I laughed at how quickly I’d dismissed the man and taken an interest in the woman. I used to be so hot and heavy on guys, until I started sleeping with them. It was then the guys took a back seat and the girls got in the driver’s seat for me.
“Memorize their faces,” Drake said quietly.
A clicking from beside me caused me to look over my shoulder. Terri was snapping pictures of the couple repeatedly with her phone.
“Who are they?” I asked.
“No one you want to be involved with,” Drake said. “But if you EVER see them, you call me immediately. Don’t text; actually, pick up the phone and call me.”
“That sounds like someone I need to know more about,” I said as I memorized their features. I took out my phone and discreetly took several photos myself before realizing I’d been primarily focused on the woman. I switched targets and took more pictures of the guy.
“Got them? Good, let’s go,” Drake said as he led us back the way we came.
Once back in the tiny coat room, Drake hung up his coat as Terri spoke.
“What’s the name of that place? It looks like fun,” Terri asked.
“Don’t concern yourself with it; you won’t be going back,” Drake said with finality and went back into the main room.
Terri and I looked at one another. I frowned as she shrugged and started to follow Drake.
I glanced back at the door and, on a hunch, tried to open it. The door swung open, but there was nothing but a brick wall where the club had just been. I started to knock on the wall just to make sure what I was seeing was real, but Terri made a noise at me from across the room. I quickly closed the door and caught up to her and Drake.
“Neither of you will return to this establishment once you leave. There will be no reason for you to come here. If something comes up, text the number. I will get back to you straight away. Do you understand?” Drake said as he was leading us to the door outside.
“Sure,” Terri said.
“Uh yeah,” I said.
Drake paused at the door, his hand on the door handle.
“Remember, pay for the storage unit in your name, inspect it, lock it, and text me. Don’t return to the unit, and don’t try to open it. If anything comes up, text me. If you see either of those two, call me. Do you have any questions?” Drake looked at us expectantly.
“Who are they, Drake?” I asked in earnest.
He paused and looked at me for a moment. For a split second, it looked like he was going to answer, but then he shook his head.
“The less you know, the better,” Drake looked me in the eye. “If you see them, you call me immediately. Don’t interact, don’t get involved. Just call me,” Drake’s words were just as earnest to me.
Then he opened the door and ushered us outside.
We turned to face Drake as we stepped outside and he paused.
“If this were up to me, ones so young would not be involved in these affairs. But it’s not up to me,” Drake sighed. “I apologize for the cryptic methodology, but it really is for your protection.”
I watched Drake as he paused again. He appeared to be having an internal debate, one he was really struggling with.
“No, that’s it,” Drake said with finality as he came to a decision. “Thank you, and good day, ladies,” Drake said before closing the door on us.
Terri and I just stared at the door in silence.
“Did that just happen?” Terri asked, breaking the silence.
“I don’t know?” I replied, patting my pockets for the money and lock.
“Terri and Asher?” A voice called out from behind us.
We turned and found a car waiting for us. The driver had rolled the window down and called out to us.
“That’s us,” Terri said.
Turned out Drake had called us a car at some point while we were inside. I just didn’t remember him doing it. Maybe he had someone else do it, or he’d done it in advance. I dunno. I was still thinking about it when I climbed into the car.
We arrived at the storage place after a rather lengthy car ride. It appeared this particular storage place was on the outskirts of town.
I’d never rented anything before, so I wasn’t sure what to expect. But all I had to do was fill out a single sheet of paper, show my ID, and give them the money. The clerk seemed rather pleased I was paying for a year in advance. It seemed people who paid month to month tended to “forget” about making their payments sometimes.
The clerk showed us how to access the site. The building had digital locks, and we had to use my private code to access them. All the storage units were inside and climate-controlled. Since the unit I rented was so large, it was on the ground floor. There was a small indoor area where you could pull a truck in and unload it out of the rain before hauling your stuff down the hall to your unit.
The clerk asked me about what I was planning on storing. It was more small talk than actual interest. I told them I was heading to college soon and needed to store all my stuff as my parents were selling their house. This story seemed to satisfy their curiosity.
