Fragile

Chapter 25

"Glad we're on the same page," Kiera said evenly. Then she gave a cheeky smirk. "You can always apologize with a generous helping of champagne." 

Seth broke into a grin. "Of course," he said. "Mind if I introduce you to some people over there? They have all the good alcohol." 

Seth gestured to none other than the table with the Mayor, police chief, and other important looking people I didn't recognize. I immediately felt a lump in my throat. This was it. This was where the operation really started. 

Kiera gently pulled me along. I was grateful that she was able to keep up polite conversation with the others at the table, even earn a few hearty laughs. I, however, was nervously sipping at my third glass of champagne, my mind running wild with potential dangers that would lie ahead. 

I jumped when I felt a hand on the small of my back. "Need some air?" Seth's voice whispered in my ear. 

I nodded eagerly before I could really process the proposal, leaving Kiera at her table to converse. I didn't see the look of concern she passed at me, but I could feel it burning my backside. 

Seth handed me a small water cup as we sat on the bench outside, breathing in the cold air. "Events like these always get a bit stuffy," he said airily, leaning back to look at the sky. 

I nodded distantly, looking at Seth's face in the streetlight. He had smooth, pale skin and his hair seemed to shimmer, almost, in the light. He truly looked like a kind, gentle college student. The kind that carried your books and gave back hugs. The more I tried to convince myself he was a monster, the less I could believe it. How could this gentle person run a trafficking operation? Could Noah have gotten the person wrong? 

No, I couldn't think about Noah right now. I had to focus. My personal problems could wait. 

"Fay?" Seth raised an eyebrow. "Something on your mind?" 

My cheeks burned and I quickly looked down. I didn't even realize I had been staring. "Nothing, really." 

"Doesn't seem like it," he said. "You can tell me, you know. I'm a great listener." 

I didn't know why, but I truly believed him. I believed he was a great listener, and maybe that was why I began to talk, but truthfully I wasn't sure of my own actions. "If you care about someone a lot, but find out they aren't who you thought they were, what would you do?" 

He cocked his head. "I might need a bit more context." 

I let out a shaky exhale. "What if, there's a book. When you read the book, you interpret the story a certain way, but when you watch the movie, you see the story differently too. If it's the same story, but what you hear and see aren't the same, which one is the truth?" 

I wasn't sure of what to expect from Seth, if he would even answer. In the pause after my question, I became increasingly aware of how philosophical and weird I probably sounded. I couldn't quite figure out why I asked that question in the first place. What truth was I looking for exactly? What did I want to be the truth, or rather, who? Who was I referring to anyway, Seth or Noah? 

I was about to tell him to forget I said anything when he finally responded. "Why does one have to be wrong?" 

My brain zapped from confusion. "What do you mean?" 

"Why is there only one truth?" he asked. "the book and the movie both exist, so it doesn't seem right to call either one a lie." 

I felt my shoulders slump. "I'm not actually talking about books and movies," I mumbled. 

"People then," he continued thoughtfully. "With people, things aren't as black and white as truth versus lie, or good versus bad. Even if they contradict each other, a person can have both good and bad traits. If what you see and hear are different, maybe it's not that one is wrong, but that both are right."