A/N: Hey Readers!
I made this chappie extra long so there's more to enjoy. (Making up for the lag in updates... I'm trying to buy your affections ;-) )
Platypus Core, the slight A/A is for you!
To Royleen: Hey! (Just thought I should shout you out directly 'cause I didn't before)
FYI: this chapter jumps between time zones! Oh and to see images of the bookstore mentioned in this story, check the links on my profile!
Last but not least: Please, please, please tell me how I can make this story better! (I love Kunstruktiv Crittersizm - feedback is my aphrodisiac!)
Disclaimer: I loaned Inception to Christopher Nolan, when I was 9... Indefinitely...
just kidding!
-RaifandRosefan
Chapter 6: Getting There Part 2
It's another grey afternoon in New York City. The city streets are slick and slippery in the ice cold autumn rain. Ariadne and Arthur stand outside the arrivals gate at JFK International Airport. Arthur hails a cab which makes its way over to the drenched twosome. Arthur opens the door for Ariadne who slides across the rear seat, leaving a trail of rainwater behind her. Arthur follows suit. The door shuts.
The architect shudders as the warmth of the cab envelops her body. She leans forward to speak to the cab driver through the Plexiglas divider,
"One twenty-six Crosby Street Soho, please. Housingworks bookstore."
The cab pulls away from the curb, melding with traffic headed into Manhattan. Ariadne settles back in her seat. Heavy rain beats against the vehicle, Arthur glances at the architect,
"Y'know, we should book rooms somewhere and try to get some sleep. You barely slept on the plane and we've got another flight to Los Angeles in a few hours."
"Arthur, I'm fine. Besides, I said I would get you that book. I wasn't kidding."
Exhausted, Arthur relents. Ariadne watches the buildings and street signs fly by as the taxi weaves into and out of traffic. Wipers screech lazily across the windshield. The city's buildings and people fade into one another as the architect fights her heavy eyelids to stay awake. Arthur, ever-alert, watches the scenery pass by them with fierce determination, as if committing every detail to memory for their journey back to the airport.
The ride to the bookstore passes in comfortable silence. In Forty minutes, they arrive at the downtown bookstore. Ariadne reaches for her wallet. Arthur stops her, placing his hand lightly on her forearm, and reaches into his own pocket to pay the fare. Ariadne smiles appreciatively at the point man, then scoots herself out of the cab.
Arthur exits the cab, closing the door. The yellow Ford screeches off in search of new passengers. Ariadne and Arthur step over to the side walk. Arthur holds the door for Ariadne. Shoes and hair soaked, the dreamers trudge into the invitingly warm golden hued bookstore. The warm wooden flooring and alluring bookshelves greet them as the door closes behind them and the sound of the busy store fills their ears. Ariadne asks a passing store volunteer where she might find a copy of The Jungle Book.
"Follow me," the curly haired woman, with a bob, bounces.
Ariadne turns to Arthur, "Hey, I can handle this. Why don't you grab us a couple of seats somewhere? We could read for a bit..." Ariadne's eyes glow, warm with expectation, waiting for the point man's response. An invisible smile reaches Arthur's heart as he evaluates Ariadne's request.
"Sure," Arthur heads in the direction of the bookshop's café.
Ariadne follows the woman, winding her way through a maze of cozy shelves, until they reach the location of the book. The woman plucks the used book from its shelf and hands it to Ariadne.
"Is this what you're looking for?" the woman asks, eagerly.
"Yes!" Ariadne answers happily.
"I can help you over at the register," the woman offers with a smile.
"Oh, yes, thank you."
Book in hand, Ariadne makes her way toward the café where Arthur sits handsomely at a table for two. Atop the table sit two cups of coffee, a muffin, and cream and sugar. An unoccupied chair sits idly next to the point man. Arthur gets up from his seat as he sees Ariadne nearing the table.
The architect smiles brightly as she nears the table, "You got coffee?"
Ariadne snatches her cup of coffee up off the table. This is perfect.
"I didn't know whether you wanted cream or sugar. So, I got you both."
Coffee, coffee, coffee! Ariadne bounces slightly in her seat. She smiles at the point man, "Coffee is just what I needed. Thank you, Arthur." Ariadne removes the lid of her coffee, "Oh, and let's not forget why we came here in the first place..." she pulls the book out of a paper bag, "Now you'll have no excuse for not knowing who Mowgli is."
Arthur runs his hand over the cover of the book. "Thank you, Ari," he says, a flicker of sincerity dancing behind his eyes.
