Limes with Lipstick
I know you don't think I can hear you now,
but I'm listening, I'm listening
Chapter Six: Savior
In the end, the actor wasn't able to retrieve her heels, let alone the damn keys. He returned to the car with a rock in his hand. Their eyes locked and she could see that he had no success. The dark look on his face told her all she needed to know. It was why she decided to keep her mouth shut and allowed him to do whatever he felt was necessary. He brought the rock to the driver side window and smashed it into pieces with every flex of his arm.
He reached in and unlocked the door, collecting their things, including the first-aid kit from the glove compartment. She looked sickly, paler than she had been before he left. It could have been from the cold, since the temperature was beginning to drop considerably.
"Try calling someone while I get you bandaged up," He said, as he opened the box, and started to retrieve the peroxide and cotton swabs.
She stared back at the no signal logo on her phone and laughed, "It's like a bad horror movie."
"The tough guy is always the first to go." He looked at her seriously, "Maybe you should be worried."
"Ha. Ha. I can't get a signal."
He slid his hand over the back of her leg, holding it firmly, as he poured the peroxide over her wounds. She flinched at the pain, glaring hard at the amused expression he was wearing.
"Try my phone." Jared handed it over to her, before continuing with his process and placing band-aids down her legs. Each side seemed to have at least four cuts, some more severe than others. It was true that she wouldn't need stitches, but he hoped she was a fan of scars.
"No service."
"Maybe it is a horror movie," He teased, as he collected a dab of the Neosporin on one of the cotton swabs. "I need you to come closer to me."
"Any closer and I'll be in your lap." Any closer and she wouldn't feel very safe was what she had meant to say.
"Then I'll come closer." He leaned in and held the side of her face, keeping her from pulling away from the angle that he needed, so that he could work with what little light they had left. Blue eyes stared at her seriously, "Why must I keep you still?"
"Sorry."
He gently moved the swab along the cut beneath her eye, before placing a smaller band-aid there. "I know you don't trust me, but in situations like these, you might want to start."
She nodded numbly, realizing that perhaps she was being ridiculous. It wasn't like he was a predator. He hadn't even mentioned their kiss, let alone acted on it with another.
"We should start walking back. Best case scenario, we get a signal, and make our calls. Second best case scenario, we hitch a ride, even if I must persuade them sexually." He winked at her, letting her know that he was only joking, although she wouldn't put it past him. "Worst case scenario, we're forced to walk the entire way back to the venue."
He helped her to her feet and frowned at the limp she'd acquired with her first few steps. There was no sound of pain or any complaints, just a consistent, abnormal arch of her left foot to keep the weight off of it. With the sun still overhead, they had no other choice, than to make use of it.
Jared dropped down in front of her on one knee. His arms were extended out to her from behind his back, "I'll have to carry you if we're to make it there – anywhere, by nightfall."
"I'm fine with walking."
"I'm not fine." He shook his head at her. "You don't even release a breath when you're hurt. You don't say that you're in pain. You're that kind of person and it's fucking dangerous."
"I don't understand…" Truly, she didn't, even as she gave into the silence that followed and obeyed him. She knelt down and crossed her arms around his neck. He adjusted her when he stood up, shifting her slightly when his arms went beneath her legs.
Being piggybacked had come with an odd, weightless feeling. It was something she quite enjoyed. He walked with ease along the vacant and dusty road. Her job was to constantly look at their phones for signal.
"Were you in a horror movie?" She asked, because conversation was key at this point, she needed it, otherwise she would be paying too much attention to everything – her weight, his heart beat, the smell of his hair, how good it felt to be nestled onto his back like some alien ameba searching for its host. You know, the usual stuff.
"Uh, let's see." The beginning of his acting career was a blur, banished to the purposefully blinding section of his brain. "There was American Psycho."
"No thanks to awkward Christian Bale. Next."
"Urban Legends."
"With Tara Reid?"
"That would be the one, yes."
"It's been so long," she laughed, instinctively closing her hands into the front of his shirt. "I remember! You were the journalist."
"When you start off in the film industry, it's almost always in a horror movie. It had to be done. Apparently twice for me, but it's offensive how you don't know this already. You're my assistant."
"I know…it's pretty bad."
"Look at the sky," Jared said, as he stared ahead at the angry, gray clouds that had started to form. It was going to rain, no doubt.
"The clouds are telling you what they think of your acting choices."
He rolled his eyes and inched her further up, enjoying the feel of her against him. She was warm and it was mostly due to the fever she hadn't noticed yet. He wasn't quite sure about her reaction to being ill. Personally, he always felt sicker, than he actually was when someone would point it out to him. It was the last thing he needed to deal with.
"I always hated how fast the clouds would go by," she said, voice growing into a whisper. She was exhausted and hurting all over. "It used to make me dizzy."
A large droplet of rain landed against Jared's arm and he knew that the rain would come down heavy. To be honest, he hadn't paid much attention to their ride up. He couldn't remember seeing any stops or exits. Aside from that, he was unfamiliar with the area.
Thunder cracked loudly, but the girl didn't even jump in response. The rain fell on them and all they could hear was the incessant pattering on the asphalt. The stretch of road ahead of them was difficult for Jared to see and it was more dangerous, than he cared to acknowledge. It was a good thing storms like these didn't tend to last very long.
According to her, there was still no signal five minutes ago when she checked both phones. It was about a half a mile drenched from the unforgiving downpour that Jared could make out a sign in neon lighting. It read the word, 'BAR'. There was indeed civilization, their refuge, in a small pub to be exact, which probably pulled in a crowd consisting of highway dwellers.
