Page 9 of Micro
He was moving around more now, which presented new problems, and twice I’d had to head him off as he moved carefully around my farm, so that he didn’t find the one thing I was trying to hide. Today though, my luck ran out, because as I let myself out of my clean room, and pushed the door closed, I turned around to come face to face with him.
“Whatcha hiding in there, Soph? Looks interesting…”Shit. I shrugged, and tried to steer him away from the building, but he’d planted his feet and, since he was bigger than me, I had no chance of redirecting him.
“Just storage, Lowell, shall we go and have some lunch?”
“You see, I’ve watched you go in and out of there, and I’ve had a nose around, and it’s impossible to see in there, but you know what? I cansmellit. You think it’s airtight, but it’s not. There’s a weak spot in your little cavern of fucking secrets here. So I’ll ask again, but let me word it better. Whatchacookingin there?” My stomach tightened, and I squeezed my eyes closed for a moment. Why did he have to insist on snooping around? He’d judge me for it, and he should.
“Lowell, it’s not-”
“What it looks like? My business? I have to tell ya, darlin’, I think it’s exactly what it looks like, and smells like, and that makes it my business. Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? You’re selling to the Rogues? You think they won’t turn on you the first chance they get?”
Oh god. I wobbled slightly on my feet, and he caught my arm, frowning with concern.
“Soph?”
If he’d been anyone else, I’d have been able to blag this, to play it off as something else, but he was smarter than I’d realised, and with very little information, he’d pretty much guessed everything, hadn’t he?
“Can we sit inside to talk? I’ll tell you, but I haven’t eaten today yet and my blood sugar is low.”
“Jesus, you’re diabetic?”
I rolled my eyes at him. “No, but I don’t really take in as many calories as I should, and sometimes I just run out of fuel.”
Lowell tucked his arm through mine and started leading me back to the house, like I needed to be physically helped back there. I allowed myself to enjoy the warmth of his large body next to mine, and the strength that had gradually returned to his body. He’d even started using the weights in my makeshift ‘gym’ to start building up again.
“Sit down, Soph, let me get you a nice cuppa.” He moved easily around my kitchen, making tea, and rummaging in the fridge for something to cook.
“I can do it,” I said, standing up to prove my point, even though, honestly, I felt like I needed the break he was offering.
“Oh yeah, love, you’re quite the cook, but let’s just leave it to me for now. I’m pretty sure I’ve got this under control.” He lifted eggs and bacon out of the fridge, then returned for butter, and some mushrooms. He clearly was ‘quite the cook’ himself, even if the meaning was completely different, and whipped up a perfectly tasty fried lunch for us, with toast and tea, and we ate in quiet comfort until our plates were empty, and my hands finally stopped trembling. I knew I rarely ate enough to keep my body going, and sometimes I would experience literal crashes like this, where my body would be shaking, and I’d be weak or faint. To be told to eat more regularly really wasn’t helpful, but it was sadly true.
“Okay, Soph, get talking. I’m not sure what to quiz you on first, your drug cooking situation, or the fact that you were fucking shaking with hunger. I’ve never seen you like that before. Huh, guess I’m starting with that.”
I sipped my tea. “I get carried away doing stuff, and I forget to eat, that’s all. I’ve been busy lately, and it caught up with me.”
“To that extent? Why? You can’t just eat before you go out there?”
“I don’t like eating breakfast. It’s too early for my stomach,” I said quietly, and he laughed, one short bark of laughter.
“And yet you’ve been shoving breakfast down my throat every day. I just assumed you were an early riser, and ate before me. Woman, seriously. I can’t have you getting weak with hunger, especially if you insist on cooking for me.” It felt nice to have someone care about that, like my health mattered to them, instead of what I could do for them, but was it real? He was just here because I’d brought him here, and sooner or later, he’d leave me, wouldn’t he? Could I find a way to prolong his stay? A flashback to the movie ‘Misery’ crossed my mind, and I grimaced, no, not like that.
“Sophie, talk to me. I’m not trying to dictate to you, but I care. Can you just accept that?”
“From the man who says he’s not a good guy, and I shouldn’t see him as one?”
Lowell’s face dropped and he sighed. “Yeah, fair point. Still, I won’t eat breakfast anymore if you don’t eat it with me, how’s that?” A tiny grin appeared on his face, and I found myself smiling back.
“That’s fair. Okay, so you want to know about the other ‘cooking’ I do.” He nodded, getting up to make more tea for us, and I had to admit I really enjoyed this little domestic situation we had going on. He fit well in my home, didn’t he?
“Are you doing it safely?” He asked suddenly, turning his back on the kettle to reach for our plates. I got up to help him, and he watched me with concern before he allowed me to help.
“Of course. It’s not something I set out to do, you know. I… I’m good with the sciences, and the wrong people knew that. Eventually it was easier to give them what they want, so I could get them off my back.”
“So you’re being forced into making shit for the Rogues?”
Micro
Ifeltprotectiveofthis woman, and it had a lot to do with the fact that she was clearly in deeper than she realised with those fuckers, but it also had a lot to do with how much I cared about her. She was sweet, and caring, and so much prettier than she realised. She did her best to hide it, covering up in bulky casual clothes, and wearing her blue and purple hair tied back, to keep it out of her face. Yeah, I had no idea what her natural hair colour was, but the bright colours suited her, as did the stud and ring in her nose, and the one below her lip. She had her own style, and I couldn’t imagine her without these things to accentuate her beauty.