Ariadne shrugs simply, "No problem." She dumps the cream and sugar into her coffee.
Realizing that she's used all of the sugar and cream, the architect smiles mock-sheepishly at the forger, "I hope you like your coffee black..."
"I do, actually," Arthur informs forgivingly, "And I bought the muffin for you."
"Thanks. Do you want any?" Ariadne offers the muffin.
"No, I'm good." Arthur sips his black coffee, "speaking of muffins and coffee, if you're into the whole coffeehouse thing, I know this little coffee and tea place in the west village that you might like."
"Yeah? What's it called?" Ariadne takes a pinch of her muffin and shoves it neatly into her mouth.
"Grounded. You'd like it. It kinda feels like you're in your living room drinking coffee with people from the neighborhood. It's nice."
"Wow," Ariadne utters from behind her coffee cup.
"What?" the point man asks, seriously curious.
"I never pegged you for a coffee house kinda guy," the architect answers simply.
Ariadne becomes warm under Arthur's earnest gaze.
"There's a lot you don't know about me, Ari," Arthur runs his hand over the book's cover. Arthur examines the title page.
Sensing the change in mood, Ariadne looks at her watch and changes the subject, "Read to me, Arthur."
Just after midnight, a tired Eames disembarks from a plane.
Welcome to Mombasa.
The balmy hot air surrounds the forger as he crosses the tarmac toward the airport entrance. Eames makes his way to the front of the airport, where he hails a gypsy cab. Eames steps into the old grey vehicle. After giving the driver his desired destination the cab drives off.
Eames is on his way to visit his old friend, Yusuf.
Back in New York, Ariadne is asleep face down on the coffee table, one arm under her head the other - her wounded arm - folded neatly in her lap, her hair covering not only her face but also much of the table. Arthur laughs inwardly, taking in the architect's sleeping form. He continues to read his book.
Eames' cab pulls up in front of Yusuf's home. Eames exits the gypsy cab, which speeds off - to find more passengers, no doubt. Yusuf's home sits wedged between a dozen or so other buildings, each of them painted various colors, many of them old and beautifully decaying. The chemist lives in an apartment above his chemical shop on this moderately busy street in Mombasa. The forger scans the city block to see that no one is watching him. Ariadne's words from the previous morning replay in the forger's mind,
Eames, I don't think you should blackmail our chemist.
"I don't intend to, Ariadne," the forger answers.
Satisfied that he is not being watched or followed, the handsomely jetlagged forger knocks on Yusuf's door.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Silence.
The forger tries again, harder. C'mon, Yusuf. Let's not have me out here all night.
Boom. Boom. Boom.
There is movement within the apartment. A door slams and heavy footsteps creak their way down the stairs. Eames can hear the chemist muttering curses under his breath. Yusuf, mid-tirade, opens the door.
"Christ! It's 1 in the morning! Don't you people ha-" Yusuf stops, surprised to see Eames, "Eames? What the f- I thought you were in Paris."
"Sorry I didn't call first, but we need to talk."
"Can't it wait 'til morning? I was a little busy..." The forger perks up.
"Oh! Yusuf's got himself a little late night love making I see-"
"I meant I was sleeping you idiot! What do you want, Eames? It's late."
"I need to talk to you."
From upstairs, the sweet raspy voice of a woman awakened from her slumber calls down to Yusuf.
"Yusuf, honey, who is it?"
The chemist yells back to his apartment, "It's nothing, sweetheart. Someone, wants to buy some aspirin. His son's got a fever."
"Oh, okay. Hope he feels better," says the sweet voice from upstairs.
Yusuf turns back to the forger in his doorway, "Now what is it?"
Eames hesitates, "Can we go somewhere more private first?"
Yusuf yells back to his wife in the apartment, "Honey, I'm going to the shop for a bit. I'll be right back."
"Okay."
Yusuf grabs the key to his shop off of a table in the small hallway. He puts on a pair of shoes and steps out of the shop. Eames backs up the give the man room as he locks the door to his apartment. Eames follows Yusuf, who is dressed in his night clothes and a ragged robe. They walk over to Yusuf's shop. The chemist unlocks the door. The forger steps into the shop, followed by the chemist. Yusuf locks the door behind him.
The shop is completely dark. The blinds on all the windows have all been shut. Yusuf lights a small oil lamp resting on his counter. The lamp fills the room with a dim amber glow. Yusuf looks at the forger.