He gently placed his assistant down onto her feet, but he didn't let her go, as he caught her by the arm. She leaned into him, not having the strength to do anything else. Her body was shaking hard from the chill of the rain and what she was slowly beginning to realize was a fever. All she wanted was a warm bath and bed. What that such a difficult thing to manage?
"Let me go in and make a call," She said, trying to be diplomatic about it. "If you get recognized, lord only knows what will happen."
"It's highly unlikely."
She looked at his bright green hair, "Believe me, you stand out."
"I meant that it's unlikely that I'll allow you to go in there alone."
"How can I put this in a way that you'll better understand? If this were a Disney movie, I would be Mulan. That's how competent I am."
"Mulan wasn't running a fever." He turned her so that she faced him, meeting the serious expression on his face.
"A fever isn't that serious."
He simply stared at her, watching her carry on without a lick of sense. In the midst of her sickly condition she'd at least dropped the 'sir' and 'Mr.', which Jared found to be quite relaxing, if not for how stubborn she was being.
The actor made sure that he walked on through the doors with his arm around her shoulders. The pungent smell of tobacco hit his lungs when he breathed in the thick air around them. There was music from a live band playing in an area that was sectioned off not too close to the tables where people were enjoying their food and conversation. Not that it did much.
He brought her to one of the tables and pulled out a chair for her. She sat down and covered her arms, unable to stop the chills wracking throughout her body. He took their phones and placed them down. At least he had his wallet on him and he'd be able to get them some food. He picked up the menu in search for something he could buy her. Usually his eyes would attack the vegan section.
Soups, soups, soups…
"How do you feel about soup?" He asked, eyes still skimming over the selection.
"I don't even want to think about food…"
"Start thinking about this chicken noodle."
Their phones jumped to life as the signal hit, waves of text messages, voice mails, and missed calls coming through.
"The moment we look is the moment we get sucked in," He warned, stopping her from reaching for her cell. "Eat something and then you can play."
She looked at him skeptically, "You're surprisingly good at this."
He remained silent, until the waitress walked up. "One vegan tomato soup and one chicken noodle, please."
The woman paused on her heel and bent slightly, "Oh, my lucky stars! You're that guy, right?"
"I'm that guy." Jared stared at her, his eyes hard to misplace once you've seen them in person. The too blue color tended to burn itself into their skulls. It was one of his more prominent features and he used it to stun every woman into silence.
"If it's not too much, could you take a picture with me?"
He stood up from his seat, excusing himself with a wry smile. There was a wall lined with photos of family and musicians. The girl wondered briefly if Jared's photo would end up there. She rested her head on the tops of her sore arms. With the ache of her fever, she could feel every other pain from her tumble.
Yet everything inside her fought to keep it together. Maybe it was from being in Jared's presence. Something wasn't allowing her to crumble.
When he returned to the table, it was with two club sodas. He placed hers down in front of her, "It's ginger ale."
"Okay, what gives, sir?" Oh, hell, it was back. "You're giving me whiplash. Are you an ass or are you… not an ass…"
Real eloquent.
He decided to answer the statement she'd made earlier, the one about him being seemingly good at what must have been taking care of someone. "I used to babysit this brat when I was younger. She was afraid of everything, including whenever she would get sick. It was the end of the world – not like it happened very often. Everything my mother did for me as a child had come out and I knew then that I had learned something useful without knowing it. "
When he saw the serious look she was fixing him, he'd burst into laughter, "It's the basics. Anyone with common sense can order soup and a ginger ale. It's nothing special."
It wasn't just the soup and the soda. He had treated her wounds and intended on carrying her to safety like some damn hero. The walk could have gone on for hours and it wouldn't have mattered to him. There was more to it, than just common sense. It was instinctual and admirable. And she'd watched him shrug it off his shoulders like it was nothing.
'I'll start to like you if you don't stop, you idiot', her mind cursed him, as she sipped the chilled soda.
After their soup arrived, Jared took the liberty of placing in their phone calls. He'd found their location on the front of the bar menu on the table. A driver would be picking them up shortly and someone else would be calling the local tow company with the details the actor had given them.
"I could have made the call."
"I bet you could have, however, due to your stuffiness, I doubt anyone would be able to understand much of what you're saying." He leaned in across the table, resting his chin on the bridge of his fingers. "You can put your sword and shield away, Mulan. Your country is safe now."
This guy…
"I feel like I keep losing to you."
"Then my advice would be to stay down."
'I'm sure you'd love that,' she thought, enjoying the moment for all it was worth. Too bad she felt like total crap and probably looked it, too.
Jared's phone went off when the driver called from outside the establishment. She slung her bag over her shoulder and grabbed onto his forearm when he offered it. The fever hadn't lessened and her legs trembled the longer she was on her feet. He helped her into the backseat of the car and slid in next to her.
"You could get sick."
It could cause a whole world of problems, yet he didn't budge.
"You were plastered onto my back for a long while. So, I'm pretty much a goner anyway." He patted his shoulder, gesturing for her to rest her head on him.
"I'm not tired," she said, bringing a hand up to stifle her yawn. It was absolutely ridiculous. He brought his hand up and guided her head towards him. She didn't have the strength to fight it, as she closed her eyes, and fell right to sleep.
What had she done wrong? Her small shoulders shook, as fresh tears drew lines down her face. She'd lost something and although the house was filled with noise, it was so incredibly empty. She knew that she was alone.
It had become clear to her that the boy was not coming back.
TBC
