Chapter 14: Pièce de Résistance
Once Chris got all the cakes she'd made so far decorated and Amanda had finished their online orders, Chris waited for Amanda to get dressed so they could leave the apartment. Chris laid back on the bed staring up at the ceiling. Her mind couldn't stay on one thought process for more than five seconds before moving on to another. She felt like she had ADD.
"What are you doing?" Amanda asked, standing at the end of the bed looking at her. Chris was so in a trance that she hadn't noticed that Amanda had come out of the bathroom and was standing there staring at her.
"Ummm….I'm trying to think but it's really hard right now" she said sitting up. "I just….can't seem to focus". She took a deep breath and let it out in a huff. "Ok, you ready to go?" she asked, hitting herself on the thighs and then getting up from the bed.
"Uhh, yeah" Amanda answered, amused by Chris' weird mood. She grabbed her wallet, phone and keys and followed Chris out of the apartment. He watched them leave and immediately made his way into the building and up to their apartment. When he got inside he looked around and found the pictures of them on the table behind the couch. He smiled, knowing he was in the right place. He put his bag down and opened it up, revealing enough small cameras and wiring to give him a view of every room. He scanned the apartment trying to figure out placements that would give him the best angles. He knew he needed to move quickly because he didn't know when they would be back. He placed the cameras, hiding them strategically behind decorations already in place in the apartment. He made sure to clean up any plaster that had fallen loose from the holes he put in the walls and then quickly checked the set up on his computer. He smiled with content at the view of the apartment. His real work was about to begin. He logged off and shut down his computer, packed everything up and slipped out of the apartment, returning to his command center to work. He didn't know that in just the couple of minutes he'd been logged on, he'd alerted them that he was watching.
Amanda and Chris took Chris' car so she wouldn't have to walk with all the groceries she picked up from the store. She dropped Amanda off with Fin and they kissed goodbye like a normal couple. This was all still a little foreign to Christina but she felt like she was doing a good job so far at being a fake wife and real girlfriend to Amanda. She took off to the store and left Amanda and Fin to themselves.
They'd both ordered and were now eating their food, making small talk. Amanda told Fin how she didn't appreciate them giving out so many business cards and making a website without telling them beforehand. Fin laughed and gave an insincere apology about the prank.
"What?" he asked still laughing. "It was your idea to run a bakery. You had to know you'd actually have to make a few cakes and bake a few cookies".
"First of all, the bakery was Chris' idea" she said correcting him, "and second, it's not just a few cakes and cookies. We got thirty five orders in by nine o'clock this morning" she said. Clearly not pleased. Fin just kept laughing. "Yeah, laugh it up. You're our delivery guy". He stopped laughing abruptly and stared at her, trying to figure out if she was serious.
"I hope you're joking" he said. She shook her head.
"Uh un" she murmured. "We talked about it this morning. Christina wants to hire help so….you're hired" she said with a smug grin. "What? No more laughin'?"
"Yeah, alright, you got me" he said in defeat. "So Chris really knows what she's doing with the desserts huh?"
"Oh yeah" Amanda said nodding her head, "You should have seen her this morning. She looked like Susie homemaker". He laughed at the image. "She didn't want my help though. Said I'd probably mess somethin' up".
"You would" Fin said simply. "You know you can't cook".
"I am not that bad" she said offended by Chris' and now Fin's opinion of her kitchen skills.
"Yeah right" he said, dipping his fries in ketchup before eating them. "So, things are good then, between you and Chris?" he asked.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't they be?" He shrugged his shoulders.
"No reason" he said waving the waitress over. "Can I get another order of fries?" he asked nicely. She nodded her head and went to put his new order in.
"Did you say something to her?" she asked. Fin got a deer in headlights look but quickly tried to hide it.
"Naw, I didn't say anything" he said before finishing his soda.
"Really" Amanda said unconvinced. "What'd you talk about last night at the bowling alley?"
"You know, just, how things are going with you two. Just checkin' in" he said nonchalantly.
"Like you're just checkin' in with me right now?" she asked. He nodded. "I don't believe you. What'd you talk about?" she asked again.
"I could tell that she was a little uncomfortable at lunch yesterday and I just asked her about it that's all" he said honestly.
"And what'd she say?"
"You need to talk to her about that" he said.
"I did. She said you weren't talking about anything". Amanda could tell that Fin knew something that might fill in some blanks about why Chris was in such a bad mood the night before. "Last night, we agreed to stay together after….you know" she said leaving him to fill in the blank. She didn't know if anyone around them was listening to their conversation. Fin smiled knowing that Chris had taken his advice.
"Nice" he said. The waitress came over and sat his fries on the table and asked if they needed anything else. They both said they were ok and she left them to enjoy the rest of their lunch. "I kinda like the difference in you when she's around".
"What difference?" she asked curiously.
'You're, you know….softer".
"Softer?"
