Judy shared her POV and invited us to meet them in a converted storage room, which had been set up with a standing bar and tiny tables. The cast was holding court with VIPs in the main lobby, but this gathering was supposed to be for friends and family after the show.
I was starving, so I went straight for the food. I was expecting a collection of savory treats like I enjoyed at Evan’s party, but the woman paying for all this was a vegetarian, so the best I could do was celery and cream cheese. I filled a plate with what looked like tiny sausages, but they turned out to be colored bean curd.
This woman reminded me of the billionaire who originally owned Innovex, willing to throw away millions on vanity projects, but weirdly cheap about buying little things for normal people.
The servers had clearly been told to push certain kinds of protein on the audience, but you couldn’t pay me enough to eat beetles or roasted crickets, no matter what you dipped them in.
I came back to Lydia very hungry and very angry, but I had to hide it, because Judy was sweeping toward us like she was queen of the storage room.
She was wearing a tight green blouse with a black skirt. She had a black blazer draped over her shoulders and her hair was pinned up. She looked perky and professional. The girl I remembered, the sweet brown-haired girl with glasses, had been replaced by this new and improved corporate version in a tailored suit.
I tried to see her the way I used to, but it wasn’t the same. There was a kind of mental barrier between me and Judy now, a soft wall made of sadness and bad memories that kept me from seeing her as a woman.
I tried to remember what she used to look like under her clothes, but there was no forbidden thrill in imagining Judy. She was prettier than she had ever been, but she was still just a girl under there.
A woman and a demon stood in the light and studied each other. A cloud of suspicion billowed between them like smoke. Every man fantasizes about women fighting over him, but Lydia was actually capable of committing murder and getting away with it. Reality put a whole new spin on things.
Judy introduced herself and stuck her hand out. Lydia took it and did the same. Judy led us to a tiny table, and I got my first good look at her boyfriend. Brian looked like a transplanted surf god on work release from California. Lean muscles and long blond hair. Taller than me, as most of Judy’s boyfriends were, and how the hell do you maintain a tan like that in Boston? I remember being grateful that he was wearing a shirt. He was one of those guys who improved his body to make up for his face, which was rather plain, even if the hair helped.
Brian greeted me like we were old friends. The bastard hugged me, can you believe that? There was not a trace of guilt or guile in this man. Teddy bear with a six-pack, how can you hate a guy like that?
Brian took in Lydia’s appearance like he was sampling fine wine. Lydia was dressed like a smart girl, and Brian liked smart girls. Lydia didn’t offer her hand, and something in her posture repelled hugs, so he just smiled and gave a little wave.
A server came by and took our drink orders. Lydia and I took water. Judy got a glass of wine, and Brian ordered some Dutch beer.
Judy always took forever to choose things off menus, giving me time to think snarky shit at Lydia. “So, if I tried to get blasted tonight, would you stop me?”
“You don’t drink,” Lydia thought back.
“Yeah, but I’ve got a bunch of new reasons to start. Even if I get drunk, it’s not like I could go on a rampage. I only know one spell.”
“You could kill everyone in this room with that spell, including me, and yourself.”
“You know I’m just kidding.”
“And you know why it’s not funny.”
“This thought projection shit is gonna get me in trouble,” I thought. “I think a lot of mean shit that I never say. Having to vocalize gives me time to stop myself, but when we do it like this, I’ll have no filter at all. I think about killing people a lot, so don’t interpret anything I think as a command. And I apologize in advance for any cruel shit I think about you.”
“Tobias went to bed every night begging God to kill me, so I should be able to handle anything short of that. Now, pay attention, Judith is about to start her interrogation and I don’t know your world well enough to improvise. You may need to jump in.”
Judy broke the tension. “So, Lydia! Tell me about yourself. How did you meet Timothy? And when? He’s been keeping you a secret.”
Lydia said, “It’s only been a few weeks. I came down for a job interview and met him at the museum. We had lunch, he made me laugh, and by the end of the week, I was swept off my feet.”
“So, you’re looking for a job?”
“I accepted a position last week. Newbury turned me down, but I was able to find a temp job with— another university that is assembling their own collection. It’s not public yet, so I shouldn’t say anything.”
