Part 19
Harper brought his hands up to cover his face once Doyle had left the room with words that had hit him hard, desperately trying to keep his emotions together. Taking some deep breaths, he couldn't stop himself as tears threatened.
"Harper?" Sembler's voice approached. "Hey, you ok?"
"Yeah," Harper managed, quickly composing himself.
"I swore she would hit you, she didn't hit you?" Sembler checked as well as he could as Harper tried to hide his face. "Well that's good, bruises always scares the customers."
Harper nearly jumped as a loud crashing noise erupted in front of him, and he looked at a set of heavy keys now in front of him.
"It's yours, I'm needed elsewhere now," Sembler declared.
"I don't want it," Harper shook his head, his voice less than enthusiastic.
"You need it," Sembler put his hand firmly on Harper's shoulder. "Trust me; this place will kill you if you don't take this."
"But," Harper desperately tried to keep it together.
"Hey, now you're boss you can sack the bar maid, might cheer you up," Sembler suggested.
Harper couldn't help the smirk, as he slowly picked the keys up and felt the weight of them in his hand. "Where are you going?"
"Someplace not near or far, I need to be out of sight for a bit," Sembler returned cryptically. "Been waiting a long time for this day, you've finally given it to me."
"Do you have to go now? Can't you stay for a few days, like old times?" Harper asked, as he slowly recovered his composure.
"I would love to recreate those wild nights, where we'd have to keep you hidden from the tech police and then drink the town dry, but alas, I need to go," Sembler simply said. "Look after the bar, and the bar will look after you," he grinned and before Harper could protest, Sembler picked up a bag that had been in the corner and left the room.
Harper felt the weight of the keys once more, and then shakily got to his feet keeping a firm hold of them. Moving to the door he entered the bar and was hit by the noise and voices that filled the area, he glanced over to Kalika, who seemed even more radiant in the low lighting before he walked to Doyle.
"You ok to lock up tonight?" Harper simply asked and offered the keys to her.
"I'll be fine, and I'll open up in the morning, eleven am," Doyle answered.
"Thanks," Harper offered a brief smile.
"Is that," Doyle gestured to Kalika.
"A friend, just a friend," Harper shrugged distantly.
"You were ill," Doyle acknowledged. "Nearly died," she added.
"Yeah, fit again now," Harper tensed, just wanting to leave the bar now.
"I will have to thank your friend one day," Doyle simply spoke, before pocketing the keys and returning to work.
Harper turned on his heels, and returned to Kalika. Taking his drink he quickly finished it and then offered his hand. "We should go."
"Are you ok?" Kalika asked with concern.
"I'm fine," Harper responded, preoccupied with the need to leave.
"You look unsettled," Kalika observed.
"So would you if you'd just been given ownership of this dive," Harper answered, as he walked with Kalika towards the exit.
"You own this place?" Kalika checked. "I thought that guy was joking!"
"Jokes on me," Harper frowned, not really fully understanding exactly what was going on his life, and was too tired to try and figure it out.
"Are you sure you're alright? You seem a little upset," Kalika asked with care, once they had left the bar and walked out into the cooling night air.
"Seeing Doyle again," Harper began but failed to continue as he stopped and looked away from Kalika.
"Old flame?" Kalika guessed.
Harper snapped his attention back to her. "No!"
"Oh," Kalika offered. "Just the way she acted like she owned you," she added.
"She doesn't act like that," Harper dismissed softly. "It's not like that," he sighed, as he looked up into the night's sky.
Kalika moved closer, and checked Harper's face, bringing her hand up to his cheek. "You've been crying."
"No," Harper tried to move away, but Kalika stopped him.
"You're eyes are red, puffy," Kalika observed. "What did Doyle say to you?"
"It doesn't matter," Harper backed away.
"It does matter, Seamus, it matters to me," Kalika offered. "I care about you," she added, and he looked at her with some confusion.
"You wouldn't understand," he frowned, and began to walk.
"Seamus, try me," Kalika caught him, and took his hand.
Harper stopped and looked at Kalika, her hand still clutching his. "I don't know if I can," he admitted. "I mess things up," he offered but his words were not flowing easily, as he struggled to continue. "Kalika, just promise me something, ok?"
