Fanfiction: In Another Life (2/?) THE TRIBE AU
TITLE: In Another Life
CHAPTER: 2/?
PAIRINGS/CHARACTERS: involves most of main cast eventually. Lex/Zandra the only pairing so far.
RATING/WARNINGS: I'll go with PG-13, just in case.
SUMMARY/NOTES: Ten years ago a prominent scientist blew up his lab and 12 of his colleagues. His daughter’s determination to find out the truth about his death sets in motion a string of new acquaintances, leading to friendships, romances and even new enemies. For a lot of them these new bonds are so strong it feels like they could have known each other in another life.
After dropping Lex off at his place, Ryan drove back to the station. He parked his squad car among the many identical ones in the parking lot and hurried inside, hoping his boss hadn’t noticed his absence. But there he was, his big head peaking out from his office, shouting his name before simply slamming the door shut. Ryan sighed deeply, ignoring the sympathetic looks from his colleagues before walking inside.
He was surprised to see another person in there, a young woman in a police uniform. Her hair was a shockingly bright pink, an even brighter shade than that time Zandra had dyed her hair pink and blue when they were teenagers. The woman quickly jumped up, reaching out her hand and introducing herself.
“Just call me Dee,” she said brightly, revealing a hint of an accent he thought was British (though he could never really tell accents apart), and a glimpse of her green chewing gum.
“Then you can just call me Ryan,” he said politely back.
His boss cleared his throat loudly, motioning for them both to sit down across his desk.
“Dee here is fresh from the academy. She will be your new partner. I expect you to teach her the basics, show her the ropes and all that.”
Ryan wanted to object, he was only two years out of the academy himself, but he knew the police force in the city was on its knees these days. That prostitution scandal a year earlier had not only shaken the political scene, a lot of prominent police officers and detectives had been found out. The higher ups didn’t want another national scandal, so an internal investigation had lead to many early retirements and resignations. All the senior officers already had new recruits to take care of. Glancing over at the woman next to him, a bubble appearing from her lips and popping loudly before she grinned back at him, he couldn’t help but feel he’d been given the shortest straw.
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Ellie hadn’t had much time to think through her conversation with Danni and the job she had ahead of her. She had another case to work on as well. She found herself at a diner near the dock area of the city. It was early in the day, breakfast rush over and the lunch rush not yet started, so the diner was nearly empty. The woman behind the counter was near Ellie’s age, only a few years older. She had short dark brown hair, and a purple top underneath the white apron with the diner’s logo on the front. Ellie sat down at the counter, the woman soon there with a menu. Her nametag read ‘Trudy’ so Ellie knew she was in the right place. Ellie ordered breakfast, and waited for Trudy to return after placing the order with the chef.
“Haven’t seen you in here before?” Trudy made it easy for her, starting the conversation without Ellie needing to try.
“No, I just happened to be in the area, this looked like a nice place for breakfast.”
“Well, our customers seem to think so. We usually have regulars in here, fishermen, dock workers, construction workers, they all tend to come back so they must enjoy the food.”
Ellie had a slight suspicion some of them probably came for the pretty young woman serving them, but she kept her mouth shut on that subject. Trudy was luckily very talkative and soon Ellie managed to turn the conversation to Trudy’s daughter without much effort.
“You can’t have been very old when you had her,” Ellie said, feigning surprise when Trudy mentioned her daughter’s age. Trudy’s expression was something between a smile and a grimace.
“I was 14 actually. Not ideal, obviously, but we do okay. My parents have been great through the whole thing, they made sure I finished school and helped take care of Brady. They’re even paying for me to take online classes and some evening classes so I can get a degree and a better job in the future. Not that working here is so bad, but it would be nice to one day be able to provide completely for myself and Brady, without relying on my parents.” Trudy stopped, her smile slightly embarrassed as if she only just realised she had babbled on about her personal life to a complete stranger.
“And the father? Doesn’t he help out?” Ellie tried to make the question sound casual, but Trudy tensed up immediately, her eyes suddenly suspicious.
“It’s complicated. But it’s all worked out okay.”
Trudy’s strained smile told Ellie something wasn’t right though, despite her attempt at bravery. The conversation stranded from there on, Ellie was unable to get any more out of her without appearing too interested, and Trudy seemed to keep her at a distance after the elusive baby daddy was brought up. Ellie didn’t really feel she had gotten much further than the elusive tabloid story that had caused scandal around a certain big basketball star, but she was more convinced than ever that the story back then had some holes in it.
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Trudy cursed herself as she walked along the pavement, playing over the conversation with that blonde woman in her head. Of course she was a journalist! How had Trudy not recognised her immediately? That prostitution scandal had been everywhere. Had she said too much? Had she revealed anything that a journalist could make a story out of? Who was she kidding, those journalists could make a story out of anything. Finally she was in front of her building, taking the long climb up the stairs to the apartment she shared with her daughter. Her mother and Brady weren’t there yet. She couldn’t put it off any longer and picked up the phone. Bray answered quickly, she knew his schedule well enough to know when he wasn’t in training.
