These chapters really end up being longer than I meant them to be. Eh, what are you gonna do? Anyway, you all are staying inside and staying safe. Don't risk getting sick for anything that isn't an emergency or absolutely necessary. Fill your time by reading fan fictions! This is the perfect time to do so!
Also, once again, we will be backing up a bit to where Klavier had just dropped off Apollo at work.
Chapter Nine – Take You to the Other Side
Apollo
I tried not to look too put together when I got into work. I certainly didn't want Mr. Wright and Trucy to think that something good was going on in my life and try to pry further into what happened after I had left. There was really nothing I could do about the fact that I was wearing the same clothes from yesterday, but I didn't think they would notice.
I guess I should have known that they would pick up on something. As soon as I stepped into the office, Trucy and Mr. Wright looked up from what they were doing and stared at me with wide eyes. I didn't even get the chance to ask why they were staring at me before they were on their feet and shouting.
"Oh my gosh, Polly," Trucy said coming over to me. "What happened to you yesterday?"
"What?" I started before getting interrupted by Mr. Wright.
"Look, I know you were kind of mad at me, but taking one day off of work couldn't have been that bad, could it?" he asked.
I stared in confusion at them. What was wrong with them? Surely I didn't look that bad, did I? I ran my fingers through my hair as I opened my mouth to ask them what they were talking about when I suddenly realized why they were freaking out.
"Guys," I said with a sigh. "Calm down. I just forgot to put hair gel on this morning."
I was cut off as Trucy suddenly threw her arms around me and sobbed in a loud voice. Mr. Wright had his face in his hands and was slowly sitting down, as if overwhelmed by everything around him. I couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh.
"It's really no big deal, Truce," I gasped as she squeezed the breath out of me. She didn't listen to me and it took a good five or six minutes to squirm out of her grasp. I immediately went over to my chair, ignoring them both, and pulled out the bottle of extra hair gel I kept specifically for moments like this.
When I came out of the bathroom after finally getting my hair in order (Gavin had run his hands through my hair while he was ravishing me so often last night that it looked like a mass of fly aways and frizz), I was annoyed to find Mr. Wright hyperventilating into a paper bag while Trucy was patting him on the back and weeping.
"Did you two forget to have breakfast or something this morning?" I wondered, going back over to my chair.
"Polly! You're ok!" Trucy exclaimed happily upon seeing me. I only barely managed to stop myself from rolling my eyes at her. It must have been a full moon tonight or something.
"Did you and Mr. Wright happen to find any more clues yesterday?" I asked her instead. Her face fell and she began shuffling her feet.
"Sorry Polly, no," she replied. "Even with daddy helping, we couldn't find anything that could help Mr. Curity."
"It's not your fault, Truce," I told her. "If we're having this much trouble, we can only hope that the prosecution is having just as hard a time. It was one of the cleanest crime scenes we've ever seen."
"The scene is also over a week old," Mr. Wright pointed out, turning to us thoughtfully. "I think at this point you would have better luck trying to find testimony and seeing which piece doesn't fit together."
"I don't know, Mr. Wright," I sighed. "If there were any witnesses, I think they would have come forward by now."
"There might not have been any witnesses to the crime," Mr. Wright agreed. "But there could be people who can verify alibis and tell us who came into the building and when. They can tell us if there was anyone who shouldn't have been there or if anyone was acting weird."
It was true. We were just looking at the case from one angle. If we couldn't find anyone to say who did the crime, perhaps we could find people who could tell us who didn't do the crime. We just had to turn our thinking around.
"I just hope we get to see the security tapes before the trial starts," I muttered. The first day of the trial would start on Monday. I was nervous about it for more than one reason.
I truly did believe that Mr. Curity was innocent, but it was going to be hard to find concrete proof. Something told me that we couldn't rely on just the security tapes for the entire trial, otherwise the police wouldn't have been as uncertain about their case as we were.
The other more obvious reason was my new secret relationship with Prosecutor Gavin. I didn't know what might happen when we met in court. I knew I wasn't going to let up on my defense as long as I believed my client innocent. But at the same time, could I really trust Gavin to do the same, thinking only of the case and not of me? I wasn't too sure.
I got a text from him around lunch time asking me out Saturday, but he used such annoyingly fancy metaphors that it took me a while to realize that was what he was doing. Making sure that Trucy and Mr. Wright were not watching, I quickly texted him back, also making sure to put my phone on vibrate. The last thing I needed was Trucy cheerfully asking who was constantly texting me.
