Just Friends With An Enemy

Too Dark!

“Hey, Emily. You’re early, today”, Susan said, immediately Emily walked in. She had been busy with her newly acquired phone. “How was work?”

“Work was so beautiful, today”, Emily said, cheerfully, as she dropped on the couch. “Drop the phone and let’s talk about it”

“I’ve been trying to verify my account on the blue app”, Susan said and dropped her phone. “What’s his name?”

“Whose name?”, Emily asked, changing her expression quickly. She hated when Susan was right about her.

“The name of the guy in your mind, right now. Come on, spill it”, Susan pestered. “Isn’t it a guy?”

“Yes”, she replied, reluctantly. “Whatever”

“I’m sure it’s the same guy that rolled you off the bed, the other day?”

“Rolled me off the bed? Stop it!”, Emily laughed. “I really didn’t roll off the bed that day”

“Hm. Really? What happened that day? ‘Cause it seemed you were probably going to jump on his arms in your dream and then reality broke your heart”

“That’s not what happened. I was going to get his number and, immediately I ran out the door, the floor disappeared and that happened”, Emily cringed, laughing. “It’s him”

“I’m always right with that”, Susan teased. “So what happened?”

“He showed up at the restaurant, today”, Emily said, smiling happily. “It’s the second time he’s coming over. He literally came over just to see me”

“Wow! So what happened next?”

“The day started very boring. A rich friend of Frank showed up and tried to boss us around. Derek came around, at the right time, and called off his bullshit”, Emily said. “Guess what happened?”

“He paid the man’s meal? How am I supposed to guess?”

“No. The man was being rude to Frank and me. Derek shut him up and called me his girlfriend while Frank was his friend”, Emily said. “But I hid my smile, though”

“Wow! You’re so happy about this Derek guy. Does he really like you?”

“I don’t know. I just think… I just think he could be the right man for me”, Emily said, hesitantly, like she doubted the words she uttered.

“You don’t look sure of yourself… I’ll advise that you know what you want before you decide to take anything”, Susan said. “You should be sure if you’re not infatuating. You should show him the kind of person you are and you should learn who he really is. Sam is enough mistake for a lifetime”

Emily nodded, as her smile disappeared. “Yea”, she said. The speech seemed to have washed all the excitement off of her.

**★**

Lopez rushed into his office. He was just feeling relieved after completing the pile of work in front of him. “What’s it, Lopez?”

“I need your help, Derek. I know you have a good heart”, he said, rushing the words out of his mouth. Derek stared blankly at him, wondering what the request would be. “You have to stop it, please!”

“Stop what? What are you talking about?”, Derek asked. “If it’s about your son-“

“Please, it’s about him. They are signing it, already”, Lopez said, looking terrified. “Once they do, that’s the end of me. You can stop it from happening”

Derek wondered if he really knew what the man was talking about. “What do you want me to do?”

“Gretel. He is making the final signature”, Lopez said. “You have to convince him not to sign it. Please!”

Derek stood up. “What are they signing?”, Derek asked and looked outside his office, through the transparent glasses. He could see Gretel sitting right outside his office, in place of Amy. Gretel looked at the both of them and wore an evil smile, as he placed his pen on the file and signed on it.

“He has signed it”, Lopez said, sweating and breathing heavily, like he’d have an heart attack. “it’s over…. It’s over for me”

A loud repeated bang echoed in the walls and the office shook, like the roof would fall on them. The bangs continued and got louder, jerking him awake. He was on his bed again. That was the second nightmare on the same topic on two consecutive nights. The door opened, suddenly. His father walked in. “Hey! I’ve been knocking for years!”, Mr. Biden yelled.

“I’m sorry. The sleep was quite deep”, Derek replied. His face was still fixed in a frown. “Good morning, Dad”

“Good morning, Derek”, his father replied. “Are you sure you are ok?”

“Yes, I am”, Derek replied and stood up from his bed. He had woken up later than usual. “I’ve just been having these weird nightmares, lately”

“Hm. Nightmares? You want to talk about it?”

“No. I’d rather forget about it”, Derek replied. “I’ll get over it , soon enough”

“Ok, then. I’m off to work”, his father said and walked out of the room.

Derek picked up his phone and walked to the bathroom. He dialed his mom’s number, as he brushed his teeth.

“Hey. Good morning, Derek”

“Morning, mum. How was your night?”, he said.

“My night was short. I woke up early”

“I woke up, late. I’m just brushing my teeth. Only God knows when I’ll get to work, today”

“They can’t do s**t against you, right?”, his mom said. “I trust your night was sweet?”

