Disclaimer: I don't own it, don't kill me.
-------o(O)o------
"My name is Jessica," she told me as we sat down on the hard, metal chairs of a trendy nearby restaurant. I didn't feel in place - I had lost my deodorant and while I had some hand wash the only water I could find was either my potential drinking water or so dirty it wouldn't have made a difference. You'd think that civilisation had never hit my part of the country from the state of it all. She smiled at me, trying to put me at ease, while she ordered me some posh sounding meal. As she nodded her thanks to the smartly dressed waiter, she added, "but you can call me Jess."
I didn't reply. In fact, since I had taken her hand and followed her, I hadn't uttered a word. I had pulled a hair band off of my wrist and tugged my unruly hair into a messy ponytail, but that had been the extent of my actions.
"Not a talkative girly, are you?" she said, in my mind pointing out the obvious. I just stared at her. To my astonishment, she returned the eye contact with equal vigour and for the first time, I felt a strange bubble rise in my stomach. She was the first person to give me genuine eye contact for more than a second for the span of my homelessness, excluding the poor girl on the first night and that was most definitely not a nice look. She seemed to understand from my eyes that talking wasn't something to happen at that moment, and leaned back slightly.
The meal in front of me was there before I registered it, so lost in my complete lack of thoughts was I. It was a plate of ravioli, pale and pasty looking with crinkly edges and a thick red sauce. I didn't want to seem rude or too eager, so for a couple of seconds I just watched it vigilantly as if it would sprout legs and run away if I didn't and sipped the cold water in the slender glass.
"You can eat," she said, picking up her own fork in her highly cared for hands. I glanced at my own filthy, bitten nails and brushed them against my top in shame. She didn't notice. When I saw her take the first bite, I couldn't resist any more and dived into the meal as if it were lifesaving. The delicious taste reminded me of the heat, for some reason, and I warmed as I dug my way through it.
I finished before Jess, my stomach still growling. I busied myself with the bread in the basket on the table, mopping up the remainders of the sauce, until she smiled and handed me her own plate. "I'm not hungry anymore," she explained, and I ate without question. It tasted slightly odd, but I put that down to the fact I had burnt my tongue mildly at my first bite and continued.
My stomach lurched suddenly and without warning only seconds after finishing. My eyes widened and I clasped my fists against my stomach, which felt surprisingly similar to having someone sit on it. Jess looked at me in worry.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly, looking around the restaurant as if in embarrassment at the spectacle I was creating. I shook my head rapidly, and then had to slow the movement as if caused a strange heavy dizziness to my mind. She stood up, her chair scraping loudly. "Come on, I'll take you somewhere quieter."
"No," I whispered. She shrugged and started walking, pausing on the way to pay the bill. Before I knew what was happening, however, my feet began to follow her of their own accord.
-------o(O)o-------
She led me through the cold streets to a tiny ground floor flat about five minutes away from where she had found me. Somehow, from her appearance, I had expected something more, well, large but as I stepped inside I saw the true meaning of 'size doesn't matter'. It was the most amazing place I had ever to that point seen. The walls were black with a silver border at the top, bottom and middle; all the furniture were in varying shades of grey, white and silver; there was a flat screen computer in the corner with a picture of some famous celebrity as the wallpaper and the carpet was such a deep grey I could almost not distinguish it from the walls. And that was just the living room. She showed me into the bathroom, which was reversed; the walls were silver and the toilet and bathtub were jet black. The sink looked a bit out of place, as it was plain ivory white, and that was what she led me too.
"I think you might have food poisoning from that pasta. We should sue."
"Why?" I managed to ask, but she didn't reply.
With the aid of a refreshing glass of tap water, I dampened my dry throat. It took a couple of minutes, but they seemed to be fast working, as after ten minutes or so of drinking water and sitting on the loo with the toilet seat down while Jess waited, I was feeling wonderful - beyond wonderful. I grinned widely, and wondered vaguely why things were slightly clearer than before. My eyes drooped as my muscles relaxed.
"Do you want to sit down?" she asked me after a second of watching me. I looked at her, and my grin widened.
