Bring Me Fire (2 page)

Chapter 3

The ringing of her cell phone the next morning jolted Sky from an uneasy sleep. She sat up and fumbled on the bedside table. The gray, murky light that was trying to filter in through the closed blinds suggested it was
well before the sun was to rise. Sky didn’t even look at the screen to see who the incoming call was before she answered it.

"
Hello." Her voice came out in a scratched whisper. A muscle in her neck spasmed. Her tongue felt heavy and dried out, like it was about to stick to the roof of her mouth. She tried to recall what she’d been doing the night before, had there been some party? A late night out? No, she didn’t feel hungover, she felt exhausted, even though she now remembered going to bed pretty early.

"
Sky."

At the sound of Aidan’s
voice, her spine straightened and her eyes widened. The fog around her brain vanished. She remembered what happened yesterday - she’d been fired.

"
Aidan," she said. "Why...what time is it?"

"
It’s early, Sky. Very early. I’m sorry for calling now. I probably woke you up."

"
It’s okay, Aidan. I was getting up soon, anyway."

"
Listen, Sky, I need to see you. Can you meet me? I told Ashley I was going out for a run, so I don’t have a ton of time. Can you meet me at the park by Grace Cathedral in ten minutes?"
The thought of Aidan telling Ashley he was going for a run brought a smile to Sky’s face. Aidan was no more likely to go running than a dolphin was to go for a stroll through Golden Gate Park. But he needed to see her. That’s all she heard.

"
Yes," she said, kicking back the tangle of sheets. She lived at Pine and Jones; she could get to Huntington Park in under five minutes. "I’ll meet you there."

"
Okay, great. That’s great. I’ll see you soon."

Sky stumbled out of bed and into the bathroom. Her hair looked like an angry nest of white snakes exploding from her head. She grabbed
an elastic from the collection on the doorknob and wrangled her locks back into a messy bun. She splashed icy, stinging water onto her face, her skin tightening. She brushed her teeth quickly and pulled on a sweatshirt over the flimsy gray t-shirt she’d slept in. The yoga pants would be fine, and she slid her feet into a well-worn pair of red canvas shoes.

It was a short distance to Huntington Park, but there was a serious hill to get from Pine Street up to California Street. Sky had walked this hill easily many times, but doing it so soon after just getting out of bed
felt like climbing a mountain. Still, she pushed through the burning in her calves, anticipating just what it was that Aidan wanted to talk to her about. She allowed herself the fleeting thought that he was going to deliver good news, that he was going to tell her that there had been some sort of mistake and everything could go back to the way it had been. Even though she knew it wasn’t going to happen, it still gave her comfort to think it. Nothing between them had to change.

Aidan sat at one of the benches near the California Street entrance. He wore a long-sleeved San Francisco Giants t-shirt and a pair of baggy athletic shorts Sky had never seen him in before. He jumped up as she climbed the stairs and hurried over, like he was going to hug her, but then stopped short of actually making contact.

"Sky."

They went over and sat back down o
n the bench. The park was quiet and at this time of the morning they were the only people there. The swings and playground equipment looked more like a series of abstract sculptures than children's toys.

"
Is everything okay?" Sky asked.

"
I don’t know. Ashley came home last night and told me she’d fired you. I’m so sorry. I want you to know that I had nothing to do with that. She didn’t even tell me she was planning to." He looked at her face anxiously. "You believe me, right? You know I would never just fire you for no reason."

Sky smiled. It was so hard for her to imagine Aidan, a big golden retriever of a man, being married to Ashley, who was more like a cross between a
pitbull and a Chihuahua. How was it possible he was happy with her?

"
I know, Aidan. I’m not blaming you." She looked at his hands, which were splayed on top of his thighs, gripping the fabric of his shorts. "It was just totally unexpected. I mean, I’ve loved working at the gallery. It’s basically been my dream job."

Now it was his turn to smile.
"That was one of the things we talked about the first day we worked together," he said, a dreamy tone in his voice as though he were recalling a fond memory.

"
What?" Sky said, surprised and pleased that he remembered their early conversations. That meant something, didn’t it? Just the fact that he had lied to his wife and met her here, so early in the morning, because he needed to see her, also had to mean something. She just wasn’t sure what.

"
Your dream job. Having your own gallery. Remember, we talked about it a little? How you eventually wanted to start your own business, and that when you thought about it, you imagined it being a lot like
Prelude
?"