“Hello, Trudy.”
His voice sounded weary. With a sting of guilt Trudy knew he probably expected her to ask for money again. There had been a lot lately, stuff Brady needed for school and dancing lessons and basketball practice (Bray had been quite proud when she had told him of that last one though). Brady was such an active child, she wanted to do so much. Trudy couldn’t say no. But she just couldn’t ask her parents for more and Bray had always told her he would help out anyway he could, and he did have money… she was just distracting herself now. She took a deep breath, before telling him about the journalist, hoping he wouldn’t get angry.
“Do you think she knows about Martin?” He asked.
“I don’t care if she does. But you don’t need another media scandal.”
“Don’t worry about that, Trudy. I’m the one who chose to let them think Brady is my daughter.”
“I still don’t get why you’re protecting him, Bray. He doesn’t deserve it. And it’s not like a scandal would affect his career much. It would probably just help it, come to think of it.”
“It’s Brady I’m protecting, not him. Its better people just think her parents aren’t together, than everyone knowing her dad refuses to acknowledge her. Martin’s band is starting to get a lot of attention, the media would be all over it. Just imagine how the kids at school would treat her if that story came out.”
Trudy sighed. She couldn’t deny that Bray was right. But there was still a part of her thinking that a kick up the backside like that could be what Martin needed to grow up and take some responsibility.
“Thank you for dedicating that win to her, by the way. You should have seen the look on her face when you said her name live on television,” Trudy could practically hear his smile through the phone, “not sure it was the best idea though, I saw the headlines.”
“Let them write what they want. She’s my niece. If I want to dedicate a win to her, then I will. She deserves it. She’s the only person in my life who doesn’t want anything from me but for me to just be in her life.”
Trudy tried not to be hurt that she wasn’t included on that short list, even if all she ever wanted from him was for Brady. The conversation didn’t last much longer. Trudy complimented him on his game, and Bray politely asked about work and her studies before excusing himself.
Trudy hung up the phone, finding herself in the doorway to her daughter’s bedroom. Several posters of uncle Bray decorated the walls; some of him in action, some of him posing for the camera, the basketball always present. Brady was so proud of her uncle Bray, and didn’t mind letting people believe he was her dad. Trudy feared she liked it a bit too much, as she had been asking some awkward questions about her and Bray’s relationship lately. Trudy’s eyes were then drawn towards the poster right above Brady’s bed. A band poster, Martin in his new identity as Zoot in the middle, staring into the camera through those creepy contact lenses he always wore. Brady liked paying attention to him, she collected articles from magazines and newspapers. Trudy didn’t mind, she knew Brady needed some kind of connection to him, but she stopped at letting Brady listen to the music. Some of it was just too dark. Not that you could really hear the lyrics much, she found it was mostly screaming and shouting. Trudy was snapped out of her thoughts by a key in the door, and she headed towards the hallway to greet her daughter.
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Zandra hesitated, her hand on the doorknob. One of her customers that day had commented on how stressed she seemed, and directed her towards this place. She glanced at her watch. She was late, nearly ten minutes. Maybe she should just leave again. Instead she opened the door. Inside a group of people were already sitting on the floor, in that weird meditation pose Zandra had never managed to master when she had tried it in the past. She had always kept in shape, but her body just wasn’t limber enough for this. The dark-haired woman at the front had her eyes closed and hadn’t reacted at all to her opening the door. Only a few people at the back had been taken out of their meditation state to turn and look towards her, but they were already getting back in the zone. Or whatever you called it, Zandra didn’t know. She was about to turn around and leave, when the woman spoke.
“Come in.”
Zandra stopped again, her hand still in the air, reaching for the door.
“Hi. Sorry, if I’m too late I can just come back next week,” she began, and the woman finally opened her eyes.
“No, it’s alright. Just come to the front so I can show you what to do without disturbing the others any more.”
Zandra did as she said, moving as quietly to the front as she could, sitting down as gracefully as she could manage in front of the Asian woman.
Zandra stayed behind as the others started filing out of the room, finally approaching their graceful meditation guru when the room was nearly empty.
“Hello, I’m sorry I was so late today. And that I turned up unannounced. It’s just that a customer of mine, I work at a beauty salon, told me about this place and that she couldn’t go today so I should just take her place. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, it’s okay. My name is Tai-San.”
“I’m Zandra. Nice to meet you.”
“Are you feeling better now?”
Zandra was a bit taken aback; she usually kept her emotions deeply locked inside. Something she had learned through the years, living with Lex did that to you. Already twice today people had pointed out that she wasn’t her bubbly cheerful self.
