It was after midnight when Cobb was finally able to slip out of the hotel room and take a taxi across town to Saskia's hotel, which, of course, was the most expensive place in the city. He felt uncomfortable in his skin when he walked in the door and didn't stop at the counter. Most of the hotel staff and guests were too tired or drunk to notice him, but he was self-conscience and wondered if people thought he couldn't afford his rent payments, let alone an eight-hundred-dollar-a-night stay.
She was on the top floor. The blonde answered after two knocks. She'd changed into a white, over-sized button-up shirt—no pajama bottoms to be seen. "I would say that was more than a few hours, Dom. Do you mind me calling you Dom?"
His chest tightened as he entered her room. He gave Saskia a tight smile. "Let's stick to Dominick."
"Dominick it is, then." She grinned at him, and even reached out and swiped a finger along his jawline teasingly. Her eyes were beautiful and slightly squinted as she smiled.
And with that, he kissed her.
Several hours later, they lay in bed. Saskia had her cheek on his bare chest. Before Cobb realized it, he was tearing up. He hadn't been with anyone since Mal. His face flushed with embarrassment when Saskia turned her head and looked at him.
"What's wrong?"
He pinched the bridge of his nose and tried to gather himself. "It's nothing."
"C'mon, mister, you can tell Saskia. Tell me what plagues your heart." She rested her chin on his chest. The pins in her hair had slipped, giving her a half-feral appearance. With her index finger she tapped the center of his chest.
Cobb hesitated. Should he confide in her? He wasn't really looking for anything, and yet he'd been so drawn to Saskia... Her gaze was so innocent and open... He sighed. "It's…"
"Tell me."
He sighed again to collect his nerves. "Well… I haven't been the same since my mother-in-law took my kids… I haven't seen them since." Cobb snorted. "My little boy would love to see me. My daughter not so much…"
Saskia moved closer. "What are their names?"
"James and Phillipa."
"Beautiful names. Beautiful children? I bet they're as clever as their father, too?"
He nodded. "Yes," he replied. He flexed his jaw. January was on the horizon. He imagined his kids were enjoying their winter vacation. The last New Year's had been the first year that both the kids had made it to midnight. James had marveled at the fireworks and had said if he'd known, he would've tried harder to stay awake.
"You've gone away. Just now. You're miles away. Miles and miles."
Cobb blinked and cleared his throat. "I have difficulty staying present. It doesn't take much these days."
Saskia smiled. Her hand slipped between his legs to tease him. She pulled herself closer to his face and kissed him deeply. "Stay here. Don't stay here. Your mind is free to wonder with me. But I'll take care of you." She kissed him again.
Cobb drank in Saskia.
As soon it seemed like Cobb was back on his feet, mentally speaking, Arthur and Ariadne left town, back to business as usual. It was the start of the new year. News that he was seeing Saskia did not cross Cobb's lips. He had no intention of forgetting Saskia, and he didn't want the couple to worry that he was diving into a relationship with someone they weren't too fond of. And while she was around, it made staying at his house possible.
Arthur had been right; the forger was impulsive. But her "impulsivity" was welcomed with open arms. It distracted Cobb and was innocent. It hardly counted as impulsivity. The young woman just had a habit of doing what she wanted. No holding back. Whenever the idea walked into her head. That was all.
Saskia had unlimited energy. But to anyone who wasn't Cobb, a lot meant that it wasn't a struggle to clean up after dinner, do laundry, or get out of bed. At least with her around, she got him to do things he never would have done himself. She revived him. Resuscitated. Got his blood flowing again.
Saskia wanted to see the city before she had to leave and Cobb gladly acted as her guide. She liked to walk into ice cream shops and order the strangest flavor they offered just to see what it was like. Most of the time, she didn't like it, and Cobb asked her why she couldn't just ask for a sample so that she could enjoy her purchase. She'd shrugged. Samples ruined the fullness of the surprise, and the surprise was what she was after, not the taste.
And it wasn't until she woke him up to go watch the sunrise did he learn that it was something she did nearly every dawn. It bought her a quiet few moments to herself; a relic of when she'd lived with thirty other children—she hadn't elaborated on that, and he hadn't asked. Saskia also had a sweet spot for the destitute, handing homeless persons a lot more than just her spare change.