"Yes," I announced, my voice full of random certainty. She smiled, her lips curving upwards even further than before, and led me into the living room with her hand on my shoulder. I sat on one of the seats, it being amazingly comfortable as I seem to remember. I slumped in it, folding my legs beside me and crossing my arms loosely in front of my chest. She sat opposite me. "My name is Salla," I announced unexpectedly. She smiled.
"Well, Salla, I'm glad you're feeling better now."
Something in my mind, the only small part that still had sense, warned me that I there had been something in one of the items she had given me but I was far too happy and relaxed to care. Her smile was unwavering.
"We should get you all clean," she said suddenly. "How about you have a little wash?"
"Good idea, Captain Jessica!" I giggled. She sighed in amusement and shook her head.
------o(O)o------
In an hour or so, we both returned to the living room. I should have been creeped out that a woman had just stood and helped me in a shower, but in my current state I had convinced myself that she was doing it to be kind so that I wouldn't slip and break a bone, or spill blood over her amazing rooms. It made sense at the time, which questions the sanity I was partaking in at that moment.
I was wrapped in a really warm, fluffy and soft white dressing gown with a hood draped behind me. My hair was ruffled and tied into a ponytail to keep the wet strands from my face as I waited for it to dry naturally.
"Would you like to stay here for a while, Salla?" she asked eventually, after - to me at least - a comfortable silence. I was almost annoyed that she had disturbed it. "For a little while. Until you find somewhere else to sleep. I can sleep on the sofa, you can have my bed."
"Well if you really don't mind," I said, deciding that if I argued and left then I'd be a little bit of a state again. "I'll stay. But I'll sleep on the sofa if you like."
"No, nothing but the best for my guests."
"I insist."
"Me too."
"Fine! Fine. I'll have the bloody bed. Honestly, women!"
"…You're a woman."
"I'm a *young* woman," I beamed, and she grinned back. After extracting a bundle of quilt covers and pillows for her sofa home and a nightie with a huge love heart on the chest for me, she positively forced me from the room. "Goodnight!" I called, flopping on the soft, very fluffy bed with a satisfied grin. I didn't even bother getting under the covers.
-------o(O)o------
"My name is Jessica," she told me as we sat down on the hard, metal chairs of a trendy nearby restaurant. I didn't feel in place - I had lost my deodorant and while I had some hand wash the only water I could find was either my potential drinking water or so dirty it wouldn't have made a difference. You'd think that civilisation had never hit my part of the country from the state of it all. She smiled at me, trying to put me at ease, while she ordered me some posh sounding meal. As she nodded her thanks to the smartly dressed waiter, she added, "but you can call me Jess."
I didn't reply. In fact, since I had taken her hand and followed her, I hadn't uttered a word. I had pulled a hair band off of my wrist and tugged my unruly hair into a messy ponytail, but that had been the extent of my actions.
"Not a talkative girly, are you?" she said, in my mind pointing out the obvious. I just stared at her. To my astonishment, she returned the eye contact with equal vigour and for the first time, I felt a strange bubble rise in my stomach. She was the first person to give me genuine eye contact for more than a second for the span of my homelessness, excluding the poor girl on the first night and that was most definitely not a nice look. She seemed to understand from my eyes that talking wasn't something to happen at that moment, and leaned back slightly.
The meal in front of me was there before I registered it, so lost in my complete lack of thoughts was I. It was a plate of ravioli, pale and pasty looking with crinkly edges and a thick red sauce. I didn't want to seem rude or too eager, so for a couple of seconds I just watched it vigilantly as if it would sprout legs and run away if I didn't and sipped the cold water in the slender glass.
"You can eat," she said, picking up her own fork in her highly cared for hands. I glanced at my own filthy, bitten nails and brushed them against my top in shame. She didn't notice. When I saw her take the first bite, I couldn't resist any more and dived into the meal as if it were lifesaving. The delicious taste reminded me of the heat, for some reason, and I warmed as I dug my way through it.
I finished before Jess, my stomach still growling. I busied myself with the bread in the basket on the table, mopping up the remainders of the sauce, until she smiled and handed me her own plate. "I'm not hungry anymore," she explained, and I ate without question. It tasted slightly odd, but I put that down to the fact I had burnt my tongue mildly at my first bite and continued.
