The Hipster Who Leapt Through Time (The Hipster Trilogy Book 2) by Luke Kondor Read Free Book Online Page A

more. His body gave the breathing one final go. If it could just force the air out of the lungs hard enough, it would break through, but their faces, now smoothed over, closed shut and sealed, were too much.
    Once the collateral was over with, JoEl turned around.  
    The child.
    The job.
    The target.
    The innocence.  
    It was standing behind him, through the open door, rubbing its eyes. JoEl had been so interested in his work that he hadn’t heard the child wake up and open the door. He was in flow — a state of being he found himself falling into whilst working. A sign of passion and love for the job.
    “Who are you?” the child said, the smell of urine coming from his trousers. The little half-sized human reminded him of his own son back home on Gamma Nebulous.  
    “I’m just here to fix something, son,” JoEl said. “Don’t worry.”
    “What’re Mum and Dad doing?” the child said, its blond hair ruffled. It looked past JoEl into the bedroom behind.
    “Sleeping. They’re sleeping.”
    The child nodded, still sleepy. It yawned and looked like it might fall over.  
    “What’s broken?” it said.
    “Don’t worry about that,” JoEl said. “Let’s get you back to sleep.”
    JoEl took a step towards the child. His finger’s twitched in preparation — time for another magic trick.

Nisha Bhatia

    “Neesh?” the voice said — male, eloquent, familiar. “Neesh, what are you doing?”
    Nisha opened her eyes to the barrage of light. Her pupils ached as they dilated. The world came into focus as shapes emerged from nothing. A woman. Pretty. Dolled up in thick smacks of lipstick and fiery red hair tied back so tight her eyes might pop out. She was looking down at Nisha like she’d spat in her soup.
    The other shape stood closer, hovering above — perfect chin, chocolate eyes. The familiar dusty grey hair brushed backwards in a perfect wave. Brown wingtip shoes she’d bought for him years back. It was Edward. Her husband. Still married, never divorced.
    “Edward?” she said, still unsure what was happening. “Where am I?”
    He bent down and helped her to sit up. There was a healthy dousing of wine on his breath.
    “What are you doing here?” he said.
    “Yes, Edward, what is your estranged wife doing here?’ the woman behind said, her voice like fingers prying between them.
    “It’s okay, I’m sure …” Edward began but didn’t know how to finish. He turned back to Nisha. “What are you doing here? Are you drunk?”
    “No,” Nisha detested. “I’m not drunk at all, but …” Her head buzzed as she remembered arriving in the hallway. She saw the shopping bag by her side. The wine bottle inside had broken. “Wait, maybe … I don’t remember, but … maybe …”
    The smell of wine all around her and a cold damp on her fingers. She looked down again and saw that she’d been lying down, her arm in the broken glass, in a puddle of the spilled wine.  
    Edward helped her to her feet. Her head was heavy and her legs didn’t feel like her own. She felt like Bambi on ice. She looked to Edward. A stag dressed up for his … oh God, his date.
    “I called you, right?” she said. “I think I called you and then … I think I must have fallen over.”
    “Sure you did,” the other woman interjected, looking at the puddle by Nisha’s feet.
    “Look, I’m sorry,” Nisha said. “I better go. I shouldn’t be…”
    “No wait, let me get a taxi for you, it’s late,” Edward said, not trusting Bambi to find her way home.  
    “No, no, it’s okay, I can do it,” she said. “I’m only around the corner anyway.”
    “Are you?” the other woman said. “And how many times do you come round here?”
    “It’s not, it’s not like that. I just …” Nisha climbed to her feet, scooped up the contents of her bag which were on show. “I’d better go before I embarrass myself further.”
    Edward and his mistress looked at Nisha as she disappeared around the corner, stymying a