I brought Holden back to the apartment. There weren’t really any other choices – I wasn’t about to go sit in some greasy diner with this gown, although I did give serious thought to stopping by the Starbucks where we’d met. The walk was a little quiet, even though I wanted to ask him more about what little he’d shared with me – I’ve never run into a doppleganger or a shapeshifter (is there a difference?) before, at least not that I know of, and I have at least a hundred and one questions waiting to be asked. How does the shifting work? Is it a multiple personality thing? Does he have a limited number of forms? Where does he get these people that he turns into – are they real, or just figments of his imagination, and did he hurt them, or did he copy them? Could he copy me? Was that what he wanted? Obviously he has control over how he looks, but which one is really him? Should I even think of him as a ‘him’, or an ‘it’?
Regardless of the answers, though, I wasn’t sure I trusted him. It was probably stupid for me to be bringing him to my home, but he already knew where I lived. Sure, he hadn’t tried to hurt me – in fact, I was pretty sure he’d intentionally goaded me into hurting him – but the fact that he’d made himself appear as a kid once I did so really bothered me. Was he testing me? And if so, why? It’s not like I’d ever walk up to a random kid – or anyone, really – on the street and hurt them, but I wouldn’t back down if a doppleganger wanted to go toe-to-toe with me, no matter how they looked.
Eventually we got back to the Konarak and, as expected, Sam waited inside. I introduced them to one another, and of course Sam was the picture of politeness – although he couldn’t resist a joking, “An admirer, as I said”. I just wanted to get out of my damned dress and heels, so Holden and I didn’t socialize for too long before going upstairs to my apartment. I’m lucky to have such a nice place, although it’s really the architecture and size that makes it remarkable more than anything else, because I’m not too big on interior design.
When I came out of the bathroom, changed into some loungewear and with the makeup washed off, Holden was playing with a pack of cards that Sam brought back from one of his business trips. I don’t even remember where I’d had it tucked away, but as soon as he saw me he gave me that damned grin and started arcing those cards through the air like he was some Vegas street magician putting on a show for a tourist.
I liked it, though.
We ended up playing cards – Texas Hold ‘em, Blackjack, and when I started to get sleepy, a few hands of Go Fish. I showed him a sketchbook, the one with a ton of anatomy studies, but not my studio. That place is my sanctuary. Plus, all my dirty laundry’s piled in a corner there and I don’t think he needs to see my panties.
I heard music playing down in the basement when I walked Holden out. It doesn’t matter how gorgeous his eyes are, I can’t trust that they’re actually his. I can’t trust that this guy is anything but an actor and there’s no way for me to know his intentions, but I kissed his cheek and said goodnight and we agreed to meet up again sometime.
Sam doesn’t sleep, so it was no surprise when I walked back in to find him sitting on the stairs, hands clasped around one knee, waiting for me. “Well?” he asked.
“He’s a doppleganger or shapeshifter or something,” I said.
He nodded. “I’ll find out what I can.”
I smiled before taking the stairs two at a time past him. “Thanks, Sam.”
