Sunday Six: behind the curtain
I have a finished first draft of the au!!!! 🎉 Now to put it in a drawer until it’s editing time. In the meanwhile, it’s time to pull back the curtain and show y’all what this story is actually about. This is probably where half of you walk out in disgust and the other half lean forward and say “tell me more.” It’s extra long this time, to really give folks a sense of it.
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“I feel like I should ask how you found me," Jack said, "given that you didn't know anything about me but my first name and that I'm from Quebec. But I also feel like I wouldn't like the answer."
Dom waved that off like it was the most minor of trivialities, rather than a heart-clenching breach of the anonymity Fallwood had promised. "Arthur can find anyone," he said. "He says hello, by the way."
Jack remembered Arthur vividly. The angular man in the impeccable bespoke suits had been Dom's most frequent visitor, followed closely by the short, bubbly architect who seemed oddly obsessed with Penrose steps and Fischer-Morrow stock prices. From what Jack had been able to piece together, Arthur spent a lot of time with Dom's kids, making sure their grandmother wasn't poisoning their minds against him. He also traveled a lot and brought Dom stories of barely believable adventures in the world's remotest corners.
After one of Arthur's earliest visits after Jack came to Fallwood, Jack had stared down at his tray in the dining hall and said, "Is Arthur your… husband?" This was before Jack knew the tragic tale of Dom's wife.
Dom had laughed for a good two minutes longer than Jack felt the question deserved before falling abruptly silent and saying slowly, as though the thought were just now occurring to him, "He would genuinely try to kill me inside of six weeks."
"As wonderful as this trip down memory lane is," Jack said, "why are you here?"
Jack's brusque tone didn't put Dom off in the least. If anything, he seemed delighted by it. "Do you have plans for after graduation?"
The question threw Jack back to Dom's last night at Fallwood, when he'd asked an almost identical question about Jack's time after rehab. Dom was even touching Jack's things with the same determined focus—the macro lens to his DSLR, at the moment. Jack's answer was even the same: "Not a one."
Dom offered him that same sharp grin. "Excellent. Now, let me ask you this: have you heard of dreamshare?"
Jack frowned. "Is that some kind of hipster CSA?"
Don laughed loudly. Dom's laugh always took Jack by surprise, how big and free it sounded coming out of such a closed-off person. "Get comfortable, Jack," Dom told him. "My name is Dominic Cobb, and I'm about to tell you about a now-defunct military operation called Project Somnacin."
