Nora~~

This is most definitely a date.

Radia chose an expensive restaurant and probably the most romantic one in the city and got us a table in the courtyard where a fountain with a statue of a cupid on top has water bubbling out of its bow. There's even a violinist in the corner playing a waltz. Radia's going to blow her paycheck tonight.

She and Tye are seated across from me. A lone candle flickers in the middle of the table.

Ryann—Radia's coffee-shop man—isn't here yet. He's fifteen minutes late. At this point Radia's still not confirmed if he's my date or hers, though I know there's something between her and Tye.

Tye rips off a piece of bread from the roll in the basket while finishing his story about the party Charlie and I threw him two days ago.

Charlie, just his name has brought up a surge of anger over the past week. He told me I could go home, and then immediately after walking out the door, he sent me an email telling me I needed to stay.

For no purpose whatsoever. Was it to just have his coworkers stare at me? Because he sure as hell made up that party BS on the spot.

And does everyone in the government have to have the same last name?

Pace.

Pace.

Pace.

"Can you not get crumbs all over you before Ryann gets here?" Radia sighs. "Please?"

I find my hand tightened in a fist around a piece of bread.

"Sorry." I set the bread on my plate. At this point I think Radia even believes Ryann is going to be a no show. "This place is really pretty, Radia."

She loops her braids over her shoulder and rests her elbow on the table, rubbing her forehead. "I'm sorry he's—"

"Radia." A boy around our age walks our way, dressed in black jeans and a gray shirt. His blond hair is an intentional mess and once he reaches our table and Radia introduces him, he turns his eyes on me. They're a dark blue. "Sorry I'm late." He slides into the seat beside me. "Work held me up."

"What do you do?" I ask. I can't deny he's cute though I still don't know if he's here for me or Radia. Tye must be running his mind ragged trying to figure that one out.

Ryann lifts the decanter of water and fills his glass. In my head I see Charlie filling his saucer with tea. I shift in my seat taking a sip from my own water. I set my glass down, and Ryann refills it.

"I pick up and deliver groceries to people."

I raise my glass toward my mouth.

Don't trust him.

I almost drop my glass, water spilling over the rim and onto my dress.

"Nora, are you okay?" Tye passes me his napkin, and I dab the cloth against my dress.

"Yes." It comes out a tad shaky. The voice startled me—the voice and its message. I don't know how to explain it, but it didn't sound like me—whatever it is I sound like in my head; it's not as if I can really hear my thoughts. And was that message from me to me supposed to be about Ryann or Charlie? Surely, my subconscious is only picking up on the fact that Ryann's probably a player.

"I'm also in the delivery business," Tye says. "Nora works with me."

            Before Ryann can respond to Tye, our waiter arrives and asks if we'd like to go ahead and place our food orders with the drinks. He doesn't add that it's because we've already been here long enough. He might as well have.

Once we order, Ryann asks Tye what he delivers.

"Messages for the government. They like to keep things formal. Nora prepares the envelopes." And I'm getting paid more than Radia who works in a news office that runs the television channel, a digital and print newspaper, and she assists eight people. It's not fair.

"Tye." Radia stands, dropping her napkin in her seat. "You want to make a wish in the fountain with me?"

His eyes lock with mine as the pieces fall into place for both of us. Tye's on a date with Radia and not me.

Tye, looking nervous, follows Radia to the fountain, and I'm forced to swallow my laugh.

Ryann's chair scrapes against the stone as he angles it toward me. "Would you want to go for a walk after dinner? Radia wants us to get to know each other."

My stomach twists. "Do you want to get to know me?"

His mouth opens and closes.

"How long have you been in Somnia?" I ask.

"A little over a year."

            "I've been here a week." I lean back in my chair. "How smart would I be to go off alone with a guy I just met at night in a city he knows better than me?"

He raises his glass to me. "I see your point. So, you aren't interested in me then?"

"Are you interested in me?"

"I'm always interested in a pretty girl."

            I snort. "Don't I feel special?"

"I'm making it worse, aren't I?"

            I raise an eyebrow. "Maybe."

"Are you looking for friends then?"

I nod as Tye and Radia head back to the table.

"Can that be us?" he asks.

"Prove to me I can trust you."

            But you can't.

*****

On Monday after Charlie lets me go early—I'm convinced he's going to take it back and tell me to return to the office—I take the subway to Radia's office building, a few blocks from City Hall. Unlike me, she has a set work schedule that isn't on the whim of her boss. She wants to give me a tour before we grab dinner.

