The Secrets of Their Souls (11 page)

He held his hands over the toaster, letting the simmering heat waves warm them. Jayce wanted to know how often she dreamed and how much she knew of her past lives. How much of their story had she seen? Did she know what she had done to him? Did she recognize him now? He had so many questions and none of the answers, but this morning he had come up with a solution and there was no time like the present to act. He called Kyoji and told him what he wanted: a tiny sound recorder.

“What the fuck are you going to do with that?” Kyoji responded.

Jayce took a bite of his toast. “I’m going to install it in Zahra’s bedroom. I need to hear what she says in her dreams. It’s the only way I can find out what she knows.”

“If you’re certain this girl is Raven, why does it matter what she knows? Whether she remembers or not is irrelevant, since it doesn’t change the past.”

“It’s not about the past, it’s about the present. The Zahra I know seems nothing like Raven; she’s kind and gentle and loving. Christ, the girl doesn’t even eat meat because she doesn’t want to harm an animal. But, I don’t know if that’s who she truly is or if she’s fooling me again. If she continues to lie to me, especially if she knows who I am, then she deserves everything that’s coming to her and more,” Jayce said.

“And what is that? What are you going to do to punish this girl?”

“That depends on what she knows, which is why I need that sound recorder.”

Kyoji sighed. “Whatever. What kind of recorder do you need?”

“Something that I can hide in her bedroom but that I can listen to remotely. Do they make something like that?”

“I haven’t purchased one lately,” Kyoji said sarcastically, “but I’m sure I can find something suitable. When do you need this by?”

“Yesterday.” It was the story of Jayce’s life; everything should have been done yesterday.

“Leave it with me but if you change your mind and decide to forget about this girl, which you should, then let me know. Sourcing a sound recorder is not high on my priority list right now.”

Jayce smiled. “Thanks, Kyoji, let me know when you have it. I don’t care what it costs.”

Jayce was halfway through a meeting when his phone vibrated and he denied every urge to check the message. He did not allow staff to use their phones during meetings and so he had to lead by example, but the temptation was killing him. He looked at his watch—it had taken her seven hours to respond. Was she angry that she hadn’t heard from him all week? Sleeping with a girl, leaving without saying goodbye and, other than one quick phone call the next day, not speaking to her for the next week was asshole behavior, but it was her fault and she shouldn’t have lied to him.

Jayce wrapped up the meeting as quickly as possible and just as he pulled out his phone to check the message, he had an incoming call that he didn’t dare leave unanswered:

“Father,” Jayce said, answering his phone.

“Afternoon. How are things?”

“Good. I’ve just finished in a meeting.”

“Good to see you’re working hard. How is Zahra?”

His father knew about Zahra; Jayce had told him everything. They were extremely close and he understood, on some level—his father knew the history, he knew what she’d done to him. And let’s be honest, his father, given his past, was not in a position to judge anyone.

“I wouldn’t know. I haven’t spoken to her for a few days. I’ve been busy working.”

His father laughed. ‘That pleases me.” He paused. “I will be in town tomorrow night. Organize a dinner on Monday night with the board members and all unit managers.”

Jayce halted. “Why?”

“Because I want to meet her.”

“This is about Zahra? This situation is not affecting the company. Do not underestimate me.” Jayce’s blood was boiling again now; his father should know better.

“And do not speak to me in that tone. I just want to meet her. It has nothing to do with company performance, not yet anyway. Organize the dinner, Jayce.”

Jayce wanted to refuse his father but he wouldn’t, he would organize the dinner. “Fine. I need to go, I will speak with you this evening.” He hung up and slumped into his chair. “Fuck,” he swore under his breath. He had no choice. He lifted the telephone receiver.

“Olivia, organize a dinner for all board members and managers Monday evening. Mr. Tohmatsu Senior will also be attending. Eight o’clock. Clear my schedule. You can send in my next meeting. Thanks.” His instructions were robotic-like but he cared little for pleasantries—direct communication was efficient.

“Sure. Also, your four p.m. is running late,” she said, hesitant.