Unfortunately, by the end of the day we still hadn't gotten word of the security tapes and I was afraid that I would be going into the trial with absolutely nothing. I made sure to send an angry text to Emma, stating how annoyed I was that I still hadn't gotten to see them. I didn't think it would take that long to watch them all or get clearance or whatever. If I couldn't watch them, how was I supposed to make a case on Monday?
"Hey Polly!" Trucy called suddenly just as I was stepping out of the office, breaking me out of my thoughts. I turned with a sigh, the day having drained all of my energy.
"What's up, Trucy?" I asked her, trying to keep the tiredness out of my voice.
"I was just wondering if you were doing anything tomorrow," she said, coming up to me with a smile. I stiffened but she didn't seem to notice as she continued. "It's the opening weekend for the new Grant Clark movie and I thought we could go together!"
I stared at her in confusion.
"Who's Grant Clark?" I wondered. She rolled her eyes and placed her hands on her hips.
"Come on, Polly!" she said. "Grant Clark! He's only the most famous actor at the moment! And he's absolutely beautiful! I've had a major crush on him since I first saw him." She started bouncing on the front of her feet, looking at me excitedly. "So, you wanna go?"
Now, in most sitcoms and cartoons, the protagonist would say yes in an effort to not disappoint their friend or let on that they already have other plans. Then "comedic" antics would happen as they go back and forth from the two people until it all came crashing down around them and the two people would find out about what was going on. I always hated that formula whenever I saw it happen in shows.
Thankfully, this story does not go like that and I was fully prepared to feel the full wrath of Trucy's disappointment.
"Sorry Truce," I told her gently. "I kind of already made other plans that I can't change." I tried not to flinch as her face fell. "But we can go on Sunday or sometime next week."
"I guess that's ok," she replied, brightening slightly. "So, what are these other plans?"
Shit. I should have known that she would ask me that. And I couldn't lie to her; she would pick up on it in an instant.
Before I could even answer, however, she smiled and shook her head.
"It's ok, Polly," she said. "I know you don't want to tell me. I can see it on your face; you're having a panic attack just thinking about it, so I won't pry."
I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. "Thanks Truce," I told her. "And I promise we'll hang out real soon, ok?"
"I'm holding you to that," she replied.
I didn't really do anything after work. Like I had said, I had no life. I texted Clay a couple of times as well as Gavin. My new secret partner was rather quiet in where he was going to take me that Saturday night. I was pretty sure it was actually because he had no idea where we were going to go, but he kept saying he wanted to keep it a surprise.
He drove up to my apartment building that Saturday afternoon in his car, where I was waiting for him outside. I was thankful that he was taking the "secret" part of our relationship seriously, if using his car instead of his motorcycle meant anything. He waited until I was actually buckled in the passenger seat before he leaned over and kissed me in greeting.
"Are you ready, Schatz?" he asked when he leaned back. I gave him a look.
"Ready for what?" I wondered. "You still haven't told me what we were doing."
"Well, there's no fun in a surprise if I tell you what it is now, is there?" he replied, one of his famous charming smiles on his face. I really didn't feel like arguing with him about that, so instead I just mumbled something incomprehensible under my breath.
The drive was mostly quiet. Gavin was quick to turn on the stereo which blasted (to my horror) his own music. He was nice enough to turn it to a tolerable volume, but it still tried its hardest to make my ears bleed.
Finally, to my ever-lasting relief, he was pulling the car into a parking spot, stating that we had arrived. Stepping out of the car, I couldn't figure out how I felt that he had brought me to the Space Center. On one hand, I always loved coming here. This was the pinnacle of Clay's dream come true. On the other hand, I really didn't want to run into Clay while I was with Gavin. I had no doubt that Clay would keep our relationship a secret, but that wasn't the problem. I didn't want Gavin to know about Clay. Even Trucy didn't know about Clay.
"Why did you pick a place like this?" I asked, trying to keep my tone a lighter neutral.
He walked over to my side. "Testing the waters," he replied, leaning against his car. "I'm still not sure what your likes and dislikes are. I thought the Space Center would be a good getting to know you ice breaker. And if anyone asks, we can say we're here researching a case."
I didn't know what to say, so I just led the way towards the entrance, trying not to walk too fast so we could still talk but not make it look like we were together. Gavin had his hands in his pockets and was taking his time behind me, smiling and pointing at everyone he passed. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at him.
"Have you ever been to the Space Center before Sch-Apollo?" Gavin asked when he was near enough to speak.
"I came here all the time in high school, actually," I replied. "My best friend wanted to be an astronaut growing up, so we used to come and hang out here all the time. It was like a second home to us. He actually just recently got accepted into the space program."
"Really?" he asked, his eyes widening. "That's amazing! Good for him!"
