The Girl With Pink Hair: Pt. 03

Jess was very still. Sylvie's mind was all steely gunmetal logic. If she was another agent, then Jess was so screwed. If she wasn't then Jess had let things slip badly.

Sylvie leaned against the worktop, facing away from her, defusing the confrontation. She took a bite of her bread and waved the rest at her. "You're extremely clever yet you're pratting around doing waitressing. You never talk about yourself, like where you went to school, or your family or the time you spent in America."

"America?" How the hell had Sylvie known about that?

"I trained to be a dialect coach back in the day, you still had a tiny bit of Boston, or maybe North-eastern New England in your voice when you moved in."

Jess didn't know what to say.

"We've always known you were weird. Your hair never has roots, and no one could bleach it that much without it falling out. It's not a wig. I got Shawna to pull your hair in fun once and it didn't move a millimetre. Sometimes you wear a brown wig. But, then again, it's not a wig, is it?"

There was a dreadful pause, then Sylvie chuckled. "Don't worry, your secret, whatever it is, is safe with us. Does Elena know?"

Jess stared at her, and then released the breath she'd been holding since Sylvie started unpacking her. She nodded.

"Good! That one's a keeper." Sylvie put down the bread and took her hands. "Be happy, Jess, whatever else is going on in your life. You don't have to do whatever it is that you're doing all on your own."

Jess felt her face warm at the other woman's gentle kindness. In retrospect, sharing a place with people had laid her open to greater attention than she should have allowed. But maybe things hadn't turned out so badly after all. Another agent wouldn't have exposed themselves like that, so she was reasonably sure that she wasn't fatally compromised. As for their suspicion of her real heritage ... well, being gay they were already of the mindset to be a bit defensive against het humanity, so better to be embraced as an insider, yes?

The constant stress of pretending had taken its toll on her. She debated again whether to tell Miriam about the current turn of events but decided that perhaps this was best kept to herself for the moment. As it turned out this was a good decision.

***

April

The Senate House

Mrs Kowalski condescended to visit for the degree ceremony. Jess could feel her chilly contempt. She frowned. After the business at New Year, things were starting to slot into place.

In contrast, her husband was a warm solid presence and Elena hugged him hard. "Thanks for coming, Dad."

"For my special girl? Of course. Wild horses," he murmured in her ear.

Jess chuckled.

"No hug for your mother?" Alice Kowalski asked.

Elena dutifully gave her mother a hug that, while affectionate, Jess could see was somewhat shy of the emotion lavished on her father. She kept her expression neutral.

In a quiet moment she leaned into Elena. "What's with your mum? She's positively vibrating with disapproval."

Elena inclined her head to whisper, "That's because she thinks I could have made an awful lot of money very easily by being a model. 'Why beggar yourself for something no-one will ever understand?'"

Jess pursed her lips thoughtfully. A domineering mother who frowned on her daughter's intellect and life choices and made her doubt herself? 'They fuck you up, your mum and dad,' she murmured under her breath.

Filing this away for future reference, she went to stand with Elena's parents for the ceremony. Elena's mother gave her a single cool glance and Jess smiled back cheerily.

The courtyard was sheltered from the cold easterly breeze, and they stood under an awning waiting for their turn. For a member of The Folk it was the usual melange of many different emotions. Lots of parental pride, of course, interspersed with flashes of other emotions, irritation, scorn, boredom, envy. At a similar gathering of the Folk, there would be considerable pressure for consensus.

She spotted Sanjay and the others and made a little wave with her fingers in front of her chest. Alison and Merry grinned back like naughty choristers amid some solemn ecclesiastical rite.

***

Afterwards, Jess and Elena and her parents went to lunch. 'Il Calabrese' was new, sitting in the bones of the previous trattoria that was so anonymous no-one could remember its name. Out went the dark wood and poor lighting, in came terracotta tiles and big prints of Italian scenes, whitewashed houses on steep slopes set in cerulean sky and aquamarine sea.

They could have been seated outside but it was still a little brisk, so they sat in a window alcove. Elena asked for a bottle of Gavi and some focaccia to share while they perused the menu. Her mother looked over the top of her menu at Jess and raised an eyebrow. Elena silently dared her to pass comment.

"What now, darling?" her mother trilled, and inwardly Elena groaned. However, Jess' presence was oddly calming, and she wondered whether her lover was intervening in some subtle way.