“I’m surprised I didn’t see you during your interview. What kind of work do you do?”
“I interviewed at the tower,” Lydia covered smoothly. “My title is ‘Research Associate.’ I’m going to classify artifacts for a new Arcane Studies department.”
All this was true, by the way. Harvard was starting up their own Arcane Studies program to focus on the classification of things that used to be magic. It was years from going public, but everything Lydia was saying would check out.
I hid a smile behind my hand as I watched that explanation sink in. Mundanes do not classify artifacts for the Arcane Studies department.
Judy asked the question point blank. “Are you a witch?”
“Just barely. My score was too low for the magic program, but aura reading doesn’t take much power.”
The smile slid right off Judy’s face. She replaced it quickly, but not before I noticed.
Brian put his beer down and said, “I’ve never met a witch before. Can you do something magic?”
That was a huge faux pas, by the way. It was considered extremely rude to call attention to someone with powers, and even worse to treat them like a dog, and ask them to do a trick.
Lydia blushed and turned away. Her blush was so convincing, I had to suppress a giggle.
“I don’t really know anything impressive,” she said. “All I really do is read auras… Oh! I know what I can do! I learned this for a party. Let me see if I can remember…” Lydia pursed her lips and feigned concentration. I almost lost it again right there, coughing into my napkin so I wouldn’t laugh.
She was really hamming it up, posing and taking deep breaths like she was about to assume a yoga position. I saw a familiar flash of golden light and got a grip on my chair, wondering what form she would take. Her wardrobe changes usually took less than a second, but this time she stretched it out. A lingering flash of gold, but under the light, Lydia was naked, visibly naked, right next to me. Not long enough for anyone else to notice, just for a millisecond to fuck with me.
The light cleared and Lydia became her own evil twin, with black hair and a red dress, but her eyes stayed blue. She held the costume for a minute and gave an exaggerated sigh. Then she shimmered back into her previous form and feigned exhaustion. “Sorry, that takes a lot out of me.”
“Could you do that palette swap for me at home?” I teased Lydia silently, while Brian and Judy clapped.
“What’s a palette swap?”
“When you change the color of a monster without changing the form underneath.” If I’d been speaking out loud, I might have stopped myself before I called Lydia a monster. “Can I spend the night with Evil Lydia when we get home?”
“All Lydias are Evil Lydia. But if you want the brunette, you’ll have to earn it.”
“Oh,” I laughed in my head. “Are we Bargaining now? What do you want?”
“You know what I want. I want you to start learning that book. My Master is losing patience, and you can’t do your job with one spell.”
“So, if I learn magic, can I have the brunette?”
“If you learn magic, you can have everything you ever wanted, and I’ll show you things you don’t even know you want yet.”
* * *
That shut me up until the server came back with the next round of drinks. As soon as the waitress left, Judy sipped her wine, grabbed her purse and headed for the ladies’ room. Lydia followed, leaving me alone with Brian.
I gave Lydia a meaningful look before she walked away. I was actually thinking, “Don’t kill her,” but Brian thought it was sweet.
I was stuck looking across the table at him, wondering what I was going to say to this idiot, but Brian jumped right in. “Tim, can I ask you something? You don’t have to answer if it’s too personal.”
I was really trying to hate Brian, but I just couldn’t do it. Every time I worked up a good burst of jealousy, he turned around and did something endearing. Like now. He didn’t know me from Adam, but he was asking for advice like I was some kind of big brother. A little knot untied itself inside my soul, and I said, “Sure. You can ask me anything.”
“You were with her for a long time, right? When you went to restaurants together, did Judy order food for you?”
Ten minutes ago, I was ready to smack this guy, now I wanted to muss his hair and give him a hug. “Judy’s an aggressive woman. You have to stick up for yourself, or she’ll walk all over you.”
Brian nodded. “I’ve never met anyone like her. I mean, she’s so mature. I love talking to her and she takes me to fancy stuff and she’s sexy as hell…” Brian caught himself. “Sorry, I shouldn’t say that.”
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It was not alright, but I said, “It’s alright.”
“She’s great, but she treats me— I’ve never had a girl treat me like this before. I hung out with a lot of girls in high school, and I was serious about someone before I met Judy, but… it was different, you know? When I was with Mandy, we would just… hang out. She came to my shows, and I hung out at her apartment, and we went boarding in the park.
