Jake Barry
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Chapter 49
🕑 Added 2023-08-23 12:59:03 +0000 UTCMy phone makes a ding as it sits on the edge of my desk. My eyes glance over at it, only to return to my reports as I finish reviewing them. A minute later, I place my pen down and check to see who messaged me. While I try not to make this a habit, stopping work to chat with friends, there is a chance it could be urgent. My personal and work numbers are one and the same. A friendly 'How are you?' from Ori sounds the same as a 'I need you in City Hall now' from Mayor Rin.
"I really should fix that. Dumb system."
I frown even before reading the message. My eyes are immediately drawn to the name 'Sara'. Don't get me wrong, it's not that I hate her. It's the fact that she made such an effort to start a dialogue with me and I have not answered her even once. It's been almost two weeks since we spent those two days together. In that time she has reached out to me three times. Four, now with this message.
"This isn't right. I can't keep ignoring her like this. You have no excuses today."
I think I'm just nervous. Her messages aren't even that long. Simple 'hello's and 'what's up's. After the first message, I told myself I would respond the next day, but then I made and excuse and pushed it to the next. Everyday there was something. But today there isn't a single thing. No work, chores, groceries, responsibilities, or even plans with friends. The only reason I'm working on a weekend is because I needed another excuse.
My fingers tremble as I open my chat with her and begin to type a reply. I know what I want to say, considering it's been on my mind since that night with Ori.
"Hey, Sara. I'm sorry I've been quiet. I'm good, and if you aren't doing anything today, would you mind coming over? There's something I'd like to talk to you about." I speak my text aloud as I type it. My thumb hovers over the 'send' button, clicking it before I can change my mind.
I don't have to wait long, as her response comes almost instantly. A simple: 'Omw!'.
"Alright! We're doing this. Today is the day!" I steel myself, as I head out my front door.
It doesn't take long for Sara to arrive. I hear the door to the apartment opening, which is only possible because Jeannine entrusted her with a spare key. She calmly walks into the room and collects the earpiece from the desk. She then approaches the shelf, where I am already waiting in the cabin. I watch her get closer, until my view, or anyone else for that matter, pretty much just becomes her stomach. A hand carefully reaches for me, but does not latch me to her ear. Instead, it carries me by the chain as she exits the room. Sara then sits on the couch outside, raising the cabin up to her eye, where it trains on me through the glass.
"Hey there, just trying to make sure it's you." She smiles. "How are you doing?"
"Doing good. You?" I ask, trying not to seem as anxious as I am.
"Prety good. Better, now that you finally responded." She raises a brow at me. "I thought we were past the cold shoulder treatment?" She lowers the accessory to her palm, mainting the 'elevation'. "Never mind. I'm sure you had your reasons."
"If I'm honest, I was just nervous. I was working through so issue, really looking inward and...stuff. I didn't want to respond until I felt ready." I tell her, deciding to come clean, no matter how embarrassing it sounds. I gaze at her through the glass and take a long, deep breath. "But... I think I'm ready now. It's why I asked you to come over."
"Oh. I understand..." Her expression softens, that guilty look returning. I'm sure she feels remorse for what she did, but I suspect she is feeling even worse about what she put me through; what led us here, today. "Well, I'm all ears. Say what you need to and don't hold back."
I can't help but smirk a little. She seems to have the wrong idea. "I'm not going to berate you. Nor am I going to try to make any demands." As she hears this, her eyes begin to light up with both relief and surprise. "I called you here today for something simple. But before I get to that, would you let me ramble a little?"
"Sure." She nods, enthusiastically. "Of course. Yeah, please do."
I don't think she realizes it, but her hand keeps creeping closer to her face. Like how when we stare at a screen and get too invested, leaning in close. I don't comment on it, though.
"I've been thinking. About you, and Brobs, and me, and...well, everything. I thought I was going to lose it, until a close friend of mine, Ori, helped me out. She's been through it, I can assure you of that. I guess that's why she's such a kind soul, not to mention a good listener."
"She sounds really sweet." Sara smiles.
"She is, and I hope you'll get to meet her soon. Anyway, she gave me a lot of good advice. As did others, but I'm not going to bore you with a list of names of people you don't know..." I clear my throat, focusing my thoughts on the point I am trying to get across. "I'll just come out and say it. I've been torn about how I should act around you. On one hand, there is the Brob that massacred people in front of me, but on the other, there is an earnest person trying to do better. And I didn't know which 'image' to believe in my heart."
"Can I ask which you think I am now?" She asks, nervously. "I...would really like to know."
"Let me finish first. I promise I'm getting there."
