Urban Legend
Chapter 3
Robyn stared out the train window as it took her through town to get to work. Regan always had the car for her job, but public transit wasn't too inconvenient. The company Robyn worked for was very close to a train station, as was the building where they were staying. She also liked that time to ruminate to herself while she watched the buildings go by.
It had been a few days since the adventure in microwave cooking at Rowen's house. Since then, the guys had been texting her more. No invitations to hang out, as everyone still had their own responsibilities to take care of, but it was nice to hear from them. Rowen texted her silly things he heard at work, Cye sent her some pictures of his animal patients. Even Sage sent her a message expressing how nice it was to see her and have everyone together for an evening. Robyn still hadn't deleted that one. Sage texting anyone—especially her—seemed almost supernatural to her.
Robyn wondered how long it would last. Maybe until the weekend was over and then it would probably taper off into nothing again. She sighed, watching her breath fog up the window of the train. Not for the first time, her thoughts wandered to Regan's earlier accusation that she should get herself a hobby, something to do in her off hours instead of moping around from lack of social life.
A second job, maybe? No, this one, with the pressures of constantly paying attention to every little thing said so she could translate correctly left her mentally and somewhat physically drained after a long, hard day. Maybe start a project of some kind? Robyn wasn't very crafty. She liked to read, but she didn't consider that a hobby. Regan's reading habits fell under that category. Regan didn't just like to read, she wanted to discuss afterward. She wanted conversation and involvement with her books. Robyn just liked to quietly reflect and then move to something else.
It was depressing to quickly discover Robyn had very little interests. Her life had been so involved in just surviving from day to day, it left little energy for anything else. She wasn't used to such things as finding oneself or developing talents. Very little caught her interest, pulled her into it. Except...
There it was. Robyn saw it every day on the ride to and from work. An old, dilapidated building that stuck out from between the newer industrial buildings surrounding it. Its eerie gray walls and broken windows probably caught most people's attention. But to Robyn, there was something more to it. An unheard voice called to her daily, drawing her forward. She adamantly ignored it. Regan wouldn't like her dabbling while they were abroad. Japan was also a whole different country. Robyn felt it when she first looked at the city. The energy was different here. She should leave things alone. And yet, her eyes were drawn to that building every time she passed it, unable to look away.
Rowen stood in front of a plain, slate gray, box of a building with wide windows. It looked like a gray cloud against the hard blue of the sky.
For a design firm, the building that housed it was almost ugly.
Until he went inside. Rowen was suitably impressed with the inviting, albeit small waiting area, and the open office environment beyond. The lack of walls exposed the other three floors, all wood, glass, and warm colors. While he saw a number of Japanese people, the staff was very much international; he heard accents from every continent.
He asked the young woman at the front desk if she could tell a Miss Regan Sundari that she had a visitor, and the employee cheerfully obliged him. Minutes later, Rowen watched Robyn's friend descend one of the wooden staircases to the first floor, dressed smartly in fitted dress slacks and an unbuttoned blazer. She regarded him with a vaguely suspicious, yet intrigued expression that made him grin when she saw it was him.
"Remember me?" he asked.
Rowen could almost see her mentally flip through the name possibilities and draw a blank. She cocked her finger at him and recovered with, "Microwave guy."
"Rowen," he laughed. "I also go by 'sucky friend.'"
Regan smirked at him. "What are you doing here?"
"Taking you out to lunch," he announced casually. "And I'm sure you know that Robyn is working right now, lest you think I'm ignoring your orders."
She gave him a considering look. Finally, she tapped her fingers on the front desk and said,
"Five minutes?" He nodded.
He took her to a place that was a short walk from her building, not too far from the train stop that dropped him off near her work. She kept up enough conversation to be polite, but he could tell she was still puzzling out his impromptu visit. He hoped to get her comfortable enough to start filling in the missing gaps—six years worth—of Robyn's life and maybe come to a better understanding of her relationship with the redhead.
Regan continued to study this strange, tall man whom Robyn went to high school with for a year, and maintained a long distance friendship with for six years more. He was quite animated when he spoke—he talked with his hands, scooped them through his hair, gestured with his chopsticks before they even ordered. There was a quick, bright brain working overtime in there; intelligence brimmed out of his eyes and in the way he spoke. And his eyes were gorgeous: the velvet blue of dusk. She had to catch herself to keep from staring directly into them too much—she didn't want to be rude—but he seemed to have no problem meeting her gaze.
"So how's Robyn been?" he asked after they ordered. "She's not big on sharing. Even when we ask, her answers don't give us a solid idea of what her life's been like the past few years."
Ah. The reason for lunch became clearer. He wanted to check on Robyn, and who better to get answers from than her roommate? Well, that was sweet. Rae really needed to ease up on her natural suspicion of other people not named Robyn and Jude; these guys seemed pretty decent, despite dropping the ball for the first few weeks. And this one was funny and oddly charming.
"She is the queen of keeping things to herself," Regan agreed. "But despite the secrecy, she's been doing very well. Sometimes it's hard to get her out of the house, but she's always game to go hiking, or on a short road trip, or what have you. She tries just about every recipe Cye emails her."
"Does she like the work she's been doing? Not just while she's been here: in general."
"Well enough."
