8. Crispy
1642 Words
He carries me back in the house and into the dining room. He sits on a chair and leaves me straddling his lap. I snuggle in and wonder what was in that box.
He rubs my back, and it helps me calm down. "So where did sosta come from?"
"He couldn't say sister right when he was little."
"I'm so sorry baby. I know everything is horrible for you."
"I want to find my home."
"You are home. Your home is with me. Wherever we are, is home."
"Are you really mine?"
"I am really yours. Are you mine?"
"I'm yours."
"When you first woke up, you were trying to remember what happened and you remembered something. You looked away quickly and Kina told you not that. What popped into your head?"
"I don't remember." I say it so fast, I don't even believe myself.
He laughs. "But we're not going to lie to each other, right?"
I bury my face and shake my head.
"What do you remember about waking up?"
I giggle. "You were in a towel."
"And what were you thinking about?"
"That towel falling off."
He chuckles and rubs my back. "What did Kina tell you not to think about?"
"IKISSEDDONOVANATTHEENDOFSCHOOLPARTY." I relax after I say it. I feel so much better.
"You kissed Donovan at a party?"
"End of school party."
"Did you kiss lots of boys growing up?"
"Not lots. Maybe some."
"Anything more than kissing?"
"No. You're the first boy I ever seen without a shirt on. I tried to be good and wait, but you were taking too long. Then you showed up in a towel." I giggle again.
He pats my butt. "You love that towel, don't you?"
"You should wear that all the time."
"Only if you wear 1 too, baby."
I shake my head so fast and bury my face.
"It's alright. We'll get there someday."
"What was in the box?"
"I told them not to say until the meeting tomorrow. I enjoy sitting and talking with you. They'll only disturb us if there's danger or an alarm goes off." He shrugs his shoulders. "I want to sit with you some more, sweetheart."
I make shapes on his chest. "I like this too."
"We have dinner for you, sir."
"Go ahead and set it up. Thank you."
"Our pleasure."
He spins me around and pulls me back down into his lap. Then he feeds me something.
"When I was at school, I would eat dinner by a painting of you. On my very first day there, I told you that you looked like a girl who would like chocolate. I promised if I ever met you, I would bring you chocolate."
"What's that?"
"It's a sweet treat. I still think you'll like it. I'll get some tomorrow so you can try it."
"The food tastes different now. Nothing is the same. I miss the old food. It was better. But I have never heard of chocolate."
"All the food is different?"
"Even eggs."
"I'm going to say something to the doctor about that. I don't know if that's right. It might be though."
"No idea." I shove some food into his mouth. He's talking too much.
He chews and swallows it. "Thank you. I always wanted to try oranges and fries together."
I laugh and shove another orange slice into my mouth. Then I relax and feel how warm he is. I feel myself falling asleep.
He wakes me up when he stands up. I snuggle into him and close my eyes, but he puts me in my cold bed. I try to get warm for a few minutes, but then I'm awake again.
I find some super cute pajamas. They're little black shorts with pink skulls on them. Then a pink tank that matches. Then I find some puffy socks that match. I get changed and lay back down. I stare at the ceiling for 20 minutes. This makes no sense. I am tired.
I leave my bedroom and everything is off. His bedroom door is open. So, I peek in and he's sleeping. I bet his bed is warm. I could sneak in on the side and not touch him. He'll never know I'm there. I tip toe over and sneak in as easily as I possibly can. Then I curl up in a little ball, not touching him. I hold still and don't move. I fall right to sleep.
I wake up in the morning with him rubbing my back. I'm sleeping on top of him. That's not what I planned. I fuss a bit, and he rolls to his side. Then I get snuggles.
"You little bed crasher." He tickles me.
I laugh and try to get away.
He pulls me back by my foot. "Where you going? I need more cuddles."
I lay on him. "Me too."
We get a few more minutes of cuddles, then get up. I go to my room and take a shower. I put on a short dress with a tight top. It's a dark gray with crystals hooked to it. Then I put on matching high heels and do my hair and makeup. I go out to the kitchen and Alden stares at me. His eyes go dark, and he swallows whatever was in his mouth hard.
He stands up right into the table. Then he shakes his head and pulls out a chair for me. He helps me sit down then kisses my head. "You are beautiful, baby."
"Thank you. I like the new clothes."
He nods and sits back down. We have a nice breakfast.
"What are you doing today?"
"I'm coming to your office with you. I want to know what was in the box. Do you know?"
"Not yet. I'm sure they'll tell me when I get there. Then we'll deal with it."
I step in front of the mirror and fix my necklace. He comes up behind me. "You ready?"
I flatten my dress. "I think so."
He takes my hand and holds it. "You are so beautiful."
"It's the dress." I stare at the floor and feel myself turning red.
"You're beautiful no matter what you wear, baby."
I peek up at him.
His lips touch mine and sparks fly threw me. He pulls me tighter against him and I deepen the kiss. He's such a good kisser. I put my arms around his neck and touch his hair. It's so soft on my fingers.
"GO TO WORK."
We about jump out of our skin. I give Kina a dirty look.
"You're an hour late. They are up there waiting for you. Do not give me that look. Either of you. Go. Now." She chases us out.
Alden puts his arm around me, and we go to his office.
Clark, Victor, Alkawn, and Jenny are sitting at the conference table. They clap when we come in. Alden laughs. "Yea sorry, lost track of time. What happened last night?"
Alkawn smiles. "Your daddy would be so proud of you. You make such a beautiful queen."
My eyes fill up with tears. I miss my daddy.
Then he stands up. "I bet you've never seen the television. Watch this." A window turns on by the wall and there's a woman talking on it. I stare at it a second and then run out into the hallway. There's nobody out here. I run back in, and now it's playing some sport. I go back out. I do this a few more times. Then I finally sit on the end of the conference table and watch it. I know they are trying to side track me. I ignore the television and listen to them in secret.
"Cooked?"
Victor says, "Yea broiled. Very crispy."
Jenny sounds irritated, "Victor, that is a person you're talking about."
"She was crispy. I don't know how else to explain it."
Alkawn says, "Well, he's not wrong. The werewolf you had a fun night with was killed and cooked by Fane. Then delivered for dinner. She was very crispy."
My eyebrows are stuck as far up as they can go. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Surely she didn't need to die. I go back to watching the television and a man in a mask jumps at the screen with a knife.
"AAAAHHHH!" I fall right off the damn table trying to get away. I jump up and brush myself off. "Sorry." I give the television a double take. "Can they come here?"
"No, it's prerecorded. That was a commercial for a scary movie."
Alkawn helps me sit. "It's like the old plays. It's for entertainment and put on a screen now. They're not in there."
Victor stands up and shows me the video of me laughing with the bird. "It's like this. It's a recording playing on that tv."
"I get it. Thank you." I go back to watching the tv, and they go back to talking. I focus on the tv this time.
After a while, a mad Emberlynna walks in. "GO TO CLASS." She points at the door and they jump up. "Mayra, you too. You can't stare at the tv all day. Go on."
I shake my head fast. "No, I'm all..."
"GO."
I jump up and run out with them. She follows us to a classroom and comes in behind us. I try to keep going but she yells more. I go in and sit by Alden.
Emberlynna smiles at the teacher. "She's joining your class. She needs something to do."
"That's fine. Thank you." The teacher glances at me as Emberlynna leaves. "I am Professor Arius. I teach current history. We go over everything in the last 500 years."
I jump up and run out the bookshelf.
Alden yells, "NO DRIVING." I hear everyone else laughing.
- Writer
