“That sounded nice,” Cherie said with a heavy yawn. “I’ll nap now.”
Without another word or warning, she closed her eyes and went to sleep. I have never been able to sleep so quickly or soundly. I searched around the apartment a bit until I found her bedroom and grabbed a small blanket that was folded at the foot of the bed. I covered her up and went to the kitchen to do the dishes. I finished cleaning up from earlier and took the trash out. A few hours went by and it got closer to dinner time. I figured after the hard day that Cherie had I would make her some dinner before heading home. I went through her fridge, it was fairly unusual. The contents were mainly just eggs, cheeses, bread, some French bread, some salad with a bottle of French dressing. I cut up some of the French bread and attempted to place it on the plates as neatly as possible. I cut up some variety of cheeses and made a small bowl of salad and arranged it on the plate with some French dressing. This seemed fitting.
After setting the table, I went to the living room and I gently placed my hand upon Cherie’s shoulder. “If you’d like to get up, I’ve made some dinner.”
“I usually do the cooking,” she said sleepily.
“You seemed like you had a rough day, I hope you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind,” Cherie said as she got to her feet and stretched her arms out wide and let out a long yawn. As she reached the table she got excited. “This is a perfect meal.”
“I had a feeling you’d like it.”
After dinner I cleaned up and put the dishes away. Cherie spent the time staring out the window. I looked around the room, noticing that she had no television. It seemed like such a cruel thing. Only Amnesiacs were allowed to watch TV. It was decided that the outside world was too much for all the other types. They were allowed music, books, just nothing current, and no television. Then again, if they saw how their kind was being treated, it would not make them happy. However, it did seem unfair to deny them the truth.
“Do you need anything? I’ll be heading off for the night.”
“Will you be back tomorrow?”
“I’m scheduled for Thursday… I have another un… person to visit tomorrow,” I say, I pause before saying person, I start seeing that Unstable does seem rather harsh—even if it is the accepted term. Then I remember the caseworker stating that I should try and get Cherie out a bit more. “Would you like to come and visit with me?”
“I don’t… I don’t know.”
“I’m their Sitter as well. Only I knew this person growing up. I knew him for like eight years… all the way up into high school. He’s a good guy.”
“He’s like me?”
“Yes.”
“If I can’t do it can I come home?”
“Of course,” I say as I nod.
Cherie nods in response.
“Is that a yes?” I ask, not sure if she is nodding in agreement or nodding because I just nodded.
“I think so.”
“It’ll be good to get out and meet someone new, he’s a little odd at times but I think you will be perfectly fine.”
“You will be perfectly fine.”
“Right,” I said with a short little laugh. I thought the idea of repetition would be a little annoying, but the truth is that I find it slightly charming in a way.
“Right…” Cherie replies as she laughed.
“Well I’m off,” I say as I begin to head for the door. “I will see you in the morning.”
“See you in the morning,” Cherie says as she quickly wraps her arms around me and hugs me tightly.
“Thanks,” I say as she releases me. I feel extremely uncomfortable with the situation, but I allow it because I feel that it makes her more comfortable.
“Thanks…” Cherie whispers as I exit her apartment.
Back home, I kick of my running shoes and after a shower, I relax on my bed. I turn on the television just to see what is going on, I know to expect nothing good. The news, which is mostly what is on these days… has been that way for years, is talking about Texas seceding from the United States and enforcing a program where they either evict or kill all of their Unstables. They cite a loss of faith in the government and the C-Shapes program. Alaska is also considering a program and a new rogue group of Hunters is systematically killing any Unstables they come across. Hawaii has quarantined their Unstables to Maui, leaving the normal population to live on Oahu and the Big Island—a ferry now takes Sitters and other workers back and forth, but Unstables are no longer able to leave Maui. It seems that fear, and more incidents of Unstables going Aggro, is causing people to make more rash decisions. A C-Shapes spokeswoman appears on TV and attempts to assure the people that a cure will be found, that these things just take time. Whether or not people will listen is something that remains to be seen.
Content that I have seen enough depressing news for one day, I turn off the TV and turn on my city noise machine. I feel accomplished having completed my second day with my other case. I feel much more sympathetic than I thought I would. I went into this thinking it would be just another job—however, maybe to my downfall, it is turning into something more. I already feel like these people could be my friends… that Noah could be my friend once again. However, that’s something that is looked down upon both heavily by society and my employer. I cannot let myself care about these people on an emotional level. It will end up costing me everything in the end. Maybe even my life. Still, I cannot see these people as anything other than human. As accomplished as I feel. I start to worry that I might not be cut out for this after all.
4. Edible Stars
As we drive out of town I look over every now and then to make sure that Cherie is doing alright with the trip outside of the city. She appears to be okay, whenever I ask she simply nods and smiles. Like the day before, she is dressed for cooler weather, so I have the air conditioning on so high that I regret not bringing a jacket. She seems to be much better today with her anxiety. Hopefully it remains that way.
“You’re on time today,” Noah says as Cherie and I stand outside of his basement room.
“Did you take your pill today,” Cherie says jokingly as she places her arms at her side.
“See you brought another Sitter with you,” Noah adds as he looks confused. “Ready for my pill—just waiting for you to get here.”
“She is not a sitter,” I say as I enter the room as Cherie follows right behind me.
“Not a sitter…” Cherie repeats.
“Holy shit, she the Mirror?” Noah asks as he grabs a bottle of water from the ridiculously large stack. He pulls out the pill bottle from the drawer and shows it to me, and then he pops it into his mouth and downs the bottle.
“Yeah, she’s a… Mirror.” I say quietly. It is common courtesy to not refer to any of the Unstables by their classification. They say that it is best they don’t know. Only the Amnesiacs know themselves by class.