“I don't want to talk about it
He turned his... “I don't want to talk about it
He turned his attention to his food and let me stewIan was nice that way–always trying to
give me what I wanted, even when what I wanted was unclear to either of usHis insistent
attempts to distract me from the present anxiety excepted, of courseI knew I didn't wantthatI
wanted to worry; it was the only thing I could do
It had been a month since I'd moved back into Jamie and Jared's roomFor three weeks of that
time, the four of us had lived togetherJared slept on a mattress wedged above the head of the
bed where Jamie and I slept
I'd
white chloe bag gotten used to it–the sleeping part, at least; I was having a hard time sleeping now in the
empty roomI missed the sound of two other bodies breathing
I hadn't gotten used to waking up every morning with Jared thereIt still took me a second too
long to return his morning greetingHe was not at ease, either, but he was always politeWe
were both very polite
It was almost scripted at this point
“Good morning, Wanda, how did you sleep?”
“Fine, thank you, and you?”
“Fine, thanksAnd… Mel?”
“She's good, too, thanks
Jamie's constant state of euphoria and his happy chattering
chanel pearl necklace kept things from becoming too
strainedHe talked about–and to–Melanie often, until her name was no longer the source of
stress it had once been when Jared was presentEvery day, it got a little bit more comfortable,
the pattern of my life here a little bit more pleasant
We were… sort of happy
And then, a week ago, Jared had left for another short raid–mostly to replace broken tools–and
taken Jamie with him
“You tired?” Ian asked
I realized I was rubbing at my eyes
“Still not sleeping well?”
“It's too quiet
“I could sleep with you–Oh, calm down, MelanieYou know what I
chanel handbags collection meant
Ian always noticed when Melanie's antagonism made me cringe
“I thought they were going to be back today,” I challengedI guess there's no need for rearranging
“Maybe you should take the afternoon off
“Don't be silly,” I told him“I've got plenty of energy for work
He grinned as though I'd said something that pleased himSomething he'd been hoping I would
sayI could use some help with a project
“What's the project?”
“I'll show you–you finished there?”
I nodded
He took my hand as he led me out of the kitchenAgain, this was so common that Melanie
barely
omega planet ocean watches protested
“Why are we going this way?” The eastern field did not need attentionWe'd been part of the
group that had irrigated it this morningHe was still grinning
He led me down the eastern tunnel, past the field and into the corridor that led to only one
placeAs soon as we were in the tunnel, I could hear voices echoing and a sporadicthud, thud
that it took me a moment to placeThe stale, bitter sulfur odor helped link the sound to the
memory
“Ian, I'm not in the mood
“You said you had plenty of energy
“But Lily and Wes will be really disappointedI promised them a game of
dior rasta bag two-on-tw