"Right! Right. Sorry. Please continue." She looks away, shifting around in her seat. She's so jittery, all because of me. It makes me feel a little bad.
"There are a lot of scummy, disgusting people in this world. People who think it's okay to hurt others, and that they are above things like the law. But the worst of them are the ones who never think twice about what they do. And after talking with you before, I don't think I can group you in with them. When I realize that, in my mind I was like, 'Okay, now how can she make up for it?'. Then I ran into a new problem. You...can't. Maybe you go save an equal number of Lilli lives, but it won't bring back the ones you took."
Her expression becomes solemn, eyelids droop, but gaze firmly fixed on me. I don't think I'm saying anything that she hasn't said to herself before, but I'm going to say it anyway. I want us to be on the same page.
"It's not that I can't forgive you. I don't count this as justification, but I know enough about your culture to know why you thought it was okay. Jeannine and I went into great detail about that sort of thing..." I sigh, recalling very depressing memories. Jeannine would cry a lot as she opened up to me about it. About how she felt so guilty, despite not doing anything. "It's just the world we live in."
"There are things... Things in our culture...as Brobs." She purses her lips, trying to find the right words. "You're right. There are things that every Brob hears while growing up. That we are bigger, better, and more important. That it's okay to hurt Lillis. That they are hardly even people. I, like many others, accepted that without a second thought. It...was hard to unlearn something you held true for your entire life."
"Yeah, I can relate. But from the opposite position, I guess. Alright, I've rambled enough. To answer your question..." I pause, hesitant to answer. But as I get nervous, I try to remember what Ori told me. Suddenly, I find myself getting confident again. "My heart tells me you're the latter. That said, my brain doesn't exactly believe it yet. It needs some convincing. That's why I asked you to come over. Sara, could we retry that trust exercise?"
"What?" She looks at me as if I'm crazy. "You...want to do that again? After what happened last time?"
"I do." I tell her, with a level of certainty that surprises even me. "I mean, I want to. I think it's the last thing I need to get over this." I take another long, deep breath. "To you, this might seem pretty random, but to me, it means something! This cabin is strong, and it's like a protective shell. Sure, you could definitely crush it if you truly wanted to hurt me, but that's beside the point. Me leaving this is like jumping into a pit of snakes. Maybe not snakes...but you know what I mean. I put my entire life in your hand. Literally!" I chuckle. "It's a big deal for a Lilli! Oh man, I must sound so dumb right now."
"No, not at all! I get it. Seriously!" She assures me. "Yes, I'm willing to try it again. My part is pretty easy, I just have to hold still. You, on the other hand..." Her brows furrow in concern. "Will you...be okay?"
"Only one way to find out." By the time I answer, my feet are already touching down on the skin of her palm. Her gaze fixes on me, squinting to make out the tiny dot moving away from the earring. "I'm...trusting you, Sara."
I make my way forward, across the vast, uneven plain of her hand. I feel my heart racing in my chest, but strangely, I don't feel the panic from before. It's just plain, old anxiety. The kind that lessens as you push yourself out of your comfort zone and realize everything is okay. With each step forward, I feel more comfortable. I am not in the hand of a monster, just a girl. An extremely enormous one, but a girl nonetheless. She doesn't want to hurt me. She isn't going to suddenly ball a first and crush me. Looking at her face, high in the sky, I think she might be even more nervous than me.
I walk and walk, not once looking back at the cabin. Slowly but surely, a smile begins to form on my face. I feel proud of myself. But more than that, I feel relieved that my heart and mind are in agreement. It's like I'm whole again.
Before I know it, I'm approaching her wrist. I look around, shocked by the distance I covered. I was so up in my head that I lost track of time! How many minutes passed? At least ten, for sure. She stayed still for that whole time...
"Yeah, this is it. This was the last piece." I say, waving to her up above. "I trust you, Sara. There's no longer any doubt in my mind."
I don't think I've ever seen a happier face in my life. If not for me being in her palm, the girl might've jumped for joy. Thankfully, she contains herself, shaking me a little with the bouncing of her legs, but overall containing it.
"Thank you, Nick. I know this was very hard for you." She hesitates, before speaking again. "I...won't forget this. Being given another chance, even though I don't deserve it."
"You're welcome. If I'm honest, I really hate conflict. I'd much rather have you as a friend than an enemy."
"Dude!" She gasps, her look becoming kind of silly. "You would not want me as an enemy. I'd body you even if I was tiny, little guy."
Her sudden change in demeanor is unexpected, but wholly welcome. I take it she is also the type that would rather be on good terms than bad. Maybe Jeannine was right? We might just be more similar than I thought.
