Tulip eventually found a 50's swing dress and purchased it along with a delicate string of pearls. "Now all I have to do is find a good red lipstick, maybe a feather hairpiece too," she mused running a hand through her hair. "And some killer heels." Tulip was un-perturbed by the Benedict's latest success to say the least. When I had broken the news as she tried on clothes all she said was "Sure they do stuff like that every second week. What is the big deal?"
The big deal was the matter of Savant involvement. Crystal told me Victor had interrogated the man they hauled in over the Boston University bust and discovered the disturbingly broad reach of the operation. And with their Savant gifts, their activities often could be concealed. Unfortunately, the man couldn't tell Victor all the locations or even the main person running the operation but my college here in New York was confirmed to be involved. I immediately gave Crystal the number I knew of this "Dr. Chree" to pass onto Victor. Whether it was Savant related or not, it was best to nix it ASAP. Numerous universities in New York had one of these operations so Victor and his team were hitting here next. With no information on the person in charge, they would have to crush it from the bottom up.
That left us with little else to do so we went about our everyday business as though nothing had happened. Victor, along with Uriel and the FBI were more than able to deal with it. And frankly, I found it was hard to worry about as Tulip and I were focused on our trip back home and seeing our friends. Wednesday night we had Tulips favourite playlist blaring through the apartment as we shoved things in suitcases. My beautiful white dress was carefully wrapped up and I prayed it took travelling okay.
As I packed, I could hear Tulip slaughtering and skinning a Christina Grimmie song as she no doubt flung things at her suitcase. Note I say 'at' not 'in'. Later she would see she needed to roll up everything but I let her at it. "It must be love..." I hummed as I neatly rolled up a t-shirt. I had just tucked it away when my phone rang. Lucian. I happily answered.
"Dude, how early is it where you are? It's ten here!"
"Hi to you too Willow," he laughed. I smiled, realising only now how I missed him, Sherry and Cam. "Waiting for my flight so thought I might see how packing is going in New York."
"How did you know we were packing?"
"Not hard. What is Tulip's motto again, "What can be done last minute shall be done last minute!""
I put the phone on loudspeaker and plopped it beside the pile of clothes I was planning to pack. I grabbed a pair of jeans and rolled them up. "Good motto. So how is London treating you?"
"Great actually. Bringing someone with me for the visit. Shoot, never mentioned it to Sherry and Cam."
"Ah just bring them along to the reunion by the river Friday down by the river. Newbie has to bring drink though."
"Really Willow?"
"Really Lucian. Enjoy your flight. I would bring in Tulip to say hi but-"
"I can hear her yowling in the background. I get it. See you guys soon."
"Bye."
The flight home was uneventful and boring. I read parts of my book on Mandarin Chinese and some young adult novel I picked up in the airport to try to kill a few hours. Ugh. The book was ridiculously similar to Twilight. I got so irritated with it I actually found a pen in my bag and started marking all the similarities on the title page. Biology partners. Check. Googles what he is on shit internet connection. Check. Immortal. Check. It was a form of entertainment in itself really.
Tulip's parents picked us up from the airport and dropped me home much to my relief; Tulip sang in the car, enough said. I dragged my suitcases out and before the car had left, Verity was outside with open arms. Our cook/ cleaner/ everything really enveloped me in a huge soft hug. "I missed you too Verity," I laughed wrapping an arm around her.
"Let Clarke drag those bags up for you. I have almond slices just cooked in the kitchen."
I looked gleefully up at the front door. Since our front door was on the second storey, Clarke was going to have some fun bringing them up the stairs and then the internal stairs up to the third floor. Just as Verity finished saying this, Clarke came out the front door and looked down at us, openly groaning.
"You said she would only have a duffel bag or two Verity!"
"You bring up her stuff now like a good boy, you hear? I need to feed Willow."
Clarke groaned again but trod down the stairs. He didn't even bother tell Verity he was twenty four and not a "boy". Another pair of arms enveloped me in a hug. "Good to see you survived. Bring me some of whatever she cooked you." He whispered in my ear.
"Okay, get to it Clarke," Verity said simultaneously snapping her fingers at him and gesturing for me to start walking to the back entrance to the kitchen.
I spent well over an hour catching up with her on everything to do with New York, recounting the same stories to my family that night at dinner. But not to one of them did I mention Will. And I had no intention to either.
The following morning I was caught up on all the local gossip and I went shopping for a few hours with my parents. It was a surprisingly warm and sunny day so when I cycled over to meet Tulip later, I was in a blissfully happy mood.
"Great timing Wills. Pizza guy just left. " Tulip grunted as I pulled up to hers. She already had her bike ready to go and was trying to fit the takeaway pizza box in her shoulder bag. I propped my bike on its stand and double checked the snacks I had brought.
"You ready to go? Lucian is bringing someone so I want to be there before them to set up a bit."
"Yeah just lemme," she crammed the box in and with a final grunt managed to pull the zip over it. She shoved a bit of hair out of her face. "Let's go mon amie."
I kicked off the stand to my bike and we headed off through the countryside. It was definitely cooler than the last time but the sharp cut of this cold air felt exhilarating on my tired eyes. Tulip whooped, stretching her legs out from the bike as we went downhill. She damn near lost control but managed to swoop in by the gate without a hitch. I unchained it and hastily re-joined her, pedaling as fast as I could. I barely stopped the bike before leaping off and madly dashing to the slope down to the river. "I WIN!" I crowed as I stumbled to regain my balance down by the old table. I spun around to gloat only to get a face full of Tulip.
"AAAAHHHH!" we both screamed as both of us fell with the grace of foals ice-skating. I snorted and we both started laughing. A dainty high pitched peal of laughter joined in along with a deeper male one.
