The Light Within (Shadow and Light Duology #2)

17. Julien

seventeen

Julien

J ulien’s work day was quickly turning out to be long and boring. Each time he checked his watch, he expected it to be close to noon, but no such luck.

He’d barely gotten any work done so far today. His first distraction occurred when Elliot dropped into his office cubicle at MEET, with some strange tale about some creepy guy who had been watching him and Cinn, which was slightly alarming, to say the least.

Then, he’d poured over pages and pages of numerical data about MEET’s new motecell line they had in the pipeline for production later that year. Julien stared and stared, but no matter how many times he adjusted his reading glasses, they weren’t adding up.

His back creaked when he got to his feet. Time for a stretch anyway, he meandered through the corridor to Jonathan Steele’s office, on the very top floor, and the very end of the corridor. The director of MEET enjoyed being undisturbed as much as possible.

Jonathan’s assistant, who usually manned the desk outside his office, wasn’t in her usual seat. Looking closer, there was a note pinned to her tidy tray that read, on extended holidays.

Nice for some people.

His knuckles raised, Julien prepared to knock briskly on Jonathan’s door. He paused. Jonathan’s door was slightly ajar. Strange . Jonathan kept his door firmly closed, always locking it if he wasn’t in .

Pushing gently on the wood, the door swung open, and Julien stepped inside.

He was alone. In Jonathan’s office. For how long, he didn’t know. What he did know was that he couldn’t pass up the chance for any scrap of information he could find about the elusive project Julien’s father had mentioned.

Julien flew across the room at breakneck speed. The desk was vacant, aside from a single shiny ballpoint pen. Three options to search next—the filing cabinet, the bookshelves, the computer terminal.

He launched himself towards the filing cabinet. Locked. Every single drawer.

Obviously, Julien.

Even if he had his unlocker on him, that would be a step too far should anyone enter while he was using it.

The computer was switched off, which wasn’t promising, so he moved quickly to inspect the bookshelf.

Lined with classics he suspected were simply for show, Julien’s fingers danced along the spines, pausing on titles that seemed suspicious: The Purloined Letter by Edgar Allan Poe, The Double by Fyodor Dostoevsky.

He pulled them from the shelf one by one, thumbing through their pages, but each was hollow and empty—no hidden notes, no secret compartments. Just empty volumes pretending to be profound. Well, his boss never did have a sense of humour.

Sighing heavily, Julien took a moment to enjoy Jonathan’s desk chair. Its leather creaked luxuriously as he leaned back, the chair swivelling slightly beneath him. It was absurdly comfortable, like sitting on a cloud of authority.

Imagining Jonathan’s face if he caught him like this, Julien dragged himself up and headed for the door. He’d wasted enough time.

As he reached for the handle, the door swung open with a sudden force, and he collided headlong into Jonathan, who was clutching a steaming mug of coffee and a thick stack of papers. The coffee sloshed over the rim as the papers flew out of Jonathan’s grip, fluttering to the floor like a burst of startled birds. Anger flashed across his face before his eyes narrowed as they locked onto Julien. “What are you doing here?”

“I just came in. Your door was ajar.”

Jonathan’s jaw twitched. “I always lock my door.”

“Not this time,” Julien said smoothly. Coffee dripped down onto the scattered papers. One caught his eye—handwritten, on lined paper. The only phrase visible was, ‘this third version of the attachment device’. Julien dropped to his knees. “Let me help you.”

“No!” Jonathan snapped so violently Julien flinched.

“Okay…”

Julien took several steps backward until he hit the desk.

His boss gathered the papers, arranging them in a particular order. “I apologise,” he said stiffly. “There are confidential documents in here.” For a moment, Jonathan eyed him, as if he were about to say more. Then he moved to his desk, unlocking the top drawer, to slide the papers away. “How can I help you?”

For a horrible second, Julien forgot why he came. “Uhh— I just had a question about the proposal paperwork, for the fourth generation motecells. Thirty percent improved efficiency? That’s insane. I don’t see how we could produce them at the rate suggested. We wouldn’t have the raw energy for that. I wondered if there were errors in the numbers.”

“ We don’t produce them, Julien. We only design. You don’t need to worry about that. Though I’m sure you don’t need me to outline the role of lead project coordinator to you.”

Julien’s heart stopped. He took several moments to process the words. “So… my application was finally accepted?”

Finally, a hint of a smile from Jonathan. “I was going to tell you later before I announced it in our afternoon briefing. But we’ll have to catch up shortly. I have a meeting in five. ”

Taking the hint, Julien nodded, and slipped out of the room. Walking back to his own office, he should have felt euphoric. On cloud nine, in fact. He’d worked tirelessly over the last few years, doing the lion’s share of the work under arrogant supervisors, for little credit on paper. In this new role, he’d possibly be able to bring some of his creations lying around in various sketchbooks to life.

But the whole thing was now poisoned. Overshadowed by his father and Jonathan’s little club, and whatever they were up to. Had he only gained the promotion as part of their twisted plan? Non . He deserved it, through and through. His application was exceptional.

His part of the office was quiet when he returned. Julien stood next to the wide window, and gazed out at Auri’s skyline, tracing the outline with his finger against the glass. It would make for a fantastic line drawing. Maybe he would slack off on his next task—specifications for an improved version of their security barrier—and do a quick sketch of Auri, instead. The glittering glass dome of Solstice Atrium captured his attention, a sudden ray of sun piercing through the clouds to highlight it like a beacon.

His eyes drifted downwards, to land on a very familiar green beanie hat. One that instantly caused his heart to squeeze, even though he’d only said goodbye to its occupant a handful of hours ago, after Cinn had cooked him breakfast. It was developing into a regular routine, which Julien was very much encouraging.

Julien caught himself smiling at the window, then chided himself. He was acting like a lovesick teenager when his colleagues could return any second. As he was about to pull away, he paused. A figure shuffled ten or so paces behind Cinn, at the exact same pace. Something about the way he was moving bothered Julien. A tension in his shoulders. Then, the unknown person appeared to stumble on something—they flew forward, catching themselves at the last second.

Cinn spun around to face them, body language hostile .

Was this… the person Elliot was talking about earlier?

But what would this random guy have to gain from stalking Cinn?

Cool fury seeped through Julien, quickly followed by a possessive urge to go and smack that man, to let him know exactly what he was in for, no matter what his intentions were.

The figure lurched to the side, disappearing inside the Atrium. After a stretched moment, Cinn shot forward to follow him.

Julien yanked his coat off the hook.

It seemed like his work would have to wait, after all.