He made a face at that, and Regan gave him an understanding look. "I know. Robyn's compass hasn't found true north yet. That's not something anyone can find for her."
"You're there for her in the meantime." Rowen's statement held an unspoken right?
"Don't worry," she replied firmly. "I take care of my Robyn."
Rowen would have expected a hint of teasing in there, but she sounded pretty serious. He reflected back to how they interacted at his apartment. "I heard the two of you met in high school."
"We met in New York, yes."
That wasn't quite the answer he was looking for, and he suspected she knew. Her pale green eyes flashed up to meet his before lowering to concentrate on the food that just arrived.
"Did you have any classes together?"
"Psychology. I didn't have much of a chance to get to know her, but she made an impression."
"You left New York not too long after, if I recall correctly?"
"Yes. I didn't care for it." She paused, and then added, "I had to leave for school, anyway."
"Ever meet a kid named Jason?"
Regan's demeanor shifted and closed in a way that Sage's would when something bothered him. A hard glint came into her eyes. "I had the misfortune of meeting him. We didn't get along."
Before he could ask another question, she headed him off with, "So what class are you teaching when you're not doing research?"
New York made this one a little uncomfortable, Rowen mused. She didn't offer any substantial information about her and Robyn's first encounters; no anecdotes, not even unpleasant ones. That could be nothing. He was still a relative stranger, and Robyn's situation was delicate. Regan could be trying to protect her.
That settled his doubts for now, so he happily transitioned to his class and his research. She admitted that physics was not her forte, but gamely followed along and asked intelligent questions.
Having an attentive audience as attractive as her sent a pleasant tingle down his spine that intensified whenever her calming, cool green eyes warmed with amusement at something he said or looked him over with the same searching inspection from earlier.
"Tell me about your work," he invited. "And tell me why that building is so ugly."
He startled a laugh out of her. "It's minimalist. The architect who designed it would tell you it's meant to represent necessity and a lack of complication. Which is a nice way of saying he wanted a simple, drab building."
"How does that make you feel?"
"Like a lot of good, raw materials went to waste to build a gray box."
"What type of architecture do you like?"
There it was: that sliver of passion from the first day they all met, cracking her outer shell like unwrapping a present. She mentioned names of architects he filed away, including Kengo Kuma, and gushed about mosques and bridges she admired. Looking to the stars as often as he had all his life, it had never occurred to him to pay close attention to what human beings built here on earth. Regan paid attention, and marveled at it.
Rowen was disappointed when she had to go back to work. He walked her back to the office, and just before he left, it came out of his mouth unbidden. "Want to do that again?"
"Yes." A smile bloomed on Regan's face when she realized that she meant it. "Of course."
Robyn answered the door that afternoon, half expecting it to be the postman. Kento stood there instead and her face instantly brightened.
"Hey," she greeted looking him up and down. He looked good, dressed in jeans and a tight, black T-shirt. They all looked good to her these days. Older, more filled out, more confident. Kento looked the best right now because he was the one standing on her doorstep looking for her.
"Hi," he greeted with an easy smile. "I'm going to visit Cye at his work and then go to dinner. Want to come?"
"Do I?" Robyn exclaimed. Her keys hung by the doorway and she grabbed them as she immediately stepped outside.
Kento chuckled. "I thought you might." He inclined his head toward the parking lot and then turned.
Robyn followed, absolutely delighted to be in his presence. She had a suspicion that Kento probably would not be randomly visiting Cye's work if she wasn't in town. He was doing this with the main purpose of finding a reason for them to hang out together. Robyn very much appreciated it. She wanted to tell him how glad she was he took pity on her lonely plight and made time for her with his busy schedule. However, she couldn't think of a way to express it out loud that didn't make her sound as pathetic as she felt. So she, instead, remained silently grateful as they both climbed into Kento's jeep. It was a newer model than the one he had in high school. One with a smoothly purring engine as he turned the key.
Kento's driving seemed to have refined itself as well. He was more comfortable on the road, in less of a hurry to get places. Robyn quite enjoyed it.
"I'm glad to see you," Robyn finally said, satisfied that didn't make her sound as lonely as she was.
He smiled as he glanced her way before returning his eyes to the road. "You, too. Sorry I haven't dropped by sooner. All five of us need to get our shit together."
"It's fine. I understand all of you have your own lives and busy schedules. I don't expect you to drop everything for me."
"No, Regan was right. We've been sucky friends to you lately."
Robyn's mouth fell open. "Regan said that? When did she say that?"
"It doesn't matter, she was right. All five of us were pretty much expecting the other four to be taking up all your time so then we didn't have to worry about it as much." He glanced over at her slightly opened-mouth expression. "See, we are kinda crappy friends. We've all been set in our schedules and unwilling to change. So how about every Wednesday evening? Are those good for you?"
"Wednesday evening? Good for what?"
"To hang out with Cye and me."
Robyn nearly snorted at the absurdity that he would even have to ask. She was free every evening. But again, she did not share that information, it sounded too sad. "Free for you guys? Hell, yeah."
"Good. Now you're part of the schedule."
Robyn couldn't stop grinning all the way there.