“You give of negative energy.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Tai-San just smiled. “No, don’t apologise. I think you should come back again this week, for a private session. I think you need it.”
“Oh, thank you, but I really can’t afford it.” Zandra hated admitting that, but felt too tired to come up with an excuse. She had a feeling this woman wouldn’t judge her for it.
“Then you don’t pay,” Tai-San said simply.
“Can you do that?”
“I don’t need much of money and material things. I have what I need, so I can help others with what they need. And you need my help.”
Zandra was hesitant, but she really had enjoyed the session today. She was sure it had even worked a little. And it was so long since she’d had anything outside of home and work to do. She deserved a few evenings for herself. Maybe it was time she put some pressure on Lex to take his share with Lexie as well. She gave Tai-San a grin, and accepted her offer.
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Amber sat down on the sofa, taking her boots off before allowing herself to sink back into the pillows. She sighed loudly to herself, staring up at the ceiling and trying to ignore her feet aching. She heard a noise from the kitchen, and soon her best friend and flatmate appeared in the doorway.
“Well?” Dal looked at her expectantly. “How did it go?”
“I lost,” Amber replied, dejected. “Judge ruled against our client. We’re appealing though, so there’s one more chance.”
“It was only your first court case, all upwards from here,” Dal smiled at her as he dropped down beside her on the sofa.
Amber couldn’t help but smile back. He really was the best thing in her life. They had known each other since their early teen years, having been partnered up in a school project, and immediately they had gotten along. Almost everyone else in their lives tended to assume they were a couple, that they would announce their engagement any day now. It seemed to make sense to everyone else. Amber had gotten a job at a law firm while Dal was an intern at the hospital close to his parents’ clinic, the perfect high society couple in so many people’s eyes. Amber couldn’t help but wonder sometimes, why were they just friends? They loved each other, in fact she loved Dal probably more than anyone else on the planet, their lives were going in the same direction, and they both had the same worldviews. Why wasn’t the spark there? Did they need it? Maybe love didn’t have to be like that, maybe this was what it should be? Maybe this was the kind that would last. It would be so easy to just slip into what everyone expected of them, just like they both had with their studies and now their careers. Why not?
“Dal? Do you ever think we’re on the wrong path?”
He turned towards her, a frown on his face. “What do you mean?”
“I wanted to do something important, change things. Fight injustice. Instead I find myself obsessing over technicalities, fine-combing the details of laws, defending a guy I’m not even sure is innocent. I thought that when I got to this point I would be so happy, feel like I was finally doing something, but it just didn’t feel right.”
“It’s just this case, Amber. The next one might be just what you want.”
“And what if it’s not?”
“Then the next one after that. Look, Amber," he moved a bit on the sofa so he was looking directly at her, "you’re new, fresh out of uni. You’ll move on up in the system and soon you can pick your cases, you can choose who to defend.”
“Yeah? And how many guilty ones will I have to get off before that? How many business men with deep pockets will I help buy their way out of their crimes?”
“It’s how it works, Amber. You’ve always known that.”
“It’s now how I work,” she said, but not feeling as secure in her principals as she had done through her life.
“Maybe you’ll be the one to change things then, ever think about that? If anyone could, it would be you.”
Once again he put a smile on her face. “You really believe in me that much?”
“Of course.” He looked her straight in the eyes, and she knew he meant every word.
“What about you, Dal? I mean, you’re great as a doctor. Your parents taught you a lot, and I know you like being able to save lives and help people who are sick, but remember when we were kids? This wasn’t what you wanted then. You’d go on and on about your dream farm in the countryside, where you could grow your own food and live free from all the hassle in the city.”
“That was a long time ago,” he said quickly, his eyes looking away from her all of a sudden.
“Not that long. Is there really no part of you that still wants that?”
“I suppose. It could be my retirement plan,” he shrugged, a small unconvincing smile on his face.
“When you’re a rich old doctor, with your large flock of children moving out and starting their own families, you’ll buy yourself a large farm in the countryside where your grandkids can all come and play.”
“Exactly,” Dal’s face broke out in a grin.
Amber felt a sense of comfort in doing this, sitting together and fantasising about their future was something they had always done. But the doubts were still nagging in the back of her mind, and her smile soon faded.
“I just can’t help but wonder sometimes… is this what we’d be doing if our parents hadn’t led us to it?”
“We’ll never know, I suppose,” was Dal’s simple answer.
They fell quiet after that, both of them lost in thought.
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Danni slammed her car door, ignoring the disapproving looks sent her way by the members of the Eco Group in the near vicinity. The new eco restaurant was right by the road, in close proximity to the farm her brother had bought for them. Their father’s inheritance had been split equally between the two of them. Her brother had instantly given it all away when it fell to him at 21, while she had invested and saved and built up her own small fortune she reached that age.