"You know... I was wondering how far you were going to go. I wasn't going to stop you." She gestures with her other hand up the length of her arm. "But yeah. I figure I'd let you go where you want. You'd get tired before you reached anywhere indecent." She winks at me.
I feel my face become red when she says that. That certainly came out of nowhere! I'm really not used to a personality like hers. Her tone is so naturally flirty. Is she...teasing me? It's both exciting and a little...scary? And speaking of indecent, her comment causes my eyes to wander beyond the edge of her palm. I hadn't gotten a good look at her until now. At the risk of being a little inappropriate, I glance at her chest. Her outfit shows a lot more skin than anything our mutual friend would be caught dead in. A tight, white tank top and dark, fleece shorts.
"I think it might be better if I keep my distance. This is close enough." I laugh awkwardly.
"Hmm... That's cute." She says, giving me a strange look. She hesitates, before slowly bringing her hand to her torso. I begin to tumble and slide across her palm, getting dangerously close to the edge. Before I can fall off, however, the edge of her hand presses against her collarbone, the massive feature more like a cliff than a bone. She holds her hand still, allowing me a chance to get back on my feet. "Now, this is close enough."
I remain in my place, unsure of what to do. What in the world is she doing? Why is she being so careless with me? I mean, I don't feel like I'm in any danger, but still! This is so...odd.
"What are you doing?" I ask, genuinely confused.
"What does it look like? I'm inviting you to climb on."
My ears must be playing tricks on me. Just in case, I ask to confirm. "You mean onto you?!"
"No, onto the other Brob holding you. Of course I mean me, dummy!" She laughs, nudging her hand lightly to encourage me.
I gulp, feeling more nervous than ever. This trust exercise has gone off the rails. I've never been in a Brob's hand, let alone on their body. This feels like a stupid idea. I know it's a stupid idea. So why are my legs moving? With a short hop, I fall a few feet down onto the cliff, catching myself with my arms. The ground is so weird. It's nothing like her hand. Speaking of which, her hand then moves away, falling into her lap. I'm left stranded just below this girl's shoulder.
"How's the view?" She smiles, straining her eyes and neck to look down at me. There is a lilt in her voice that grabs my attention.
I look around, tracing the side of her neck, the underside of her chin, and looking around the room. I begin to look downward, but quickly remember to keep my gaze up. It is partly because the height is so dizzying, but mostly because I don't want to look down her top.
"It would be better from the safety of the cabin, don't you think?"
"You're no fun!" She laughs. "I bet Jeannine never let you do this. She'd be too worried."
"You aren't wrong." I say, the reality that falling from here could happen at any time setting in. A simple roll of her shoulder and that would be it. "But for good reason."
"I think you'll find that Jeannine and I are very different in the way that we approach smaller folk."
"Clearly." I shake my head in disbelief. I crawl away from the edge, terrified of the height. Without moving her shoulder, she uses the opposite arm to open her laptop. Keeping her body steady, she begins to lean back into the sofa. She finds a comfortable position and begins scrolling through her socials. "Aren't you forgetting something? I'm still here, you know."
"I know." She says, without so much as turning her head. "This is all part of the trust exercise. Sit tight for a while until I finish. I'm going to prove to you that I'm harmless."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously." She repeats. Her eyes never once leave the phone.
"Guess I'm your captive now." I chuckle, choosing to see this as funny instead of scary. "But when I inevitably fall and die, please take responsibility."
"I swear. I'll even leave a rose on your tiny grave." She giggles.
I snort, surprised by her comeback. That was good, not gonna lie! And I suppose there are worse places to be. The ground is soft and warm. The entire area smells faintly of vanilla, probably whatever cream or body wash she used last. I look up at her, seeing her smirk. She's clearly proud of herself in this moment. With nothing else to do I sit down on the 'ground'. I look around at the environment, catching details of the living room and how it's changed in the past couple of weeks until she is ready to return me to the cabin.
But I can't help wonder... Why am I so comfortable right now? She has just casually taken me hostage, and for some reason, I'm not mad at her. I never agreed to it; she just did it. Do I actually trust her with all of my heart now or do I just like the view? I finally steal a glance down, quickly looking back up as I blush a lot. She knows exactly what she's done to me, this inappropriate torment she's putting me through!
I lay back and stare up at the ceiling. This ground is much more comfortable than I ever thought it would be.
Comments
Jake Barry
Found some leftover notes in here and removed them. Sorry!
Jake Barry
Glad you enjoyed it!
Augh I ship Sara and Nick so much. This was good. I'm glad they're getting along.