The marine rescue facility where Cye worked was inviting enough, but also clearly an older building whose sign could have used a fresh coat of paint. While not a facility that openly invited visitors, there were plenty of interns and volunteers coming in and out at all hours. Kento merely had to wave at the girl behind the front desk before proceeding to the back. Apparently, he came often enough to be recognized by the staff.
Robyn wasn't surprised with the kind of relationship he and Cye had. She could picture Cye when he first began working here: "This is Kento. He'll be dropping by quite often. He just will." And it made her warm inside to know that the friendship of Torrent and Hardrock was still as solid as ever.
Kento guided them down a sterile hallway, as they passed several doors that contained labs and examination rooms. Out back was a great slab of concrete cratered with over a half a dozen water tanks. Nearly just as many personnel moved about with purpose. Among them was Cye, dressed in ratty brown shorts, a dark blue shirt with the rescue center's logo, and flip flips.
"Cye!" Robyn blurted, as was typical of her any time she hadn't seen him longer than ten minutes. The auburn-haired man turned around just in time to catch her as she tackled him around the torso.
"Eew, don't hug me, I'm all fishy," he complained.
"Too bad, don't care," Robyn beamed.
"Your fault if we get kicked out of dinner for the smell, then," he responded with humor. Despite his protests, he looked very pleased to see her. "I'm assuming you came for the tour?"
Robyn brightened even more. "Yes, please!"
Cye smiled, knowing full well that what Robyn mainly wanted was to be shown the animals. "Well, we don't have a lot going on right now, but there's a few patients." He led them to a tank where a young man of college entrance age was writing on a clip board. "This is Burgess, he's a two-year old male striped dolphin. We found him last week with his fluke nearly severed from fishing wire."
Robyn peered into the large tank. The only dolphins she was familiar with were those of the solid gray variety. This one looked like a gray dolphin streaked in black paint on its back.
"He's pretty."
"Yes, he is," Cye agreed. "Striped dolphins are one of my favorites."
He next showed them a sea turtle called Douglas who was recovering from an operation. He was brought in because he couldn't submerge due to swallowed trash filling his belly up with gases.
"And this is Winston." Cye hooked his fingers on the wire mesh of a large cage containing a nearly five-foot tall red-crowned crane. "He came in with a broken wing yesterday and I set the bone. My first time setting a wing. Birds are not my specialty."
At that last word, the massive crane squawked angrily, attacking the fingers that were poking into his pen. Cye quickly removed his hand. "He does not like me at all," Torrent admitted.
Robyn was a bit surprised at the bird's aggression. She had this rose-tinted daydream of Cye speaking to the sea creatures Dr. Dolittle style. In reality, it was clear these were wild animals, unused to human interaction. And Cye helped them anyway, whether dumb birds knew they were being helped or not.
"Why do they all have English names?" Robyn asked.
"The interns name them. They enjoy giving them funny names," Cye laughed.
That wasn't the only thing they seemed to enjoy, Robyn noticed. The female staff and volunteers seemed to also like watching Kento's backside as he followed them around. They seemed less than thrilled to notice Robyn there with him. It made her feel good a little, even though these girls were jealous of nothing.
"So, is this your only facility?" Robyn then asked. "I thought it would be a lot bigger.
It was the only time Cye frowned a little. "The rescue center relies on donations to stay in business. We get enough private donations to stay afloat, but that's about it. The government should be funding all of this, but wildlife conservation has never been a top priority for them. That opinion is slowly changing, but for right now, we do what we can with what we have."
"Wow, I had no idea. Back in the states, we've got all these animal rescue shows and whatnot. I didn't realize it wasn't the same in Japan."
He shrugged. "Like I said, conservation isn't the biggest concern over here, but we're working on it. Half of our resources are devoted to research so we can further educate the public on the need for programs such as this." He paused to check his water-proof watch before he became too preachy. Robyn had sent it to him for Christmas one year. It also made her feel good to see him using it. "Well, my shift is over. I'm going to wash up and change real quick and I'll meet you guys out front."
Kento and Robyn waited on a bench outside the facility, enjoying the cooler air of the afternoon. Robyn stretched her legs, leaning back to look at the sky. The cry of a seagull sounded in the distance.
"Wow, Cye's really found his calling, hasn't he?" she asked the sky.
"Heh, yeah," Kento replied. "He loves it. He's really into all the politics about this stuff, too. You only got the watered down version. You should see him when he's all worked up about the dolphin drives and stuff. I've never heard so much swearing come out of him in all my life."
Robyn smiled. "I'm glad he's doing something he loves." She glanced at Kento. "You, too?"
He shrugged. "Meh, I like the restaurant business well enough. The thing is, I'm good at running a kitchen, running a business. So I don't mind doing it for now until something else pops up." He paused. "Just don't tell my folks I said that. As far as they're concerned, I'm going to be buried under that place. Right next to their bodies, no doubt."
Robyn snorted at the idea. After a thoughtful pause, she said. "So I've got an idea, let me know if you think it's plausible. It's summer and everything, what if we all got together and went somewhere for a weekend? Like a summer vacation. You know, before Cye gets married and I have to go back home."
"That sounds awesome! We should do that."
"Do you think we could get everyone to commit to a weekend? It wouldn't be as fun if we had to leave someone behind."