The restaurant wasn’t much to brag about. It was basically a hut with a few tables inside and outside, that served food made of ingredients from the farm. Still, it had its charm, she had to admit. She was used to much more gourmet type restaurants and fancy cafés for her business meetings, and even the occasional date, but she wasn’t one of those people who thought herself too good for a place like this. In many ways she actually felt more at ease.
He was already waiting for her by a table in the shadows. His black dreads were longer than last time she saw him, and his clothes as usual tight-fitting and in earthy colours. At least he had washed the make-up off his face this time around. She knew he had heard her coming, there weren’t many cars in this area, but he still kept his eyes locked on the menu. He didn’t look up before she sat down opposite him.
“Hello Nicholas,” she greeted him, getting a look of disdain back. She ignored it. There was no way she would ever call him ‘Pride’, at least not with a straight face.
“Hello,” he said back finally. “What did you want to meet me for?”
“It’s been months, Nicky, I just thought we should pretend like we have actual family once in a while.”
“I have family here.”
Danni tried not to feel the sting at his words. He had made it perfectly clear years ago that these people were more important than her, she should be used to it by now. He had never understood why she stayed in that house, in that city, after what happened. She had never understood how he could leave with so many things left unanswered. When his best friend’s parents had offered to take him in as a foster child, he had jumped at the chance. He had never even asked them to take her in to. She had been left behind at the house with their old butler, Ivan, as her legal guardian. He was a nice man, but too old to be much company for a teenage girl. He had in reality retired years ago, but her dad had kept him at the house simply because he had nowhere else to go. He had stayed with Danni until she turned twenty-one and her father’s will finally left her in full control over her inheritance. Ivan had passed away within a year after. Her brother hadn’t even come to the funeral, even though they had both grown up with the man acting as their second parent. He had been more like a member of the family than an employee, but obviously her brother hadn’t seen him that way. And he accused her of being a snob.
They both ordered their lunch and got their drinks before Danni responded to his query about what she was doing there.
“I’ve been talking to a freelance investigative journalist about what happened to dad,” she began.
“About what dad did, you mean.”
Danni gritted her teeth, holding back the first response that came to her mind.
“She’s going to look into the circumstances and see if she can find any discrepancies beyond what I’ve already found. She agrees with me that something is off about the whole thing.”
“Of course she does, you’re paying her.”
“Actually I’m only paying her if she finds the official story is true.”
He raised his eyebrows at her, looking puzzled for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face. “Right, so you already have the excuse lined up then. If she doesn’t find anything to support your conspiracy theories you’ll just accuse her of being greedy to get the money.”
Danni let out a frustrated sigh. She was just trying to involve him in what was going on, but realised she had made a mistake once again in thinking that he cared.
“All I want is to find out what actually happened when our dad died.”
“You will as soon as you just accept the truth, Danni.”
“Why are you so determined to believe the worst about him?”
Her brother looked at her as if he was sizing up just how angry she was before answering, the way he always had when they were kids.
“I just don’t think it’s healthy for you, Danni, this obsession with clearing his name instead of living your own life. You need to let it go.”
Danni could feel it all bubbling under her skin, so many things she wanted to just shout at him, everything she had wanted to say to him for such a long time.
“It’s nice of you to care, Nicky.” She tried to keep her emotions in check, but her reply was still seething with anger.
“Maybe you should take a break. Get away from work and that city. You could come out here for a few weeks, get some rest and live close to nature for once." He tried smiling at her, but that didn't soften her mood.
“That’s nice, but some of us have to live in the real world,” she bit back instantly.
“Oh, the real world?” Finally her angry remarks seemed to have hit a nerve. “The real world that you are all slowly killing? You surround yourself with scientists who torture animals and find new ways to pollute the earth, businessmen who don’t care about anything but making money. At least we are trying to make a difference out here, for everyone.”
“How’s that working out for you then, Pride?” She practically spit out his nickname. “You are so quick to judge science, you always were. Did you know the university has hired a new up and coming professor who developed a new type of wind turbine? It’s been sold to twelve countries already, six more in negotiating stages. It’s a new way of creating energy that could change how we use energy and gas all over the world. In two years of working on that he’s done more to lower the world pollution than you and your friends up here will do in your whole lifetime. So don’t you dare sit there being all smug about how you and your friends are saving the world, when in reality all you do is run around hugging trees, giving yourself weird names and protesting against anyone and anything you disagree with. What do you actually achieve up here? All these years you’ve dedicated to this place, and you’re sitting here with a shabby little hut you call a restaurant, and this is supposed to change the world how?”
Danni knew how to win an argument. It was a tactic she had perfected through the years. Hit them with your best arguments just before the end of the meeting or conversation, and then end the discussion by leaving. The situation was different now, in meetings she was usually cool and collected, and she would calmly announce that she had to leave before walking out, rather than storming off in anger like she was doing now. He tried to follow her, but she was driving off before he even reached the road.