"Yeah. You're not such a hard ass" he said. Amanda laughed. "Don't get me wrong, you're still got it when we're workin' but you soften up when you're with her". Amanda couldn't argue with him. Christina definitely brought out the softer side of her.
"Well, I figure we can't both be behind brick walls all the time. Chris is…..so protective of everything. Herself mostly" she explained. "I just thought if I opened up a little that it'd be easier for her to open up with me too".
"I guess it's workin'" he said finishing up his fries. His phone started to ring in his pocket and he dug it out and answered. "You sure?" he asked into the speaker. "Ok, I'm with Amanda now. I'll let her know". He hung up the phone and looked over at Amanda. "That was TARU" he said in a lowered voice. "They're up". He didn't need to explain anymore. Amanda knew exactly what he was talking about. "They couldn't trace it. He wasn't on long enough" he said still whispering. "But they've got a view of every room".
"Uhh, I need to call Chris" she said pulling out her phone and dialing her number. She listened to the rings, waiting for Chris to answer. "Come on, hon pick up" she whispered as she impatiently waited.
Chris walked in the door with the last of her groceries and felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She kicked the door closed and walked into the kitchen, setting the bags on the floor before reaching into her pocket and pulling out her phone. She saw Amanda's name on the caller id and thought she might want her to come pick her up from lunch with Fin.
"Hey" she said finally answering. She picked up a few grocery bags and set them on the counter and started unpacking the food.
"Hey, are you home?" Amanda asked. Chris smiled at her thick southern twang and thought that she'd never get tired of hearing it.
"Yeah" she said putting away the groceries she didn't need for baking.
"Uh, well the….you know what's have been installed" she said quietly into the receiver. Chris stopped for a second to think about what Amanda was trying to tell her.
"The "you know what"?" she said thinking aloud. Then it dawned on her. "Oh, the y…yeah. Ok. I understand". She took a deep breath and mentally prepared herself for how she and Amanda were gonna have to speed up their relationship.
"Ok, so I'll be home soon" she said. Chris nodded as if Amanda could see her. "I love you". Chris' heart skipped a beat hearing those three sacred words. She didn't know if it was Amanda her fake wife saying it or Amanda her new girlfriend. Either way, it freaked her out. She decided to go with the fake wife and not think too much more about it.
"I…I love you too" she said a bit hesitant to let the words roll off her tongue. "I'll see you in a little bit". They said their goodbyes and hung up the phone. Chris kept her composure and went on about her task of putting away the groceries like she didn't know she was being watched. Amanda and Fin settled the bill for their lunch and left. Fin dropped Amanda at the apartment and went on about his day. Amanda went upstairs to the apartment and went inside to Christina still in the kitchen. She was on the phone arguing with her father.
'Well, what do you want me to do, papa. I'm not there" she said. She turned around and saw Amanda. She smiled and held up a finger, asking her to wait one minute. Amanda nodded and looked at all the orders on the table and counter that Chris had done so far. They were all decorated and packaged, some in white cake boxes and others on nice silver platters covered with colored cellophane paper. Amanda was really impressed with what she'd gotten done so far. "You're too soft with her. You act like she's gonna break" Chris said putting another batch of cookies in the oven. "Necesitas para poner tu pie abajo". She looked at Amanda who looked back at her with an amused expression on her face. "Papa, listen to me. She's working you, ok. She cries and says she's sorry and you fall for it every time. You need to step up. Dile que este conduta es inaceptable y que no vas a aguantar con el". She leaned up against the counter and ran her hand through her hair, obviously wanting to be done with the conversation. "Well, if she keeps acting out then have her arrested for truancy. A night in lock up might do her some good". Amanda shook her head at Chris' suggestion. "Well, you did it to me and I turned out just fine" she said receiving raised eye brows from Amanda. She gave her a look that said "don't ask" and continued talking with her father. "Ok, papa, I have to go. I have to get back to work. I will stop by tomorrow if I have time and try to talk to her, ok? Ok. Yeah, love you too. Bye." She hung up the phone and put it down on the counter. "Hi" she said nicely. She walked over and pulled Amanda into her, kissing her sweetly on the lips. Both of them were thinking about the cameras that were up and tried to make their greeting seem as normal as possible.
"Hi" Amanda said back once they'd parted ways. "So you're sister's causing trouble again?" she asked, having gotten the gist of the conversation she just had with her father. Chris groaned.
"Yes. She skipped school….again. My parents don't like to punish her. They think she'll hate them for it later. So they like for me to do it because, you know, younger sisters are supposed to hate their older sisters. They just baby her so much it drives me nuts". She picked up a bowl of icing and started to spread it over one of the cakes.
"You never told me you went to jail as a kid" Amanda said picking up another bowl of icing. Chris saw her and her eyes got big. "What? The cake is already done. I can't mess it up" she said. "Now which cake is this for?" Chris pointed to the chocolate cake on the end. "So about this juvenile arrest. Out with it?" she said as she started to cover the cake with icing.
