“Fine, as long as it's quick.” I conceded.
“I will make sure it is.” Blue led me outside, where Chip was waiting.
“She'll do it.” Blue patted Chip on his muscular arm, his demeanor changed.
“Thank you, Karine. Having you and your journey blessed will mean a great deal to many of us here.”
They looked good together, Blue Bell and Chip. I couldn’t imagine her with anyone else after seeing how he dotes on her. These things change over time according to my classes. The life cycle of a marriage is dependent on factors like compatible life paths and social status, love is found at the tiny top of marriage pyramid. The model might be turned upside down for Red life.
DARKNESS AND LIGHT
“All reports show the west slope access to the seabed removed, but I don't know if I have done the right thing. Do you think they will hurt Kar in retaliation?” Jason struggled to wrap a fresh dressing around his arm. Dredge shoved his view screen across the table and positioned himself to continue rolling the gauze up Jason's arm.
“I don't think so. It is impossible to predict, there are too many moving parts to this standoff, but no. I honestly don't think they will hurt Karine.” Dredge could see how thin Jason was becoming and pushed his plate of tea cookies closer to him.
“With pressure from the local militias to cut off Red access to the city wall, I think the targeted destruction was my only good option.” Jason picked up a sugar-dusted circle and inspected it before tossing it back on the plate.
A tall, thin woman entered the darkly appointed office, turned on the overhead lights, and collected the discarded clothing left on the couches and chairs.
“Will there be anything else tonight, Gentlemen? I can fetch you both some cake from the kitchen, or maybe you would like some bread and cheese.”
“No. Thank you, Clara. I'm not hungry,” Jason answered without looking up from his monitor. The images of the recent bombing run, taking his full attention.
“You have to eat something,” Clara stated.
Jason looked up, startled by Clara's tone. “Miss Clara, I can't eat.”
“You think Karine wants you dead? Well, do you?” she insisted.
“No, Ma'am. But I just don't feel like...”
“You don't feel like keeping yourself from looking like a beggar, running around in ragged, dirty clothes, trying to find something else to blow up. You won't eat. You won't wash. Running yourself into the ground won't bring her home any sooner,” she yelled.
Jason stood up and cleared everything off the desk in one swipe sending electronics and papers crashing to the floor. “I don't deserve to eat. I let them take her. I did this to her. She is gone because of me.”
Blood started to saturate the fresh bandages on Jason's arm, slowly pooling into flat circles of red. Clara dropped all that she had gathered from the room on the floor and moved to inspect Jason's arm.
“Just leave it, Miss Clara.”
“No,” Clara stated.
“I can wrap it myself,” Jason protested.
“No, you can't,” she demanded. “Sit still, or I'm going to make you. And since you haven't been eating or taking medicine, the doctor sent home with you. I won't have much trouble doing it.” She growled.
“Yes, Ma'am.” Jason reluctantly sat down on a tufted ottoman pressed against a substantial brown leather couch.
“After we are done here, you can clean up this mess while I get you a full plate. The cook made your favorite pasta for three days straight. We are all getting fairly sick of eating it.”
“Very well,” Jason conceded.
“This will pass—she will return—we will continue our lives with dignity and purpose. Mistakes are made every day. Choose to live and ask for her forgiveness, but do not ask the household that has cared for you since your birth to watch you deliberately harm yourself with neglect.” Clara gathered an arm full of clothes and broken dishes from the floor. “Get to it,” Clara motioned to the mess on the floor. “have a spot ready for a big plate when I return.”
Jason nodded in agreement with Clara as she left the room. Dredge, who had remained in his seat, was grinning and quietly laughing. “Don't cross the women who feed you, Son. There is a reason they have all been here so long. They run this big old house. We just live here.”
“Shit, I guess.” Jason began picking up the scattered items from the desk. “Damn it. I broke my viewer.” Jason picked up pieced of the broken computer from the floor and half-heartedly tried to press it back together.
Dredge patted his hand on Jason's shoulder. “She's right you know. This crisis will end, and then there will be something new, and then something else after that. It's the way of things unfortunately. You have to identify the lulls between the moments of chaos and learn to fully appreciate them.”
Jason leaned his good arm on the table and cradled his head in his hand. “I really do need a steam.”
“You may need two. I would eat and clean up before Clara gathers a group to come make you.” Dredge made his way out of the room and towards the bar where he poured himself a drink.
Dredge watched as Jason picked up the broken items from the floor and put them in a small trash can. Jason pulled a bottle of pills from his pocket and popped one in his mouth before wiping off a spot on the desk for his dinner. Clara arrived with a plate of pasta and meat sauce and a slice of chocolate cake. She took the trash from the room with her when she left.
“That girl better not make a liar out of me, she needs to come home soon,” Clara whispered as Dredge finished the last of