Cobb blinked. "Saskia, you just gave that woman a hundred dollars." He looked over his shoulder at a greasy-haired woman with open sores, cracked lips, and tattered clothing.
They continued down the street, holding hands. "It will do more for her than it does me."
"It's going to straight into a needle. I can guarantee—"
"So? Even so she'll have some relief from her shitty life." Saskia then whispered conspiratorially, "I am a dream thief. That is how I had those hundred dollars. Why should I judge her?"
After two weeks, she brought him her PASIV and invited him to use it. He'd initially declined—he really had never wanted to touch one again—but after a few days of seeing the PASIV parked on his dining room table, and knowing that Saskia would have to go back to work soon, he conceded. They spent time under, abusing real world human limitations that were stripped away in a dream. Using Saskia as the dreamer had been Cobb's only condition, though once she'd sweet-talked him into showing her the kind of dreams he could create, too. For ten minutes in dream time, he'd given her days and days' worth of marveling and inspired chatter. Thereafter, her own dreamscapes grew more vivid.
Too bad she managed to offend Arthur's less-than-spontaneous sensibility, Cobb thought as he swung open his front door with a bag of groceries for dinner.
"Dommy!"
He was startled when Saskia, standing right on the other side of the door, attacked him with a hug. A grin tightened her cheeks. She grabbed his elbow and pulled. "Come this way. I have something for you."
Cobb chuckled. "What is it, Saskia? Give me a sec."
She then took his grocery bag, set it down on the ground, and went around behind him. "Oh, I know you're just going to love me for this!"
He allowed her to steer him. "Oh, will I?" He realized he was steering up the stairs, probably to his bedroom.
"Yes!" Once he'd cleared the top of the stairs with a little difficulty, she covered his eyes with her delicate hands pushed him to walk faster. Her hands shook over the skin of his face.
"Ahh, I see…"
She giggled. "Not what you think."
The walk to his bedroom seemed much shorter when his eyes were closed... His bedroom was at the end of a hallway, and he knew something else was up when she stopped him at one of the rooms along the hallway. The room on the left. James's bedroom. When Cobb heard Saskia open the door, and when she dropped her hands Cobb blinked.
He gaped in horror.
His son was sitting on the bed.
"Surprise!" Saskia laughed.
"Dad!" James ran up to Cobb and hugged his side. "Dad!"
Cobb turned to Saskia, turning sharply with James still attached. "What did you do?"
"I thought this would make you hap—"
"No!" Cobb shouted, but then recollected himself. "No, I mean… you can't just kidnap kids. This is kidnapping."
Sakia frowned and crossed her arms. "Your mother-in-law doesn't have custody. You gave him up on your own freewill."
"Regardless, Marie is his guardian."
"But this makes you happy? Your children—it's nearly all you talk about, how they were taken from you. How very much you miss them."
"Daddy?" James asked, his voice thin and brittle with confusion.
Cobb went down on his knee and James wrapped his arms around his neck. "Of course I miss my son and daughter, but this isn't the solution." He asked his son, "Where's your sister?"
"I don't know…" James looked at Saskia.
Cobb turned to Saskia and she answered for James, "She's still with your mother-in-law."
"How did you even get James?"
"He wanted to see Dad—"
"No, how did you find him? How did you get him? How?"
"I looked through your records on his school. Then I waited for your mother-in-law to pick him up. I did this for a couple days, following them. You have pictures everywhere."
At that moment, Cobb cringed. Saskia had done so little work to locate his children. What was stopping other people from doing the same, or even doing an internet search on honor roll students or any of the other activities James was in? He shook that runaway train of anxiety out of his head. That was beside the point at that moment. He was surprised Marie hadn't called him yet.
"He was dropped off at the house today while the grandmother and your daughter went back into town."
"I don't like shopping for clothes," James remarked.
"You should speak to your son about going with strangers."
James furrowed his brow. "But you said you were good friends with Dad and Arthur. And you took me home. That doesn't make you a stranger… does it?"
Cobb's face burned. "She's okay. Don't worry." He shook his head.
Saskia looked away. He didn't think she understood the gravity of the situation, and now he had to act quickly. This mistake could easily prevent him from seeing his children until they became legal adults.
He called Marie's number and left the room. He knew there would be an argument, and he didn't need James to hear it.
Marie picked up on the first ring.
"What do you want?"