Kento took a thoughtful moment. "We could probably swing it if we gave everyone enough notice. Ryo will probably have the hardest time. I think he has to ask for days off like a month in advance or something."
"Yikes!"
"I know."
"Oh, hey, Kento," a woman greeted as she stepped out of the building. She was tall and quite good looking, perhaps a few years older. "I was wondering why the interns were all a twitter. I should have guessed you came around to flirt with them." She paused when she noticed Robyn sitting next to him. "Or maybe not?"
"I'll have you know, the only reason they flirt with me is because Cye's taken. And this is Robyn," Kento introduced. "She's a friend of ours. Robyn, this is Maki, she's the director of the facility."
Maki laughed, a light beautiful sound. The wedding band on her finger glittered in the sun. "Friend, huh? Still enjoying the single life, then?"
Kento folded his arms behind his head, a serene picture of contentment. "Don't you know it. Plan on enjoying that for a while longer."
"I'm sure the girls are glad to hear it." Maki glanced at the open window behind them with a smirk. There was a feminine gasp and then a mixture of startled cries before the window was slammed shut by a few very embarrassed young ladies.
Maki laughed again before waving them off and walking to her car.
Robyn smirked at Kento. "Now I know why you really come here. You've got your own fan club."
"Please," Kento waved her off. "Most of the girls here are high school students. They just get their jollies flirting with an older guy. Mostly they're just happy my ex won't be following me here any more."
Robyn doubted that was the only reason. Kento wasn't exactly hard on the eyes. He was far more put together than he had been as a teenager. He wore nicer clothes, his hair always carefully disheveled. His well-built muscular frame would catch any girl's eye, but his deep, blue eyes would be what would really do them in. Especially when he smiled. She wasn't an idiot, she saw exactly what those girls gawking in the window saw.
"So, this infamous ex I keep hearing about," she said.
Kento suddenly became more animated. "Oh man, Robyn, you have no idea. I'm glad you didn't have to meet her. Though, on the other hand, I almost wish you had, just so you could witness for yourself how crazy this woman is."
Robyn grinned, leaning forward. "I would love to hear the stories."
Kento looked ready to tell her one right then, but Cye had exited the building and all thoughts of the current conversation ran out of her head.
"Cye," she exclaimed as she jumped to her feet. "How do you feel about all of us taking a weekend off for a vacation?"
Torrent paused at the sudden question, then smiled. "Sounds good. Where we going?"
They never really planned them. Rowen just showed up at the front desk of Regan's work about twice a week. Although it was unexpected, it was ... nice. Normal. She liked his company and his quick wit. He slid in innuendo as naturally as she did, and they made each other laugh. Soon they were having lunch three times a week. She offered, more than once, to meet him at the restaurant they frequented, but he insisted on coming to her office to get her.
"We're going somewhere different today," he told her unexpectedly one week. "Not too far; don't worry."
When he brought her to the train station, Regan joked, "Should I have let my coworkers know who I'm out with in case I don't come back?"
Rowen raised his eyebrows and said suggestively, "You might not want to go back."
Regan laughed at him, but couldn't deny how his excitement turned his pretty blue eyes into something stunning. She honestly didn't know what he was so jazzed about. After they got off at the train and walked back up to the surface in a completely new area to Regan, she didn't get her bearings until she spotted a direction sign that "University of Toyama."
"Your work?" she asked.
"Not quite."
The campus was lovely, but Regan hardly noticed when she saw where he was heading. She would recognize that architectural style anywhere.
"Kengo Kuma designed this one," she breathed, craning her neck to look up at the hundreds of thin wooden slats covering a large research building, creating a gorgeous rippling effect.
"Just a few years ago," Rowen replied. "Want to go in?"
Her wide, excited eyes met his. "Yes, please!"
Rowen watched her face as she wandered inside the building, running her fingers over the smooth wood of the tables designed like the outside. She audibly gasped when he showed her an empty lecture hall laden with the bright timber.
"I'm giving a presentation here next Saturday," he said, his voice echoing in the hall. "There'll be some fancy university donors there, so I have to charm them with my amazing wit and sexy science talk."
"It is sexy," she conferred with mock seriousness.
"About as sexy as the steak that came out of my microwave last month."
Regan's laughter filled the lecture hall. "Are you nervous?"
"Not really. It's not so much the public speaking I mind as it's the mingling afterwards. I get a distinct "dance, monkey" vibe from them, like if they feed the genius enough coins he'll spit out something intelligent."
"I won't judge if you need to shake your moneymaker to strangers to earn those dollars. Whatever you need to do to put food on the table."
As they walked out of the hall, Rowen couldn't hide his grin as he asked, "Did you just call me a prostitute?"
"More like a high-end call girl," she reassured.
When they headed back outside, Regan explored the exterior again, talking about the design in a hushed tone as if she were in church. He lost her for a minute in the outdoor plaza, but then heard her exclaim about an entryway into a garden and found her again.
She was sitting on a wooden bench and admiring the garden with an almost dreamy expression. "My father had a few peach trees in our backyard, when we were little," she said unexpectedly as she stared at pretty blossoms of one such tree. "He used to enlist my brother and me to help him can fruits and vegetables. I hated doing it, but I loved the results. He was quite the gardener."
Rowen sat down beside her. "Does he still?"