"
Oh yeah." She did remember that conversation now. She also remembered, a few weeks later, telling him that she’d be perfectly happy to work at their gallery, and with him, indefinitely. She knew nothing would ever happen between them, at least not while he was married, but she thought she could be content just being his friend, just having someone in her life who she felt like really understood her.

"
I didn’t mean for things to get like this," Aidan continued.

"
Get like what? I don’t even know what happened. Well, I mean, I know I got fired, but why? Did I do something? Did I not do something?" She brushed a few wisps of escaped hair from her face. The sun had just started to rise, shooting out beams of glazed orange. He looked at her and sighed.

"
No, of course not. You’ve been great. You know I think you’re great."

"
Well, I think you’re great, too. And I really just like being around you. But I’d never act on that, in that...way. You’re married. You’re also my boss.
Were
my boss, I guess." Sky felt that aching feeling in her throat again and swallowed, not wanting to cry. She was very aware, suddenly, of Aidan watching her, a peculiar look on his face. "What?" she asked, straightening. He looked as though he were in pain. "Are you okay?" 

"
I didn’t... I didn’t realize you liked me like that. I’ve always seen you like a little sister. I mean, not an annoying little sister, like a totally awesome, cool little sister."

Sky felt the ache in her throat dissolve and some cross of confusion and mortification took its place.

"I...I didn’t..." Her face flushed. "I meant..." She let her voice trail off, at a loss for words.

"
Oh, Sky," Aidan said.

He opened his mouth to continue but she was pushing herself up, stepping away from him.
"I’m sorry," she said, the words rushing out. "Clearly I am confused and don’t know what I’m talking about and Ashley was probably right to fire me. I’m sorry, Aidan." She turned to hurry away but slipped on some loose gravel, landing in an undignified heap a few feet away from the bench. She sat there for a moment and exhaled loudly. Aidan jumped up and crouched down beside her.

"
Are you all right?"

"
Fine." He offered his hand and she took it, allowing him to pull her up.

"
Listen, I don’t want to make things any more uncomfortable than they have to be. I’m flattered that you’d see me as anything more than your middle-aged boss. Truly, I am. And we don’t have to talk about it anymore after this, if you don’t want to, okay? But that’s not why I wanted you to meet up with me. I was actually hoping to make you feel better about things, and clearly, I’m not doing a very good job."

"
You’re doing fine, Aidan. This whole thing is my fault. I get it. I’m not trying to be a home-wrecker or anything."

"
I know you’re not. Here. This is what I wanted to give to you." He pulled a folded up piece of paper out of the front pocket of his shorts and handed it to her. "I can’t get you your job back, but I think this might be helpful. Call that number."

Sky smiled.
"Is this the number to a psychic hotline? So I can find out where my next job is going to be?"

He shook his head, laughing a little.
"Well, maybe a little. It’s no psychic, but it’s a job opportunity. You know Joshua Davis, right?"
"No, should I?"

"
He used to be an actor. I couldn't tell you what movies though, some kind of teen thing. One of the guys I went to college with, his younger brother, Conner, is Josh’s executive assistant. And they’re looking for someone with gallery experience to come in and help catalogue and photograph his art collection, which is extensive so I’ve been told. The job isn’t being posted anywhere or with an agency, it is strictly personal referral only.

"
You should call them. I took the liberty of talking with Conner and giving you my highest recommendation. I don’t know how many other people they’re going to interview, but I think this would be a really great opportunity for you." He smiled and patted her shoulder. "You’re going to be just fine, whatever you end up doing, Sky. Thanks for meeting me".

Sky took a step toward him, closing the distance. He would probably just stuff his hands in his pockets and walk away, so she initiated the contact, opening her arms and
and embracing him, the length of her body stretched against his own for a second or two. A more intimate sort of hug than merely friends maybe, but just a hug nonetheless.

"
Bye, Sky," he said as they pulled back. "Good luck."

"
Thanks, Aidan," she said. "I wish things could’ve ended differently, but I appreciate this. The phone number."

"
You’re welcome. Call it soon, though. I have a feeling that job isn’t going to be available for long."

And then he turned and
was gone. Sky stood, the sunlight slowly warming her head and shoulders, and she looked at the piece of paper in her hand with the unfamiliar phone number written in Aidan’s familiar handwriting.

Chapter 4

Back in her apartment, Sky made coffee and stood with her back against the kitchen counter, mug in one hand, slip of paper in the other. She felt
that she’d been given a special invitation and that she should call the number immediately. Yet another part of her hesitated, unsure. What were the alternatives, though? Put a call in with the temp agency, which she should probably do anyway, because who knew how many other people might be applying for this job, even if it wasn’t going to be posted publicly.