Late was not acceptable and it pissed him off when people wasted his time. Jayce glanced at his calendar: it was a half-hour appointment. “Hold for one second,” Jayce said, simultaneously opening his messages:

Zahra Foster: Hi. Ok, I’ll talk to you later. I haven’t made plans for the weekend so let me know if you’re free. Xo

“
Reschedule it,” he told Olivia, “and call Zahra Foster. Tell her to be in my office at four.”

“Sure,” Olivia responded, sounding less than pleased.

Jayce’s next meeting was boring but necessary and he had just enough time to freshen up before Zahra arrived. He flicked on the light switch in his bathroom and washed his face with cold water. Jayce had apologized in his message, for not calling her all week and for missing her call the night before, saying he had been overwhelmed with work but that he wanted to make it up to her on the weekend. He had to be charming now, he had to look directly at her and forget about Raven if he was going to convince her that nothing was wrong.
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
Zahra was an enemy now and he would have to keep her very close in order to balance the debt. He knew he could do it. He would act that same way he did during a business negotiation, he would hide his emotions and play the part. He wiped his hands on the towel and then heard the door open. He smiled: it was time to be the perfect boyfriend.

He had not been at his desk as she’d expected and she couldn’t see him at all until he emerged from the bathroom, striding toward her with long, purposeful strides.

“Afternoon,” he said, taking her hands and wrapping them behind his back. “I’ve missed you,” he said. Zahra wanted to believe him, but she wasn’t going to let him off the hook quite so easily.

“I get that you’re busy but you couldn’t spare five minutes to call?” She looked up at him, watching him carefully.

“I should have called, I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to you.”

Zahra bit her lip, wishing he would let go of her hands so that she could step back. She found it hard to think when her body yearned for him and the scent of his cologne made her head rush. He looked genuinely sorry so Zahra forgave him this one time.
But he’d better not make that mistake twice
.

The corner of his lip turned up and Zahra knew he’d seen the submission in her eyes. “Don’t bite your lip like that, it turns me on and I’m trying to be well behaved right now.”

He let go of one hand and cupped her face. She closed her eyes when he leaned in and kissed her. Arousal sang in her veins and she kissed him back. He moaned into her mouth and guided her to his desk. She sat on the edge and he stepped between her legs but didn’t stop kissing her.

He dragged his nails up her inner thighs, the same thing he’d done to her in the bedroom, and it drove her just as crazy as it did then. “Did you miss me?”

“Yes,” Zahra whispered, hyper aware of his fingers on the edge of her panties.

He bit her lip and she moaned, her nipples hard and pelvis throbbing.

“I want you so bad.” His voice was like gravel. “But I don’t want to do this today. I didn’t call you up here to fuck you. I did genuinely just want to see you.”

Zahra wanted to be grateful that he was thinking about their relationship, but the arousal surging through her made it difficult for her to concede that sex right now wasn’t a good idea. She looked up at him through her lashes.

“Don’t look at me like that. I’m not capable of stopping myself twice.” He kissed her forehead and stepped back, looking her over. He shook his head like he was shaking the image from his mind and then crossed his arms. “There is actually a second reason I asked you to come up. I’ve just found out that my father will be in town this weekend and Olivia is organizing a dinner on Monday. You need to be there along with all of the managers.”

She sat up straighter. “Your father?”

“Why are you so surprised? He does own this company, not me.”

“I know, I just… is this going to be weird?”

“No, because he doesn’t know anything. To him, you’re an employee just like everyone else.”

Zahra felt nervous already. She was not prepared to meet Jayce’s father. “How long is he staying for?”

“He didn’t say, our conversation was very brief, but probably the week.”

“Okay.”

Jayce entwined his fingers with hers. “Hey, don’t make this a bigger deal than it is. You’re not meeting him as my father, you’re meeting him as the CEO of the company. Trust me, I’m not thrilled with the idea either, but this is business.”