"No. He died when I was nine."
He inwardly flinched. "I'm sorry."
"Thanks. He was a good man." Regan nudged his shoulder companionably. "A professor, like you. I miss him terribly."
"I can't imagine. Cye lost his dad when he was really young, too. His mom largely raised him and his older sister by herself."
Regan grimaced. "I heard about that. That's rough. I've wanted to meet his mother since we got here. Robyn speaks so highly of her. But I certainly feel for Cye; it's a life changer."
"It couldn't have been easy for you, your brother, or your mom."
She smiled faintly, but it wasn't a fond smile. "My mother … well. Our situation certainly did change. We don't have a fraction of the control we think we do over some of the circumstances we find ourselves in."
Rowen both shunted that idea and recognized the truth in it. There was a weariness underlying her words that something inside him— the part of him that willingly donned armor to fight in a war as a teenager—answered to, and understood. He wanted to do something to chase that look off her face, but she seemed to shake herself out of it.
"This has been a long lunch, Professor, and I have to get back to work. Why don't we grab something on the run and you can tell me about your parents?"
When he dropped her off at her office, Regan gave him a look of such appreciation and pleasure that his heart stuttered. "Thank you for taking me there," she said. "That was very considerate of you."
He shrugged, his throat suddenly tight. "I didn't really go out of my way; it's at my work, after all."
"It mattered to me," she replied. Regan gave him a friendly squeeze. "You're all right, Hashiba," she finished teasingly.
"Why are you grinning at your phone, you weirdo?"
Regan put her cell down and glanced up at Robyn. "What's wrong with that?"
"You've been doing it all afternoon. I haven't seen you use your phone that frequently in…like never."
"I go through phases with it. The phone and I, we have a love-hate relationship. How was your visit with Cye and Kento?"
Robyn's face lit up. "It went great!"
The redhead regaled her with the tale of her visit, and Regan had to fight the urge to check her phone again. She'd exchanged phone numbers with Rowen last week, and spent an inordinate amount of time talking to him. He was just so damn funny! It was even hard to let it be at night, when she had to go to bed—he was a night owl, and she'd often wake up to a handful of texts and links to funny or interesting articles that he'd sent her throughout the night. Those texts were fast becoming the highlight of her mornings.
"…anyway, I was thinking we could grab lunch this Saturday, maybe walk around some of the districts, if I don't get called in to work."
Regan looked at her friend guiltily. "Babe, I wish I could, but I can't. I have plans. How about Sunday?"
Robyn sighed dramatically. "How does that even work? You have like no other friends here but me and your coworkers, and suddenly you have weekend plans. But I had to practically bribe my friends to spend time with me."
"That is not true and you know it." Another twinge of guilt accosted Regan. She knew she should just say she was going to Rowen's presentation, but for some reason, she wanted to keep this occasion to herself. Not to intentionally exclude Robyn, but to have a chance to feel out…whatever this was. Probably nothing. He was Robyn's friend, someone she happened to like spending time with, and it's not like Rowen invited Regan; he hadn't. He talked about it all week, and as his mannerisms grew agitated she could tell that he was a bit nervous. He cared far more about what people thought of him than he ought to.
He needed a little support. Regan could spare a few hours out of her day to do that, after he'd been kind enough to show her art created by one of her favorite architects.
That's all it was.
Rowen wasn't two minutes into his presentation when he spotted her.
He'd been warming up into his subject, getting himself into the headspace where the only thing that mattered was the science and his work and not the dozens of stares from around the room.
For a second, he thought his mind conjured her up. He only saw Regan when he popped in to surprise her at work to have lunch, and occasionally when he visited Robyn and she was home. Sure, they texted and sometimes talked on the phone, but he'd convinced himself that she was just amused by him and carried on because he was friends with Robyn.
But there she was. In the seventh row. When their eyes met, she gave him a bright smile and a little wave.
Had he been nervous? Had his heart beat this fast earlier? Rowen couldn't see the color of her eyes from this far, but he could picture their soothing depths in his mind.
He must have hesitated too long, because she was now gesturing for him to continue. Rowen cleared his throat, apologized for the delay, and breezed through the rest of the presentation.
By the applause he must have done well, but he ended up getting more annoyed than anything when he was stopped on his way through the room. He didn't see her for a few minutes, which made him think with increasing disappointment that she might have slipped out because she had other plans or didn't want—
"Wonderful presentation, Professor."
Rowen turned to find her standing behind him. "You hardly had to dance at all," she continued, her own eyes dancing. "They practically threw the money at you."
"I'm a terrible dancer anyway," he answered, his throat dry. "Regan?" She raised her eyebrows.
"Thank you for coming."
"You're welcome."
"Can I take you out to dinner?" As soon as he blurted it out, he felt heat rush to his cheeks. You could still be misinterpreting this, he warned himself. She's not even from here; she's just a nice person, albeit a hilarious, brilliant, gorgeous person, that he insinuated himself upon and bothered all the time and she tolerated—
"I would love that."
Regan's smile was almost…shy. If he didn't know any better, he'd say a little color tinged her cheeks, too. Rowen smiled so hard it made his face hurt. "Yeah?" She nodded. "Okay. That's…all right then. How about tonight?"