"Do you need a hand up?" someone asked us. Tulip managed to roll off me and we both saw a beautiful girl. No, woman, with an amazing golden complexion, sheet of long glossy black-brown hair and two eyes even darker. Perfection personified.
Someone to the left coughed to cover up his laughter. Lucian was clearly enjoying our slack jawed expressions. I had to consciously shut mine and spend a few seconds working on a response.
"Eh, um, who are you?" I asked, taking her outstretched hand. I had to prop myself up to grab it and once she felt the weight, gripped on tight and yanked me up with surprising strength. I helped Tulip up and turned to face this stranger. Her lips parted the tiniest fraction before she tilted her head up to me and smiled.
"Hi, I'm Kanti Coetzee. Nice to meet you."
By the time Sherry and Cam had arrived, I learnt Kanti's insides matched her outsides; perfect, beautiful and kind. I also learnt that Kanti and Lucian had to be seeing each other. They positively glowed happiness in one another's company. Sherry was the one to take the bait.
"So," she drawled. Waving a bread stick between Kanti and Lucian she asked, "How long has "this" been going on?"
Kanti continued to chew her mouthful of pizza nonchalantly as Lucian turned slightly pink. He looked over at her before she abruptly stopped chewing and her cheeks took the faintest pink tinge. She even blushed prettily.
"Well, um…" Lucian stuttered. Since when did Lucian get this tongue tied? What had London done to him?
"Since the seventh of September." Kanti said after swallowing. We all immediately gave Lucian incredulous looks. I knew on my face you could openly read my astonishment. He had been with her a whole month!
"I wanted to tell you guys in person." Lucian admitted.
"Awh! This is just beyond cuteness!" Tulip crowed. Telepathically, she asked me Are you ok with this?
My eyebrows shot up. Yeah Lucian and I hooked up a little in the past but there was nothing to it. Of course I am. Look how cute they are.
I know she sighed back.
"So how did it happen?" Sherry asked curiously. Cam leaned forward beside her and I found myself looking down the table to Lucian and Kanti opposite him.
This time Kanti blushed a deeper pink and Lucian actually laughed. He took one of her hands without seeming to think about it and looked up at the sky smiling. "Well I was at a lecture and I decided to sit near the back. Just as the lecture starts a group of three or four girls come in the row behind me. And," he smirked while Kanti tried to cover her face with her hair. "About two minutes into the lecture someone knocks a cup of scalding hot tea down the back of my neck."
Just as we all start laughing, Kanti pushes back her hair. "Care to say what you did next?" she said.
Lucian abruptly stops laughing and grimaces. "Ok, yeah, I turned around and snapped "Are you blind!?" and she said-"
"Yes I am actually," Kanti finished and took a sip of her drink.
"You're blind?" I gasped. She nodded. "Since when?"
"Since I was three or four. So I'm pretty good at it by now." She replied smiling. Studying her, you could barely tell. Only when looking closely at her now did I notice her eyes seemed a little off focus. Tulip did not seem the slightest bit surprised. I remembered she did not necessarily have to touch someone to check their health, though it helped.
"How does college work for you then?" Cam asked curiously. Sherry shot him a look but Kanti only smiled.
"I go to the University of Cape Town in South Africa and they have a lot of help and a disability service computer lab too. And," she said as Tulip opened her mouth. "Before you ask, my sister Francie was going to a conference in London. I went with her to visit a friend of mine and sat in on some of her lectures where we," she gestured towards Lucian. "Met."
"Wow, talk about fate." Sherry said. She ran a hand through her new crop, as red as ever. "You wouldn't have ever met if not for all of 'em little things."
"We might have met eventually." Kanti said suggestively. She resumed eating and Tulip began chatting to Sherry about New York and Cam relayed tales of his adventures in Spain to Lucian and Kanti. But I sat there silently eating. Something was nagging me about Kanti. She got up moments later to get something out of her bag a few feet away. Maybe it was her long tanned legs. Maybe it was the way Lucian stared longingly after her. Maybe it was her name or her sisters. Maybe it was at the mention of South Africa. But comparing her to the photos I'd seen on Facebook, it all began to fall into place.
Kanti Coetzee was the sister of not only "Francie" but Tarryn Coetzee. My brain chugged sluggishly through the connections. So if they were sisters… Kanti was a Savant. My eyes widened at this realization.
Lucian and Kanti laughed at something Cam had said and as she pulled her chair over to Lucian's side of the table, the final pieces of the puzzle were pushed into place. My brain finally snapped in the last piece and I felt slightly queasy at the thought. While I had only known these friends of mine since I started college, despite them all living not too far away, I thought I knew them rather well.
My fingers trembled slightly as I spread them on my thighs bracing myself. I had to be sure. I looked over to Lucian, Kanti and Cam. They were all chatting, absorbed in their conversation. Good. Tentatively I telepathically reached out.
Lucian.
Lucian jerked his head in my direction. Reflex. Just like anyone reacting to their name. Out loud.
Author person here,
Did any of you suspect Lucian might be a Savant? I tried to give the tiniest of hints in the second chapter...
Anyway, I hope you all like Kanti. I am aiming for a well spoken, collected character with her to contrast against Tulip (I think I have been spending too much time around this story as 'Tulip' sounds like a normal name to me now...) Tell me what you think of her in a review :)
Thanks a load bookworms imagination, Future Benedict, H-Musen and ShootingComet for following! Seeing new followers after losing one made me very, very, very, berry happy :D
Hint time! Revealing Kanti and Lucian's gifts so you might want to have a guess at them before the next update (good luck with Kanti!)