Chp. 64 “Round Two”

Morning came quickly, and although I knew today was of importance, I had the hardest time pulling myself out of bed. I was playing back everything Walker had explained to us last night, and I continued to go over every detail of the plan. I wanted to have it completely memorized, just so I could be sure I wouldn’t forget to do anything.

I was just nervous, because I knew the plan involved a huge risk towards everyone’s life now, and I didn’t want to be the cause of someone actually dying.

Life was precious, and even though I took mine for granted now because I could, I wasn’t taking anyone else’s. I couldn’t die but my friends could, and if that happened because I made the slightest mistake, well then I would never be able to live with myself.

And I was pretty convinced I would go insane.

I turned in my bed, moving over Avery and glancing at the clock that read 12:25, letting me know we had slept extremely late. I knew it was because we had stayed up past 3:00 last night but it was time to get up, we needed to eat lunch.

And I needed to get ready for Taylor and I’s second training session.

Avery groaned as I moved her, and I smiled at the cute sound. She looked up at me and forced her eyes open, “Why are we up?”

I spoke, “Because it’s 12:30 and I’m starving, plus I have training today.”

Avery moaned out in frustration again, “Fuck training with that narcissistic bitch, I can train you better than she can.”

I felt bad thinking back on the time Taylor and I had been to our old spot back in Jacksonville, and how Taylor was the one refusing to allow her and I to have a moment. If she wouldn’t have been so strong-minded we might just have kissed, and this realization made me feel guilty.

I had been vulnerable there, and I knew if she wouldn’t have left me I would’ve continued flirting with her.

I sighed, “Avery, can we please just get lunch?”

She saw I wasn’t in the mood to talk about Taylor and she forced herself out of my bed. We got dressed fairly quick, and I was soon banging on Max and Gage’s door for them to join us. They dressed quickly after Max ended his protest of getting out of bed, and soon we were making our way to the cafeteria.

I had no idea where Taylor wanted to meet to train today, but I was still fairly nervous about our meeting. I knew the feelings I had weren’t going to go way on their own, and being with Taylor only made them worse. I liked her, I knew that much, but I also loved Avery, and the conflict in my heart was wearing me out.

I was just really confused over her.

Then of course when walked into the cafeteria there was Roger and Taylor, along with a couple other unfamiliar people. Taylor’s eyes immediately caught mine, and then took in Avery’s figure next to me. I watched as she shifted in her seat as I followed Max and Gage to where all the food options were available.

Why had her attitude towards me changed so suddenly? Considering the last time we were completely alone she had seemed to want nothing to do with me?

We all grabbed something to eat and found a table, not too far from where Roger and Taylor were sitting, and I refused to look up from the table. I didn’t want to look at Taylor again, not until I had too, because I knew when I would look up she would most likely be looking at me.

We all began eating in silence, but that ended quickly when I heard Max open his big mouth.

“Agent Berkley is fine as hell, I wonder if she likes dudes.”

My eyes had looked at Avery in the moment, and she had a scowl on her face. She shrugged, “I’m pretty sure she’s only into people who are taken, you know, the ‘home-wrecker’ type.”

There was clear annoyance in Avery’s voice and Gage seemed to pick up on it, but Max of course refused to let any information sink into his head until at least 5:00 in the afternoon. He responded, “Well that doesn’t make sense, but seriously, I think she’s checking me out.”

I continued eating in silence, awaiting another sharp comment to exit Avery’s mouth.

“No, she’s just checking out Andy.”

I slapped my palm to my face as I looked at her, “Please, just stop.”

“Woah, Berkley’s gay? And she likes Andy?”

I looked at Max in shock, retorting, “Why shouldn’t she be attracted to me? Calling me ugly?”

Max just shrugged, “Not like that, but seriously Andy, that means she’s crazy. You always attract the crazy bitches. I mean look at Avery.”

I felt Avery deliver a kick to Max’s shin as he crippled in pain, and I continued eating, too embarrassed of my friends. Couldn’t they just be normal and not talk to each other like they hated one another?

Then I allowed myself to look up from the table, only to see Taylor gathering her things to throw away. Avery was still busy bickering with Max to notice our eye contact, and then she stood, allowing me to see her usual work attire.

