Page 101 of Encounter

At first, I didn’t want to touch anything in fear of disrupting whatever controlled chaos Chast had there, but something in my chest pulled me in. Placing the glass on the edge of the table, I carefully reached for the board, bending and moving the other notes out of the way as much as I could.

Like I thought, there was nothing that interesting. My picture—a pretty bad one, from last year’s graduation book—and characteristics like sex, date of birth, place of birth, nationality. It also showed basic data about Dad, and Mom. Below seemed to be a short description of my life. The schools I went to, houses I lived in...

Why the date? Why did Chast keep this?

It was probably nothing but my anxiety creating that disturbing, irrational feeling in my chest. It felt wrong—like something was really, really wrong, but I couldn’t figure out what.

Why am I even thinking about this? How doesthismatter right now?

Quickly putting everything to the way it was, I took the glass and rushed back, suppressing the weird sensation and focusing on nothing but Chast and his wellbeing. He probably had a reason. He probably forgot to throw it away, or it meant something for the investigation.

I sat back down on the chair in time for Gregory to finally emerge from Chast’s bedroom. Anxiously studying his face, I found none of the negative emotions I expected.

“Pretty sure he’s out for today,” he said as he walked to me, hands in his pockets. Sighing, he rubbed the back of his head and faced down. “I shouldn’t have sent him to that stupid gig. Should’ve known better.” Absurdly, I was at least happy to hearsomeconcern and worry from him—it made him more human, more on my level.

“I’m sure it wasn’t your fault...”

Chuckling, Gregory shook his head and looked up at me. “Yeah, well... He wanted to keep going with it even when he discovered the fuckin’ place was under Yakuza’s thumb. I should’ve convinced him not to. Should’ve known better than to accept a gig from someone who already lied to me once in the first place, but— There’s no point in cryin’ over spilled milk, huh? What matters is that he’ll be good, so you’ve got nothin’ to worry about.”

God, how much I wish I could be so pragmatic.

Escaping his pensive gaze, I stared into the glass, until a loud, chirpy meow sounded through the space.

“Oh, well hello there, gorgeous!” He rejoiced when Kitty appeared at his feet, excitedly lifting her tail and spinning around his legs with the vitality of a young kitten.

“Wow,” I blurted out, watching in awe as she let him lift her up—something even I didn’t dare to try, and Chast barely ever did—and cuddled her like a baby. “She really likes you. Chast... He said she barely ever takes up to people besides him.”

“Well, the two of us have got history, haven’t we?” He baby-talked at her while touching her little nose with his.

History?

“I presume the old geezer didn’t tell you.” Gregory glanced at me with a smirk. “The two of us go way back. Lived in the same shitty town, and Chast once saved my ass when I was listenin’ in to something I shouldn’t have. Anyway, after the accident, he didn’t really know what to do with himself, so he joined the army, like he planned to before he started revolving his whole life around Lydy. She got them this kitten shortly beforehand, but he couldn’t let it go.”

Accident? His late wife. Right. He never told me anything about her...

“So he gave Kitty to me to watch over while he went on to be GI Joe all over. He’d visit her when he could, while I stayed behind and worked on buildin’ my business. Somehow, even though she spent most of her life with me, she still knows he’s her actual owner.” Chuckling, he tilted his head at the cat, and she meowed, finally asking to be let down.

When he let her go, she came to me, brushing over my calf lightly before running off to get more food.

“Worked out well in the end, don’t get me wrong. When he was done with contracting, we started workin’ together. Both had connections that could benefit each other’s needs. And well... he got his missy back.” Resting his hands on his hips, Gregory smiled at me.

“He never... really talked to me about this,” I said quietly. How much was Chast keeping from me? I knew I had no right to feel this way. I wasn’t entitled to hear about every single aspect of his life, but I was still somewhat hurt. I wanted to know everything. Wanted him to feel like he could tell me anything.

“Nothin’ too glorious about it. Chast doesn’t look particularly fondly on that part of his life, so don’t stress.”

Somehow, it calmed me down a bit.

Gregory seemed like a good person. A good friend. “I’ll stay here overnight with him. Just in case,” I said, changing the topic before more awkward silence could ensue.

“Make sure you get some sleep too, alright?” He said in a caring, brotherly tone.

“I will.”

Giving me a friendly tap on the shoulder before he went, Gregory left the apartment and I found myself standing in the middle of the living room in silence for a few minutes. Now that it was quiet and no one was around, the stress of it all fell on me. My arms became weak, and my eyes hung heavy, but I had to go to the bedroom to make sure Chast was still breathing.

Leaning at the door carefully, I watched him for a moment, taking it all in. The color in his face definitely looked better.

He’s okay. He’ll be okay.

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