Derek shook his head and buried his face in his hands. “I can hardly remember that. All I can remember is those big, green eyes.”
“Guess we both saved each other, one way or another,” she said quietly.
He looked up at her. “But why would you ever want to kill yourself? I don’t understand.”
“As a boy who’s been lower than low, I’d expect you of all people to understand,” she scoffed.
“No, I mean… you’re just, you’re so brilliant. You’re intelligent, pretty, gentle, kind-“
“I’ve heard this all before,” Adette interrupted. She looked him in the eyes as she said, “But has it ever occurred to you that maybe I just can never believe all of that?”
He fell silent; and it was then that the silence was pierced with the sound of the phone ringing. He blinked and Adette was gone. He got to his feet and lumbered after her.
He found her in the kitchen, staring at the caller ID with wide eyes. He peered over her shoulder. “CALLER ID UNKNOWN,” the screen proclaimed. Both of them, at that moment, knew exactly who it was, even before the phone went to voicemail.
Hello Adette.
Just calling to say, I’m always watching. I see you and him. Him and you. That prick that you “love” now. Well, he’ll pay. You’ll both pay. You’re mine, Adette. You can’t run forever. I’ll get you, I swear I will. Oh, and lovely story about your lover boy in high school. Fiction is always the best.
There was the rasping sound of heavy breathing before he hung up. Derek’s eyes wandered from the phone to Adette’s face. She was ghostly pale and shaking.
He was uncertain for a moment as to how he should comfort her, but settled for taking her into his arms and slowly rubbing her back. She started to sob.
“Hey, hey,” he soothed, “It’s okay. He won’t really get you. He’s just a lunatic.”
“I’m so scared, Derek,” she whimpered. She shook so violently that she could hardly stand; he could tell by how she leaned her weight on him.
He guided her through into the living room and settled her on the couch, brushing a strand of flame-red hair from her forehead.
“You’ve got nothing to worry about. Even if the damned police won’t help us, I’m still here to protect you, always and forever, okay?”
She seemed to make a conscious effort to stop crying, her breathing shaky as she rubbed at her face. Teardrops clung to her eyelashes. She gave him a watery smile.
“I don’t know what I’d do without you anymore, honestly.”
“Did you have a comfort robot before you had me?” he joked, earning him a small laugh from her.
At that moment, Lassie seemed to wake up, lifting her head and pricking her ears. She sprang into action almost instantly, barking and leaping off the chair, running circles around Adette’s ankles.
“She reminds me of my robots!” she laughed.
“How so?”
“She powered up and now she’s ready to go.”
They both started laughing.
“We probably need to get some energy out of her. What are you meant to do when dogs have energy to waste?”
He thought she was joking before he saw her face. Oh, he thought. She looked truly clueless.
“You take them for a walk.”
“A walk?” she squeaked, her eyes stretching comically wide, “Don’t they run away?”
“That’s why you put them on a leash.”
“What’s that?”
“Oh my god,” he muttered, rubbing his face.
“Are you going to tell me what it is?” she grumbled defensively.
“It’s like, a rope that you attach to their collar so they can’t run off.”
He prayed to the heavens she knew what a collar was. To his relief, her face lit up with recognition.
“A collar! Lassie needs a collar!” she announced, dashing from the room with Lassie barking at her heels, apparently as enthusiastic as Adette was.
He couldn’t help but smile; he enjoyed their childlike youth he saw in her with that dog around. Sure, he didn’t like the dog itself, and the dog didn’t like him much either, but Adette was happy and he was grateful for that.
He followed the sound of crashing and thumping down to the robot laboratory and found Adette rummaging frantically through a large chest, throwing the occasional object over her shoulder. Each time that she did this, Lassie would prance forward and investigate eagerly.
“Here we are!” Adette exclaimed triumphantly, holding up what appeared to be a mechanical collar.
“When did you invent that?”
She shrugged. “It was one of my ideas; a popular one at that.”
He watched her as she put the collar around the dog’s neck.
“Won’t that weigh her down?”
“No, it’s specifically designed to be very light.”
She then pulled out a piece of rope and attached it to Lassie’s new collar. “Alright, let’s go!”
