Lost in Purgatory

Chapter 3

Felicity couldn't believe it! She couldn't fucking believe it! Here she was, on her knees, cutting plants and stripping off flowers, and asshole rich guy castaway was striding around in fatigues, with a gun, giving orders. And why the hell was she on her knees? Because without her glasses she couldn't see which fucking part of the fucking plant she was supposed to fucking cut. Whoa. Chill out, Felicity. She took a few deep breaths to calm down, conscious that the way she was right now, she was liable to blow up at the wrong person.

Tatiana was still muttering about the latest addition to the thug squad, frat boy division. Apparently he was some lost billionaire, who'd been stranded here for three years. Yeah, right. Sure. And she'd never heard of the guy, but she hadn't been into TMZ that much, back when ... back when she was younger. Damn, now there were tears in her eyes. Stupid pollen. The other people around her were dropping tools for lunch, and she surreptitiously wiped her eyes and got up, intent on getting away before anyone noticed she'd been crying. There's no crying in drug harvesting, she was thinking to herself, just as she turned and walked straight into a broad chest, almost breaking her nose on the assault rifle hanging across it. Two huge arms steadied her as she bounced off him, and she had to crane her neck to see who she'd bumped into. Great. New guy.

"You should watch where you're going."

And just like that, any goodwill garnered by the fact that he'd saved her from her own klutziness (and the fact that not only was he built like a superhero, but he had the good looks to match) was gone, replaced by a white-hot rage.

"I should what? What did you just say to me?" She practically spat the words in his face.

He let go of her like she was on fire. From the corner of her eye she could see another blurry figure in camo watching; she guessed it was Conklin, who'd been sticking to the new guy like a leech from the minute he'd arrived.

"Maybe I could watch where I was going, if your buddy over there hadn't broken my glasses!"

Oh shit. The voice in her head had long given up on telling her to shut up. New guy (yes, one day she'd use his real name – not today) seemed confused more than anything.

"He's not my-"

She'd had enough. She couldn't even see if Conklin was amused by the whole exchange, or if she'd just made things worse. She made a vague gesture in the air to indicate the conversation was now over.

"You know what? Go fuck yourself."

She stalked off, praying as she'd never prayed before that she wouldn't stumble on the uneven ground, and walked to a seated pair of lumps that she desperately hoped was Tatiana and her brother. And it was. Tatiana looked more worried than ever.

"Felicity ... "

Felicity rubbed her eyes and groaned.

"I know. I know. It's just ... I can't see anything further than about a yard. I'm always straining my eyes, and I'm-"

She swallowed her next words. She'd shown enough weakness for the day. The truth was that she was terrified more than she was angry. She was waiting for Conklin to make his next move, which made her jumpy, and she couldn't see, which made her jumpier. Tatiana wordlessly held out the food and water she'd saved for her, and Felicity tried to smile her thanks through stiff lips. Vlad just kept shovelling food into his mouth – he didn't say much, at least not to her. She had an inkling that he disapproved of her friendship with his sister, that he thought Tatiana was getting herself on Conklin's shit-list for helping her. She didn't care. She needed a companion here. She'd beg, if necessary.