CHAPTER: 2/?
PAIRINGS/CHARACTERS: involves most of main cast eventually. Lex/Zandra the only pairing so far.
RATING/WARNINGS: I'll go with PG-13, just in case.
SUMMARY/NOTES: Ten years ago a prominent scientist blew up his lab and 12 of his colleagues. His daughter’s determination to find out the truth about his death sets in motion a string of new acquaintances, leading to friendships, romances and even new enemies. For a lot of them these new bonds are so strong it feels like they could have known each other in another life.
After dropping Lex off at his place, Ryan drove back to the station. He parked his squad car among the many identical ones in the parking lot and hurried inside, hoping his boss hadn’t noticed his absence. But there he was, his big head peaking out from his office, shouting his name before simply slamming the door shut. Ryan sighed deeply, ignoring the sympathetic looks from his colleagues before walking inside.
He was surprised to see another person in there, a young woman in a police uniform. Her hair was a shockingly bright pink, an even brighter shade than that time Zandra had dyed her hair pink and blue when they were teenagers. The woman quickly jumped up, reaching out her hand and introducing herself.
“Just call me Dee,” she said brightly, revealing a hint of an accent he thought was British (though he could never really tell accents apart), and a glimpse of her green chewing gum.
“Then you can just call me Ryan,” he said politely back.
His boss cleared his throat loudly, motioning for them both to sit down across his desk.
“Dee here is fresh from the academy. She will be your new partner. I expect you to teach her the basics, show her the ropes and all that.”
Ryan wanted to object, he was only two years out of the academy himself, but he knew the police force in the city was on its knees these days. That prostitution scandal a year earlier had not only shaken the political scene, a lot of prominent police officers and detectives had been found out. The higher ups didn’t want another national scandal, so an internal investigation had lead to many early retirements and resignations. All the senior officers already had new recruits to take care of. Glancing over at the woman next to him, a bubble appearing from her lips and popping loudly before she grinned back at him, he couldn’t help but feel he’d been given the shortest straw.
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Ellie hadn’t had much time to think through her conversation with Danni and the job she had ahead of her. She had another case to work on as well. She found herself at a diner near the dock area of the city. It was early in the day, breakfast rush over and the lunch rush not yet started, so the diner was nearly empty. The woman behind the counter was near Ellie’s age, only a few years older. She had short dark brown hair, and a purple top underneath the white apron with the diner’s logo on the front. Ellie sat down at the counter, the woman soon there with a menu. Her nametag read ‘Trudy’ so Ellie knew she was in the right place. Ellie ordered breakfast, and waited for Trudy to return after placing the order with the chef.
“Haven’t seen you in here before?” Trudy made it easy for her, starting the conversation without Ellie needing to try.
“No, I just happened to be in the area, this looked like a nice place for breakfast.”
“Well, our customers seem to think so. We usually have regulars in here, fishermen, dock workers, construction workers, they all tend to come back so they must enjoy the food.”
Ellie had a slight suspicion some of them probably came for the pretty young woman serving them, but she kept her mouth shut on that subject. Trudy was luckily very talkative and soon Ellie managed to turn the conversation to Trudy’s daughter without much effort.
“You can’t have been very old when you had her,” Ellie said, feigning surprise when Trudy mentioned her daughter’s age. Trudy’s expression was something between a smile and a grimace.
“I was 14 actually. Not ideal, obviously, but we do okay. My parents have been great through the whole thing, they made sure I finished school and helped take care of Brady. They’re even paying for me to take online classes and some evening classes so I can get a degree and a better job in the future. Not that working here is so bad, but it would be nice to one day be able to provide completely for myself and Brady, without relying on my parents.” Trudy stopped, her smile slightly embarrassed as if she only just realised she had babbled on about her personal life to a complete stranger.
“And the father? Doesn’t he help out?” Ellie tried to make the question sound casual, but Trudy tensed up immediately, her eyes suddenly suspicious.
“It’s complicated. But it’s all worked out okay.”
Trudy’s strained smile told Ellie something wasn’t right though, despite her attempt at bravery. The conversation stranded from there on, Ellie was unable to get any more out of her without appearing too interested, and Trudy seemed to keep her at a distance after the elusive baby daddy was brought up. Ellie didn’t really feel she had gotten much further than the elusive tabloid story that had caused scandal around a certain big basketball star, but she was more convinced than ever that the story back then had some holes in it.
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Trudy cursed herself as she walked along the pavement, playing over the conversation with that blonde woman in her head. Of course she was a journalist! How had Trudy not recognised her immediately? That prostitution scandal had been everywhere. Had she said too much? Had she revealed anything that a journalist could make a story out of? Who was she kidding, those journalists could make a story out of anything. Finally she was in front of her building, taking the long climb up the stairs to the apartment she shared with her daughter. Her mother and Brady weren’t there yet. She couldn’t put it off any longer and picked up the phone. Bray answered quickly, she knew his schedule well enough to know when he wasn’t in training.