“Judy’s great, but I can’t just hang out with her. When I’m with her, I feel like I’m supposed to be doing stuff, all the time. She’s always pushing me, and I can’t figure out what she wants. You were with her so long, I thought maybe you could tell me what she wants.”
“Judy wants everything, Brian, but no man can be everything.”
“So, what should I do?”
“You just have to be yourself; keep moving toward a better version of yourself and let that be enough. Stop trying to figure her out and let her love who you are. Ask her to your shows, ask her to go places, and ask her to go boarding in the park. She won’t do everything you ask, but she’ll do some of it. It’s not the doing that matters, it’s the asking. You need to remind her that you were your own person before you met her, and that you’re gonna be your own person, no matter what.”
“And Brian,” I said, stumbling over this next part. “Don’t underestimate what you’re doing for her. You’re already making Judy a better person. The old Judy would have never apologized after what I said to her.”
Brian smiled. “I knew you could help me. Judy said you were smart.”
I sighed and rubbed my temples. “I don’t feel smart today, man. But hey,” I said, like I was seeing him for the first time, “when you say ‘boarding,’ what do you mean?”
“Hoverboarding,” he said. “But we don’t use a physical board anymore. Your shoes generate this energy plane you stand on. No friction, so you can go super fast. I had a bunch of friends who did it in school, and they started taking videos of me doing tricks. One of the companies that makes them saw my stuff and started paying me money for them. They send me free shit all the time, so I can probably find something in your size, if you want to try it.”
“No,” I laughed. “I would scrape half my skin off and fuck up my joints in like, two minutes. But let’s say you were on a board or something or jumping on a hover field that worked like a trampoline. How would you train for it? What kind of exercises do you do?”
“I would be surfing every day if I was still back home. It’s all about keeping your balance, so I used to stand on rubber balls and try to walk on ledges.”
“Can you send me some of your videos? Like, beginner stuff, all the way to advanced? Are they all in a library somewhere?”
Brian’s face lit up and he sent a dozen videos to my phone.
I was trying not to think about Lydia and Judy, so I pulled up a random video and played it between us at the table. “Like this one,” I said, freezing the image. “You can push off the wall or the hood of a car or something?”
Brian nodded. “You can even push off from a person if they’re braced right.”
“Do you have any videos of someone smaller than you? Closer to my height, and can you show me what someone could do, if they weighed a lot less?”
“I can send you videos of Mandy if you promise not to hit on her. She left me for a smarter guy.”
* * *
I got more specific as we went through the videos. I always get excited when I’m sitting across from an expert, no matter what the subject is.
Brian was remarkably patient, and remarkably well educated about things like nutrition and body mechanics. We swapped cards and he encouraged me to call him as I tried to get myself in shape.
“You’re a good guy, Brian,” I admitted. “And you really do know your shit. I hope I’m coordinated enough to use some of this.”
We chatted about his ex-girlfriend for a while, then we noticed Judy and Lydia had been gone for a long time.
“You think they’re talking about us?” Brian asked.
“I just hope they’re still talking… So, Brian, do you know anything about how bathroom drains work? If somebody dumped say, a gallon of thick red liquid on a public bathroom floor, would the drain catch it all, or would it back up into the hallway?”
“If that’s a joke, I don’t get it,” Brian said.
“Nevermind. I’m sure it’s fine.”
* * *
I wasn’t privy to the bathroom gossip, and Lydia didn’t share it, but Azael showed me everything, complete with hair, makeup, and threats of murder.
Judy joined Lydia by the sink as soon as the door closed. She fixed her makeup and said, “I love that sweater.”
Lydia said, “Thank you,” and adjusted her hair.
“You and Timothy are adorable together.”
Lydia said, “Thank you,” in a very shy, non-Lydia tone of voice.
“Will your job keep you in Boston?”
Lydia was painfully casual. “At first, but I’ll travel a lot, once I prove myself.”
“Timothy won’t like that. Long-distance relationships are hard on him.”
“He might be traveling with me,” Lydia said.
Judy blinked. “Did he say that?”
Lydia nodded.