"It was a mistake" Chris said receiving an unconvinced look from Amanda. "It was. I mean, yeah I used to get into trouble but that time, it wasn't me. My parents of course didn't know that. They thought I was up to no good again so they let me sit in a cell all day and half the night. Finally, the cops caught the kids who actually did do it and they let me go. That's when I met my mentor, Angela. You remember, I told you about her?". Amanda nodded her head remembering an earlier conversation she'd had with Chris about how she became interested in being a cop. "She helped me get on the straight and narrow and now….here I am".
"So I married an ex-con?" Amanda asked jokingly.
"More like a wrongly accused teenage delinquent" she said starting the decorations on her cake. Amanda reached for one of the decorating bags and Chris slapped her hand. "Oh no you don't. Here, you can ice these cakes over here" she said handing her the biggest bowl of icing she'd made for the largest order they'd gotten that day. "No decorating for you". Amanda took the bowl from her and began icing the cakes while Chris did the decorations. She thought about how good they were doing so far and wondered if it was as effortless for Chris as it was for her. She hadn't thought about the cameras at all during their conversation. She hoped it was the same for Christina.
He sat in his room watching them in the kitchen baking like a couple of housewives. He hadn't pegged them as the baking types. "Too butch" he thought to himself. He listened to them talk about her problems with her sister and trouble as a teenager. "That sounds more like it" he said. "A rebel". He'd yet to find out what their names were and was waiting rather impatiently for an opportunity to arise where they had to use them. He turned and looked at the wall behind his computer setup at the shrine he'd built. Dozens upon dozens of pictures of his previous victims were taped to the wall. The final pictures he'd taken of them were adorned with a red x, denoting a job completed. He got up and walked over to a small stand with a jewelry box on top. He opened it up and scanned the collection of rings, remembering every detail of his crimes as his eyes moved from one to the next. "And the best is yet to come" he said in his a sinister tone.
"Amanda" he heard from one of the monitors. He quickly closed the box and went back over, taking a seat in front of his many screens.
"Yeah". He saw they blonde walk out of the bedroom back into the kitchen.
"Amanda" he whispered, caressing her face on the screen.
"Fin's here to take these and deliver them" Chris said packing up the orders they'd finished together. "You have the addresses?" she asked. Amanda nodded and went over to the computer. She printed out a list orders, their numbers, and corresponding addresses. While she was at the computer she sent out texts and emails telling customers their orders were in route. She grabbed the list from the printer and took it over to Fin and then they helped him to the car with all the bags. While they were outside he told them that TARU was able to intercept his video feed, visual and audio but they couldn't track his location. Apparently this guy knew what he was doing and was switching servers too quickly for them to pin point a place. It'd be up to them to keep his interest and draw him out. Once everything was situated in his car, they thanked him for the help and the update, then returned to the apartment. Chris went over to the couch and laid down while Amanda went back to the computer, having seen a couple more orders had come in.
"Hey, I was thinking" she said still looking at the computer screen, "we should register as a new business. Do all those annoying papers for taxes and what not and then find a place that delivers baking goods in bulk. That way it's cheaper and you don't have to keep going to the store". Chris didn't say anything. "Honey, did you hear me?" she asked. She still got no response. She turned around to see her laying on the couch with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep. "Chris….Christina" she said a little louder.
"Um hum" Chris mumbled. "Register, get stuff in bulk. I heard you" she said keeping her eyes closed. Amanda looked at her laying there and couldn't help the smile that grew on her face. She didn't know if she should but she felt really lucky. Chris seemed like the most unobtainable person and yet she was willing to try to change her single mentality to be with her. She got up and went over to the couch, laying down between Chris legs with her head on her on her chest. Chris brought her hand up to play with Amanda's hair. "Uhmmm" she moaned, "you smell good".
"That's because I showered" Amanda whispered receiving a small laugh from her girlfriend.
"Oh, is that how that works?" Chris asked jokingly. Amanda nodded.
"Yeah, that's how it works" she said, "You want to try it?" Chris shook her head.
"Uh un. Too tired" she said still running her fingers through Amanda's soft, blonde locks. After a few minutes, Amanda felt her hand stop moving through her hair. She looked up and saw that Chris was fast asleep. She pulled the blanket that was folded over the back of the couch down to cover them and joined her to take a nap. He watched on the screen, enchanted by them. They weren't like the other couples. They had been settled, structured, locked into a routine. It was obvious that they'd been together for many years. But these two, they felt new, fresh; like their romance had just begun. He took a screen shot of them laying there together and printed it off. The first of many photos of them he planned to put on the wall. "Amanda and Christina" he said as he wrote their names above the newest picture in his collage. "My pièce de résistance".
Spanish to English Translations
Necesitas para poner tu pie abajo- You need to put your foot down.
Dile que este conduta es inaceptable y que no vas a aguantar con el- Tell her that her behavior is unacceptable and that you're not going to put up with it.