She reprised her conversation with Jess. "Research, teach, get a better job, I don't know yet. I'm just going to chill for a while."

"Good idea!" said her father, raising his glass in salute. Her mother gave him a disapproving look and changed the subject.

"Have you met anyone nice?"

Elena looked at Jess and nodded her head. "Oh yes."

Her father's eyes flicked between the two of them.

"I do hope we'll get to meet them," her mother said as she placed her menu on the table.

Kowalski Senior choked on his drink and his wife sighed. "I can't take you anywhere, Ralph."

Elena looked at Jess from under her eyelashes and could see the grin she was trying to hide by dipping her bread into the oil. If Jess was a colour at that moment, it was a vivid lemon yellow, the shade of an in-joke, a delight at secret knowledge.

"What do you think about the Brexit thing?" Elena's mother asked Jess.

Jess looked taken aback and it was Elena's turn to smile. The Folk didn't pay an enormous amount of attention to domestic mundane politics.

"Um, I don't know," she mumbled.

"Quite right," Elena's father said smoothly, "politics is an inappropriate subject for the meal table."

"Well I think it's about time we stopped letting the Europeans push us around," Elena's mother said.

Elena and her father exchanged glances and Jess caught the undercurrent of amusement and exasperation.

"Alice; don't start. We'll never hear the end of it."

What took Jess' breath away was the white hot rage that flared in Mrs Kowalski. Outwardly she remained bland and disinterested but inside she fumed murderously.

***

Somerset Street

Afterwards, back at the loft, Jess waited until Elena was on the verge of exploding before saying primly, "It's not polite to snitch on other peoples' feelings."

"You're a spy! It's what you do! Tell me!"

Jess had been itching for a chance to use Elena's severe expression. "Are you sure you want to know? Your kind aren't ready for this."

Elena chased her round the room. "You're enjoying this, aren't you, you devious elven bitch!"

Pinned in a corner, Jess put her arms round Elena. "I love you so much." She kissed her lover urgently, delighting in the lust and affection it aroused in the other woman.

"Now tell me," Elena demanded.

Jess giggled. "I hope I never get in your way, you're relentless! Your dad is very proud of you."

Elena sighed. "I thought he was, but he used to work in the Civil Service, he can do bland until the cows come home. What about Mum?"

Jess sobered. "I was surprised at how angry she was at being told to shut up by your dad."

"She didn't say anything!"

"Maybe not but she sure as hell felt it. I thought she was going to explode."

Elena absorbed this information in silence. She'd always known her parents were the classic mismatched couple. It seemed her father wasn't the only one that could capably mask his feelings.

"Was there anything else?"

"She was more than a bit sniffy during the ceremony."

"When I turned my back on the catwalk, she thought the next best thing was to 'find a rich young banker and settle down'. She can't understand why I want anything more than that."

"Ah. Well that probably explains the other stuff I picked up."

Elena winced and looked worriedly at Jess who smiled reassuringly. "Your dad knows. He was surprised at first but pleased by the end. I guess he just wants you to be happy and sees that you are."

Elena heaved a sigh of relief. "You know, it could be useful having a mutant mind reader on the team."

Jess kissed her again. "You say the nicest things. I think your mother thinks we're just friends."

Elena rolled her eyes. "She just glosses over anything that doesn't fit with how things should be in Mum-world. I had to work my arse off to defy her expectations. And not just hers, everyone just expected me to be a model. That's what beautiful people do, right?"

"Beautiful and clever," murmured Jess. "I truly am the luckiest girl in the world."

"Yes. Yes, you are." Elena smirked.

"Are you ticklish?"

"Don't you dare!"

Jess chased her up onto the mezzanine and they fell on the bed. Elena started to undo the buttons on Jess's blouse. The other woman luxuriated in the rush of their mutual desire: a corner of her a little wistful that they couldn't both experience the gestalt.

She flopped down and Elena stroked her back. Jess arched like a cat and started to purr. Elena got up, straddled her, and started to rub, digging her thumbs in either side of her spine.

"Shame you haven't got any massage oil."

"Oh! But I have! Let me up, I'll go and get it." She clambered down from the bed, and awkwardly holding her breasts, trotted downstairs. Elena hooted with laughter and Jess cast a dirty look over her shoulder. A minute later, she came up the stairs, still holding her boobs until she reached the bed. "I want the girls to stay in shape."