Zahra understood the intention of Jayce’s words.
This-is-business
translated to
put-your-emotions-aside
. She knew he was right and she was grateful he’d at least given her some warning, some time to mentally prepare. “Right,” she said, nodding her head confidently although she felt anything but.

“With my father in town, it means I’m not going to have a lot of free time this weekend but I will call you, I promise.” His eyes darted to his computer and back to Zahra again. She stood up, taking that as a cue that their time was up once again. Time passed so quickly in his presence. Zahra couldn’t believe she’d been in his office thirty minutes, but her watch didn’t lie.

“Not so fast,” he said. “I’ve still got thirty seconds.”

Zahra’s giggle was muffled by Jayce’s mouth and he took full advantage of those thirty seconds.

“I’ll call you tomorrow,” Jayce said.

Zahra shot him a look suggesting that would be a very wise idea and then left his office, silently thanking the nude lipstick trend for not needing to reapply.

From: Devon Wright

To: Zahra Foster

Subject: Get ya shoes on

Hey Zahra.

OK, running times have been confirmed and we’ll start next week:

Monday: 5am

Wednesday: 7:30pm

Thursday: 5am

Jackson will be leading all of them, and they will vary in length depending on how far out we are from the marathon. I’m sure your schedule is a little crazy until Church St. is complete but if you can make it to one per week and then train on your own you’ll be still be miles ahead of us [pun intended].

Have a good day,

Devon

Zahra typed quickly, her response short and sweet:

From: Zahra Foster

To: Devon Wright

Subject: Re: Laced up and ready

Hey Devon

Thanks for sending me the deets. I’m in on Mondays and Wednesdays. If I don’t see you before, I’ll see you bright and early Monday morning!

Have a great weekend,

Zahra

A kingfisher soared above my head, singing as it weaved through air. It’s a good omen, I thought, tonight would go well. I walked along the narrow, deserted path the locals called a road. This place was a shithole and getting the job done was becoming more of a problem than I had anticipated, but that’s fine; a challenge is always good because it keeps things fresh, it keeps them interesting. And I was interested. This man was not like the others.

I’d had to stay low for a few days. I couldn’t risk him seeing me again. But I wasn’t going to wait too long either; I needed the thrill, I lived for it. Yesterday I had watched him all day; close enough to identify him but not too close. I wouldn’t make that mistake twice. He had a wife and a young child; it was unfortunate that their happy family would soon be destroyed. It was his own fault, though, I was just the messenger. Often, I wondered about what he had done, what crimes he had to pay for. That question crossed my mind with each target but just like a flash of lightning it soon disappeared. This time, though, it lingered, eating at my conscience. What did he do? I had killed husbands, wives, fathers, mothers, sisters and brothers. I really, honestly, just didn’t care that their life had to end. But something about this one was different.

The orange ball of fire was nearing the horizon, setting for the day. I would make it just before darkness fell. My target was going to be at the council meeting tonight and so was I. Goose bumps spread over my skin. It wasn’t even kill night, but still the thrill enveloped me, infiltrating every atom. I always wore my hair up, but tonight it was down and flowing. I preferred it up but, tonight, I wanted to fit in with the pitiful crowd; a bunch of miserable beings who had given up, their lives a monatomic series of days rolled endlessly from one into another until God gave them mercy and ended their existence.

The beaten down town hall was full when I arrived. I walked in calmly, confidently. I played my part well, not a single useless resident raised an eyebrow at a woman they’d never seen before. I walked the room, even stopping to chat idly to one gentleman with a fat waist and beads of sweat lining his forehead like little soldiers. But my target wasn’t here. I could feel my anger rising—I hated it when things didn’t go my way. Why wasn’t he here? I scanned the room again. Every other useless bastard but him! And if he wasn’t here, I sure as hell wasn’t staying.

“Looking for someone?”

I stopped cold. Dryas
was
here. “Good evening, sir,” I said, turning on my heels. He was two heads above me and even in the dark night, illuminated only by the dim moon rays, he looked handsome. His baby-blue eyes sparkled.

“Why have you been following me?” he asked.