Asleep

10 Home Sweet Home?

Nora~~

Charlie and I part ways with Tye at the elevator doors on the twelfth floor.

         After what happened to Radia, I don't feel comfortable having Charlie, who I just met, take me to my new home. And especially not after I saw Marcella's note for me.

         Tye had seen the map she had written on lying on the coffee table. It was when he picked it up and unfolded it that I saw she had written on the back of it.

They're watching you.

         I made up some excuse to get the map back in my hands, some joke about him being too curious about wanting to see where I lived, and gave him a clean copy of the map—one that didn't have where I lived circled on it or a warning written on the back. I could only hope that he didn't see Marcella's writing through the paper.

         The note is why I suggested Radia open the door holding the knife

         "How are you liking Somnia?" Charlie asks as the elevator doors close.

         Tye acted like not knowing anything before Somnia was normal. If Charlie really does work for the government, then I have to be normal for him.

         "It's been welcoming."

         I know the they in Marcella's note could have meant anyone. The mirror in the room might have been more than a looking glass for only Radia and me. But could she have meant Tye? Or even Charlie, the guy Tye wants me to work for? I can't rule them out.

         We spend the rest of the elevator ride in silence. Not making eye contact, though he keeps glancing at me. For the tiniest instant when he walked into Radia's apartment, I thought I'd seen him before. I'd like to think that I wouldn't forget a face like his, but it appears that I've forgotten every face, no matter how attractive they might have been.

         I think it was the green of his eyes that threw me off. A deep pine green, almost a polished emerald shade. His reddish-brown hair in the golden light of the elevators would be better called bronze.

         We exit the apartment building, and Charlie asks if he should call a cab.

         Radia and I planned to get the guys out of her apartment and for me to see my house before I circle back to her place where we would be able to talk freely. I don't want to be alone with Charlie in a car with no one else besides a driver who Charlie could have take us anywhere.

         "Think you could show me how to navigate the subway system?" I'd like to see him try altering the course of a train.

         Charlie scratches his sleeve. "I can certainly try. I haven't taken them much."

         I spot a subway entrance across the street, and when we reach it, he asks for my address. I'm relieved he doesn't just know it and only give him the name of the neighborhood.

         After much consideration and many glances between his phone and the sign with the lines that service this station, he finally declares that this is the right station. He doesn't sound entirely convinced.

         The subway station is clean, though I was expecting grime and rats for some reason. There are no turnstiles or places to scan a ticket or to buy one for that matter. Charlie must notice my confusion because he says, "Somnia believes in free public transportation."

         "Are there places that don't?"

         Charlie looks as if someone just gave him an unexpected shot in the arm, and it hurt worse than it should. He turns his gaze on a map of the subway lines. "There aren't places that don't believe in it because there are no other places." How could the world be that tiny? It makes me feel too big.