Spreadeagled face down on a bath towel, Jess lay naked with her eyes closed. Elena stripped off and Jess opened one eye.

"I hope you have designs on me Doctor Kowalski."

"No," said Elena, innocently, "just a massage, honest!"

She poured a generous amount of oil into her cupped hands and then gently drizzled it over her lover's back before cupping the firm swell of her buttocks. From there she slid up digging the heels of her palms into the muscle groups either side of the spine.

Jess groaned and gasped her way through the next twenty minutes as Elena worked her over from feet to shoulders and back again.

"Does madam require anything else," Elena asked.

In reply Jess opened her legs wide to reveal her aroused and pouting sex.

Elena leaned forward and ran the flat of her hand across the mound, teasing Jess by dipping a finger into her cleft but quickly withdrawing it and moving on. Her hands made several passes over the sensitive flesh and Jess started to arch her back and raise her bum in the air.

"Elena, please."

In reply, her lover picked up the dildo she'd hidden under the towel and started to insert it, the fat lips stretching to accommodate the invader. Jess let out another lust filled groan.

"Ah! Fuck me, love, fuck me!"

Fortunately the sex toy had a studded bulb at the end which made it easier to grip with slippery hands. She pumped it in and out and teased Jess's sphincter with her thumb.

You didn't have to have paranormal powers to feel Jess's passion. Her arms were at full stretch, her hands clenched in the fabric of the towel. Her legs trembled and her breath came in harsh pants.

Elena was suddenly aware of a crimson glow, she couldn't see it exactly, but she knew it was there, gradually changing to yellow and then suddenly to white or silver, Elena wasn't sure. What she was sure of was that it happened as Jess reached an almighty climax and then rapidly faded away.

Jess lay, trembling and gasping in the aftermath and Elena tried to analyse what she had just experienced. Perhaps if the Folk put out enough energy, then it could be sensed by ordinary folks. Or was it because they were 'entangled'? That word that meant something important to the Folk but carried no special meaning for mundanes.

***

May

The Loft

Jess's phone pinged and she picked it up and studied it. As she read, her face became increasingly grave, and Elena felt the psychic temperature fall several degrees.

"What is it?"

Jess avoided her gaze for a couple of moments, and then looked at her worriedly. "I've been given a name."

"What does that mean?"

Jess chewed her lip. "A target."

Understanding dawned. Sort of. "What will you have to do?"

Her lover looked increasingly uncomfortable. "Engage."

A world of possibilities unfolded in Elena's head. "Ah. Will I have to make myself scarce?"

"Maybe, I don't know yet. He's a junior minister in the government. It could just be a case of getting him drunk and seeing what I can get out of him. If anything."

"Or?"

Jess flushed. "This is what I do, love."

Elena frowned. The thought of her girlfriend entwined with anyone else was stirring some unpleasant emotions.

Jess's expression softened. "I'm very pleased that you're jealous!"

Elena burst into laughter and her mood lightened.

"Is he one of you?"

"Not likely. The factions try to place people in positions of influence, but there just aren't that many of us and your power structures are dominated by men. We don't like to risk our men in the field, they're too valuable - unless they've got a very special set of skills!" She smirked at Elena. "You'll generally find our people working as Spads, PAs etc."

"Spads?"

"Special parliamentary advisers. Political appointees." She frowned. "Although there is a male field agent in the city."

***

They were to meet in a bar in town. An early promise of summer had blown in and the evening crowd was all tee shirts and short skirts as people anticipated the season. Elena had shaken her head when Jess modelled her outfit for the meeting.

"What?" Jess said, looking at her sideways. "You're good with food and mathy stuff. I'm good with clothes and the inter-personals."

"Mathy stuff? Mathy stuff?"

Jess drew her in for a kiss. "It's so much fun tweaking you! You're adorable when you're outraged."

***

Elena had insisted on accompanying her.

"I'm a mundane, no-one will make any connection between me and you."

Jess was doubtful. "We're entangled, love. You'll have to sit out of line of sight and keep a tight lid on your feelings."

Elena laughed, "I'll take the laptop and review the current literature. There's nothing like a bit of statistical analysis to kill any romantical thoughts stone dead."