Eames, fresh off an eleven hour flight, is wearing a much wrinkled suit. His eyes are bloodshot. Yet, somehow, the forger does not appear tired. Instead, a determined expression has landed itself on Eames' features. Yusuf, wanting to move things along, starts,
"Alright, Eames, what is it? Why are you knocking on my door at," He looks at a clock resting on a shelf, "one fifteen in the morning?"
"It's Ariadne," Eames replies, "She's in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"She's being hunted by The Council."
"THEE council?"
"Yes. And if we don't get the person who ordered the hit on her to change his mind, it's very possible Ariadne will be dead before the end of the month."
"Eames, what does any of this have to do with me?"
Eames leans toward the chemist who leans on the glass counter. "The only way to truly change a person's mind, is to perform inception on them. We need your skills to design a sedative strong enough... for inception."
Yusuf digests the forger's words, "So... you want me to risk getting myself killed, because your pet architect made some rookie mistakes and got herself into trouble?"
Blimey, Eames thinks, this is not the reaction I was hoping for. "No, Yusuf, I am asking you to help us keep our colleague, Ariadne, from ending up in a box." The forger's tone is serious and pleading, but the chemist is hearing none of it.
"No-."
"Oh, c'mon, Yusuf-."
"No. We barely survived inception the last time, Eames. I'm not risking limbo again - for anyone! And in case you have forgotten, I am married now. I can't just go and risk my wife getting killed because of some girl she doesn't even know."
A baffled expression sits on Eames' face, "You wouldn't even have a wife if it weren't for Ariadne."
Yusuf ignores the forger, "Whatever, Eames."
Eames tries again to sway the chemist, "Yusuf, Ariadne won't survive much longer at the rate these men are coming after her. Even with Arthur and me helping, it's only a matter of time before they get to her." Eames searches the chemist's eyes for any trace of sympathy. No such luck. "Yusuf, she was in the hospital this morning with a bullet through her arm! Please."
"What's the payout?" Yusuf asks. Eames looks confused. "What do I get in return for my work?"
"There's no payout for this mission, Yusuf."
"Right. So, I'm supposed to risk my life for a girl I hardly know, who - for some reason - you seem to care so much about, and there's no payout."
"There shouldn't have to be a payout, Yusuf." The forger ventures, "Ariadne is our friend and-"
"Correction!" Yusuf begins, "She's your friend. I hardly know her!"
"Well then do this for me! Do it because I am your friend and I am asking you, just this once, for a favor."
Yusuf will not give in. "Friend or not, if there is no payout, I am not participating."
Eames cannot take it anymore, "Dammit-Yusuf, please-!"
"Eames! I have a wife now. Don't you understand?" Yusuf pleads with the forger, "I have a wife who expects me to go to work, everyday, and come home safely, everyday! I can't guarantee that if I'm out performing inception on homicidal mob bosses for no money!"
Eames pauses. How the fuck do I reason with him? "You're assuming the inception will fail."
"Yes, because that's a possibility you seem to have forgotten, Eames!"
"Our inception didn't fail. Ariadne's inception did fail-"
"And look how lovely that's turned out for her!"
The forger swallows hard. Yusuf stands up straight. Fuck. This was not supposed to happen. Fuck it, I'm sorry Ariadne...
"It's one thirty in the morning, Eames. My wife is waiting for me. If this is all you have to say, I'm-"
"The payout... will be our silence."
Yusuf pauses. He looks the forger in the eye, uncertain. A shade of darkness falls over Yusuf's expression as he realizes the meaning behind Eames' words.
"So," Yusuf begins - defeated, "you wish to bring that up again."
A saddened Eames answers, "You left me no choice."
"Oh, no, I see. I won't do what you want. So, you threaten to blackmail me."
"No," Eames answers sternly, "I would never blackmail you. I am asking you, as a friend, to treat Ariadne with the same support she showed you."
"Call it what you will, Eames."
Jesus Christ, this man is insufferable! "Look! Ariadne saved your marriage that night! Had she not distracted your wife while Arthur and I practically dragged you out of that woman's apartment, you wouldn't even have a wife right now!"
"I was drugged! I don't even remember going home with that woman!"
"Do you honestly think your wife would care? It's not like you haven't already given her reason to think the worst of you!"
Yusuf is silent for a moment,
"So, what now? I help you on this mission, or you'll tell my wife about that night?"
"That's not what I'm saying-"
"Then, what are you saying?" Yusuf snaps.
Guilt rises in the forger's throat. He realizes he may never again be able to call the man before him 'friend.'