She laughed happily. "I'm free."
Robyn must have been near the door, she answered it shortly after the first knock. Her brilliant smile lit up her face when she saw who had stopped by.
"Rowen! Hi!" She paused when she noticed what he was wearing. A blue dress shirt, sleeves rolled to the elbows, and a darker tie. "Why are you dressed all fancy?"
Rowen opened his mouth, but no words came out. His brows furrowed. Did she not know why he was here?
"Oh, hey, right on time," Regan called from the hallway, trying to finish putting in her earrings. "Sorry, I'm the one who's running a little late."
"Late for what?" Robyn asked, cutting off Rowen's reply. She looked from one two the other. Both were dressed nice, both were expecting each other to be dressed nice.
Regan was still on automatic. Her brain hadn't stopped since that morning. Her thoughts were still going at full speed as she attempted to run home and get herself ready for the evening. "Just going to dinner. I won't be out too late."
"You and Rowen are going out to dinner together?"
The sharpness of Robyn's tone finally made Regan take pause. "Oh crap, I'm sorry, I forgot to mention it. Today just got so crazy. I barely had time to change my clothes. And we only talked about it earlier today at Rowen's presentation."
"Rowen had a presentation?" Robyn's voice rose an octave higher by the last word. She turned her wide-eyed gaze to Strata. "You didn't even mention it to me."
Rowen's collar suddenly felt a little tight. "I, uh..."
"You were working," Regan quickly said. "I just went for some moral support since he said during lunch-"
"You two have been having lunch together?" Her pitch was nearing the range of which only dogs could hear.
Regan winced at the tone. "Sorry?"
"You're sorry?!" Robyn demanded, her body language livid. "For the past few weeks I've hardly seen you. I haven't heard shit from you." She pointed an accusing finger at Rowen. "And you two have been seeing each other without even telling me? What the hell? Are you trying to hide this from me?"
Both Regan and Rowen startled at the accusation, now fully realizing their mistake.
"No, of course not," Regan insisted. And then she realized, maybe that wasn't completely true. Could she really honestly say that for weeks she had just been too busy to mention this? No, in truth, a part of her had not wanted Robyn to get involved. Why? Was it because he was Robyn's friend first? Because Robyn had a larger claim on him? Did she see Robyn as a rival? Regan hadn't even stopped to think about what she was doing. Now she felt bad.
"You guys didn't even want me around," Robyn accused. "I wouldn't have cared that you were seeing each other. Why didn't you want to tell me?"
"I honestly didn't know that you didn't know," Rowen said.
"Shut up," Robyn snapped at him. "You didn't know because you don't talk to me AT ALL anymore. You're too busy flirting with my best friend. Both of you are sucky friends."
"You're right," Regan said. "We screwed up. I'm sorry. I don't know how to make this up to you. Do you... want to come with us?"
Robyn's sudden status of third wheel hit her full in the face. She looked at the two with utter disgust. "Ew, no. Hell no. Get out."
"Robyn..." Rowen started to say.
"I said get out." Her voice was going higher again in irritation. "Go eat dinner. I don't want to look at you. Get out."
Regan took a hesitant step across the threshold and Robyn slammed the door in their faces before they could say anything else.
The couple stood outside on the porch, staring at the door in silence.
"So, she yelled at us, but also told us to go out and have dinner." Rowen said in the silence. "Are we forgiven or not?"
They turned and began to walk toward the car.
"Forgiven eventually," Regan said. "After a while, I guess. Though we did screw up."
"I honestly thought you had told her," Rowen said thoughtfully. And he suddenly realized he should have known something was up when Robyn never texted or called him about it. He watched Regan over the hood, his car between them. "Why didn't you?"
Regan sighed. "I don't know. We were having so much fun."
"And you thought Robyn would tell you to stop?"
The dark-haired woman looked to the sky, shaking her head.
Rowen smirked. "You didn't want to share me. I feel so special."
"I'm sure you do," Regan snarked back and plopped herself into the passenger seat of the car. She hid her face in her hands, feeling like dirt, as Rowen slowly sat in the driver's seat and shut the door. Regan looked up when the car didn't start and she heard the distinct sounds of a phone.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm fixing this," Rowen said frankly.
"How?"
"I'm texting Sage."
Regan leaned over to see Rowen send the message "Go visit Robyn".
"How does that fix anything?" she asked.
"Are you kidding? There isn't a woman alive who wouldn't be overjoyed to see Sage standing on their doorstep."
A reply on Rowen's phone: "Why? What happened?"
He texted back. "Just visit her. Please."
"So, you just throw your best friend at women when you screw up?" Regan asked.
"Yeah. That's why I keep him around. His choice to stay single, not mine."
Sage's reply: "Fine."
She smirked at him. "All Sage's fault you're asking him to do this, I'm sure."
He smirked back before starting the car.. "He needs something to keep himself busy."
Regan looked back at the temporary home she shared with her best friend. A light of inspiration struck her brain. Maybe those two could keep each other busy.
Robyn sat at the table, drumming her fingers in irritation. She never expected her return to Japan to be this... lonely. This country was full of the most important people to her and they were all living their lives without her, moving further away and she was stuck in one spot, helplessly watching them go by. It felt like a wild breeze blowing everyone about, but for some reason, the wind could never reach her and she was stuck on the ground, watching them go by.
