FLEA
In the corner table of the Daedalus Bar, Liz Corelli was deep in concentration, transferring numbers from a long receipt into her laptop. Her lips moved as she worked, filling a column of the spreadsheet. A rhythmic vibration made her look down and she scowled. The "unknown number" displayed on her cell phone screen was as unwelcome as it was persistent. She had dismissed it three times already that day and when she scooped the phone off the table, she swiped up with an impatient gesture.
"What?"
"Ms Elizabeth Corelli?"
"What do you want?"
There was a pause. "Sorry, you are Elizabeth Cor—"
"Yes."
"Right. I need to talk to you."
"I guessed that. This had better be good."
"It's about Mai Valentine."
Liz froze, her gaze sweeping the bar until she found the blonde woman. She was collecting empty glasses at the far side of the room, moving between the customers with an air of oblivious cheerfulness and Liz felt her skin prickle.
"Hello?"
She swallowed, forcing her voice to remain impassive. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Without waiting for a response, she ended the call. For a few seconds she held the phone, gripping it tightly in her hand, her thoughts racing. When it began vibrating again, she slapped it face down on the table with a force that made nearby customers look up.
She pushed back in her chair, telling herself that it might not mean anything. She pulled together the paperwork that littered the table, not caring about the order or neatness. If he had found Mai, she reasoned, hesitantly lifting the phone, calling ahead wasn't exactly her brother's style, was it.
The phone was silent now and she pressed hard on the power button until the screen went dark. As she gathered up her things, Liz scanned the room again, looking for anything that might be out of place, anyone who might not belong. It took her a moment to realise that Mai was nowhere to be seen.
Liz marched towards the bar, dropping her laptop next to a slope-shouldered man who jolted in surprise.
"Benny, have you seen Mai?" Liz demanded.
Benny set down his pint glass, his reactions slow in the face of Liz's urgency.
"She went out back. She—"
Liz rounded the end of the bar, leaving him staring after her as she pushed through to the staff area.
The first thing Liz noticed was that the large doors at the back of the space were open, the heavy metal groaning as they were battered by the wind outside. She stepped towards them, her heart thumping as the cold air swept around her.
"Hey, come to help?"
Liz spun around to see Mai grinning at her as she stepped out of the narrow stock room. As she took in Liz's wide eyes, Mai's expression faltered. "Are you...?"
Liz forced a smile. "I was just checking you weren't slacking off back here."
Mai's shoulders relaxed and she barked a short laugh as she made her way back towards the delivery doors. "Hardly!" She waved a hand towards the rain-slicked alleyway. "Wendell's messed up his back, so I get to do all the heavy lifting."
Liz took a deep breath and then caught up to Mai as she stepped out into the drizzle. A delivery truck was idling in the dark alley, its back door pulled up and the driver leaning against the inside wall sucking on a vape.
Mai grunted as she picked up a second box from a cloud of sickly-sweet air.
"You shouldn't be doing that," Liz said. She gave Wendell a pointed look and he jolted, rubbing a hand on his lower back, giving her a performative grimace as he nudged some boxes towards them with his feet.
"Well," Mai angled past Liz, taking the box inside, the contents clinking with her effort. "It's not like I can go get a gym membership or anything."
"But you've got your own injury," Liz pointed out as Mai disappeared back through the doors.
"I'm fine," Mai called over her shoulder, disappearing from view.
Liz tutted and looked up at Wendell. "Any more?"
"Just this one." He shoved a box towards her, skidding it to the edge of the truck.
Liz put out a hand to stop it falling and gave him narrow-eyed glare. "I do hope you are able to do your job again soon." She lifted the box and followed Mai.
She paused just inside the entrance, staring out beyond the van in one direction and then towards the alley entrance in the other. Her lips formed a thin line as she studied the familiar surroundings. The rain made the shadows darker somehow, the pools of brightness from the streetlamps held in check and the reflections constantly shifting so that it was impossible to be certain what she was looking at. The sound of the van door closing made her jolt and a moment later she noticed a quick flash of movement beside her made her heart leap. An uncharacteristic yelp escaped her as she felt something brush against her shin.
She spun around in alarm, her heart thudding in her chest.
"Woah!" Mai was close behind her and she quickly reached forward to grab the box that threatened to fall from Liz's grasp. "You okay?" she asked, a small line appearing between her brows. "You're very jumpy tonight."
"There was something..." Liz's words came out in a rush as her eyes scanned the space. "I felt it…"
Mai took the box. "It was just the cat," she said with a small laugh.
Liz scowled but Mai had already turned away, carrying the last box over to stockroom.
Liz forced her breathing to slow but the rapid thumping in her chest seemed to mock her attempts at calm. Beneath a small wooden table, a skinny grey ball of fur was peering out at her from the shadows, its eyes large and impassive. She stared at the creature, angry that something so small had caused her to lose her composure, all too aware that her racing heartbeat had little to do with the cat at all.
"That's it." She turned and dragged the doors towards her, closing them with a heavy metal clang. "I'm calling animal control."
"What?"
Liz met Mai's shocked expression with a hard one of her own. "It keeps getting in here."
"But – Liz." Mai set the box down.
She had pulled her phone from her pocket and was tapping at the screen with an impatient finger. "It violates like a hundred health codes."
