Page 41 of Fear
“Well, that settles it.” Jake clapped his hand lightly over Tobias’s calf, then hoisted himself to his feet. “They’re supposed to have some pretty sweet drinks, and an ‘intimate, organic elegance,’ whatever that means. No happy hour, but I think that’s probably a good thing.” Jake shuddered dramatically. “If there’s chuckling goats there, anyway, I’d hate to see the place when they get a little alcohol in them. And you can’t tell me that people don’t slip the goats a little extra.”
“Are there . . . actual goats?” Tobias looked unsure whether Jake was teasing him. Jake wasn’t completely certain himself. Maybe he was a little nervous because this was a place he usually wouldn’t set foot in (unless it was for a case, but he had done some pretty weird shit for cases).
“Tobias, I couldn’t tell you. I guess we’ll find out.”
YEP, JAKE DECIDED THE moment they stepped through the door. This was definitely one of those coffee shops. The kind he’d never be caught dead in—that is, before he had Tobias with him. It was full of the usual cushy armchairs, preppy-looking people, and the sweet smell of java exposed to so many sugars, syrups, and esoteric processes that it couldn’t rightly be called coffee anymore. The only thing different was the goats. Everywhere. With every sweep Jake made of the room, more goats—pictures, models, pottery, signs, thankfully no actual stuffed goat heads—popped out at him. Creepy. How had this place not pinged his hunter radar the first time he scouted out the town?
But Tobias seemed chill with general goatiness, even the porcelain head that looked more like a pissed-off, blue-veined cow, so Jake shook off his personal nerves and turned his attention to the menu scrawled across a huge chalkboard above the counter. The lower corner, enclosed in a big pink heart, advertised a special on free-trade soybeans from Tasmania.
There really were no limits on what he would do for Tobias.
Jake aimed a smile at Tobias’s shoulder as they moved toward the counter, a smile that widened and broke open when Tobias reached back, one hand tangling with his.
The girl behind the counter blushed when she saw them, but she was grinning too. “What can I get for you guys?”
Jake threw his arm over Tobias’s shoulders, pulling him close while scanning the menu for the drink loaded with the most sugar and syrup. “Let’s get, uh—a hazelnut mocha with whipped cream. And chocolate sprinkles.”
Jotting the order down on a cup, the barista tipped her head toward the counter next to them. “All the toppings are over there.”
“Awesome. I’ll take a cup of plain black Joe—if you have coffee in its natural state.” He glared at the menu with suspicion. “I dunno if it already comes to you soaked in vanilla sugar extract or something.”
“Nope, I gotcha covered.” She punched a couple more things into the cash register. “That’ll be six seventy-two.”
Jake paid and then tugged Tobias over to wait for their order. He couldn’t help scanning the room, waiting for a threat that he knew, rationally, would probably not appear. He hadn’t expected it to be this crowded on an early Friday afternoon, and the seating was pretty limited. When a table opened up in the back corner, Jake took Tobias over to grab the seats, and then returned to pick up their drinks. The table was crowded next to a cluster of way-too-hyper high-school girls, but they would have a comprehensive view of the room and their backs against the two walls. Even better, they were close to an emergency exit, aka the bathrooms and kitchen.
Tobias took his chair gingerly, as though it might break under his weight, and Jake did his best to unobtrusively scoot his own closer so he could nudge Tobias’s shoulder with his.
“Watch out,” Jake told him, as Tobias wrapped his fingers around the cupholder. “They make it hot enough to scald your tongue.”
Tobias flinched, just slightly, and let go to rub his hand nervously on his knee until Jake caught it. Closing his fingers around Tobias’s hand was like coming home. “If you take the lid off, I’m sure it’ll be fine in a minute.”
Tobias gazed at Jake’s hand around his, then looked up with a hopeful smile that felt even better.
TOBIAS HADN’T KNOWN what to expect when Jake described the coffee shop. Not that he’d known what to expect when they went anywhere, though he was getting better, he knew he was. But now that they were here and settled down with their coffee, he . . . liked it. The shop had bright paintings and people who seemed nice. The coffee was sweet despite a bitter aftertaste, the music overhead was soothing, and Jake was making jokes and still holding his hand.
It was a good spot too, where they had their backs to a wall and Tobias had a good view of all the reals in the place. Nothing would be able to sneak up on him. He knew that Jake would protect him, but it was always better to see all possible avenues of attack.
The only thing jarring was the group of young women right next to them. They were louder than anyone else in the room and excited about something, jumping forward in their seats at times. Tobias couldn’t help tensing, because that was a surefire way to pull a guard over, and nothing good would follow.
But there were no guards here. No one paid attention to the girls. Jake grinned at him, occasionally nudging their shoulders together, and the coffee was rich and filling. Tobias was pretty sure he could’ve had just one of these mocha things for an entire meal. He was in a public place and breathing okay, not embarrassing Jake or doing anything to draw attention.
Jake downed the last of his coffee. “Hey, will you be okay here for, like, two minutes while I take a piss?”
Tobias nodded. That wouldn’t be so bad, knowing the whole time where Jake was, knowing he was coming back. And the reals in the coffeehouse weren’t going to try to attack him the second Jake stepped away. They wouldn’t. He was almost positive.
“Sure. I’ll be right here.” Tobias did his best to smile and got a brighter one back as a reward. Good choice, maybe you’re finally figuring out what makes him happy.
He couldn’t keep his eyes from following Jake around the corner, out of sight. Then Tobias dropped his gaze to the table, working to keep his posture casual, no different from any of the reals around him, though he no longer had the confidence to look up and check. He tried to slow his heartbeat. It’s going to be fine. Just like when Jake goes on a run. He’ll be back to check on you in a few minutes. But this time he wasn’t locked safely in the apartment. A dozen reals sat mere feet away, and if Tobias made any wrong moves, they would be able to tell.
He turned the coffee cup slowly in his hands, focusing on the creamy liquid and how good it tasted, how wonderful Jake was to bring him here and buy it for him. That was the trade-off, wasn’t it? Jake brought Tobias places, gave him good things, and in exchange Tobias had to cope with the people around him. He could do that. He could learn and do better each time. He still didn’t understand why Jake wanted him to interact with reals or just be around them, but Tobias didn’t have to understand a task to perform it well. This was no different from a task from the Director or an order from the guards, except that it was so much more important. But he couldn’t think about how very important this was, either, because that didn’t change anything, only made his chest clench more, made it harder to breathe. He wouldn’t disappoint Jake. Period.
After a minute of staring at his coffee—he had automatically started counting his breaths the second Jake disappeared—Tobias summoned the courage to lift his eyes and look around the room. This was possibly his favorite place so far, except for the library and their apartment. The pictures hung on the brick walls showed lush meadows, a bright blue sky, and animals—most frequently goats—in warm browns and oranges. The reals around the room were smiling and more relaxed than even in the donut shop. Yes, this was a good place.
He also liked the music playing from somewhere overhead. It wasn’t at all like Jake’s, but it was soft, and—he didn’t have words to begin to describe it, but it was just nice.
The song faded to a close. Tobias had a second to savor the ending before one of the nearby girls slapped her hand on the table and let out a shriek that cut through the background murmur of conversation. Tobias flinched and dropped his eyes.
“No way—no way! You’re totally bullshitting me. Tell me that’s bullshit.”