"Yeah," I said, a smile forming on my face. "We've both finally achieved our dreams now. He always encourages me when I don't know what to do and I always encourage him." I looked over at him and tried not to feel uncomfortable under the fond smile on his face. "What about you? Have you ever been here before?"
"A couple of times when I was a kid," Gavin told me. "Mein bruder used to bring here a lot when our parents were…away. When I was a kid, I would change my dream pretty much every week, but Kristoph would put up with my fantasies for whatever reason. During one summer, I was determined to be a space man, so Kristoph took me here."
I tried to envision a tiny Klavier Gavin pestering his brother to bring him to the Space Center and I couldn't help but laugh at the idea. He glared at me for a moment before laughing along-side me.
We had cleared the entrance and had started to wander towards some of the exhibits. I had been there so many times that I practically knew everything by heart, but never the less, I strode beside Gavin taking in the sights. It didn't matter how many times I came here, it was still exciting every time.
"So," Gavin said suddenly while we were reading facts about the last space mission. "What's your opinion on the death penalty?" I gave him a look.
"Really? You're asking me this early?" I wondered. "Why are you even bringing that up?"
"You said to save the capital punishment talk for the second date," he replied with one of his smug grins. "Which is what we are on right now." I rolled my eyes.
"No, you said that," I replied. "And I didn't think you were serious."
"Oh, I'm always serious when it comes to what should and shouldn't happen on dates, Herr Justice," he said with a smirk. I flinched.
"Don't call it that," I growled under my breath at him. "Not while we're in public!"
"Sorry, Herr Justice."
I felt a pinch of anxiety start to creep around inside me as we moved on. I was keeping a close eye out for Clay, desperately hoping that he wouldn't be here that day. It wasn't that I didn't trust Clay. As I said before, I would trust him with my life. I didn't want him to cause a scene right there in the Space Center though. And I certainly wasn't ready for him to meet Prosecutor Gavin. That was a disaster waiting to happen.
I nearly jumped out of my skin when I felt a sudden hand on my shoulder. I spun around to see Gavin staring down at me with concern in his blue eyes.
"Are you alright, Schatz?" he asked in a quiet voice. "You seem preoccupied and you keep looking around like a ghost is after you."
"I'm fine," I replied, trying to force myself to relax. "It's just hard to make it look like we aren't on a you-know-what." He let out a gentle laugh.
"You need to relax," he said. "People will notice you more if you're constantly on edge looking over your shoulder like that."
"S-Sorry," I muttered. He laughed again.
"Oh, how I long to kiss those lips of yours," he murmured, affection burning in his voice. I felt my face heat up even further and I had to look away from him.
As I looked away, I suddenly spotted something in the corner of my eye that made my blood run cold. Or, more of a someone. A familiar someone. The very someone I didn't want to run into while we were here.
"You know, they have the entire HAT-1 rocket on the other side of the museum," I said quickly, starting to shove the rock star in the opposite direction. "Maybe we should check it out. It's really amazing you know."
Gavin, taken completely off guard, turned his head to look at me with wide eyes, though he put up no resistance to my shoving him. He gave me one of his cocky smiles that had a hint of suggestion in it as his eyes lit up.
"Oh my Schatz," he practically purred. "This is all a bit sudden, don't you think? I suppose you would know this place better than I, though,"
That made me stop in my tracks and I gave him a look.
"What?" I asked, cocking my head.
"I have to say that breaking into a rocket ship to make out or what have you seems extremely bold, even for me, but I'm totally into it if you are," he continued, the grin on his face getting bigger.
"What?!" I repeated, a lot louder than I meant to.
"I didn't think you'd be this horny after my comment," he said and I couldn't tell if he was joking or not. "But if we want to sneak away to do something naughty, you're going to have to be not so obvious about it."
"Wh-What? No!" I stammered. "I just…I didn't…I mean…!"
I was saved from further humiliation as there was a sudden tap on my shoulder and a familiar voice right behind me, yet close to my ear.
"So, Apollo," I heard Clay's voice say, making me flinch. "Are you going to introduce me or are you just going to cause an even bigger scene?"
…Damn it.
I'm going to end this chapter here. I was originally going have other things happen during this date, but that's going to have to move to the next chapter. I swear the trial is coming soon. It will be either at the end of the next chapter or the beginning of the chapter after that, but it's coming!
Anyway, Klavier and Clay are about to meet. That should be fun. And Klavier has at least one surprise for Apollo. Look forward to that. This chapter was kind of all over the place, but hopefully you enjoyed. And we'll get to see more of Apollo and Klavier dating next time. Fun. Leave a comment telling me what you think and be sure to stay safe and smart out there!