“Hello, Trudy.”
His voice sounded weary. With a sting of guilt Trudy knew he probably expected her to ask for money again. There had been a lot lately, stuff Brady needed for school and dancing lessons and basketball practice (Bray had been quite proud when she had told him of that last one though). Brady was such an active child, she wanted to do so much. Trudy couldn’t say no. But she just couldn’t ask her parents for more and Bray had always told her he would help out anyway he could, and he did have money… she was just distracting herself now. She took a deep breath, before telling him about the journalist, hoping he wouldn’t get angry.
“Do you think she knows about Martin?” He asked.
“I don’t care if she does. But you don’t need another media scandal.”
“Don’t worry about that, Trudy. I’m the one who chose to let them think Brady is my daughter.”
“I still don’t get why you’re protecting him, Bray. He doesn’t deserve it. And it’s not like a scandal would affect his career much. It would probably just help it, come to think of it.”
“It’s Brady I’m protecting, not him. Its better people just think her parents aren’t together, than everyone knowing her dad refuses to acknowledge her. Martin’s band is starting to get a lot of attention, the media would be all over it. Just imagine how the kids at school would treat her if that story came out.”
Trudy sighed. She couldn’t deny that Bray was right. But there was still a part of her thinking that a kick up the backside like that could be what Martin needed to grow up and take some responsibility.
“Thank you for dedicating that win to her, by the way. You should have seen the look on her face when you said her name live on television,” Trudy could practically hear his smile through the phone, “not sure it was the best idea though, I saw the headlines.”
“Let them write what they want. She’s my niece. If I want to dedicate a win to her, then I will. She deserves it. She’s the only person in my life who doesn’t want anything from me but for me to just be in her life.”
Trudy tried not to be hurt that she wasn’t included on that short list, even if all she ever wanted from him was for Brady. The conversation didn’t last much longer. Trudy complimented him on his game, and Bray politely asked about work and her studies before excusing himself.
Trudy hung up the phone, finding herself in the doorway to her daughter’s bedroom. Several posters of uncle Bray decorated the walls; some of him in action, some of him posing for the camera, the basketball always present. Brady was so proud of her uncle Bray, and didn’t mind letting people believe he was her dad. Trudy feared she liked it a bit too much, as she had been asking some awkward questions about her and Bray’s relationship lately. Trudy’s eyes were then drawn towards the poster right above Brady’s bed. A band poster, Martin in his new identity as Zoot in the middle, staring into the camera through those creepy contact lenses he always wore. Brady liked paying attention to him, she collected articles from magazines and newspapers. Trudy didn’t mind, she knew Brady needed some kind of connection to him, but she stopped at letting Brady listen to the music. Some of it was just too dark. Not that you could really hear the lyrics much, she found it was mostly screaming and shouting. Trudy was snapped out of her thoughts by a key in the door, and she headed towards the hallway to greet her daughter.
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Zandra hesitated, her hand on the doorknob. One of her customers that day had commented on how stressed she seemed, and directed her towards this place. She glanced at her watch. She was late, nearly ten minutes. Maybe she should just leave again. Instead she opened the door. Inside a group of people were already sitting on the floor, in that weird meditation pose Zandra had never managed to master when she had tried it in the past. She had always kept in shape, but her body just wasn’t limber enough for this. The dark-haired woman at the front had her eyes closed and hadn’t reacted at all to her opening the door. Only a few people at the back had been taken out of their meditation state to turn and look towards her, but they were already getting back in the zone. Or whatever you called it, Zandra didn’t know. She was about to turn around and leave, when the woman spoke.
“Come in.”
Zandra stopped again, her hand still in the air, reaching for the door.
“Hi. Sorry, if I’m too late I can just come back next week,” she began, and the woman finally opened her eyes.
“No, it’s alright. Just come to the front so I can show you what to do without disturbing the others any more.”
Zandra did as she said, moving as quietly to the front as she could, sitting down as gracefully as she could manage in front of the Asian woman.
Zandra stayed behind as the others started filing out of the room, finally approaching their graceful meditation guru when the room was nearly empty.
“Hello, I’m sorry I was so late today. And that I turned up unannounced. It’s just that a customer of mine, I work at a beauty salon, told me about this place and that she couldn’t go today so I should just take her place. I hope you don’t mind.”
“No, it’s okay. My name is Tai-San.”
“I’m Zandra. Nice to meet you.”
“Are you feeling better now?”
Zandra was a bit taken aback; she usually kept her emotions deeply locked inside. Something she had learned through the years, living with Lex did that to you. Already twice today people had pointed out that she wasn’t her bubbly cheerful self.
“You give of negative energy.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
Tai-San just smiled. “No, don’t apologise. I think you should come back again this week, for a private session. I think you need it.”