After she finished her coffee, she took a shower and got dressed as though she actually had somewhere
to be that morning. It would be too easy to lounge around in her pajamas all day and feel depressed about the way things had turned out, so she decided she’d take her laptop and walk over to
Lilac Terrace
, the coffee shop that Julia worked at.

Her phone rang as she stood in the bathroom, brushing her teeth. It was her mother. She picked it up, spitting a mouthful of minty toothpaste into the sink.

"Hi, Mom."

"
Darling!" her mother said. "Is today one of your days off? Your sister and I are headed into the city right now, would you be available to meet us for a late breakfast? We’ll let you choose the place."

"
Well, actually..."

"
It’d be so great to see you. I know we’re only half an hour away, but for as little as we actually get together, you might as well be living in on the moon! Robin’s getting her haircut at that new salon that just opened, in the Marina. There’s plenty of good places to eat around there; why don’t you meet us?"

"
Okay," Sky said. She could meet up with Julia after, she figured. "Where should I meet you and when?"

"
Let’s go to
Lena’s
. Like I said, we’re about half an hour away, but I’m sure we’ll spend at least half that long looking for parking! So take your time. If you get there before us, feel free to get a table, you know how busy they usually are. I’m so glad you’re going to meet us. I can’t wait to hear about what’s new with you and how your job is going!"

Sky grimaced and hung up the phone. Her mother had been the less supportive parent regarding her decision to major in art.

"But don’t you want to study something that will actually get you a decent-paying job?" her mother had asked, a note of alarm in her voice, when Sky had informed her parents she’d be studying in art. She followed that up with: "Do you even paint?"
So of course her mom had been thrilled when Sky had actually been able to land the job at
Prelude
. She’d even seemed genuinely interested in hearing about the different artwork and the artists that Sky worked with. Breaking the news that she was no longer employed was not going to be enjoyable, and Sky wondered just how long she’d be able to put it off for.

She arrived at
Lena’s
before they did and got a corner table. She spotted her sister Robin first. She hadn't seen her since her sixteenth birthday. She bounced into the restaurant ahead of their mother, wearing a pair of skinny jeans and ankle boots, and a tight wraparound-style top.

"
Sis!" she squealed when she saw Sky. "What’s up?"

"
Not much," Sky said. "You look great." She hugged her mother and they sat down.

"
Have you been getting enough sleep?" her mom asked immediately.

"
Nice to see you too, Mom," Sky said. "Does that really have to be the first thing you say to me?" It still amazed Sky sometimes how she only needed to be in mother’s presence for a few minutes before reverting straight back to feeling like a petulant teenager.

"
Sweetie, it was just a question. Which you haven’t answered, so I will take that as a no."

"
Mom, that sort of question is just the nice way to say that someone looks like shit." She stared at her mother for a minute, a woman who had probably never looked less than perfect a day in her life. Not even in the pictures Sky had seen of herself, right after she was born, swaddled nearly to the nose in a hospital blanket and being held like a giant burrito in her mom’s arms. Sky was the wrinkly, red-faced baby, while her mother had a gleaming smile and the put together face of a woman who had just returned from a luxurious shopping trip, not one who had just given birth.

"
I certainly don’t think that Sky and you know it."

The waitress came over and took their drink
s order. When she left Sky’s mom reached across the table and patted her hand. "Let’s try and start this over, okay? Robin and I are just really glad to see you, glad you had some free time to see us. We know how busy you must be. I don’t want to ruin it with any negativity, okay? You know I think you’re beautiful, regardless of how much sleep you may or may not be getting. So tell us all about the job! How is it? What are some of the new paintings you’ve seen?"

Sky felt like the background chatter in the restaurant had suddenly grown to a loud roar. Her mother sat across from her, smiling in anticipation. Robin sat to her left, twirling a strand of her straight red hair around her forefinger.

Sky ignored the tightening in her stomach and looked her mother in the eye. "I’m not there anymore."

"
Oh, that’s gre..., sorry, what?" Her mom blinked. "What do you mean, you’re not there anymore? Why not? Did something happen?"

Sky pressed her hands to her eyes.
"I was fired."

"
Oh."

When she brought her hands down, she saw her mother looking at her with concern.

"Why were you fired?" Robin asked. "That’s bullshit!"