She stood tall with her work heels, and her legs looked defined as ever as she fixed her wrinkled skirt. I saw her tell Roger bye and then threw away her trash, allowing me to get a good look at her ass. I couldn’t help but notice its perfect shape as she walked towards the trash can, and then after throwing her food away she turned around to face me again.

She must’ve seen my stare because a slight smirk played on her lips as she began walking towards our table.

I felt my heart slam in my chest as I hurried to pull my eyes away, not wanting Avery to see. I took a sip of my drink as Max spoke, “Oh God, Berkley’s coming over here.”

Avery rolled her eyes, “Great.”

Soon I could hear Taylor’s heels clanking against the floor as she approached, and I could feel my skin grow hot under her stare. I looked up to see her, and she stopped in front of our table, looking only at me.

“Meet me in my office for training; it’s adjacent to Roger’s.”

Then she walked away, gaining three pairs of eyes that seemed to stare at me in bewilderment.

I was so screwed.

~ ~ ~ ~

“Did you see the way she looked at you? And I mean right in front of me Andy, as if she didn’t even know I was there. That bitch, I swear if she tries anything on you I’ll kill her. Personally.”

I looked at Avery as we stepped into the elevator, knowing she wasn’t lying to me at all. I was sometimes scared of Avery, and I had never seen this jealous side of her, and although it as cute it was also kind of scary.

She was accompanying me to Taylor’s office, refusing to let me go there alone, even though she would leave as soon as we got to Taylor’s office. Or so I hoped, because there was no way I would be able to stand the awkward tension between the two for long.

Soon we were walking through the Office Sector and we were making awkward eye contact with other employees here. We honestly had no business up here, but they were too busy to tell us to get out. I had no idea why Taylor wanted me to meet her in her office either, but I figured it was so she could work in a safe environment.

Or so I hoped.

I just hoped she wasn’t doing it to spite Avery, but I had a really bad feeling that was the only reason she had.

I passed Roger’s office and soon found Taylor’s, seeing her name plate on the door. I looked at Avery as I knocked, only to hear it open and reveal a shocked Taylor. She must’ve not expected Avery to be there, but as soon as she was able to see us Avery leaned into me and kissed me, hard. It was quick, but I knew she was doing it to prove a point, and she spoke, “See you later.”

I pulled my confused glare from Avery to Taylor, who seemed just as caught off guard as me, and Avery headed back down the hall.

“Jealous type, huh?”

I looked at Taylor who was now closing her office door, leaving the two of us completely alone. I heard the click of the door as she turned away from it, looking at me for a response. I really had no idea what she wanted me to say, but I shrugged, speaking the first thing that came to mind, “Can you blame her?”

I didn’t mean the comment how I sounded, but then again I wasn’t even sure of that myself either. Taylor tilted her head and looked at me oddly, as if not quite knowing how to take that comment. She sighed, “So Walker needs you to learn how to teleport to a certain person not a place, and that’s what we’re going to work on today. It’s a little different than going somewhere because people move, and it’s not a physical place, so naturally it will be harder for you.”

I looked at her, “Well, give me some pointers.”

Her light brown eyes flickered to mine, and I studied her smooth face that was visible due to her hair that was pulled back in a loose bun. She looked awfully professional, but at the same time looked amazingly sexy.

It was distracting.

She smiled, leaning back on her desk, which made her look even more attractive. She shrugged, “Ok, you have to feel the person, feel the presence and the area around them. It requires much more focus, but you have to get the hang of it quick. After all, you’re going to be under a lot of pressure the day you’re taken to the Defense Department.”

I nodded, realizing how much pressure was on my shoulders even before we went through with this crazy ass plan. I spoke, “So how are we going to do this?”

She smiled, and I swear this time she did it just to send me over the edge, “I’m going to go somewhere, and you’re going to find me. I’ll give you five minutes.”

Then she disappeared.

I cursed silently to myself as I glanced at the clock immediately, realizing five minutes were going to go by really quick. I had no idea really want I was doing, and focusing on someone rather than some place was different, and hard.

She really knew how to put pressure on me.

I closed my eyes, holding my breath and picturing her face, and then the rest of her body. I thought about her, hard, and then I remembered the first place we had been alone. The roof of the Bureau, that’s where she had to be right? The roof?

Although, she didn’t tell me specifically where she would be, rather than to just find her.

