Havily shifted her gaze to stare at the papers once more. “You’re right.” She nodded. “Yes, of course.” She then pulled forward the first sheet and began gathering Alison’s basic information, date of birth, height, weight, medical history, schooling. Alison found the interview soothing in an odd way. To be talking of such mundane things made her feel there was some normalcy to the process.
She sat back in her chair and sipped her coffee as Havily checked boxes and filled in spaces. When Havily jotted down Joy’s name, Alison asked, “So how does this work? Kerrick told me I will still be able to see my family. I can still visit them, be with them.”
Havily glanced at her and smiled but there was a hint of sadness in her eyes. “Of course you can. However, we require counseling for ascenders who wish to continue to visit Mortal Earth. In the beginning everything will seem strange, awkward. You might even want to repress memories at some point or create new ones to explain your absences, that sort of thing.”
Alison sucked in a breath. “You mean tamper with the minds of family members.”
Havily nodded, frowning. “I know it seems invasive, even unkind. However, one of the goals must always be to keep Second Earth a secret from Mortal Earth. We even have departments worldwide that monitor eruptions about dimensional worlds, or the world of the vampire. Again, lots of memories are suppressed.”
Alison nodded, but she couldn’t imagine being anything but forthright with her family. “I’m very close to my sister. She’ll wonder where I am. As it is, I’ll be missing a family dinner.”
“Actually,” Havily said, “I’ve often found it helpful, just until this process works itself out, to pretend you decided to take a spontaneous holiday, like to Hawaii, or better yet, Mexico, for oh, say, three weeks.”
“Fake a vacation? A three-week vacation?”
Havily consulted her notes. “Well, you’re in between gigs at the moment, having given up your practice, and your grad program wouldn’t have started for another month.”
“I just don’t know if my family will buy it.” She shifted in her seat.
“I’m not fond of fabricating my way through life, either. In this situation, however, the truth won’t serve. Think of it as giving yourself a period of time to adjust to your new life here, to receive some counseling, to know what you can tell your family, to figure out how to move forward.” Alison didn’t know what to say. Havily pressed on. “Once you complete your rite of ascension, the first few weeks of ascended life will be rigorous. We are an industrious world and everyone plays a part. Pretending a three-week stay in Mexico or Hawaii will give you time to settle in before having to tackle the more delicate job of incorporating visits to Mortal Earth with your new life on Second.”
Alison held out both hands, palms up. “What do I do?”
Havily whipped out her iPhone. “Call your sister and start learning to elaborate on the truth.”
Alison blinked. She didn’t know which shocked her more, that she’d be lying to her family or that Havily held a Mortal Earth iPhone in her hand.
Havily laughed, a musical trill very much like Joy’s. “The import business on Second is enormous. We take advantage of all Mortal Earth technology.”
Alison once more had that strange underwater sensation, the one she had experienced earlier when Kerrick drove her to her home in Carefree. All the information he had blurred in her direction had made her feel like she’d dropped below the surface of a large body of water. She felt that way all over again.
Despite the sense of being overwhelmed, Alison took the phone and made her call—but when she heard her sister’s voice, tears started to her eyes. The reality of what would become in time a huge gulf between herself and her family threatened to overtake her.
“Where have you been?” Joy cried. “I’ve left you three messages and you’re just now calling?”
Joy’s peeved tone allowed air to rush into Alison’s lungs. She smiled. “Where have I been?” Alison suppressed a laugh thinking of her blown-up house in Carefree. She glanced at Kerrick. He shook his head back and forth, not as a negation but as a hell-if-I-know-what-to-say.
“Well, you’re never going to believe this,” she began. Havily gasped and opened her mouth wide. She wagged her head briskly back and forth, clearly afraid Alison meant to spill the beans. But Alison said, “I’m in Mexico … Cancún, actually.”
“What?”
Alison pulled the phone away from her ear then back. “Hey, I have acute hearing, remember?”
Joy laughed then expressed a mountain of I can’t believe it, but the more Alison assured her she’d hopped on a plane, checked into a hotel, and was now by a pool sipping a margarita, the easier the lie became.
Silence. Alison closed her eyes. Would Joy buy it?
“I can’t believe you actually took a vacation.”
“I needed time to think. I’ve really started to question whether grad school is the answer for me. And do you realize that the last time I zoned out on a beach was over four years ago?”
“Lissy, I’m so glad. You’ve earned a break, but why didn’t you tell me?”
“Well, I’m not sure. But after you and I talked on the phone, I just got to thinking about what you told me. The next thing I knew … well, the plans came together really fast.” She let the words hang.
Joy gasped. “Tell me you’re taking my advice … about … you know.”
Alison shifted her gaze to Kerrick, to his wonderful height, to the massive plane of his chest, the ripped shoulders and pecs, his sexy jeans and bare feet. “Actually, I think you might have given me the best advice ever and I’m going to do something about it.”
Joy squealed. “Go get ’em,” she cried. “But you’d better call me … a lot. I want updates.”
“Hey,” Alison cried, “if my plans work out I may be a little busy.”
“That would be so awesome, sister mine. Okay. You do whatever you have to do right now. If you need time to, well, relax”—she pretended to growl—“then you relax as long as you want.”
“I love you, Joy.”
“Love you more.”
Alison touched the screen to end the connection. She handed the phone back to Havily, who had already stuffed her papers back into her briefcase, preparing to leave.