Her mother took a sip of water.
"Did you
do
something?"

"
She didn’t
do
anything!" Robin said. She glanced at Sky. "Right?"

"
I’m not exactly sure what happened. The owner and I didn’t really get along, I guess. And she thought that someone else might be a better fit there. So, I’m no longer working at
Prelude
."

"
And you’re just telling us this now?" her mom asked.

"
It only happened yesterday! But don’t worry, Mom. I’ve already got an interview lined up." This was a lie of course, but only half a one, Sky decided. If she already had the contact info for an invite-only job, then surely she’d get the interview if she called. At least she hoped that would be the case.

Robin scooted a little closer next to Sky and leaned her head against her shoulder for a second.
"Anyone who’d fire you is crazy! I bet the owner was just jealous or something. Who’s the new interview with?"

"
It’s archiving for a private collector. His name is Joshua Davis..."

Robin hit Sky’s shoulder, hard enough that it hurt.
"Shut up."

Sky looked at her.
"Ow. What was that for?"

"
Joshua Davis? Are you kidding me? He’s like, the hottest guy ever! Well, at least I think he is. No one’s gotten a picture of him in like, three or four years. He’s in like hiding or something."

Sky shook her head.
"You must be thinking of someone else."

"
No way! I bet you a million dollars I’m not! He starred in like two movies I saw when I was like, thirteen, and then he just basically disappeared. You don’t remember that?"

"
I have a vague recollection of there being some calamity involving a movie star heartthrob," their mother said. "You think this is the same person?"

"
I remember an interview he did in
Seventeen
. It was one of the only interviews he did. He said he enjoyed acting but his true passion was art. And THEN, I heard like last year, that he was living in the Oakland Hills, in this huge mansion."

Sky smiled.
"Mansions usually are."

"
You know what I mean," Robin said. "Huge as in like, fortress status. Like even if you WANTED to get up there, you couldn’t. Except...it sounds like you are if you have a job interview! Oh my god, this is so exciting! Mom, do you even realize what a big deal this is?"

Sky had never been into the mainstream teenage things that Robin was into. While her sister could be totally content reading
Seventeen
and
US Weekly
, Sky had always been more interested in reading the independent journals put out by the schools or small presses. If this guy was a former movie star, a Hollywood type, maybe she didn’t want to work for him. Maybe it would just be better to start temping for a little while.

"
It sounds like you’ll be paid well," her mom said. "That’s always a plus."

"
I can’t believe." Robin was fumbling in her purse, pulling out her iPhone. "I have to text Kaitlyn!"

"
No!" Sky snapped. "Put that away. Don’t say anything."

Robin widened her eyes.
"Oooh, is it super top secret? Are they going to pick you up in a black SUV and make you wear a blindfold?"
"No! I just...I don’t need you blabbing this to everyone. I haven’t even gotten the job yet. I don’t want you to start some rumor about some job that I might not even have."

"
Okay, okay," Robin said, dropping the phone back into her handbag. "But you have NO IDEA how awesome this is! And how totally jealous I am."

"
Can we talk about something else now?" Sky asked. "Anything. Even how shitty I look. That would be fine with me."

Her mother smiled.
"You could try dabbing a little concealer under your eyes to help with the dark circles."

Sky took a deep breath and forced a smile.

After brunch, Sky went back to her apartment and opened her laptop. She googled Joshua Davis, and didn’t find much information, except what IMDB had of the two movies he’d starred in, and then a few alarmingly obsessive fan pages. It wouldn’t have surprised her to learn that Robin was the owner of one of them.

He was certainly handsome, in smoldering, pensive sort of way. In one of the movies, his hair had been long enough to gel back and bleach blond. His natural hair color appeared to be dark brown. His eyes were light blue, the color of shallow tropical water. There were only a few photos, and then a couple stills from the movies. From what she gleaned, he was at the brink of being a bona fide A-list celebrity when he all but disappeared. People speculated he’d had a mental breakdown, a sex change, had decided to take up building wooden Shaker boxes by hand in a remote cabin without running water. On the site joshuadaviswatch.com, fans sent in possible sightings and clues to his whereabouts. Most, it seemed, agreed he was somewhere in the Oakland Hills, holed up in a mansion that was well-guarded by a pack of vicious Rottweilers.

Sky looked at the phone number, which she’d laid on her desk, next to her pencil box. She looked at her computer screen, at the face staring back at her. She picked up her phone and took a deep breath.
Dialed the number.