I could not help but laugh. The whole thing was just too comical. Here was a man I had feared since I started working here. With shoulders wider than mine, even with the extra muscle I had gained, he stood taller, and his shaved head usually gave him an intimidating demeanor that put me in my place. But as he tried to talk, his arms waving, his face turning red, and his hands pawing at his neck, he no longer scared me. Somehow, the loss of his voice removed any sense of threat. Like Rand al’Thor, I had remembered how to laugh.
"I quit," I told him calmly, getting my laughter under control. "I’m sick of dealing with your attitude. You run around here yelling at everyone, chewing them out for perceived issues, and I’m done with it. Take that steak out of my paycheck too, but I’m through." His eyes bulged in shock as I added the next line. "Better yet, shove that steak up your overbearing ass along with my last paycheck. I’m done."
I calmly untied my apron and threw it at his feet. Stephanie stepped up next to me, untied the apron she used for her tips and orders, and threw it down right next to mine, after removing her tips, of course.
"I quit, too," she tells him breathlessly. "I only put up with your bullshit for one reason, and now I don’t have to. You can eat my paycheck for all I care."
Suddenly, everyone around us is quitting as well, throwing in their aprons, tired of the way the big man has bullied us. Only now that he can’t speak do they lose their fear of him.
Stephanie grabs my hand and pulls me out of the kitchen as the aprons pile up at Mikel’s feet. Only as I’m walking out the front door do I think to turn his vocal cords back on; I smile slightly as I hear his roar from the kitchen.
The restaurant has been more than busy tonight, and now he has no one to do the work. I feel sorry for the customers, but that guilt doesn’t make up for the torment Mikel has caused.
Stephanie still has a hold of my arm and is dragging me to her car, but I plant my feet. She takes a few extra steps before she realizes I’m not following her anymore. I feel heady with power. The episode with Mikel has flipped my perspective, and right now I feel like I can take on the demons even without my sister’s help. I know that thought is foolish, but right now I don’t care. Only, it’s not demons in front of me at the moment—it’s Stephanie.
Sweet, loving, sexy, geeky, devious Stephanie; the woman who took care of me after the marathon sex session with Vage, who can equal or beat me in video games, and who is just as geeky as me, has shared her sister with me... and then tested me. She ignored me most of the night, barely acknowledging me when I tried to help her out with Mikel. And now she stands there with a half-uncertain smile on her face, looking so innocent and cute. I’m sick of the games, and sick of the deceit.
"No," I tell her. My voice is quiet, but underlying it is solid granite. She looks at me, and I can see fear blossom in her blue eyes. She knows what I’m capable of and is likely thinking I mean to use my ability on her. Hadn’t she paid attention when I told her I’m sick of manipulating people? Well, I guess after what I’d done with Mikel, I can understand her forgetting, but I thought she understood me better than that.
"Nick?" she asks me uncertainly, her voice shaking slightly as she takes a half-step back toward me.
"No more games, Stephanie. What are we? If you’re afraid of me, walk away now and I won’t stop you. I won’t make you forget, and I won’t use my ability on you ever again," I inform her, my voice staying even and firm. "But if you want to be with me, then you’re going to have to trust me. Trust that I won’t use my switches to control you and that I will do anything else in my power to make you happy, so long as you treat me properly. You have to accept me as I am." I pause for only a second. "So I ask you again: what are we?"
She closes the last of the small distance between us and, without hesitation, places her hand on my cheek. "I love you, Nick. I’m sorry for what I did with Mary. I do trust you. I thought about it, and I realize that you made those switches in me some time ago, but only today have I ever been happy when I had no reason to be. I know you won’t use your ability on me to manipulate me." Her blue eyes look directly into mine, and I don’t doubt her sincerity. "I want to be with you... but only if you still want me."
"Why have you been ignoring me tonight?" I demand, ignoring the plaintive look in her long-lashed eyes.
She drops her gaze for a moment and answers, "I... I don’t know what to say. You’re almost like a god now with your abilities. Why would you want someone as lowly and simple as me? Frak it, Nick! I love you, but I can’t see any reason you would want to be with me. You can have anyone you want with your switches." Her gaze grows fiercer. "I don’t want to stand in your way, but after what you did in there, I’m going to do whatever it takes to keep you."
I almost... almost laughed at her Battlestar Galactica terminology.
I can still hear the uncertainty and fear in her voice as she turns her face to mine. I know I have a choice right now. Kiss her, and she’s mine, but that means dropping Tina, Nancy, Professor Janet, Mom, and Loveth... Loveth...
"You know I still have to be with Loveth in order to stop the demons," I say carefully, worried that this one thing may crumble the house of cards I feel I’m standing on.
I feel her lips on my chin before she gives me her answer. "As long as I’m there. Do that for me, and I am all yours."
For a moment, I’m afraid. Vage’s ship will be the most dangerous place in the coming confrontation. Stephanie kisses my chin again, and I know my answer now as I drop my head and meet her lips with mine. For good or ill, Stephanie is now officially my girlfriend.