Verity

Alek would make a great prosecutor. He shot question after question at me, most of which I couldn't—or wouldn't—answer. Where did I go? Has this ever happened to me before? If so, was I outside?

"Wait, what?" I hadn't said a word each time he lobbied an inquiry my way, but that last one seemed odd. "Why would it matter if I was outside?"

"So, it has happened before."

"Did I say that? No." Irritated that he had dodged the issue of the outside world's significance, I pushed him away. Dizziness struck, and I willed myself to stay upright. I would stand on my own two feet if it killed me.

"Okay, walk me through it," he said. "Why did you come out here in the first place?"

"Why did I..." I had completely forgotten my motivations. "Oh, your plate."

"My plate?"

"Yes. My father wants your dinner plate so he can run a load of dishes. Shit, that should have taken me two minutes. He probably thinks I'm out here either making out with you or murdering you."

Alek took a step back, his expression dark.

"That was a joke, Alek." I wondered which of the two options made him more afraid. "You should relax the muscles in your forehead or you're going to develop irreversible creases."

With effort, he forced smile. Still bad for wrinkles. "I'm a bit sensitive about jokes involving my murder."

"I suppose that's fair. You're super jumpy for a bodyguard though."

"You really just came out here to get my plate?"

"Yes, but it's my turn to be the questioner now. Let's start with this one: why did you ask me where I went? I didn't go anywhere, which you should know because you were right next to me the whole time."

"Yeah, I was right next to you." He motioned to the patch of grass I assume he'd been standing on during my... ordeal. "But you? It was like you were in some sort of trance. Wherever you went in your mind, it was far from here. I called your name a million times, waved my hand in front of your face, gave your shoulders a squeeze."

"You what?" My cheeks heated as I imagined his hands gliding over me. A little more upsetting was the thought that if I was in a trance, I'd have no control over what happened to me. I was completely defenseless. "I don't remember any of that."

"Really? Nothing at all."

"No. Unsettling, isn't it?" I brought my phone out of my back pocket and began frantically texting Flora.

"What are you doing?"

"Minding my business." I shut off the screen. "Hand me your plate. I'm going inside."

As I turned away from him, another question popped into my mind. Fuck, I should have addressed this one immediately. "Alek, if I was in a trance for, how long did you say it was?"

"About thirty minutes."

"Thirty minutes." I faced him again. Thirty minutes of me alone with him, with no memory of what transpired. "That's a long time for someone to be nonresponsive."

"I agree."

"Good. So, if we're on the same page about that, then I'm sure we also agree that if we came across someone in the situation I was in, we would call for an ambulance."

"Well..."

"Why aren't there any ambulances here, Alek?"

"Do you want me to call one?"

This guy was unbelievable. "Oh my God, you are truly a terrible bodyguard." I made no effort to hide the disdain in my voice. "You should have called them a half hour ago. Now, it's too late!"

He bit his lip and hunched his broad shoulders like he'd just figured out how royally he'd fucked up. "I'm sorry Verity. I just..."

He paused and I waited for him to come up with an excuse.

"You didn't collapse to the floor. Your pulse was normal."

"You checked my pulse?"

"Yes. Your breathing was fine too. I didn't think—"

"You got that right."

He took a breath. "I didn't think you'd want to have your tour delayed. If I'd called 911, it would cause a whole scene. Your dad would find out, and he'd tell your manager, and before you know it, you'd be on bedrest or in the hospital having tests run. Do you want that?"

I absolutely did not want that. I wanted to get back on the road and forget about blackout trances or whatever it was that was happening to me. "Okay, if that's really what you were thinking—I have my doubts on that, but let's just say it was—that's not terrible reasoning."

He straightened his shoulders and flashed me the carefree version of his smile. I looked away before his dimples could persuade me to hate him less.

"It was still an odd choice for you to make and I still don't have complete faith in your motives," I said. "Even so, let's agree to keep this between us for now. I'm probably going to tell one other person—that's it."

"What other person is that?"

"The only one I can trust."

#

My father, being an early to bed early to rise type, was lights out before Flora arrived. I led her into the living room and swore her to secrecy.

"Please tell me this isn't about that fanboy from Houston." She shook her head. "You swore to me it was over the moment you left town."

"No, it's not about him, and it was over. Practically before it began. Why do you have such a problem with Chip anyways?"

"Well, for one thing, his name is Chip."

"That's so elitist, Flora. It's just a name."

"And his beard. Totally unkept."

"I kind of liked it. He's got a wild side. That's not so bad."

"Then, there's the totally creepy fact that, after knowing you all of one night, he kept calling you his mate." Flora wrapped her arms around herself as her body shook with revulsion. "How gross is that?"