"Ok," Kalika rapidly agreed, only too eager to help.
"Don't expect anything of me, ok? Not ever, regardless, because I'll just end up upsetting you and I don't like myself when I do that to people, and it's usually a lot," Harper explained, looking troubled.
"You haven't let me down so far," Kalika smiled warmly.
Harper smirked. "I've been unconscious and sick for most of that time," he reminded her.
"Still didn't let me down," Kalika argued. "You woke up, you talked and you got better," she added.
"It's all downhill from here, then," Harper frowned, and found Kalika playfully punching him. "Ow! You're supposed to be taking care of me!" he grinned.
"It's all downhill from here," Kalika teased and grabbed his hand again.
"So, what now?" Harper asked, looking around the deserted streets.
"I'm taking you home," Kalika stated and began to walk.
"On our first date?" Harper mocked.
"Our first date?" Kalika checked and saw Harper froze.
"I mean, I was just teasing," Harper quickly explained. "Harper, foot, mouth, a common arrangement," he grimaced, hoping Kalika would crack a smile soon.
"Take me home, Seamus," Kalika stated, giving nothing away as to what she was feeling.
"Look, I didn't mean anything," Harper offered. "I didn't think."
"Why did you let me call you Seamus, when you still refer to yourself as Harper?" Kalika idly asked, ignoring his attempts to explain.
Harper hesitated, unsure of how to react and worrying that he could make things worse. "Force of habit, I've called myself Harper for so long," he shrugged.
"But you let me call you Seamus?"
"Beka calls me that too, sometimes," Harper offered.
"Does it mean anything that I can call your Seamus?" Kalika stopped, and Harper found they were outside the house now.
"Yeah, sure," Harper agreed. "I don't usually like people calling me that, but there are exceptions."
"Why?"
Harper closed his eyes, momentarily being reminded of the one question Doyle kept throwing at him. "Do I really have to explain myself?" he asked tiredly.
"I'm just interested to know," Kalika's tone was a lot softer than Doyle, and with a sigh Harper considered his answer.
"I changed my name, a few years ago when I was still on Earth," Harper admitted.
"Seamus isn't your name?"
"No, Seamus is my real name, but Harper isn't," Harper shrugged, and then seemed anxious. "I don't like people calling me Seamus because it reminds me of my old name, my Earth name, the name my parents gave me and died because of, so the name died the day they did."
"So what is your name?" Kalika asked interest.
"Seamus Doyle," Harper frowned, and partly shrugged uncomfortable suddenly by revealing something so personal.
"Doyle?" Kalika immediately picked up on the reference. "That lady was called Doyle," she stated, and Harper nodded his head. "Is she a relation?"
"Not exactly," Harper shrugged. "I built her."
"Built her?"
"She's an android," Harper saw the shock registering in Kalika's features.
"You built an android, and one that looks like that?" Kalika spoke slowly. "She looks so human, so real."
Harper shrugged again, a little uneasy and unable to know the right words to say. "Yeah, so human that even she's pretty pissed with me at the moment, long story," Harper offered with a heavy sigh.
"Your own android is annoyed with you?" Kalika seemed to be having some trouble comprehending the facts.
"Look, can we not discuss this, now? You just wanted to know about my name, I didn't want to talk about Doyle, so please?" Harper requested.
"So if the name Seamus reminds you of your old name, which I guess is not good because of what happened to your parents, and why you prefer Harper, then why let me call you Seamus?" Kalika then asked.
"Same reason I let, Beka, I trust you with it," Harper stared at Kalika now, his eyes focused on her as they spoke.
"That's quite something considering you've only known me a short while," Kalika admitted.
"I trust you," Harper repeated.
"Does Beka know the truth?"
"No, only you do now," Harper frowned.
"Who knew before me?" Kalika asked.
"Marika," Harper admitted, and took a deep breath. "But I didn't mean to tell her, she kind of found out by accident."
"By accident?"
"Torture, actually," Harper frowned.
"Oh," Kalika stated, and seemed concerned suddenly. "We should go inside, I'm sorry I shouldn't be asking these things, I'm forgetting myself."
"It's ok," Harper offered quietly, and walked Kalika to the house.
"So why did you call Doyle after yourself if you didn't like it?" Kalika asked, and then stopped. "Sorry, I shouldn't ask that, I should just shut up."
