When I got home, I took a shower and avoided another call from Chloe.
I’d come to a decision during my run.
A stranger named Crow had painted an entirely different portrait of my parents. I needed to find a way to speak with him again, and hopefully Emily Connors as well, but before I could speak with either of them, I needed to find a way to get back up to The Tower.
I sent Sidney Farrow a text asking if she’d be able to meet me.
It was Sunday, so I suggested a brunch place that had good food but was never busy for some reason. She said she was in the office working all weekend, but I could just come by whenever.
* * *
—
I arrived at WorGames an hour or so later.
A few minutes after I’d stepped back onto the campus, I started to feel the familiar anxious humming and throbbing in the back of my head. I did my best to push that feeling out of my mind and kept walking toward the low brick building that housed Sidney Farrow’s game design team.
I didn’t have time for the gray feeling. Not now.
As I made my way along the concourse, I passed a handful of WorGames staffers on their way to work. I was surprised to see so many here on a Sunday. In fact, the entire campus was alive with movement. I was passed by a bunch of people riding bikes and scooters, and there was a group of a dozen or so incredibly bendy bodies practicing morning yoga in the grass, just a few yards off the paved pathway.
As I walked past the longhaired yogi leading the session, I almost bumped into a middle-aged woman yelling and tugging on a black-and-white dog’s leash. The dog had started pooping in the middle of the wide path, and the woman was begging the dog to stop.
I smiled and slowed down as I reached the last major intersection before Sidney’s building, a four-way stop.
I ended up standing next to another WorGames staffer who was also walking a dog. This guy was in his early thirties, about five foot six with dark wavy hair and a light beard. He wore a wool hat, a green plaid jacket, and Dr. Martens boots. His dog was a Dalmatian, the same breed as the pooping dog I’d just passed.
I smiled and had just bent down to pet the dog when I noticed a strange look on the man’s face. He wasn’t moving. He just kept staring around the intersection as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. I followed his eyes and saw what he was reacting to.
There were people standing at every one of the other three stop signs.
This wasn’t surprising, as the campus was fairly busy. What was surprising, however, was that every single one of those people had a dog. And what was even more surprising was the fact that every single one of those dogs was a Dalmatian.
I felt a chill pass through my body as the gray feeling started to cloud my mind. I hurried through that intersection and quickened my pace. I had the sense that the gray feeling was pushing me forward, guiding me toward something inevitable.
I didn’t like it.
I felt exposed and alone, and I suddenly wanted to get to Sidney as soon as possible. I needed to see a friendly face.
I kept my eyes forward, focused on the path ahead, and I didn’t encounter any other dogs between that intersection and Sidney’s building.
* * *
—
About ten minutes after I’d entered the lobby area and checked in with the receptionist, Sidney Farrow stepped out of an elevator, into the lobby, and walked over to the reception area. After a brief conversation, the receptionist pointed to where I was sitting, and Sidney approached.
“Hi,” she said. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I’m Sidney.”
I just stared.
“Farrow.” She held out her hand.
“Um…I’m K.”
“K? K-A-Y, or just the one letter?”
“Just the letter. I mean…it doesn’t really matter…Are you okay?”
She smiled, awkwardly. “What do you mean?”
“Are you…” I leaned in and whispered, “Am I supposed to act like I don’t know you or something?”
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I’ve been seeing a lot of people these days. Have we met before?”
The expression on Sidney’s face in that moment left room for two possibilities: one, she was the greatest actor in the history of the world, or two, she firmly believed that we had never met.
“I’m pretty busy today. What can I do for you?” she continued.
“Do you really not remember me? Or Chloe? Drinking wine, talking about my friend Baron?”
“I’m sorry, I don’t remember the two of us meeting at any point. Are you talking about Baron Corduroy?”