The man I saw on the street with Charlie on my first day of work stands beside the doors leading into Radia's building. "This isn't real!" he shouts as I walk by. He has a new sign.

Wake up

For a moment the world tilts.

Wake up.

I grasp the door handle and take a deep breath. Those words mean nothing to me, I think, and the world rights itself.

I pull open the door and step inside.

Ticker tape loops around the room with headlines of the newest stories. Holographic screens pop up alongside people as they walk. I've never seen anything like them. The screen that appears beside me shows a live stream of the news broadcast.

"Nora!" I hear Radia's voice call. She's off to the right talking to a tall man with black hair. I can't see his face so I can't tell how old he is, but he's clothed impeccably in dress pants and a blue blazer.

As soon as I'm close enough she latches onto my hand.

"Nora, I want you to meet Doctor Pace. He did an interview with us today." Pace. Another one?

The man turns toward me, his back now to the windows overlooking the street.

I take a step back.

Richard Pace wears the same nonchalant grin he gave me when I met him. The sign man faces the window.

Wake up

I return Radia's grip, relying on her not to let me fall.

He cocks his head, looking down on me. "Hello, Ms. Everley."

I wet me lips, willing strength into my legs. "Lovely to see you again."

He frowns. "You don't look too well. May I?" He doesn't wait for permission and places his hands on my free arm, holding me up.

Touching my fingers to my forehead—Pace's grip tightening as I bend my arm—I close my eyes, and my head clears. I release Radia's hand and step out of Pace's hold. "I was only a little light headed. Please, don't worry. I'll be fine once I eat something. I'm sure. Radia?"

"Yeah, one second." She clasps her hands behind her back and focuses on Pace. "Thank you for coming in. On behalf of Somnia Sentinel, we hope to have the chance to interview you again soon."

"The pleasure is all mine. Good day to both of you." He nods to each of us and parts ways.

Immediately, Radia puts me under scrutiny. "Are you okay? Truly?"

I shake my head. "When I first met him, I thought I had seen him before. But just now I could have sworn I had met him—talked to him—before all of this."

Radia's gaze darts around the room. No one pays us any attention. "We should go." The tour doesn't seem pressing anymore.

She pushes open the door leading out of her building for me, and I head to the left past the sign man. I keep my eyes fixed on the sidewalk. I do not need any more cases of what just happened. The noodle shop she wants to try is right around the corner.

"Excuse—" Radia's voice cuts off, and I turn around. The man has stepped in front of her.

"Hey." I reach for him, but Radia holds up her hand. He's speaking too low and too near her ear for me to make out what he's saying.

Radia inhales and nods, assuring him of something. She whips around him and threads her arms through mine. "Come on."

"What did he say?"

She grunts. "Nonsense."

A minute later we reach the noodle shop. The lights are too bright, the smells overwhelming. Teriyaki, soy sauce, the smells of vegetables steaming all draw me to the counter, silently urging me to push Pace far from my mind.

I grab a tray and order, picking up a passionfruit tea from the fridge before checking out.

Radia sidles up beside me at the register. "You feeling better?"

            I hand a twenty dollar bill over to the cashier. "No." The woman gives me my change, and I pick up my tray.

We grab a booth tucked away in the corner.

Radia breaks apart her chopsticks and tucks them between her fingers. "Where did you meet Doctor Pace?" She deftly picks up her rice between the two sticks.

"At work." The chopsticks feel clunky in my fingers. I can't loop any noodles between the sticks. "You've clearly done this before."

She shakes her head, frowning. "Nope." She pops a piece of broccoli into her mouth.

"You sure?"

"I'd think I'd remember having eaten food this good."

I grab a fork from my tray. "Charlie introduced him to me. What kind of doctor is he?"

"He says he's a scholar." She purses her lips. "I've been thinking about the friend Tye mentioned. The one he said he hasn't seen. It's weird Tye's not worried, right?"

"You think Tye did something to him?"

She pushes one of her pieces of broccoli over the top of her rice. "No. But I never even met his friend, and I'm worried. Why isn't he?"

"I'm guessing the same reason he doesn't wonder what came before Somnia."

"What if nothing came before it?'

I set my fork down, no longer hungry. I have no answer for that. If my life really did start the day I found myself in that room in City Hall, wouldn't I be able to accept it? Would my mind be revolting against the very idea that Somnia is all there is?

Thank you all so much for reading!

Keep counting those fingers.

~Mikaela