“That’s strange. Tim doesn’t like to travel.”
Lydia kept her tone light and delivered the explanation we had rehearsed. “Your museum was very impressed with his work. He’s considering a history fellowship at the Kidder Project. I’ll prepare the artifacts, and Timothy will turn them into virtual exhibits.”
Judy was quiet for a long time. “He’d be good at that.”
Lydia spun around to face her. “I can’t play with this face for twenty minutes. Shall we cut to the chase?”
Judy crossed her arms. “Why are you dating a mundane?”
Lydia turned her head quickly so Judy wouldn’t see her eyes flash. In the glory days with Stefan, Lydia might have killed her right there, but she joked later that this was the worst thing about living in the modern world. Murder was so complicated now.
Instead of killing her, Lydia said, “You don’t know many mages, do you?”
Judy shook her head.
“Spend some time with gifted people and you’ll get a whole new perspective on Timothy. Timothy Kovak is the opposite of every mage I ever met - kind, considerate, humble. He’s generous and sweet, without a drop of pretension. He’s smart and perceptive, with an amazing sense for people. I don’t understand what he does, but I know he’s good at it, and I’ve seen how hard he works.”
“He really surprised me last week,” Judy said. “Was that your influence? Encouraging him to tell me off?”
“I’ve never heard him say anything bad about you. I think he loved you very much, but he says you grew out of each other. He blames himself for the breakup, but I think you were both just young. You can’t expect to keep your high school sweetheart forever. People change so much in those years; you can’t blame them for moving on.”
Judy nodded. “I just hope we can stay friends. Timmy means a lot to me. I’d hate to lose him.”
“You’ve been a good friend to him,” Lydia lied. “I’m not trying to crowd you out.”
Judy softened her smile and said, “Did he tell you about his family?”
“We talk about them sometimes. I know he was abused, and his mother died when he was young. He deserved better.”
Judy nodded. “So, he told you about his mother. Did he tell you she went crazy?”
Lydia frowned. “He said she ended up in a hospital, but he doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“Well, she wasn’t just a little crazy. Cynthia Kovak was fucking nuts. She told people she could see the future. Used to make these crazy predictions and send emails warning people about plane crashes and terror attacks. Tim even showed me some that came true! Timmy’s dad said she predicted the nuclear strike in the Middle East, but you didn’t need to be psychic to see that coming.
“She used to sit by Timmy’s bed all night. Told him she was watching for demons! Timothy doesn’t talk about it, but it fucked him up pretty bad. I mean, everybody’s childhood sucked, but Timmy lived a nightmare.”
“Why are you telling me this?”
“I just want you to keep your eye on him. Timothy is innocent. He’s such a good person, I think he’s too good for the world he’s in. He always expects the best from people, and he is way too trusting. One of these days, somebody’s gonna hurt him, really hurt him. They’re gonna abuse him or take advantage of him, and he’s gonna lose part of himself that he can’t get back. Timmy smiles like he loves the whole world, and I am terrified that one day, something’s gonna hurt him so bad, it’s gonna take that smile away.”
“I think you underestimate him.”
Judy shook her head. “You don’t know him like I do. He’s obviously happy now, but he can’t stay at this level for long. Sooner or later, he’s gonna come down, and it’s gonna take a strong woman to put him back together. Someone in it for the long haul.”
“And you don’t think I’m ‘in it for the long haul?’”
“Relationships between people like you, and people like us, they never last, and I don’t want to see him hurt again.”
Lydia wanted to slit Judy’s throat and squeeze her until all the blood drained out, but she gave a tiny smile. “We can’t protect him from everything, Judy. But I will do my best to keep him smiling.”
* * *
Judy and Lydia returned from the bathroom and found me poring over one of Brian’s videos.
Judy kissed Brian’s cheek and said, “Oh god, is he making you watch those? He’ll take any excuse to show those off!”
“He should show these off,” I said. “He’s fucking awesome at this.”
Judy’s face fell as she realized I was sticking up for him. Brian and I were already friends, and she did not like that one bit.
“You know how hard it is to levi— to skate off a vertical surface when you’ve got gravity pulling you lateral? It looks like magic, but he’s doing it with pure technique. Don’t ever hide what you’re good at, Brian.” I scowled at Judy. “No matter what she says.”