“Oh, thank you, but I really can’t afford it.” Zandra hated admitting that, but felt too tired to come up with an excuse. She had a feeling this woman wouldn’t judge her for it.
“Then you don’t pay,” Tai-San said simply.
“Can you do that?”
“I don’t need much of money and material things. I have what I need, so I can help others with what they need. And you need my help.”
Zandra was hesitant, but she really had enjoyed the session today. She was sure it had even worked a little. And it was so long since she’d had anything outside of home and work to do. She deserved a few evenings for herself. Maybe it was time she put some pressure on Lex to take his share with Lexie as well. She gave Tai-San a grin, and accepted her offer.
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Amber sat down on the sofa, taking her boots off before allowing herself to sink back into the pillows. She sighed loudly to herself, staring up at the ceiling and trying to ignore her feet aching. She heard a noise from the kitchen, and soon her best friend and flatmate appeared in the doorway.
“Well?” Dal looked at her expectantly. “How did it go?”
“I lost,” Amber replied, dejected. “Judge ruled against our client. We’re appealing though, so there’s one more chance.”
“It was only your first court case, all upwards from here,” Dal smiled at her as he dropped down beside her on the sofa.
Amber couldn’t help but smile back. He really was the best thing in her life. They had known each other since their early teen years, having been partnered up in a school project, and immediately they had gotten along. Almost everyone else in their lives tended to assume they were a couple, that they would announce their engagement any day now. It seemed to make sense to everyone else. Amber had gotten a job at a law firm while Dal was an intern at the hospital close to his parents’ clinic, the perfect high society couple in so many people’s eyes. Amber couldn’t help but wonder sometimes, why were they just friends? They loved each other, in fact she loved Dal probably more than anyone else on the planet, their lives were going in the same direction, and they both had the same worldviews. Why wasn’t the spark there? Did they need it? Maybe love didn’t have to be like that, maybe this was what it should be? Maybe this was the kind that would last. It would be so easy to just slip into what everyone expected of them, just like they both had with their studies and now their careers. Why not?
“Dal? Do you ever think we’re on the wrong path?”
He turned towards her, a frown on his face. “What do you mean?”
“I wanted to do something important, change things. Fight injustice. Instead I find myself obsessing over technicalities, fine-combing the details of laws, defending a guy I’m not even sure is innocent. I thought that when I got to this point I would be so happy, feel like I was finally doing something, but it just didn’t feel right.”
“It’s just this case, Amber. The next one might be just what you want.”
“And what if it’s not?”
“Then the next one after that. Look, Amber," he moved a bit on the sofa so he was looking directly at her, "you’re new, fresh out of uni. You’ll move on up in the system and soon you can pick your cases, you can choose who to defend.”
“Yeah? And how many guilty ones will I have to get off before that? How many business men with deep pockets will I help buy their way out of their crimes?”
“It’s how it works, Amber. You’ve always known that.”
“It’s now how I work,” she said, but not feeling as secure in her principals as she had done through her life.
“Maybe you’ll be the one to change things then, ever think about that? If anyone could, it would be you.”
Once again he put a smile on her face. “You really believe in me that much?”
“Of course.” He looked her straight in the eyes, and she knew he meant every word.
“What about you, Dal? I mean, you’re great as a doctor. Your parents taught you a lot, and I know you like being able to save lives and help people who are sick, but remember when we were kids? This wasn’t what you wanted then. You’d go on and on about your dream farm in the countryside, where you could grow your own food and live free from all the hassle in the city.”
“That was a long time ago,” he said quickly, his eyes looking away from her all of a sudden.
“Not that long. Is there really no part of you that still wants that?”
“I suppose. It could be my retirement plan,” he shrugged, a small unconvincing smile on his face.
“When you’re a rich old doctor, with your large flock of children moving out and starting their own families, you’ll buy yourself a large farm in the countryside where your grandkids can all come and play.”
“Exactly,” Dal’s face broke out in a grin.
Amber felt a sense of comfort in doing this, sitting together and fantasising about their future was something they had always done. But the doubts were still nagging in the back of her mind, and her smile soon faded.
“I just can’t help but wonder sometimes… is this what we’d be doing if our parents hadn’t led us to it?”
“We’ll never know, I suppose,” was Dal’s simple answer.
They fell quiet after that, both of them lost in thought.
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Danni slammed her car door, ignoring the disapproving looks sent her way by the members of the Eco Group in the near vicinity. The new eco restaurant was right by the road, in close proximity to the farm her brother had bought for them. Their father’s inheritance had been split equally between the two of them. Her brother had instantly given it all away when it fell to him at 21, while she had invested and saved and built up her own small fortune she reached that age.