My stomach lurched suddenly and without warning only seconds after finishing. My eyes widened and I clasped my fists against my stomach, which felt surprisingly similar to having someone sit on it. Jess looked at me in worry.
"Are you alright?" she asked softly, looking around the restaurant as if in embarrassment at the spectacle I was creating. I shook my head rapidly, and then had to slow the movement as if caused a strange heavy dizziness to my mind. She stood up, her chair scraping loudly. "Come on, I'll take you somewhere quieter."
"No," I whispered. She shrugged and started walking, pausing on the way to pay the bill. Before I knew what was happening, however, my feet began to follow her of their own accord.
-------o(O)o-------
She led me through the cold streets to a tiny ground floor flat about five minutes away from where she had found me. Somehow, from her appearance, I had expected something more, well, large but as I stepped inside I saw the true meaning of 'size doesn't matter'. It was the most amazing place I had ever to that point seen. The walls were black with a silver border at the top, bottom and middle; all the furniture were in varying shades of grey, white and silver; there was a flat screen computer in the corner with a picture of some famous celebrity as the wallpaper and the carpet was such a deep grey I could almost not distinguish it from the walls. And that was just the living room. She showed me into the bathroom, which was reversed; the walls were silver and the toilet and bathtub were jet black. The sink looked a bit out of place, as it was plain ivory white, and that was what she led me too.
"I think you might have food poisoning from that pasta. We should sue."
"Why?" I managed to ask, but she didn't reply.
With the aid of a refreshing glass of tap water, I dampened my dry throat. It took a couple of minutes, but they seemed to be fast working, as after ten minutes or so of drinking water and sitting on the loo with the toilet seat down while Jess waited, I was feeling wonderful - beyond wonderful. I grinned widely, and wondered vaguely why things were slightly clearer than before. My eyes drooped as my muscles relaxed.
"Do you want to sit down?" she asked me after a second of watching me. I looked at her, and my grin widened.
"Yes," I announced, my voice full of random certainty. She smiled, her lips curving upwards even further than before, and led me into the living room with her hand on my shoulder. I sat on one of the seats, it being amazingly comfortable as I seem to remember. I slumped in it, folding my legs beside me and crossing my arms loosely in front of my chest. She sat opposite me. "My name is Salla," I announced unexpectedly. She smiled.
"Well, Salla, I'm glad you're feeling better now."
Something in my mind, the only small part that still had sense, warned me that I there had been something in one of the items she had given me but I was far too happy and relaxed to care. Her smile was unwavering.
"We should get you all clean," she said suddenly. "How about you have a little wash?"
"Good idea, Captain Jessica!" I giggled. She sighed in amusement and shook her head.
------o(O)o------
In an hour or so, we both returned to the living room. I should have been creeped out that a woman had just stood and helped me in a shower, but in my current state I had convinced myself that she was doing it to be kind so that I wouldn't slip and break a bone, or spill blood over her amazing rooms. It made sense at the time, which questions the sanity I was partaking in at that moment.
I was wrapped in a really warm, fluffy and soft white dressing gown with a hood draped behind me. My hair was ruffled and tied into a ponytail to keep the wet strands from my face as I waited for it to dry naturally.
"Would you like to stay here for a while, Salla?" she asked eventually, after - to me at least - a comfortable silence. I was almost annoyed that she had disturbed it. "For a little while. Until you find somewhere else to sleep. I can sleep on the sofa, you can have my bed."
"Well if you really don't mind," I said, deciding that if I argued and left then I'd be a little bit of a state again. "I'll stay. But I'll sleep on the sofa if you like."
"No, nothing but the best for my guests."
"I insist."
"Me too."
"Fine! Fine. I'll have the bloody bed. Honestly, women!"
"…You're a woman."
"I'm a *young* woman," I beamed, and she grinned back. After extracting a bundle of quilt covers and pillows for her sofa home and a nightie with a huge love heart on the chest for me, she positively forced me from the room. "Goodnight!" I called, flopping on the soft, very fluffy bed with a satisfied grin. I didn't even bother getting under the covers.