The unit wasn’t much to look at–just a big empty room behind a large roll-up door. The clerk showed us how to operate it and where to put our lock, but then had to leave as someone had come to the front office.
This left Terri and I standing in a large empty storage unit, looking at each other.
“What do you think they’ll put in here?” I asked Terri.
“Honestly?” She looked at me. “I don’t care as long as it’s the last we hear of it, you know?”
I frowned but couldn’t help but agree with her.
“Let’s not talk about this… to anyone,” I said.
“Agreed,” Terri said, still looking around.
“What are you looking for?” I asked.
“I dunno… it just, it seems like there should be more to this, you know?” she said.
“Well, it looks fine to me, so let’s get out of here,” I said as I ushered her out. I closed and locked the door before texting Drake the unit information.
A moment after I hit send, Drake replied with a simple, “Thank you.”
And that was that… whatever that was.
“Do you think that’s it?” I asked Terri as we waited for the car we ordered.
“What do you mean?” Terri asked.
“I mean, is that all she’s going to ask us to do?”
Terri shook her head. “Do you still have all the things you gained from your part of the bargain?”
“Obviously,” I frowned.
“Then you’re still benefitting,” Terri said quietly.
“Wait, you mean as long as I have all my extra… stuff, I’ll be in debt to her?” I asked.
“That about sums it up.”
“So, she can call me up anytime and have me do whatever?” I asked incredulously.
“For as long as you have your…’upgrades,’ yes,” Terri said.
“She could take them back? Turn me back…’normal?'” I asked.
“She changed you, didn’t she? There’s no reason she couldn’t change you back. But I wouldn’t suggest it. There’s no telling what she’d have you do in order to break your agreement,” Terri said.
I chewed my lip a moment. “You said this wasn’t the first time you’d been called. What did she have you do before?”
“She had me order a pizza,” Terri said.
“What?” I looked at her.
“Don’t ask me. She told me to order a certain type of pizza and have it sent to an address in town. I paid for it, and that was it. Never heard anything more out of it,” Terri shrugged.
“That makes no sense,” I said.
“No, ordering a double Hawaiian pizza makes no sense. Maybe the person who wanted it was too embarrassed to order it themselves. I know I was,” Terri said.
I looked at Terri, trying to figure out if she was joking or not. “You ordered a double Hawaiian pizza?”
“With ranch dressing!” Terri shook her head.
“Where’d you send it?” I asked.
“That’s the thing, the address was a vacant lot. The building that had been there was torn down years ago, and a parking lot was put up in its place,” Terri said.
“Maybe there was a security guard or–”
“Don’t,” Terri cut me off. “Don’t try to figure it out. Just forget about it. I’ve tried to, but now that I’ve told you, I’ll probably start dreaming about it again.”
“You dreamt about ordering a pizza?” I asked as I saw the car we ordered rounding the corner.
“Don’t ask. I drove myself nuts thinking about it for weeks afterward and never figured it out. It got so bad I was having nightmares about aliens coming all the way to Earth to order pineapple pizza because they were too ashamed to order it at home.”
I stared at Terri for a long moment before we both started chuckling.
“Ash? I want to apologize,” Terri started.
“For what?” I asked.
“For introducing you to her. If I hadn’t then–”
“Hey,” I interrupted, stopping this train before it could leave the station. “I’m a big girl. I made my own choice. She didn’t pressure me into this deal. I may have jumped on it before reading the fine print, but it was still my choice.”
“Yeah, but–”
“No buts!” I tried to say with a serious face, but I couldn’t hold it and ended up grinning. “My choice. And if doing some weird secret shit or occasionally ordering a gross pizza is the price for these last few amazing weeks, I’m more than happy with the cost.”
Terri gave me a weak grin, but I knew she was still feeling guilty.
As we got in the car, I tried to push everything out of my head in hopes of not dwelling on it as Terri apparently had. Of course, the more you try not to think about something, the more it sticks around, doesn’t it?
“Ranch pineapple pizza, really?” I blurted as the car pulled away.