The restaurant wasn’t much to brag about. It was basically a hut with a few tables inside and outside, that served food made of ingredients from the farm. Still, it had its charm, she had to admit. She was used to much more gourmet type restaurants and fancy cafés for her business meetings, and even the occasional date, but she wasn’t one of those people who thought herself too good for a place like this. In many ways she actually felt more at ease.
He was already waiting for her by a table in the shadows. His black dreads were longer than last time she saw him, and his clothes as usual tight-fitting and in earthy colours. At least he had washed the make-up off his face this time around. She knew he had heard her coming, there weren’t many cars in this area, but he still kept his eyes locked on the menu. He didn’t look up before she sat down opposite him.
“Hello Nicholas,” she greeted him, getting a look of disdain back. She ignored it. There was no way she would ever call him ‘Pride’, at least not with a straight face.
“Hello,” he said back finally. “What did you want to meet me for?”
“It’s been months, Nicky, I just thought we should pretend like we have actual family once in a while.”
“I have family here.”
Danni tried not to feel the sting at his words. He had made it perfectly clear years ago that these people were more important than her, she should be used to it by now. He had never understood why she stayed in that house, in that city, after what happened. She had never understood how he could leave with so many things left unanswered. When his best friend’s parents had offered to take him in as a foster child, he had jumped at the chance. He had never even asked them to take her in to. She had been left behind at the house with their old butler, Ivan, as her legal guardian. He was a nice man, but too old to be much company for a teenage girl. He had in reality retired years ago, but her dad had kept him at the house simply because he had nowhere else to go. He had stayed with Danni until she turned twenty-one and her father’s will finally left her in full control over her inheritance. Ivan had passed away within a year after. Her brother hadn’t even come to the funeral, even though they had both grown up with the man acting as their second parent. He had been more like a member of the family than an employee, but obviously her brother hadn’t seen him that way. And he accused her of being a snob.
They both ordered their lunch and got their drinks before Danni responded to his query about what she was doing there.
“I’ve been talking to a freelance investigative journalist about what happened to dad,” she began.
“About what dad did, you mean.”
Danni gritted her teeth, holding back the first response that came to her mind.
“She’s going to look into the circumstances and see if she can find any discrepancies beyond what I’ve already found. She agrees with me that something is off about the whole thing.”
“Of course she does, you’re paying her.”
“Actually I’m only paying her if she finds the official story is true.”
He raised his eyebrows at her, looking puzzled for a moment before a small smile appeared on his face. “Right, so you already have the excuse lined up then. If she doesn’t find anything to support your conspiracy theories you’ll just accuse her of being greedy to get the money.”
Danni let out a frustrated sigh. She was just trying to involve him in what was going on, but realised she had made a mistake once again in thinking that he cared.
“All I want is to find out what actually happened when our dad died.”
“You will as soon as you just accept the truth, Danni.”
“Why are you so determined to believe the worst about him?”
Her brother looked at her as if he was sizing up just how angry she was before answering, the way he always had when they were kids.
“I just don’t think it’s healthy for you, Danni, this obsession with clearing his name instead of living your own life. You need to let it go.”
Danni could feel it all bubbling under her skin, so many things she wanted to just shout at him, everything she had wanted to say to him for such a long time.
“It’s nice of you to care, Nicky.” She tried to keep her emotions in check, but her reply was still seething with anger.
“Maybe you should take a break. Get away from work and that city. You could come out here for a few weeks, get some rest and live close to nature for once." He tried smiling at her, but that didn't soften her mood.
“That’s nice, but some of us have to live in the real world,” she bit back instantly.
“Oh, the real world?” Finally her angry remarks seemed to have hit a nerve. “The real world that you are all slowly killing? You surround yourself with scientists who torture animals and find new ways to pollute the earth, businessmen who don’t care about anything but making money. At least we are trying to make a difference out here, for everyone.”
“How’s that working out for you then, Pride?” She practically spit out his nickname. “You are so quick to judge science, you always were. Did you know the university has hired a new up and coming professor who developed a new type of wind turbine? It’s been sold to twelve countries already, six more in negotiating stages. It’s a new way of creating energy that could change how we use energy and gas all over the world. In two years of working on that he’s done more to lower the world pollution than you and your friends up here will do in your whole lifetime. So don’t you dare sit there being all smug about how you and your friends are saving the world, when in reality all you do is run around hugging trees, giving yourself weird names and protesting against anyone and anything you disagree with. What do you actually achieve up here? All these years you’ve dedicated to this place, and you’re sitting here with a shabby little hut you call a restaurant, and this is supposed to change the world how?”
Danni knew how to win an argument. It was a tactic she had perfected through the years. Hit them with your best arguments just before the end of the meeting or conversation, and then end the discussion by leaving. The situation was different now, in meetings she was usually cool and collected, and she would calmly announce that she had to leave before walking out, rather than storming off in anger like she was doing now. He tried to follow her, but she was driving off before he even reached the road.