Read Online Cristal - Novella by Anne-Rae Vasquez - Free Book Online

in.”
    “You’re the manager! You can let us go home,
if you wanted to,” she said.
    Cristal gritted her teeth. Patience with
Joanna was not her strongest quality.
    “Get a hold of yourself, Joanna,” she
finally snapped. “At least you’re okay, so stop acting like such a
bitch.”
    “Okay? I’m NOT okay,” Joanna blurted out.
She waved her arms to emphasize her point. “None of this is
okay!”
    “Do you realize what happened today?”
Cristal asked, her anger rising.
    “No, duh. We had an earthquake,” Joanna
replied, rolling her eyes. “Right, Harry?”
    Joanna turned to him with her hands on her
hips.
    “Tell us. Was that an earthquake?”
    Harry gave her a dirty look.
    “This is not the time or the place,” he said
quietly.
    Out of the corner of Cristal’s eye she saw a tall guy
standing beside her. She looked up and was surprised to see Kerim. How did he get through the traffic jam ?
    “Alleys, side streets and sidewalks,” Kerim
said.
    It wasn’t the answer that made her queasy. It was
the fact that Kerim knew exactly what she had been thinking.
    The sound of a horn blast coming from the
building filled the air, indicating that it was safe to enter the
building. Kerim and Harry were standing toe to toe.
    “Yeah, Harry, tell us if that was an
earthquake,” Kerim said.
    “This is not the time nor the place,” Harry
repeated, narrowing his eyes.
    He motioned to Cristal to go with him
towards the building.
    “See you at six tonight, Kerim,” he
said.
    Cristal would’ve followed Harry. Technically he was
her manager at GN although, her working there was only a cover to
hack into the GN networks. But then again, Harry was the leader of
the Truth Seekers and normally she never questioned his commands
when it came to fulfilling their mission. Debating with herself,
she found herself with a dilemma. Do I go back to work with
Harry and spend the next few hours acting as if nothing
happened?
    Then she did something out of character.
    She tucked her arm in Kerim’s and pulled
herself closer to him, causing Harry’s eyebrows to shoot up.
    She could feel Kerim’s stare but he played
along, placing his hand on hers. If anyone else were watching, they
did look like a couple.
    “See you tonight,” she said to Harry.
“Kerim, let’s go.”
    She smirked imagining the steam spewing from
Harry’s nostrils.
    Joanna must have been enjoying the show
because her smile was stretching wider and wider and Cristal could
see a glint of glee in her eyes.
    Cristal thought, I’m not as predictable
as you think, Mr. Doubt.
    “Your ride awaits you, my lady,” Kerim said,
giving Harry a friendly wink. He was definitely enjoying Cristal’s
tactical maneuver.
    Cristal smiled to herself, letting him guide
her away. She glanced back to confirm that Harry was watching them
very carefully. She wondered what thoughts were running through his
mind right now.
    She pulled Kerim’s arm, urging him to pick
up the pace.
    “What’s the hurry?” he asked.
    “No hurry,” she said. “I want to get away
from this crowd.”
    He squeezed her hand reassuringly. They
walked hand in hand until they reached the intersection. She turned
back to see GN staff walking into the building.
    So what next , she asked herself,
realizing that she hadn’t thought it through.
    Cristal had just pulled a fast one on Harry
and she was still enjoying the moment. Harry was probably having a
fit seeing her walking hand in hand with Kerim.
    “My bike is over there in front of the
coffee shop,” Kerim said, interrupting her thoughts. “You want me
to take you home? We’ve got a few hours to kill before the meeting
tonight.”
    She realized that her hand felt good in his. Why not play this out a bit?
    “Nah, I don’t want you to have to drive
through the chaos out there. I can take a cab after the meeting,
assuming the streets will be clear by then. Let’s go to the coffee
shop instead. It should be open,” she said.
    “A good espresso might