Free Minds

Chapter 40.

   The alias of Talise was Destiny Omaha. She identified as a female and was seventeen years of age. Destiny came from Freebrook, one of the oldest Classic Suburbs and least privileged. Her interests included...

"Hmm," I mumbled at what my eyes scanned next.

"What? Is there a problem?" Camila asked, her worst fears painted on her features.

   She clearly dreaded the idea of getting called out for some mistake she might have made with Tali's Native American identity while writing about Destiny.

   But that was far from the issue for me.

   My problem was with Destiny's bio. It was a bit on the bland side. Just because we wanted her to fit in and appear as random as possible wasn't an excuse to make her exactly what Zavlon would expect her to be; a girl from the disadvantaged part of society with big dreams.

   For instance, Destiny dreamt of being an astronaut. She also hoped that upon turning eighteen, she'd be given a chance to be a participant in the 'life on Mars' experiment. Her free time, as a result, was often spent reading papers on vintage breakthroughs that NASA had achieved in the world of space engineering and exploration.

   Really?

"Where are her actual likes?" I shook my head at the interests Camila had listed in the sheet for Destiny with scrunched brows. "I get that she's supposed to be all science like and whatnot, but it won't kill her to like drawing or I don't know, rock painting. What we have now is just..."

"I get what Beth's trying to say. Her interests are well... nowhere near interesting. They only portray her as cold and boring," Tali, seated next to me on the bed, completed my statement.

"Thank you." I grinned at her.

"Well, I think," Dorian's words came out breath-filled as his frame rose from the corner of the wall he chose to lean against. "that this is enough. This is what Zavlon would normally expect of her anyway."

"Hmm, are you sure about that though?" I narrowed my gaze. "Considering the fact that Destiny's bio states that she's from one of the Classic Suburbs— districts like Ridgeton and the one we're currently in, in case you're not aware— where exactly will she get the facilities and resources to consider all those things Cami had written down as actual interest? It seems like she's trying too hard. We can't make her come off as rigid. It won't kill Destiny to like art or music or something. Her interests, to some extent, portray her as unrealistic and inhuman."

   Dorian appeared unfazed by all that I'd just said. "She doesn't have to be exposed without cause."

"If Destiny doesn't want to be exposed," I withheld the scoff brewing within me. He had to be joking. "Then she shouldn't reveal parts that'll make one think there's more to her than meets the eye. She can't just make herself approachable wh—."

"Destiny can be approachable whenever she wants." He took further steps to where I was seated on the bed.

"I'm not saying she can't," Almost on impulse, I shot to my feet as I responded, staring straight into his eyes. "I'm saying that she should be clear on whether she is or not. Don't you think it's quite selfish to have people caring for her when she clearly doesn't feel the same way?"

   Dorian inched another foot forward. "People have to realise the difference between concern and curiosity. It's easy to fool oneself into believing they feel the latter when that's not really the cas—"

"Or maybe she's the one who has to realise her actions can mislead others into believing that underneath all that reserved persona is someone who is willing to comfort a friend and receive the same level of comfort, when in reality, he is a cold self-centred jerk!"

   Damn it, I meant she! She!

   How high my voice had gotten didn't register until the silence in the room that followed my last words revealed itself.

   The steps forward I took with each emotion-filled word had brought me less than a foot before Dorian. His eyes held nothing but antagonism as they bore down into mine. We seemed to be sharing the same air with our proximity and the rate at which our heavy breaths were inhaled and exhaled in sync.

"Guys," Camila's loud voice and clap broke my trance.

   After taking my eyes off Dorian, I restricted my eyes from travelling to the other faces I had forgotten a second ago were still situated around the room.

   What kind of messed up effect did Dorian have on my awareness abilities?

"Well, I don't know about any of you," Rav relaxed into the couch he claimed as his seat. "But Destiny? He—sorry, I mean, she sounds wonderful."

"Maybe we should make some changes to Destiny's profile." The bewildered look Tali threw toward me as she remarked made me shrink.

"Are we sure we want to do that though?" Rav glanced up at Talise with squinted eyes and uplifted lips. "Some people may have issues with that. They appear... attached."

   The wait for Rav to just burst into hysterics already was a whole new form of torture.

   Who the hell did Dorian think he was, already concluding how I felt on his own? I hated to admit it, but what just happened was a pure indication that curiosity didn't come close to the concern I finally chose to acknowledge I was feeling. It was hurtful that the idiot failed to see that.

   But only a little.

   Little enough to be snuffed out and replaced with carelessness toward anything involving him. Something I should've felt from the beginning.

"I'm sure there are other things we should be focusing on," Talise tapped her chin. "The whole thing that happened with Zavlon's website made this totally slip my mind, but how were the camera tests you and Dorian conducted? It went well, I presume?"

   I dared to look in Dorian's direction for the first time since my outburst ended, only to discover he'd beat me to it.

"Yeah." I shot a wry smile his way. "It did."

   If Dorian wanted indifference, then that was exactly what he was going to get.

   Except, you know, when I finally have what I need to expose his lying ass. The next time I brought up the explosive camera incident, it was going to be nothing short of the truth.

   Including the truth he was hiding.

A/N: Real subtle, Dorian and Beth, real subtle😂   I really enjoyed writing this 🙂

QOTD: How do you spend your Sundays?

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