It was time to find her own breeze. Robyn grabbed her keys and left.
Twenty minutes later, Sage pulled up to Robyn's place. There was a bit of irritation in his stride, but his pace slowed as he neared the front door and couldn't see any lights coming from the windows. A knock on the door confirmed that no one was home.
His eyebrow twitched, feeling like someone just played a joke on him.
"Rowen," he growled as he dug into his pocket for his phone.
"What's another bad decision that you instantly regretted?" Regan took a sip of wine and added,
"I already feel terrible, might as well ride it through."
Rowen chewed thoughtfully. "When I was twelve, I was mad at my mother for something, and I laid on so much long distance guilt that she flew all the way home. I threw that fit just to see if she would do it. She lost an assignment she'd been looking forward to for months. She probably spent twenty-three thousand yen—close to two grand—when it was all said and done."
Regan winced. "God, I'll bet you felt terrible."
"I felt like scum on the bottom of her shoe, mainly because she didn't really get mad at me for it."
"Ouch." Regan topped off his wine glass for that one.
"All right, now you go."
She sat back in her chair, staring off in the distance at the pretty light fixtures of the restaurant while she thought. He took a moment to admire how the candlelight turned her skin golden brown, deepened the color of her long hair until it was almost black. She wore a soft blue maxi dress that accentuated her figure.
"You look fantastic, by the way," he noted.
Rae gave him a dazzling smile. "Thank you. You're quite dashing yourself. Blue is a good color on you."
His mouth quirked up. She had no idea. "It looks great on you, too. Now guilt: lay it on me."
"Okay." She took a deep breath. "I've got one. A few years ago, I was so angry with my brother that I left him at a bar in downtown San Francisco—I mean, I took the car and didn't check to see if he had cab money to get home. I don't even remember what we were arguing about. It was pretty heated, and that rarely happens. He made it home, and I found out he was almost mugged trying to hail a cab."
"Oh, damn, Rae."
"I haven't felt this awful since that night. I was so upset with myself. He didn't hold it against me, either, which made me feel even worse."
"We're getting dessert for that one."
She laughed. "Cheers for stupid decisions."
They clinked glasses and drank. As Rowen put his glass down, his phone began to vibrate. He almost ignored it, but if it was Robyn…He pulled it out of his pocket, and saw that it was Sage.
"Hey, what's—"
"Where are you, Rowen?"
"I am at dinner," he responded nonchalantly. "Aren't you supposed to be somewhere?"
"I'm at Robyn's. No one is here. What's going on?"
"What? Hold on." Rowen placed his palm over the receiver and then said to Regan. "Sage says no one's at your place."
Regan's eyes widened a little. She pulled out her purse and dug for her cell phone, instantly calling Robyn's number. It was answered on the second ring.
"What?" Robyn's flat voice spoke.
"You're not at home," Regan accused. "Where are you?"
"Out," Robyn said with clear irritation. Then she cut the call.
Robyn hung up her phone and then, as an afterthought, turned it off. She didn't want to hear from Regan for the rest of the night, she was still mad at her. Robyn shoved the phone into her pocket and then looked back up at the building before her.
It was the same dilapidated old construct she saw every day on the way to work. Its walls grayed with age, most of its windows broken. It was a creepy old building and it called to her with a voice she had been trying to ignore. No longer. This was her breeze and she had been resisting it.
The steel door to the building was set ajar and it was difficult to make it open more than a few inches wider. Once inside, Robyn listened to the stillness before switching on her flashlight. The building gave off a very distinct unsettling vibe, but she was immune to that. It was the possibility of running into any unscrupulous characters that made her wary. The place seemed to be devoid of the living, so she wandered in further.
Most of the building was gutted and bare, leaving nothing but a big, wide space and steel beams leading up to the ceiling. Robyn wasn't really sure what she was looking for, she never was in these situations, but the pull of this place was strong and it guided her.
She ended up at the far wall, her light directed as if by invisible hands to land upon a series of emblems and etchings drawn upon the concrete above her head. Cold seemed to radiate from that spot. Cold and something malevolent. Someone had been playing with something they weren't supposed to. They had, whether on purpose or by accident, opened a portal to darkness. And it was leaking out.
No sooner had she discovered this, did Robyn get the sense that, even though she was the only person in the building, she was not alone. Her scalp tingled as something darker than the shadows moved toward her. Coming from all directions, it slithered from its hiding place to converge upon its victim. As it was about to strike, Robyn spun to face it and from her came an invisible, but very real force that shattered everything. The colliding energy burst in all directions, blowing her red hair this way and that. Then, all was still and the feeling inside the building was completely different.
Though she hadn't been gone all that long, the lights were on when Robyn got home. Regan and Rowen were sitting on the couch in the living room, Sage on the extra chair. They all stood when she entered. Robyn raised a curious brow at the unexpected guests but said nothing. She still wasn't in the mood to talk to two out of the three people there.
Regan, however, was taken aback as she more than just saw Robyn's entrance. She could feel the redhead's presence.
"Where have you been?" she accused. "I thought we agreed you were going to stop coming back like... like this."