I waved her off. "He was just a fun, temporary distraction for me. A weird one, I'll give you that. But so what? Where's the harm?"

"I guess there'd be no harm, if he hasn't tried to get a hold of you repeatedly since then, written about you on social media, told your fans he's planning on moving here to be with you, and then showed up at your house, telling everyone he's here to see his mate. Since none of that has happened, we're all good, right?" She gave me a stare down that reminded me way too much of her mother.

She was referring to, of course, the Holy Shit Incident from a few days back. Thanks to Chip's overzealous and misguided antics, I now had to live under the watchful and yet still inept eye of Alek Sinclair.

"Okay, fine. He went a little overboard. I've given him clear boundaries now, though, and he hasn't come back."

She threw her hands up. "Because he hasn't been able to make bail, Verity."

"I did what everyone wanted me to do, so stop complaining. I told him to go away. I got myself a dumb bodyguard. I've taken care of the situation. Besides, I didn't drag you all the way out to my dad's house to talk about Chip. He's the least of my concerns."

"If that's true, I'm going to start to worry."

"Don't do that. You know I hate it. I need your advice, not your concern."

When Flora was anxious, she fidgeted with her bracelets. I watched as they twirled around her wrist while she took in my words.

"You better tell me what's up, Verity."

"All right." I needed to come up with the best way to phrase this so that she wouldn't lose her shit. "Have you ever completely lost track of time? Not like 'oh where's the time gone' but 'oh shit, I literally just skipped myself into the future.'"

"Not since New Year's Eve." She laughed. "Man, we were so smashed."

"We missed the countdown. I remember. Or I remember enough to know that was just normal drunkenness. That's not what I'm talking about."

"What are you talking about then?"

"Don't freak. It's no big deal and I'm fine, but... I blacked out today. Twice."

Flora's body tensed. "Were you... on something?"

Flora, bless her heart, always assumed that the lifestyle of a popstar equaled the lifestyle of a heavy drug user. It didn't matter that I had never been drawn to that world. Flora still saw it as a near inevitability simply by default. She should know me better, but here we were. This was not my first "no I'm not on drugs" moment with her.

"Completely sober both times. I lost about an hour total, and I have no idea what happened."

"Wow! Did you tell your dad?"

"Absolutely not. You know what he'd do."

"Call your manager, your doctor, and several psychiatrists."

"Exactly. I'm not going to let a couple of pesky fugue states get in the way of my tour."

"Okay, but Verity, this seems serious. Maybe a professional's opinion wouldn't be such a bad thing."

"It would be a very bad thing. They'll make me take a hiatus."

"I'm not saying don't finish the tour. I'm just saying, consider telehealth. Consult with a doctor while on the road."

"I don't want to consult with a doctor. That's why I'm consulting with you."

"With me?" Her cheeks grew rosy. "I'm not a person with medical knowledge. I'm a pop singer's hanger-on."

"That's not what you are!" I gave her a pat on the back. This wasn't the time for Flora to freeze up. "Stop being self-effacing. I need you and your brilliant brain. Tell me what's happening to me."

"I have no idea! Even if I did, it would be an uneducated guess. How would that help you?"

"Because you'd tell me it's not a big deal and not to worry. So, then I won't worry and since I'll be more relaxed, I won't feel the subconscious need to enter a trance at random moments throughout the day."

"If that's how you feel," she said, "it sounds like you don't need me to fake diagnose you."

"I do, though. I need outside confirmation." I sniffed the air as a hit of cedar nearly overwhelmed me. "Do you smell that?"

Flora's eyes lit up. "It smells like the remnants of your dad's amazing dinner. Are there any leftovers?"

I got up off the couch. "Check the fridge."

Instead of heading for the kitchen, she trailed me to the front door.

"What's going on?" she asked, her voice wavering. She took a small bottle out of her purse.

"Someone is lurking." I narrowed my eyes, annoyance rising by the second. "Probably trying to eavesdrop, the asshole."

I opened the door and Flora screamed.

Before I could introduce them, she'd managed to pepper spray my new, completely worthless bodyguard. 

_____

Author's note: We definitely have a case of characters not being fully transparent with each other. Verity's hiding things from Alek, Alek is hiding things from Verity. Is Flora hiding anything... besides pepper spray?

Thanks for reading so far and for all of your support! If you haven't already, be sure to put THE TRUE ONE on your reading list! That's one of the easiest ways to help an author out :)

Chapter 3 is dedicated to the incomparable brittaniecharmintine who's smash hit, Mermaids and the Vampires Who Love Them just hit 13 MILLION reads! It deserves every single one. While you're checking out her profile, be sure to read Prince Charming Must Die and My Crazy Hot Interstellar Affair. I highly recommend anything she's written!