“It was bittersweet. I don’t know what the word means but, literally, I had a beautiful long sleep, accompanied by a nightmare”, he replied and washed his mouth.

“As long as the sleep wasn’t cut short, it’s probably not a nightmare. Rather, a dream prank”

“Is that a thing?”

“No. If it’s not scary, then it’s not a nightmare”

“If it’s not scary, I wouldn’t be calling it a nightmare”, Derek replied. “It’s actually about this circle thing and it’s the second time I’m having a nightmare on the same topic”

“That sounds like you’re worried about it”

“Not really. I’m just noting it down”, he said. “It’s pretty interesting when things are hard to explain… in a scary way. I’ll be okay”

“You have to be… Or else, I’ll be matching down there with a machine g*n”

“Really? You’ll do that?”

“No… but I trust you’ll be okay”, his mom said. “You should prepare for work. Call me, later”

***★***

“Good morning, Derek”, Lopez greeted him, walking by.

“Good morning, Mr. Lopez”, Derek replied. He stopped and turned. Lopez didn’t seem like he was worried about anything at all. He headed straight to his office.

“Good morning, Derek. How was your night?”, Amy greeted, as he approached.

“My night was great, Amy. Thanks”, Derek replied and walked into his office. “Um, Amy. Can you come over, please?”

Amy left her position and walked into his office. “You need coffee?”

“I need something more than coffee. It might take a large percentage of your time”, Derek said.

“Today’s time or my lifetime in this company?”

“Don’t make it sound like a big deal. It’ll take a percentage of your time; probably just today or just this week”, Derek said. “It’s unofficial; a totally personal favor”

“What do I get in return?”, Amy asked and folded her arms, dramatically.

“A pat in the back… and a surprise gift. Are you in?”

“Let me hear it”

“I need you to get info on Gretel”, Derek said. “I need you to just talk to him about things”

“What are the questions to ask?”

‘Bad idea’, Derek thought. Amy knew almost nothing about the Circle and he wasn’t going to explain anything. “Actually, I need you to get on his good books. I need you to earn his trust. When you make progress, you can get to me. I’ll be very grateful”

“Consider it done, if he is not an asshole”, Amy replied and turned, walking away.

“Where are you going? I’m not done with you”, Derek said.

“You are done”, she replied, without looking back at him.

***★***

{ Two Hours Later }

Amy stormed back into the office. “So, uhm, he is an asshole and I’m done with this”

“What?! You promised to help me, remember?”, Derek said, getting up quickly.

“No. I told you to consider it done. Then, I added an ‘if’. Turns out he is an asshole, as I predicted”, Amy replied. “You can’t convince me, Derek”

“Tell me what happened”, he said.

“He started with shunning me and then, the pig-faced son of a b***h insulted me!”

“I’m sorry about that”, Derek replied, genuinely. “I’ll go to him, myself”

“Derek”, Amy called, as Derek seemed to be heading to Gretel’s office. “Don’t mention me”

Derek nodded and continued walking.

★

“Hey, Gretel. How’s work going?”, Derek greeted, as he walked into the office.

“Did you send your secretary to me?”, Gretel asked, focused on the laptop in front of him.

“Amy? Did she come to you?”, Derek acted ignorant.

“Oh. You really expect me to believe that you showing up here, five minutes after your secretary left, is a coincidence”, Gretel said. “She was trying to be caring or something. I didn’t fall for that. What do you want, Derek?”

“I just want to talk. Do you have a problem with me?”, Derek asked.

“Why would I have a problem with you or your secretary? You probably want to be caring too, right”

“If you didn’t have a problem with me or her, why did you insult her?”

“Nice to know you’re confessing now. You either sent her to get something from me or you’re here because of her”, Gretel said, smiling at his laptop. “I’m good at this”

“Good at what? Being an asshole?”, Derek asked, barely handling his frustration. “Why would I have thought you were any better? You don’t even look better than an asshole would”

“Okay! What do you want with me?”, Gretel asked, finally shifting his focus from the laptop.

“I want to talk”, Derek said and took his seat. “And it’s not me caring about you if that freaks you out. I don’t really care. I want to know about the Circle”

“And what makes you think I know more than you know about the Circle?”, Gretel replied. “We shouldn’t even be talking about this here”.

“That’s it. I want to know why we can’t talk about it here. I want to know why it has to be secret”

“If you don’t know yet, then you’re an i***t”, Gretel said. “We work on the net. There are various teams working on the same web, one of which is the Triads, our greatest competitors. I won’t be saying anything, directly, to you ‘cause I don’t really need you to understand. We are not legal but we’ll never be found on our side of the net.”

