Page 106 of Encounter

How arrogant is it to think I was worthy or important enough for him to do that? But with all the stripes on those legs, who knew how little or how much motivation he needed.Maybe he wasn’t that weak person I saw at the beginning. Maybe I was the weak, pathetic one, sitting here, unable to think about anything but Galen’s face the moment it clicked for him, of his teary eyes before he left. Maybe he was fine, playing his piano and goin’ out with his friends, while I was the creepy old man, hung up on him.

Fuck! I feel like fucking punching someone just to relieve this... this goddamn—

I didn’t even notice Gregory went into the kitchen. Now, he stood in front of me with a whiskey glass in his hand, holding my special, nearly-empty bottle, previously hidden at the back of the cupboard. Like it was a peace offering, I accepted it, mirroring his bittersweet smirk.

“I hate seein’ you like this. All... emotional and unsure. It’s fucking uncanny,” he said, letting his care and worry out with the typical dose of sarcasm.

Lifting the glass briefly, I looked down and swished the contents around. “Yeah, well...”

It wasn’t like me. Nothing about myself felt like it did for the past twenty years, ever since I encountered that damn kid. Only... in a good way.This whole time, I had been trying to convince and calm myself with how it meant nothing, even though I knew that wasn’t the case. I was protecting myself from having to really think about what was going on, what I was feeling, where it was going, and the implications of all that, by always keeping him at arm’s length in a way.

Like a fucking child...

“Doesn’t matter.” I sighed and drank the whiskey with one gulp. Rubbing my face, I resumed my previous position, staring at the floor between my legs. “He’s not takin’ my calls, and I don’t want to bother him anymore. I… worry is all.”

There was no good outcome for this situation. Never was, since the beginning.If I had told him about Lydy right away, he would’ve thought I was batshit crazy. In the grand scheme of things, maybe that would have been the best for him. Now I only made Galen hurt more than he already was. He expected me to not truly care for him this entire time—that was what his anxiety must’ve been tellin’ him. And I... being the fucking dumb-ass grunt I was, proved him right.

Even if hewasLydy, I would’ve never deserved him. Like I never deserved her.

“I wanted to check up on him only once, to make sure he’s alright, but I can’t risk runnin’ into his old man, and I can’t do nothin’ else besides... what? Waitin’ outside of his school like some damn stalker? No...” Shaking my head, I dug my fingers into my head and surrendered myself to the pity.

All these years in combat and facing death, and I still couldn’t get myself together.

Hearing sighs, I imagined the looks Gregory and Mia were giving each other. It didn’t take long for her hand to land on my shoulder, squeezing it.

“Maybe I can go check up on him. No one will look twice at a sweet-lookin’ pregnant woman. Shutting the door inthisface? Don’t think so,” she said, and before I even looked up, I could already see that cunning grin of hers in my mind.

Glancing at me, Gregory shrugged.

“Where have I heard that before? Oh... I remember you boastin’ about— What was it? ‘No one’ll look twice at a sweet-lookin’ fourteen year old girl crossin’ the border’? Was that when you were still with the cartel?”

“Didn’t get caught then, either,” she replied smugly and stood, stretching her back with a groan. “Now come on. I can check up on him, but I need an excuse. Think, or else this baby might pop out before you make up your mind, and then I’ll just be fat.”

Laughing, I shook my head in disbelief.These two... I could clear out a camp of soldiers at night by myself, but I still felt fucking useless without their help sometimes.

“Alright, ummm...” Looking around the room while tapping my finger on the empty glass, I searched for anything I could use. Galen spent so many days here in the past few months it almost felt like one of those relationship stages when you buy them a toothbrush for your place.

Hedidhave one...

Finally, between all my useless crap, my eyes landed on a book that didn’t fit the style. “Aha!” Jumping up so fast I nearly tore my stitches, I ignored the pain and jumped toward the TV unit, grabbing Galen’s economy book.

Like a fucking idiot, I stood in front of Mia with it in my hand, like handing it to her was going to magically fix everything.

“The hell do you think I’ll do, dumb-ass?” she said, poking me in the middle of the forehead. “I gotta pee. And I’m starving, too. Can you get something to eat?” She turned to Gregory with that ‘I’m asking only to be polite’ expression.

The poor man had become her personal chef and chauffeur in the past few months. Once they had the baby, I was going to have to start advertising my services in a goddamn newspaper if I wanted to get any jobs—Greg could act all tough and be a boss, but the second Mia would ask him to drop everything and move to an alpaca farm in Peru, I’d be left in the dust.

Probably would’ve been the same damn way with Lydy,

if things were different.

But they didn’t. She wasn’t here... Galen was.

“And you!” Mia snapped her attention back to me, making me blink. “You better grab a paper and write a heart-felt, sappy love letter, understood?! I can’t be counted on to memorizeanyspeeches right now.” Throwing her hands in the air while she aimed for the bathroom, Mia flashed me a quick, assuring smirk.

“You heard the lady,” Gregory quipped as he opened the door. “You remember how to write, right?”

Fucking bastard.“Go fetch us some food before I throw this glass at you!”

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