"It's just Flea." Mai positioned herself between her boss and the bedraggled cat. "I mean, he's not doing any harm."
Liz gave a sharp laugh. "You call it Flea, for God's sake! It's a mangey stray and…" She glanced down at her phone in frustration, only now remembering why the phone's screen was dark and unresponsive.
"But, Liz," Mai said again, taking advantage of Liz's hesitation, "you're like the patron saint of helpless strays."
Liz looked up. Mai's expression was heartfelt, pleading and Liz narrowed her eyes at the transparent manipulation. Behind Mai, Liz could just see the creature settling itself as if it owned the place. She closed her eyes and sighed. "You were never a stray," she said, her gaze returning to Mai as she shoved her phone back into her pocket. "And you're definitely not helpless."
Mai's lips twitched, sensing a win. "He gets a reprieve?"
"You still need to get rid of him. Box him up. Ship him out." She scowled at Mai, the familiar sense that she was being played adding to her irritation. "I mean it."
Mai grinned, giving her a small salute, as she disappeared into the stockroom. Liz could hear the sound of tape ripping and the clink of bottles and she moved to the doorway, leaning against the thickly painted wooden frame to watch as Mai began emptying out one of the larger boxes.
"What will you do with him? And don't say take him home," she added as Mai opened her mouth to answer. "Dominique's already doing me a massive favour keeping your name off the rental paperwork, she won't stretch to letting you have animals."
"Then I'll give him to someone else."
"Who? It's not like you have any friends."
Mai stopped mid-action and held a hand to her chest. "Ouch!"
Liz rolled her eyes. "You know what I mean."
Mai pulled two more bottles from the box and placed them on a shelf. "It so happens I was out at a club with friends just the other night."
Liz straightened. "What?"
"It was fun." Mai smiled at the memory of her evening, falling into an easy rhythm of stacking the shelves until the box was empty. "But my ears were still making that high pitched whine even the next morning." She paused and turned to Liz. "Does that mean I'm getting old?"
She had expected Liz to laugh or use the opportunity to pass a playful or insulting comment. Instead, she froze under the icy stare she was being given.
When Liz eventually spoke, her tone was sharp. "Were you seen?"
Mai straightened up, her back stiff. "No, I was invisible." She didn't try to hide the sarcasm. "What's up with you tonight?"
"What's up with me?!" Liz shook her head as she threw her hands up in exasperation, the bottled-up stress that had settled ever since taking the call, finally bubbling to the surface. "What's up with you? Have you forgotten about my brother? Have you forgotten what will happen if he finds you?!"
A look of hurt darkened Mai's expression. "No. Of course I haven't." She lifted her chin, keeping her voice calm. "But it was my friends' last night in New York and they invited me, and I said yes." She glanced down and uncrossed her arms, unsure of when her own posture had become so defensive. "And before you say anything, we were in this small V.I.P. area that was totally private."
"You're telling me you didn't dance?"
Mai remembered the feel of the dancefloor beneath her feet, the way it managed to be somehow both slippery and sticky at the same time. "I didn't dance," she said, her cool tone selling the lie.
"And you didn't do anything to draw attention to yourself?"
She pictured two men writhing on the floor at her feet and blinked, her face giving nothing away. "No."
Mai squared her shoulders as they stared at one another.
Finally, Mi shook her head. "Look, has something happened?" Mai swallowed. "Is that why you're—"
"No." Liz said quickly. "It's just… You can't afford to get complacent."
"I'm not. I – I just wanted to have a normal life, just for one night."
"Now's not the time. Not yet."
"Then when?" Mai stood facing her arms crossing in front of her body again. "Come on, you're the expert. When will your brother leave me alone?"
Liz held her gaze. "Not yet."
Mai pushed past her, bending down to reach beneath the table for the cat. It hissed at her, swiping out a paw, its claws catching on her skin as she dragged it towards her. She grimaced, walking back to the stock room as it struggled in her grasp.
"Take him." She pushed the cat into Liz's arms where it writhed for a moment before the older woman contained its movements in a vice-like grip.
Mai picked up some scissors and began stabbing at the box, gouging holes at random across the lid and sides.
"What are you-?"
"We wouldn't want it to suffocate, right?"
Liz met her gaze and shook her head. "You know I'm right about this."
She dropped the cat into the box and Mai closed it, holding the flaps down with one hand as she reached for some tape.
"Don't try to live or be happy – got it." She slapped down the tape in a haphazard line across the top, refusing to meet Liz's gaze.
Liz stepped back, a sense of guilt mixing with her exasperation. "It won't be forever," she said, but when Mia didn't respond, she turned and walked away.
Mai watched her go, her lips pressing together in a thin line as she considered her options. Glancing around her, she saw a delivery note that had fallen from the box and lifted it up, reading the information it contained, and the corner of her mouth curved into the smallest hint of a smile as an idea formed.
"No." She picked up a pen and glanced again at the door as it swung shut behind her boss and then she turned the delivery note over. She was irritated by the slight shaking of her hands and forced them to still before smoothing the note down and writing out a brief message. Finishing it with a flourish, she took a deep breath. "No, it won't be forever," she whispered to herself, folding the note and sliding it beneath the flap of the box.