"I'm sorry Yusuf."
"Me too," the chemist replies.
Another moment of silence passes between them. Both dreamers determining what to do next. It is Eames who moves first. Eames crosses the shop, walking toward the door, "Never mind. I'll find another chemist-"
"Who is our mark?" Yusuf asks. Eames stops just short of opening the door. He does not turn around.
"He's known only as The Commissioner. No one knows his real name."
"What does he want with Ariadne? You said she performed inception... again."
Eames turns around carefully, avoiding eye contact. "She performed inception on a guy hired by The Commissioner to develop some all-knowing software. It would eliminate all personal privacy. There would be no more secrets," Eames looks Yusuf in the eye, "for anyone."
"And now The Commissioner's angry and wants Ariadne dead."
"That's why we have to perform the inception, to change The Commissioner's mind."
The chemist takes a moment to think over the forger's words. Yusuf looks at the forger, a reluctantly forgiving smile playing in his eyes. "I'll do it. Not because you tried to blackmail me, but because I owe Ariadne."
Eames smiles a crooked relieved smile. He might not have lost his friend, after all. Besides, what good are criminal friends if you can't almost blackmail them once in a while? "That's all I ever wanted," Eames answers. He reaches into the breast pocket of his suit jacket. He pulls out a plane ticket, presenting it to Yusuf. "Your flight is in two days. We'll be meeting Arthur, Ari, and Cobb at the backup point."
Yusuf frowns, "Cobb's coming? I thought he retired."
"We're hoping he'll come out of retirement for this."
"That's a tall order of wishful thinking, my friend," Yusuf informs.
"Yeah well, he sort of owes Ariadne also."
Yusuf shakes his head feigning disappointment, "That girl. She just piles up the IOU's, doesn't she?"
"It helps that her first job was inception-"
"You like her," Yusuf blabs.
"I beg your pardon?" the forger asks coolly.
"You like her, and you know Arthur likes her too! You're such a hypocrite, Eames."
"Wha-Yusuf, where's this coming from?"
"Why else would you be so willing to nearly destroy our friendship? You've never given two rats arses what happens to your other colleagues-"
"Yusuf, I do believe you've gone mad."
Giddy with realization, "And now you're coolly denying it - classic Eames-behavior."
The forger has heard enough, "Alright Yusuf. I'm going to let you sleep. I think your little head needs rest."
"Just admit it," Yusuf goads.
"There's nothing to admit."
"Fine. Keep living in denial."
"I will. Now, I must be leaving, and you'd best return to your wife." Eames turns to the door, opening it. "See you soon."
"Likewise," Yusuf slips.
With that, Eames steps out of the shop and fades into the streets of Mombasa. It's time for him to find that little place he visits whenever he needs to hideout in Mombasa for a few days.
Back in New York, it's 8:30 pm. Ariadne and Arthur are on the move again. Another taxi transports them to LaGuardia airport, where Ariadne and Arthur board their flight headed to LAX. Upon landing, they will have to convince their friend to leave his family and join them on another life-threatening mission.
"I hope Cobb's up for this," Ariadne sighs.
"He will be," The point man reassures. I hope.
Ariadne and Arthur settle into their first class seats. The architect surveys the other passengers. Ariadne nudges Arthur in the ribs. The point man looks over to see what has caught Ariadne's attention.
Directly across the aisle from them, with her curly golden brown hair falling about her shoulders, sits Drew Barrymore. She looks at the two of them and smiles briefly, bobbing her head to the music playing in her iPod. Good, Arthur thinks, Ari and I will no doubt be forgotten by the masses with such star-studded company. And he is right. The passengers walking onto the plane and do a double take when they spot the star with her eyes closed, head bobbing to the music coming from her iPod. No one bothers to look at the exhausted couple sitting directly across the aisle from her. Not a single person.
A/N: I hope this makes up for the lack of posts.
What did we learn: 1. It's best to carry an umbrella when it rains 2. Housingworks bookstore is an awesome place to visit when you're in SoHo (Legit. You MUST go there at least once in life) 3. Arthur likes coffeehouses (Grounded is great - go there too!) 4. Yusuf has dirty little secrets (Who'da thunk...?) 5. Eames might have feelings for Ari... (Bwahahahaha... wait a minute...*thinks for a moment*)
All in all, 5 lessons. Not bad. And who doesn't LOVE a random celebrity encounter? Hey, they're people too. Everyone gets a little star struck sometimes, right?
RAIT! ReVUE!
- R&Rf