Page 20 of Close Quarters

“It’s done,” I said, sounding as tired as I felt. “At this point, just…tell us what we need to do, what comes next.”

I ignored the look of surprise Elliot shot me, probably because of my quiet acceptance of the whole situation. The fact was, I probably owed him for at least being willing to try this entire mess of an arrangement because it benefited me. But that didn’t mean I owed him an explanation for why I chose to do anything. My thoughts and feelings were my own, and he clearly didn’t care much about understanding me.

Hard to blame him, really.

Leon shot me a curious look before clearing his throat. “The two of you will be given a cabin where it’s just the two of you. No more having to share with three other people.”

“I thought that only happened with Tier Twos,” Elliot said with a frown.

“It doesn’t have to,” Leon said, arching a brow.

That was news to me, but I was newer to the program than Elliot. I wasn’t going to call anything out, but if I had to guess, I would say this buddy program offered to us was new. Not just new, but brand spanking new and drummed up by Leon to try to help me. Was that why Mona was involved, or was her participation about something else entirely?

“Ugh,” Elliot groaned, throwing himself back in his chair like a little kid. “Fine! We’ll apparently be roommates. Great.”

“It’ll be no different than before, except it will be just the two of you. We might as well get all of that out of the way and have you move in today, then we’ll have a jump start on everything, and you two can get settled in,” Leon said, looking between us. “From this point, you’ll do everything together.”

“I might be wrong, but I sense there might be a theme,” I said. Only to arch my brow when Elliot gave a soft snort. He looked horrified, probably at the idea that anything I had to say was amusing and covering it up with a cough.

“Cute,” Leon said. “Should I remind you both that if this goes badly?—”

“We’ll get our punishments, I know,” Elliot sighed.

“No,” I said with a grunt. “We’ll both be out on our asses if it goes badly.”

“What?” Elliot barked, eyes wide with panic.

I shrugged. “Think about it. It’s one thing if it fails, but if it goes badly? That’s us fighting each other. Which is a second mark against me and a big one on you.”

“I…well, that’s only if we’re stupid,” Elliot said, but from his discomfort, he wasn’t all that sold on the idea that we wouldn’t be stupid. Despite both of us meaning what we said about trying, or at least I thought Elliot meant it, he could be…erratic at times. He might mean it now, but in the future, his mind could shift in a moment. Then again, I didn’t have room to talk. If I were pissed off enough?—

Shit, I knew this ‘bettering yourself’ thing wasn’t meant to be easy, but this was going to be rough.

“Yes,” Mona said, her voice light, but her eyes were sharp as they switched between Elliot and me. “If Leon or I hear one word about the two of you fighting, then you’re both out, you got me? And that also means no more participating in those impromptu wrestling matches…neither of you.”

“Hey!” Elliot protested. “That’s not fair, I didn’t?—”

“Elliot,” Leon grunted. “Let it go.”

He did, but not without a disgruntled sigh as he sank into his chair, looking grumpier than ever. I actually wondered if that was what I looked like to other people. It was strange seeing such an unhappy expression on his face. It wasn’t like he looked ‘boyish,’ but the energy about him definitely gave that impression. How weird was it that his angry look made him seem adult to me?

“What about other friends?” Elliot finally asked. “I still want to spend time with Dom and, like, get to know Riley.” The last was said with a glare shot my way, which I ignored if only because I deserved that one. “Do I still get to spend time with them, or are we going to have to be up each other ass all the time?”

“As far as we’re concerned, you two need to spend your time together. Obviously, I don’t expect you to share a shower, a toilet, or a bed for that matter,” Leon said, which was just unnecessary, but I kept my mouth shut. “But if you spend time with other people, the other person needs to be there.”

It was odd phrasing, but I pushed it away for the moment. “Fine, anything else?”

“Yeah, I’ll emphasize again that you two are a partnership now. So, be there for each other, try to work with each other, and understand each other. Maybe you won’t get along or become friends, but there’s something to be said about learning to get to know another person, especially if that’s someone you don’t necessarily like right away,” Leon told us, glancing between. “Got it?”

I didn’t really see what he meant, but I wasn’t going to argue. As far as I was concerned, it was better for two people who didn’t like one another to avoid each other. Doing the opposite would just lead to the same shit I grew up with, drama and chaos. If you kept your distance, at least you didn’t have to see and hear all the things that set you off and inevitably led to the kind of shit that caused ugly fighting.

“Sure,” I said, knowing there was no point trying to fight it, the wheels were already in motion.

“Good, then get moving. I want you two moved in within the hour,” Leon said. “I’ll leave it up to you to explain the situation. We’ll follow suit.”

I looked between him and Mona and found no answer on either of their faces. It was officially what Elliot and I were stuck doing, and there were no other options. Perhaps at the end of the day, that was what Mona wanted, for Leon to find it in himself to draw a hard and fast line.

It didn’t matter because the answer didn’t help or hurt Elliot and me. Everything would have probably been the same if Mona had been in charge. Well, Elliot probably would have talked back a lot less if it had been Mona. It was amusing that he had absolutely no fear of trying to get in my face, but he seemed downright terrified of Mona. He’d probably been terrorized by a woman at some point, or the opposite, he simply hadn’t had a strong female figure in his life and was thrown off by her.

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