“There’s nothing hidden on the net. If we are so illegal, we would get caught in no time”, Derek replied. “All they have to do is get proof of our activities and use it against us”

“All they have to do is get proof of our activities. That’s true. They just won’t find it in the net. No matter how bright the torch is, it’s just too dark to see through”, Gretel said in whispers. “Too dark!”.

“Why did you join the Circle?”

“What sort of question is that? Why did YOU join?”

“I didn’t have a choice. I eavesdropped on a conversation and I heard you were also forced to join. Is that true?”

“The way you say it; it sounds like you don’t believe it”

“You seem to have merged with the Circle so much. It’s hard to believe it’s not your choice”

Gretel stood up and put his hands in his pockets. “It’s hard to believe because it really was my choice. Whatever Jordan must have told Lopez, it was just to make Lopez give up his son”, Gretel replied and pointed at the door. “I need you to get out, now. My father doesn’t enjoy people eavesdropping on his private conversations so you have my word. Get out of my office”

Gretel wasn’t lying about choosing to be in the Circle. Derek felt it. His nightmares may not actually be mere dreams. They probably meant something. “Okay”, Derek smiled and walked out of Gretel’s office.

Immediately he stepped out, his eyes fell on Lopez, who was just walking by. Lopez had his eyes on Gretel’s office, sweating profusely, as if nervous about something that was about to happen. Derek ignored and walked back to his office.

“What happened? Any luck with him?”, Amy asked.

“You’re right. He’s an asshole”, Derek said, with a smile, and entered his office. He probably had nothing to worry about, at the moment, but Lopez didn’t have nothing to worry about. Lopez was literally sweating and Derek could tell it wasn’t just sweat. Lopez was the one worried, at the moment. They’ll all probably have a time to be worried.

**★**

Lopez had his clothes, dripping with sweat literally. As though there was more to his son joining the Circle, he had the thought of it ravaging his mind slowly. He pushed the door open with his full body weight, like he would slump very soon.

“Dad, you’re home”, Stephen greeted, pressing his phone. His father coughed, pulling his attention. “Dad? Are you alright? Are you having an heart attack?”

Lopez walked slowly to the couch and sat down, breathing heavily. He stretched out his arm, making gestures that he was ok. “No. It’s… it’s panic”

“Panic attack? What happened? I need to get you help”, Stephen said, getting up quickly.

“Stop!”, Lopez ordered and paused, breathing heavily like his heart would drop through his chest. “I need you to go in your room, pack your things into the car, as quick as possible. We need to get out of here…. Do it now”

Stephen hesitated for a second. “Ok”, he muttered, when he realized it wasn’t the right time to ask questions. He rushed into his room and packed his clothes and some of his important belongings into a bag. ‘What is happening?’, Stephen thought, imagining every possible challenge that may require leaving the house on such short notice. None of his thoughts made sense but, still, it wasn’t the right time to ask questions. He pulled his travelling bag and walked back to his sitting room. His father had laid back on the couch, as if lifeless. “Dad?... Dad?”

“I’m alright”, Lopez replied and sprung up. “Have you packed all you need? Don’t leave anything behind”

“I’ve packed all I need. You’re not packing too”

“No. I don’t need to”, Lopez said. He was feeling a little better. The heavy breathing had stopped and he was moving faster and a bit stronger. “Get the bag in the car”

Stephen pulled the travelling bag to the car and pulled the trunk up. He lifted the bag and pushed it in the boot. Then, he pulled down the car trunk and closed it. “Is that it?”

“Get in the car. We’re getting out of here”, Lopez said, as he rushed into his car. He started the car and the engine revved, as he zoomed into the road.

Stephen looked at his father’s face, then at the road, then back at his father’s face. He couldn’t see anything chasing them. The car was moving so fast that he could barely see anything. The windows were wind down and the wind blew against his face so much that he could barely breathe. “Won’t you slow down a bit?”

Lopez took his leg off the gas pedal and reduced his speed a little. “Sorry”, he muttered.

“May I ask why we are moving in a hurry? It’s unusual”, Stephen asked.

“I can’t answer your questions, now, Steve. When we get somewhere, we’ll talk about it”, Lopez replied. “I’ll explain everything to you”

“You know where we are going, right? I mean, we are not just moving. Are we?”

“Sure not. We are going somewhere far. Somewhere far from where they’d find us”, Lopez said.

Almost immediately, his phone began to beep. He glanced at it. Jordan was calling. “Should I answer it for you?”, Stephen offered.

“No, no. I don’t want to pick the call. Leave it”, Lopez said, quickly, constantly looking at the phone and the road, simultaneously.

