Arlington (Book One)

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Walking into Voyager on Monday, everything requires an extraordinary amount of effort to complete. Plopping down at the lab table I can't help but reflect on what happened in my lab on Friday. Cathleen of all people came down to see what my progress was on the more powerful version of my generator. She sat down across the table and kicked off her heels and we just talked about work and it was surprisingly easy. I don't spend a lot of time with Cathleen because she's always so busy, but I would like to get to know her more. She's a lot more approachable now that I have worked for her for a bit.

Around noon I have made little progress and am ready to go home. I start packing up my things when the phone my phone starts ringing. Fumbling to get it out of my internal jacket pocket I almost drop it before I can answer it.

"Hello?" I ask confused.

"Aviva, would you mind coming up to my office for a few moments?" Cathleen's elegant voice drifts through the phone.

"I was just about to head home, I am not feeling all that well," I say.

"This won't take long," she says, and I sigh and tell her I will be up right away. I can't exactly tell her of all people no.

On the way up, I try not to panic as my thoughts thrash in my mind. Why is she calling me so suddenly? Did I say something wrong on Friday? Is she unhappy with the progress of my project? Does she know that I barely got anything done this morning? Is she going to fire me? I can't be fired! I needed the money in order to help pay my rent.

"You can go right in dear," Dorothy says, and I nod and give her a weak smile. I knock on the door tentatively and it swings almost immediately.

"Avi, please come in," her smooth voice says. I notice the nickname immediately and am puzzled.

I see Alexander leaning against the wall behind her desk and I avoid making eye contact with him. I notice that Cathleen isn't in her normal black pantsuit but rather a navy blue one. Her white blouse stands out in contrast and her hair is down today in a sleek sheet of black strands.

"It has come to my attention that there is something we need to discuss," she says.

"Okay?" Please don't fire me.

"I understand that you had an interesting conversation with Alexander yesterday," she continues, and I nod. Where is this going?

"Is everything alright? You moved out very suddenly. Did something happen between you and your father?" She asks concerned.

"Yes," I say. They both look at me as if they were waiting for an explanation.

"I will not be honest with you until you two are both honest with me," I say simply before standing up. I am not afraid to tell them what happened, Cathleen is in a very passionate and caring person from what I have gathered, but I don't have the capacity to discuss these things right now especially with the weird tension of me knowing that Cathleen is also a part of M4.

"Aviva, where are you going?" Alexander asks me, and I pause.

"I was planning on going home before you called, I do not feel well and want to go home and rest," I say.

"Aviva, please sit back down," Cathleen says as Alexander pushes himself off of the wall and goes to stand next to Cathleen.

"We can't be honest with you if we don't know what you are referring to," Alexander says.