“I wasn’t… but now all of a sudden I am.”
“Want me to get you ready for your nap?” I say as I help her up from the chair. She seems rather unsteady on her feet.
“Take me to the bedroom please, Ethan.” She says as slowly lead the way.
“Do you want me to stay,” I ask as she sits down at the edge of her bed and looks at me groggily. “I can make diner.”
“I think I’m going to get plenty of sleep for tomorrow.”
“Alright, well then I will go if that’s what you want.”
“I can’t sleep in this,” Cherie says as she gets to her feet. “Turn around.”
I face the wall as I hear her rustling through her drawers. I can hear the faint sound of fabric against skin as she changes. For a moment I am strangely tempted to glance over. I know how wrong it is… Just even the thought of it can get me terminated. Acting on any kind of impulse can land me in jail… I need to face reality. There is no future here. This is, a woman, yes—but one who is may die soon. One who is going to kill me if I let my guard down and I have already let my guard down so easily. I feel like such a fool. Still, I cannot help but feel something. I bury it far away; after all, she is an Unstable.
“I’m ready,” She says as she crawls into bed. She has changed to a thin short red night gown. I find myself more attracted, but know that I have to keep my wits about me.
I help her cover up beneath three layers of blankets… after all, as I stated before, she likes to keep it cold. “I’m going to head out.”
“Sit with me until I fall asleep.”
I do as I am asked. I sit beside her. I rest my head against the wooden headboard. She places her hand in mine. I know I should reject it, but once again, I do not.
“You’ll be here in the morning?”
“I will,” I say. I feel guilty again. I know that tomorrow she will go to sleep and believe that she has flown to Paris, that her mind will force her to believe that she is there despite the fact that she will awake to the same apartment—the same city. The very thought of the cycle depresses me.
“Why do you look so sad?”
“Suppose it’s not everything you want it to be?”
“You’ll be there,” She says as she rises up from the bed and gently kisses me on the cheek. “I don’t think I need much more.”
As she collapses back into bed, I am left dumbstruck. I have allowed this to go way too far. I hate myself for it. “What if you don’t get to see the Eiffel Tower after all?”
“Don’t be so negative,” She says as she squeezes my hand.
Without another word she falls asleep. I want so much to wake her up and tell the truth—that I won’t be here tomorrow… that she won’t even be awake at all tomorrow; however, I feel that opportunity has long passed. I have done the wrong thing and it is far too late to make it right.
I slip my hand out of hers and head for the door. Sadly, I look down and see the suitcase by the door… her brown boots all set out. I look over the painting of the Eiffel Tower and think; if only there was some way I could make that dream come true for her… I would. Before V-Day, it could have been a possibility… in another life perhaps this could have worked out. A tear runs down from my face as I choke back a sadness that I’ve long held within myself. A lot of things aren’t they way they should be… I know that, and I can’t change it. As frustrated as it all makes me, in the end I cannot do anything about any of it.
I wipe away the tears upon my white button up dress shirt as I make my way to the car. I call up the office, Katharine answers after a few moments.
“Cherie out for the day already as well…?” Katharine asks.
“Yeah, she was real high energy then just crashed,” I say as I attempt to keep a steady and confident tone. I do not want her to know that I am upset in any way. “Is it always like this towards the end of the week?”
“It can be,” Katharine answers. “Sometimes they’ll make it all day. Most often though you’ll get an early jump on your time off.”
“Got it,” I say as I nod to myself.
“So tomorrow night, dinner at the Argent. It’s a nice place.”
“With Michelle,” I say with a short laugh. More like a forced one. “I’m excited. It has been a long time since I’ve been on a date.”
“You know you get a five percent pay increase if you marry inside of C-Shapes… just throwing that out there,” Katharine says with a catty attitude.
“I haven’t even met the girl yet—are you working on commission here?”
“I just enjoy my job. It goes up to ten percent for both of you if you have a child…”
“I’ll keep that in mind,” I say as I laugh.
“Have a good time tomorrow night, you’ve earned it.”
“Thanks, Katharine.”
“Bye, Ethan.”
I arrive home, feeling just as terrible as I did when I left Cherie. I know that I have screwed things up. However, this is how things have to be—this is like a repeating thing for her. A part of her has to be used to it by now… otherwise, she would have never made it this long with the other Sitters. I think the truth is more that, I am a terrible Sitter—despite what Cherie and Noah think of me. I look into the mirror. I shave my face completely smooth with an electric razor and give myself a once over. My hair is getting a bit long. Perhaps, soon, I should get it cut.
I go through my closet attempting to pick out the nicest outfit I have. I know nothing about the Argent… other than the fact that it has been programmed into my car. I have a good idea though that it must be pretty upscale. I pick out the nicest dress shoes I have and go for an all black ensemble with a grey undershirt. I’ve always been partial to the color grey… I’ve probably mentioned that before.
Going through clothes reminds me of Cherie’s excitement, which saddens me once more. I feel no excitement at all. I know I should. After all, she is a successful, pretty woman. Maybe once I get to know her I’ll feel differently.
I turn on the TV to see if there is anything relevant I should be aware of.
With the promise of a new pill next month, and a cure within the next year an uprising in New Mexico to terminate their Unstables has been quelled. Texas and Alaska still remain independent despite the talk of this new cure—their newly appointed leaders calling it just that… talk, and nothing more.
Fires have been started by rioting civilians in Los Angeles. The governor has declared a state of emergency. However, the government cannot spare them any help. Volunteer hunters are on the way as Sitters have abandoned their jobs to join in the outrage. With one of the largest populations of Unstables in the state, there is a lot of worry that neither this new pill nor new cure will come in time to stop Los Angeles from becoming the next war zone. As it stands now, the police are attempting to fight against the civilians, while rumors spread that Aggros are on the loose.
Japan is moving ahead on its plan to move Unstables to Sapporo. A short video clip shows them all being lined up to board a giant ship that will carry them the short distance.
Egypt, one of C-Shapes main supporters and customers, has proclaimed that if a cure is not made available in the promised timeframe, that they will start to kill their Unstables as well. It is rumored that their neighboring countries support this decision as well.
The islands of Fiji have declared that they have destroyed every single Unstable. A feat they are very proud of, although I do not feel they should be so proud. I wonder if they will feel any amount of remorse when the cure is made available.
I have seen enough for one day, at least enough to have something to talk about. I imagine that this is what Sitters talk about when they get together… the fate of their cases. Then again, I’ve never met another Sitter.