Guardian [Completed]

Two (Josh)

Devina rang the doorbell of a small, cottage-looking house that was a mile or two from hers. We were still in a rural area and it was safe to assume the nearest house was another mile away.

I shifted my weight between my feet as we waited for someone to answer.

Finally the door opened to reveal a tall, copper-haired man with blue eyes and an athletic frame.

“Finley!” he greeted Devina gleefully.

“Thomas,” she replied, kissing his cheek as she stepped inside.

I followed her awkwardly and stood apart from them in the entrance way.

Devina turned to me.

“Josh, this is my tech operative Thomas Kaiser. Thomas, this is Josh Hutcherson,” she introduced us.

Thomas extended his hand for a shake and I took it lamely. He was a bit intimidating in stature; the fact he no doubt knew my guardian on an intimate level emotionally made me feel like an intruder.

“Nice to meet you,” Thomas said politely. “Shame about the circumstances.”

“Yeah…” was all I could manage.

“I’m going to start breakfast,” Devina piped up. “Don’t know about you, Thomas, but I’d like to eat before briefing. “

“Oh, definitely! What do you need?”

“I brought things with me. I can find the rest.”

“Great! Thanks!”

Devina waved him off and headed to the kitchen. I watched her retreating form.  I wasn’t sure if it was my fatigue or my general loneliness that had caused me to pay attention to every little detail about her since she woke me this morning.

“Would you like to have a seat?” Thomas asked, pulling my thoughts away from Devina.

“Yeah, that would be great,” I replied.

Thomas led me to his living room. He sat in the recliner and I took the couch. The room was decorated in a very minimalistic way. There were no pictures on the mantel. It almost looked like no one lived here.  

“So you were referred to the amazing Devina Friedmann. Lucky you!” Thomas said.

I looked at his face. No hint of sarcasm on it or in his eyes. He was completely sincere.

“Yeah, I uh… I don’t feel so lucky,” I admitted.

Thomas’s brow furrowed.

“Why is that?”

“Well being in this situation is pretty unlucky. But uh… she was pretty mad when I showed up on her doorstep.”

Thomas smiled.

“Well I would imagine anyone would be mad if a stranger showed up in the middle of the night claiming to have been sent by an authority.”

“I didn’t choose this,” I defended.

“I know that. Devina knows that too.”

I looked at him in disbelief.

“Really, she does.”

She really shows it, I thought as I looked down at the floor. I clenched my jaw. I didn’t want to be in this situation! Why didn’t anyone seem to understand that?

“Look…” Thomas began.

There was a pause and I looked up at him. He was clearly weighing what to say next.