Page 103 of Malachi
“I can’t really blame him. I would be a complete nut job if I were in his shoes,” Delilah admitted quietly.
“Is there anything we can do?” Ruth asked, taking Naomi’s hand in her own.
“For now, let’s just help each other get through these next few days. It’s almost over. Then I think we can start to heal,” Naomi admitted, tears welling up in her green eyes. It was obvious that, for all of her talk of not breaking, the situationwastaking a toll on her.
“We all will start to heal,” Ruth readily agreed. We all nodded agreement, and silence hung over the group for a long few moments.
“Okay, ladies, I think we need a change of subject,” Talia sighed heavily, breaking the gloom.
“Correction, wedeservea change of subject,” Delilah groaned.
“Hear, hear!” Naomi readily agreed.
“Since we all know that things are about to change in a big way, can we talk about some things we hope for in our new… let’s call itpost-Zionlife?” Ruth asked. I thought about the question. I, for one, had more questions than answers on that particular topic.
“Oh, this is a much better topic of discussion, not that talking about my husband’s issues isn’t also important. I’m just desperate for a change of scenery,” Naomi agreed heartily.
“Well, you’re about to get a big change of scenery after we leave this place,” Delilah teased.
“Have any of you all talked about where you’ll go?” Ruth asked.
“Sure, we’ve talked about it some. Mostly, Gideon just wants to get out onto the water. The plan had been to go out on the Ataraxia, though that was a dumb idea to begin with,” Naomi scoffed.
“How so?” I asked, curious why it was such a ludicrous idea.
“How the fuck do you think he was going to get that beast of a boat away from Zion?” Naomi gibed. “The original plan was for us to sneak off and away from this place. There’s no sneaking with a boat that big. Nevertheless, that’s the plan as far as I know it. Get out of here, find work somewhere on the coast and buy or build another one. He wants to be out on the open water.”
“That sounds incredible,” I said, imagining the scene she had depicted.
“Incredibly scary, if you ask me, but more power to you guys,” Delilah snarked.
“Well, then what are your plans, Delilah?” Naomi pushed back onto her.
“We don’t have anything super specific, not nailed down at least,” Delilah began. “Ollie has toyed around with the idea of working for the owners at Abditory, but after all of this mess, I feel like St. George is going to be just a little too close to home.”
“I feel that,” Naomi agreed quietly.
“Any idea where you’ll go, then? Or will Ollie not want to work for a dungeon at all somewhere else?” Ruth questioned.
“No, I think he’ll still want to,” Delilah answered after thinking about it for a moment. “Most likely we’ll throw a dart on a map and pick a place, join the local kink community, and take it from there. Seems the most plausible course of action, anyway. What about you guys, Ruth?”
“Honestly, we have a very similar plan. It’s less about where and more about what. Levi wants to get into business,” she answered easily. I thought about that question regarding Malachi — and had no idea how to answer.
“What does that even mean, though?Going into business,”Delilah pushed for more.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I think he wants to buy a business of some kind, or maybe even start one. He enjoys facts and figures,” Ruth shrugged.
“Ew, really?” Delilah scoffed, her face twisted up in disgust.
“You’re awfully opinionated today, Delilah,” Talia teased.
“What can I say? I have to keep it all in when I’m in Zion, so I just let it all loose here,” she shrugged.
“To answer your question, dear God, give the man a spreadsheet and I won’t see him for hours, Ruth chuckled.
“Leviwouldbe the sort of man to forget women existed when presented with a spreadsheet,” Delilah teased.
“Hey, now, that’s not what I meant,” Ruth giggled. “But to a point, yeah. He can be a little—well, he tends to compartmentalize.”