The beeping stopped for a few seconds. It began again. Lopez looked at it again. He was going to tap the ‘mute’ icon on the screen. It was a video call and Jordan’s face shown boldly on the screen. Looking at his face and his broken left eye was pretty scary. He hesitated to tap the ‘mute’ button.

“Focus on the road”, Stephen said and helped him to mute the call. Jordan’s face remained on the screen and Lopez couldn’t stop taking short glimpses. “You really need to tell me what is going on. Who is this man and why are you not picking his call? Why are you staring at his picture like that?”

“This is not the time to talk. I told you when we get to our destination, I’ll answer your questions”, Lopez replied. “Just be calm”

The car zoomed into the wind again. It was faster than it was when they initially got on the road. “Dad? Slow down. What are you doing?”

Lopez looked scared and nervous. “What? My leg’s not on the gas pedal”

“Just slow down… or hit the brakes!!”

“We might crash!”, Lopez said, stamping his foot on the brakes repeatedly. The car kept moving so fast. They couldn’t stop the car.

“Oh my God! Let’s jump out! We’ll crash!”

“It’s not possible. It’s too fast!”, Lopez replied, as he continued stamping the brakes. It was so strange… and scary.

“Have mercy on me, oh God”, Stephen muttered, under his breath, with his eyes closed. “According to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions”

Lopez realized he was no longer in control of the car. He stopped holding the wheels. The car kept zooming past people and other cars. They got to a crossroad and the car turned swiftly, uncontrolled by Lopez. Lopez watched the car avoid other cars, in amazement.

“Behold, I was shapen in iniquity and in sin did my mother conceive me”, Stephen kept praying, mumbling the words so fast. “Behold, you desire truth in the inward parts and in the hidden parts, you shall make me to know wisdom. Purge me with …”

Lopez closed his eyes, too, keeping his focus off the road and enjoying the breeze. . He didn’t believe in the prayers that Stephen muttered. He sensed death ahead of them and he wasn’t scared, anymore. Rather, he awaited it. He was sure the Circle was behind it. The car took another swift turning. Blaring sirens broke into his ears, jerking his eyes open. He looked back and saw two cop cars behind them.

“Cast me not away from your presence. Take not your holy spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of salvation …”

‘This is probably what they did to Marco’, he thought. ‘They’ll charge us for breaking road rules'

While about a thousand thoughts frenzied in his mind, he kept his focus on the cop cars. The car was outrunning the police cars but they wouldn’t leave their trail. The car took another turning and stopped, abruptly. Lopez looked forward at the front. Stephen also stopped muttering the prayers.

“Oh my God!!”, Stephen exclaimed, breathing heavily and smiling in relief. “Thank God-“

“Don’t thank God, just yet”, Lopez said. “We are hanging in the middle of a railroad”

Stephen looked out to confirm. He could hear the sound of an oncoming train and they could feel the vibration beneath them. Stephen grabbed the door handle, trying to pull it open. “We have to get out of here. A train’s coming!”

Lopez didn’t struggle with the door. “It won’t open”, he said. “I’m sorry, Stephen. It’s all my fault”

Immediately, the train slammed into the car, crushing them both. Derek shot up from his bed, raising his back from the bed, completely. “f**k!’, he muttered. That was the definition of a nightmare. He reached out and clicked the switch, turning on the lights. He moved back, startled, as a man appeared in front of him… no, not a man. It was just his cloth and an hanger. He rested for a few seconds and got up, slowly. He glanced at his reflection, as he walked by the mirror. He could almost swear he saw Lopez in the mirror.

The previous dreams he had about Lopez replayed in his head. ‘Are these just dreams? Or warnings?’, he asked himself. He walked into the bathroom and washed his face.

***★***

He could sense something off, immediately he got to the office. “Lilian? Are you alright?”, Derek asked. “Did something happen?”

“I think so. I don’t know”, Lilian replied.

“Ok”, Derek said and kept walking. The employees walked by him. Some were awfully silent while some murmured.

He could see Amy on her seat, as he approached his office. She was the right person to know if something was wrong. “Good morning, Derek”

“Hey, Amy. What’s wrong? Why’s everyone acting weird?”

“What do you mean? You didn’t get the news?”

“What news?”, Derek asked, blankly. “Did something happen?”

“Yea”, Amy replied. “Someone died-“

Derek’s phone beeped. “Hold on”, he said to Amy, as he answered the call. “Good morning, Dad”

“Good morning, Derek”, Mr. Biden replied. “Come to the meeting room, now”

“Everyone’s acting weird. Did something happen?”

“Yes. One of us is dead. Jordan has called for a meeting”

“One of us… Lopez?”, Derek guessed.

“Not sure. You already heard?”

“No… I dreamt”