I exhaled then, and I was on the roof of the Bureau and she was there, arms folded while she looked quite annoyed with me. I didn’t understand why she was pissed, I mean I had found her right?

She shook her head, walking up to me, “I knew you would come here, considering this was the first place we started. You did it wrong.”

I shrugged in confusion, “But I found you. Wasn’t that the whole point of the exercise?”

She titled her head, “Actually, yes, but you didn’t do that. I waited two minutes for you in Jacksonville, and when you didn’t show I came here, seconds before you appeared. I knew you were going to think of the place rather than me, you need to focus Andy.”

She had gone to Jacksonville? How amazing was that, she remembered the place I had taken her. She walked over to me, placing her hands on my shoulders as I looked into her alluring brown eyes. She smiled, “Focus ok? This is important. Don’t think about anything else but me, and I promise you it’s going to work.”

Then she was gone again, and this time I knew I had to try harder, but the lingering feeling of her hands on me distracted me. Her touch was so gentle, and she had spoken to me, and for some reason this caused me to want to succeed even more than before.

I closed my eyes as my breathing became shallow and focused. I pictured her in my mind, but focusing more on the area around her, instead of creating the area around her. I felt her presence within me, somewhere in my heart, and I knew this time was going to be different. This would work, it had too, but I was feeling good and right.

Then I exhaled, and I was soon standing next to Taylor in front of a run-down house that looked as if it had been in a fire. I looked at Taylor who was staring at the house as if I didn’t exist, and I spoke, “What is this place?”

She spoke softly, as if trying not to be heard, “My old house. It burnt down 6 years ago, when I was 18.”

I felt the mood in the air shift to something gloomier, and soon I was confused as to why she would take me here. I had done the exercise right, but now I was staring at some house that seemed to hold more haunting memories than a graveyard.  

She continued, “I was asleep upstairs, my parents downstairs, along with my baby brother. It was an electrical fire, and I woke up in the middle of the night hot and sweating, choking on smoke and I knew if I didn’t get out of there I was going to die. I walked to my door and felt it and it was hot, it actually burned, but I opened it anyway, and I mean the fire was right there, Andy. I couldn’t even get downstairs to my family. Then the ground starting giving out from under me and I knew I had to leave, I had to get out, so I teleported out here. Right in this very spot. My family died that night, and that was the night I discovered my power. It was an accident, obviously, but if I wouldn’t have focused, I would’ve died too.”

I looked at her, wondering what the hell I could say to Taylor, and then realized there were absolutely no words for this. She looked at me, “I know it’s kind of fucked up, and I know you’re young, but maybe a real life situation will show you just how important focusing really is.”

I ran my hand through my tousled blond hair, looking up at Taylor and feeling completely useless. I spoke, “Taylor… I’m sorry.”

She shook her head, “It was six years ago Andy, at least I know they died from suffocating in their sleep. They didn’t feel a thing.”

I wondered out loud, “Why this place?”

She looked at me, smiling forcefully, “I needed a place you would never think of and this is what came to mind, but you did it right, and I’m proud of you.”

For some reason her words made me feel like a hundred bucks, mostly because I never really was praised. I loved being praised, it felt good, but knowing that I never got it enough hurt. Her words made up for that feeling of absence in my heart. Although, I knew there was something broken inside her, and I could tell being here was doing that to her. I didn’t understand why she brought me here, but I knew we were having a moment, and I cherished that.

I pressed, “One more time?”

She nodded, seeming to pull her head out of whatever dark place she was in, and spoke, “Yeah, one more time.”

Then she disappeared, and I repeated the steps in my head, focusing on just her, and trying not to think of a specific place. I felt her, as if she was next to me, but I knew she wasn’t. The feeling was becoming familiar to me, and I realized I was getting the hang of it.

Just a little more practice and I would be good.

I exhaled and was standing close to Taylor, but we were in what looked like my bedroom, but it wasn’t mine. I soon realized it was hers, and she was looking at me with this certain look in her eyes that I couldn’t clearly read. Why had she brought me here, of all places? Why not her office? Or anywhere but here?

She leaned forward, pressing her body against me as she retrieved something off of her nightstand next to me. I felt my body ache as I restrained myself from touching her back, refusing to over think the contact. She waved the forms in her hand, “Figured I would stop by here before heading back to my office. You were much faster this time.”