***

Bar Italia

She sat two floors up on the second of the galleried levels that surrounded the main area. No one else had climbed this high so she was entirely alone. The barriers were all glass, so her view of the ground floor was uninterrupted, and she took care not to look at Jess other than indirectly.

That said, she did forget about Jess for long minutes at a time. Despite her frustrations with the process, this was a subject that interested her hugely. The Russian authors of a paper that she'd referenced had something new on ArXiv and she was quickly engrossed.

Looking up, Elena realised that Jess now had a companion at the bar. Her heart was suddenly aflutter, and she fought for calm. This was why Jess was here. If that was her intended target. She hadn't seen him appear and she tried her damnedest not to react. What was the range of the Folk's abilities? Were they subject to the inverse square law? There had to be something, else they'd be drowning in the emotions of six billion people. But then Jess had said that when she'd seen her by the river, anyone with Talent would have felt her miles off. But this wasn't like that. What she was feeling was apprehension, fear for her ... her love.

Elena felt a gentle flush of pleasure in her feelings and in the corner of her eye, Jess looked up to the gallery and Elena could have sworn she raised an eyebrow. 'Get a grip, Kowalski,' she murmured to herself.

"That would be sensible," said a voice behind her, and Elena froze.

A man in a long black coat with the collar turned up, dropped into the chair opposite. He had dark, almost vulpine, features.

"How's she doing?" he asked, peering into the well.

Elena didn't know what to say.

"Oh, come now," he chuckled, "your kind aren't usually short of words. Indeed, talking is about all they ever do. When they're not killing each other, of course."

"Who are you?" she said, tensely, gripping the arms of the chair.

"Who am I?" he mused, then looked above her. "Who am I, Miss Calamar?"

"The opposition," Jess gritted. "You leave her alone."

He laughed and stood up. "This mundane is your significant other? You've let your standards slip, Miss Calamar. You used to aim so much higher than Talentless floozies."

"Doctor Kowalski is no-one's floozy!" snarled Jess, as she flung herself at him.

The last thing Elena saw, as they fell into a writhing heap, was a look of infinite surprise on his face. Jess told her later that the Folk thought actual physical combat was vulgar. Skulking, influencing and, if necessary, discreet assassination from a distance was the preferred mode.

A dull fug seeped into her thoughts.

"Oh no you fucking don't!" she hissed, snatching up her highball glass and looking for an opportunity to clout him. He stopped struggling and her head cleared as he looked up at her with frightened eyes. Elena bent down close to his ear and Jess held him as he flinched.

"My kind, as you put it, have exterminated all rivals. You mind your manners."

Her partner's eyes shone with undisguised admiration and Elena felt Jess's swell of pride as a gentle glow. They allowed him to get up and he started to try to regain his dignity, dusting himself off as best he could and rearranging his clothes. He glared coldly at Jess, then turned to Elena.

"Welcome to the War, Doctor Kowalski." He inclined his head to her and strode swiftly to the stairs.

Alone again, they looked at each other.

"My hero," murmured Elena.

"They'll be sorry they messed with Doctor Kowalski!" Jess said, delightedly.

Elena turned serious. "'Welcome to the War', he said. That means I'm really on their radar now, doesn't it? They'll try to get to you through me. How paranoid will I have to get?"

"Cross that bridge when we come to it, love."

"What was all that about 'aiming higher'?"

Jess looked suddenly guilty. "I was hoping you missed that."

Elena stroked her lover's cheek with the back of her hand and used two fingered quotation marks uninhibitedly. "Let me guess. There was 'A Boy'. He was 'Cute' but his 'Parents Disapproved'. They swore 'Undying Love' for each other but ultimately, he followed his parents' wishes - AKA he fucked her over."

Her girlfriend stared at her. "Are you sure you're not Talented?"

Elena chuckled. "For all your airs and graces, I'm guessing the Folk don't do things very differently from us mundanes. You said that males with Talent are rare and that your mum had to agree to - what was your charming phrase? - 'lend your dad out', so that must mean that those men have high status but are quite tightly controlled by the Matriarchy. The Folk must have a matriarchy because the sex ratio is so highly skewed in favour of women. I'm also guessing that some bloodlines routinely produce Talent and probably equate to an aristocracy among your kind so, to cut Fairy Tale 101 short, you fell in love with a 'Handsome Prince', but the 'Wicked Queen' said 'No' and that was that."