time for. That's not independent-charming; it's more like independent-psychotic.

Pro #3—She's a rumbler, In one of the first encounters I ever had with Gaia, she kicked my ass. And I have to admit, I have come to find that extremely sexy. Before Gaia, I was all about curves and fluttering eyelashes and sun-dresses and pouty lips and raw femininity. But I remember seeing Gaia completely dismantle Erik Chin at that karate meet, and damn… she was just so graceful and, I don't know,
violent,
but in a graceful way. Let's just say that anyone who looks that good in sweat-stained karate whites is, in my book, one of the eight wonders of the world.