Oh, so this wasn’t planned. She hadn’t been trying to seduce me, she was just trying to go to her office, but stopped here quickly first to retrieve something.

I nodded, realizing I had kind of wanted her to mean to come here.

We were standing close, closer than usual as she held her forms in front of her. She was looking at me, as if she wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how to say it.

Then she responded before I could get a word in, “Your girlfriend’s something else.”

I felt my heart ache at the reminder that I did in fact have a girlfriend, a wonderful girlfriend that I loved. I backed away from Taylor slowly; trying to give us some space from each other considering I knew what would happen if I didn’t. I answered, “Yea, she’s uh… protective.”

“I think the correct term is jealous.”

I listened carefully, and thought before I spoke this time, “Is that a bad thing?”

She shrugged, “I don’t believe so, but it could mean she’s insecure over something…”

This time she stepped forward, taking away some of the space I had put between us. I was looking into her light brown eyes that seemed to be watching me with every intent to read my expressions as we spoke.

I nodded, “She’s loves me, I would be the same way I guess if we swapped positions.”

She took another step, refusing to break our intimate eye contact that we were sharing. She responded, “Why were you mad at her in the first place? A couple of days ago.”

I blinked, trying to see if I was in a dream where Taylor was coming onto me, and I soon realized this was real. I knew she was trying to distract me with questions about Avery so she could close the gap between us, and for some reason I wanted her too. I wanted to feel her, I wanted to kiss her, and I wanted to feel her body against mine. I had wanted it from the first day we met, and I had no idea how I had become so wrapped around her finger in such a short amount of time.

I shook my head at her question, “We had a fight because she lied to me.”

“But you two made up?”

“Yeah, we’re fine now.”

She was close now, so close I could smell her mint gum she had been chewing since I had met her in her office. My eyes watched hers closely, realizing that we were having more than just a moment now, and it was quickly becoming something much more sexual.

I was leaning against her dresser, and both of her hands were on each side of me, keeping me in place. I felt the tension wrapping around me, almost suffocating me as I stared at her red lips that were coated with lipstick.

“Andrea, I’m not sure what’s going on between us, but I can’t seem to ignore it any further.”

I wanted to disagree with her, shut her down now and leave, but I just couldn’t. It felt as if my feet were nailed to the floor, and that the only way to leave was to agree with her. I felt my heart being pulled in two different directions, one towards Avery who lied to me countless times, and the other towards Taylor, who had seemed to be attracted to me right from the start.

I spoke calmly, “What exactly is going on between us, Taylor?”

I hadn’t meant to make the comment sound sexual, but after it left my mouth I realized it had. She tilted her head in amusement, and I felt her hands grip my thighs, lifting me up and forcing me up onto the top of the dresser. She was wedged between my legs now, pressure against my area as I felt my breath hitch in my throat. My heart was slamming hard against my chest at her sudden actions, and now she was closer than we had ever been.

“This Andrea, don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about.”

And suddenly I couldn’t control myself as I kissed her, hard, and I realized I didn’t care about anything else in that moment. It was like a demon possessed my body and drove me into her, as if I was its puppet. The temptation I had felt towards her had overcome me, and as our lips moved together I had never felt so exhilarated in my life. It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off of my chest, and I held her face in my hands as I pulled her bun loose, allowing her blonde hair to flow down around her face.

I stood, pushing her back onto the bed as I climbed on top of her, continuing to kiss her lips that I had been aching to kiss since day one. The craving that had been deep inside of me was satisfied, and it felt fucking good, and all of the weird feelings I had been having towards her were released in this moment. Though it was a short while this lasted, I knew it needed to end.

I was cheating on Avery.

I pulled back suddenly, climbing off of her and leaning back against the wall, just looking at Taylor in shock. The realization of what I had just done hit me, and I soon felt this huge wave a guilt drown me the longer I stayed here.

She whispered softly, looking up at me from her bed, “Andrea…”

I shook my head, nearly running for the door as I spoke, “I can’t… I’m sorry.”

I threw the door opened and turned to head towards my room, and I heard Taylor rush after me. Then as I exited I ran into a familiar pair of light green-blue eyes, eyes that held so much hatred and pain that I could only whisper her name.

“Avery…”