"I needed family by my side on Seefra," Harper simply said. "I had nothing else."
"So you called her Doyle?"
"I created her, she's almost family so it seemed right," Harper frowned. "Pretty stupid, huh?"
Kalika looked down, before meeting Harper's eyes, a brief smile. "Not stupid, not at all," she assured him, and put her hand on his arm with affection. "Seamus, you really are something else, you know that?"
"You think that?" Harper checked, and his stomach began to flip as he looked at Kalika with care, before their bodies seemed to come closer together.
The door suddenly opened and Kalika was pulled from Harper's hold, as her brother slammed the door in Harper's face. It took Harper a moment to get his bearings and when he did he heard the lock turn on the door, and he began hitting it.
"Hey, I live here too!" Harper yelled, and could hear Kalika's own protests from inside. "Let me in!" Harper demanded, his concern growing for Kalika hearing the raised voices. "Kalika, are you ok?" he shouted, still bashing the door.
"I'm fine, Seamus, I'm fine," Kalika spoke, once a silence descended.
"Get the hell out of here!" Lucas's voice was then heard.
"I'm sorry, Seamus," Kalika spoke. "I can't talk him around, he's been drinking, it's best not to push it, you should go, sorry."
"Where do I go?" Harper asked the door, wishing it would open and confused by developments. "This is my home."
"Sorry," Kalika simply repeated, and her words were genuine enough.
"It's ok," Harper offered, backing away. "But tell your brother that if he lays one finger on you, Kalika."
"Get out of here!" Lucas yelled loudly, and Harper stumbled back suddenly afraid when he heard the door being unlocked, and then saw Lucas appear and he started to give chase.
"No, Lucas, get back here!" Kalika panicked, as Harper ran into the night without looking back.
Doyle glanced around and saw that finally the last of the patrons had left for the night, and she could finally lock up. Collecting the remaining glasses, Doyle took her time as she made the place presentable and idly considered how things might change now that Harper was in charge. She had been pleased to see him, deep down, but couldn't trust her own instincts to be her own, and old feelings of betrayal had surfaced.
Moving to the entrance to lock the door, Doyle stopped and glanced outside. The night air was still and brisk, a chill left from the suns warmth being absent for a precious few hours. It was approaching the early hours of morning and there was no one else around but she sensed something. On hearing a cough she knew she recognised the sensation she was feeling.
"Harper?" Doyle spoke up as she walked along the outside wall, finding someone sat on the ground. "Harper!"
Harper looked up at Doyle through bleary eyes, and then coughed for a moment before Doyle helped him to his feet.
"You're freezing," Doyle remarked.
"It's cold out here."
"Why didn't you come inside?" Doyle berated.
"Because you hate me, didn't think I was welcome," Harper offered.
Doyle felt a sudden feeling of regret and frustration before helping Harper inside. "This place is now yours, not mine, Harper, and there's a bedroom out the back that I guess Sembler doesn't require anymore," Doyle offered. "What happened?"
"I screwed up, Doyle, like I always do," Harper mumbled.
"What happened to your friend?" Doyle asked, as she led him through to the back rooms.
"Like you care, Doyle, just lock up and go, don't worry about me," Harper dismissed with sudden anger and moved forward, as he grabbed a bottle from a crate on reaching the back room.
"I'll always care, Harper because you built me to care," Doyle countered.
"Whatever," Harper stressed no longer in any sort of mood to be reasonable, as he gulped down the contents of the bottle. "You know what, Doyle, don't bother with this pretence, you don't want to work for me so don't, be your own person, android, whatever, I don't care," Harper stressed. "If you had any sense you'd find Dylan and you'd do something more worthwhile than hanging around someone like me, trust me, you don't belong here."
Doyle could see that Harper was upset, and she knew this wasn't her friend of old speaking but he was right, she had been drawn to joining Dylan and Beka and felt that with not having killed Harper on first sight she might be able to win favour with them again. "If that's what you want, I will leave you to lock up," Doyle simply said, dropping the keys on the side, as Harper settled down to sleep. She waited for him to react but things had gone too far, and he had nothing more to say, so quietly she turned and left the bar, with no intentions of returning.
TBC