The two men had no idea what she was talking about, but Robyn knew. When darkness called her, even though she would disperse it, it would linger upon her for hours, sometimes days afterward. It stuck to her like cat hair and she would track it home like one tracks in mud. Regan hated it.
Robyn fixed a look upon her. "You told me to get a hobby. And then you stopped telling me anything else. I don't have to report to you and you don't have to treat me like a child when I go out at night."
Robyn was about to leave when Sage stood in her way. He looked her over, his violet eyes transfixed on more her aura than her physical form. Sage could feel it, too. Probably far more acutely than Regan could. Robyn didn't really feel up to talking to him either and was going to move right past him when he put an arm around her and pulled her in for a slight hug.
The energy stirred again, much more subtly this time. This close to him, Robyn was momentarily aware of the armor of Halo's presence around him. Then, everything felt neutral. The darkness she dragged in was gone as easy as blinking an eye.
"I'm sorry our friends are being particularly pesky tonight," Sage said lowly.
"You, too, huh?" she asked. Robyn still wasn't sure what Sage was doing there, but she was sure he was annoyed at Rowen because of it.
The blonde and the redhead both glared at the couple that had inconvenienced them that day. Rowen shifted uncomfortably under their gazes. Regan, however, was focused on the energy change. She knew it had come from Sage. Was it because he was such a spiritual person? And the two of them, Sage and Robyn, standing as a united front against her and Rowen, Regan couldn't help but think they were cute together. A secret plan began to form in her brain. She could remedy this.
"I'm going home now," Sage then announced and walked out without any further good-byes.
"And I'm going to my room," Robyn said.
Regan wanted to say something, but knew she'd make it worse. She flinched a little when the redhead's door shut forcefully.
"I owe you an apology, too," she said to Rowen, feeling deflated. "This wouldn't have happened if I had handled this better. I didn't want her mad at you."
"I excel at making people mad," he joked.
She smiled slightly. "I'll walk you out to your car."
They stepped outside in silence. He had his keys in his hand when he confessed, "I'm not an innocent, injured party here either. I couldn't believe you wanted to keep seeing me, so my vision kind of tunneled." He paused and tilted his head at her. "Would you still want to? Just, you know, smarter?"
Regan laughed softly. "We could try it again. I'll call you." She stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek, getting close enough to catch the wonderful scent of him. "Goodnight, Rowen."
He angled his head to steal a quick, soft kiss on her lips, and had the pleasure of making her blush. "Goodnight, Rae. Tomorrow will be better."
That night, Robyn lay awake in bed, surrounded by darkness. Her door squeaked open and a few seconds later, she felt another body climb in bed with her. Most of the time, the two of them were fully functioning adults. But there were times they reverted back to the children they were when they first met.
"Bad dreams?" Robyn finally asked after several moments of silence.
"Bad day," Regan sighed to the back of her head.
"It's your own fault."
"I know. I'm sorry."
"I don't understand why you did it," Robyn said, her back still to her friend. "Why didn't you want to tell me?"
Regan sighed much louder, staring at the ceiling, one arm beneath her head. "I don't know. I got selfish, I guess. I enjoyed Rowen's company and I didn't want to share his time with you. And I really wanted to see where this was going by myself. I didn't expect to like him this much."
"I didn't expect you to bail on me the second a cute guy starts flirting with you."
"I wasn't…" Regan stopped herself. No, it wasn't her intention, but she did ignore Robyn pretty hard, however unintentional, for the past few weeks. "It was more just…He started showing up at my work, and then those afternoons were all I could think about it. I'd never clicked with anyone like that before. And I just got consumed with it."
"Understatement. Did you even take your medication when you went to dinner?"
Regan furrowed her brow, then sighed. "Damn."
"You better. If something happens and you missed a dose, you will be in a world of hurt."
"Well, that just drives your point home, doesn't it?" Regan murmured. "Not talking to you about it or sharing it with you, when he's your friend, too, was thoughtless, and I really am sorry. I never want to bail on you. Please don't think that you're not still important to me."
"I know. It just really hurt my feelings."
Robyn let Regan shift closer and rest her head on Robyn's shoulder. They were silent for long minutes. "I'm sorry, too, for freaking out when you came back," Regan finally said quietly. "I just hate it when you do that without telling me."
"Well, what was I supposed to do? I was mad at you, and I'm good at this. You have to learn to trust me with that, like I trust you. I'm not an infant."
Regan heard the frustration in Robyn's voice. "No, you're not," she said slowly. "It just scares me, if something were to happen and I wasn't there to help. I'll work on it, though. I promise." She ended with a whispered, "I'm not asking you to forgive me now. I just wanted to tell you that I know I messed up and I hurt you. That I'll communicate with you more and balance this better. We can talk about it more tomorrow or drop it, whatever you want."
The brunette kissed the back of Robyn's head and rose to leave.
Despite not yet being ready to think about her and Rowen's relationship in a positive light, Robyn felt a sliver of regret for some of her earlier angrier thoughts, like wishing their dinner went horribly. She was still sore from it all, but love tempered the hurt feelings. She knew it'd eventually close the wound.
"Take your medicine, and come back if you want," Robyn offered.
She heard Regan in the bathroom a moment later, and after a few minutes the mattress sank as the brunette climbed back in.