* * *
We endured a few minutes of awkward silence, then Brian was summoned to some VIP thing. Judy enlisted me to help her move stuff backstage, and Lydia reluctantly stayed behind, giving me a chance to interrogate Judy alone.
“Judy, can you explain this play to me?”
Judy sighed, but she didn’t walk away, so I launched into my recap.
“When the habitat lost pressure, they kissed each other, they took off their suits, they made out in the emergency shelter for a while, then they walked out naked, and died together on Mars.”
“Right,” Judy confirmed.
“Okay, but… who was on the radio? Who called them while they were making out?”
“That was the rescue ship.”
“Okay, so they could have gone on the rescue ship, but they decided to kill themselves instead?”
“Right.”
“Okay, let’s back up. They were stuck in this habitat when it lost pressure. They were stranded on Mars in this little emergency shelter. They spent two hours figuring out that they were gay and that they loved each other. They confessed their love because they thought they were gonna die, but when the rescue ship got there, couldn’t they just go home and… be gay?”
Judy rolled her eyes. “Of course not, it was forbidden love. That’s the whole point. Their whole lives were based on a heterosexual lie. They couldn’t be together, and they couldn’t live a lie anymore, so they died for each other. It’s very romantic.”
“But it doesn’t make sense. Even if you ignore the actual history, there’s nothing ‘forbidden’ about it anymore. There was nothing forbidden about it when we actually landed on Mars. Why couldn’t they just go home and say, ‘Sorry honey, I’m in love with my astronaut buddy?’”
“They couldn’t do that. It would destroy their families.”
“Well, yeah, but now their wives are widows, and their children have no fathers. Isn’t that worse?”
Judy rolled her eyes again. “Oh my god. Timmy, I do not have time to explain this to you.”
“And it contradicts the real history! There actually was a gay couple in the first Mars dome. They were international celebrities! The whole world loved them! They actually did lose pressure in the habitat at one point, but then they just… fixed it. They fixed it over the course of two hours on live TV. We watched it in school! Then they came home to parades! These guys were heroes, but this play is turning them into tragic losers. And if these characters were gay the whole time, why did they need to marry women at all? The real ones didn’t.”
“Because the evil director of the space program was a homophobe! Were you even watching?”
“But that’s my point. The villain was supposed to be a Christian based on a real guy. But the real guy thought God loved everybody and did a publicity tour with his gay astronauts! The real story behind this is a victory lap for gay rights. Why is this play taking it all away from them? The ending is supposed to be Romeo and Juliet, but it plays like the writer is trying to make gay guys kill themselves!”
“Oh my god,” Judy said, exasperated. “Timmy, you are an engineer. You do not understand art. I am not going to have another one of these pointless arguments with you! If anybody asks what you thought of the play, just say you loved it and keep your mouth shut! Nobody cares what you think, and if you say something bad, it could blow back on me! The woman who paid for all this is a huge donor with connections like you would not believe. Bad things happen to people who piss her off, so we’re all going to this afterparty to kiss her ass.”
Judy hustled me into a corner and started whispering, “You don’t understand what a big deal this is. The writer of this play is one of her people, an old assistant or something, and Barbara picked everybody involved with this thing. The director does whatever she says. They even let her do the casting! I’m here because she has a thing for Brian. If I wasn’t watching him like a hawk, she’d have her hand down his pants right now. We tried to say no to her once and… we learned our lesson pretty quick.”
I frowned. “What does that mean?”
“She called Brian in the middle of the night and asked him to deliver food to her house. The world’s most obvious booty call, so I said no. The next day I was called into my director’s office. He said Barbara had threatened to pull funding from a big exhibit unless I apologized. And when I resisted, I got a call from my mom. My mother and father had both been called in by their department chairs on the same day. Barbara had threatened to pull funding from English and History fellowships unless their daughter apologized! Mom called me crying, begging me to save their jobs!
“Tim, this is not just a play. This is big boy political stuff. There are some people in this world who get whatever they want, and Barbara Foote is one of those people. Whatever she asks for, you say, ‘Yes ma’am!’ and you do it with a big smile on your face! Please,” she begged me. “Keep quiet and do not piss her off!”