Disclaimer: I do not own any character of (The Last of Us) TLOU is owned by Naughty Dog and its creators.
A/N: Again Thanks to the people for reading this story, especially the ones that are leaving comments on it. I know that this story has nothing to do with the TLOU world since is a modern story about Joel and Ellie. But I love those characters so much that always like to make stories about them. Anyway lest continuing with the story.
Chapter 8: Connections
It has been 4 days since Joel accepted Ellie's offer to be her guide. Joel has been taking Ellie to a few famous places around the island, including some of the best places where she can eat local food. But today, Joel took her to the forest reservation. It was not as exciting as the other places, but there Ellie can see different kinds of animals and flora. They spent half of the day walking in the forest. Ellie took a lot of pictures there and was happy to see some of the beautiful plants and local animals. After they go out there, Joel told her that the next trip will be to the inside of a small park. It was like a recreation park for families with many activities to do there; including the use of a 4 track, horseback ride, and a few other thighs. After Joel tells her about the place, Ellie gets all excited about going there. But even though she was having fun and enjoying Joel's company, it was something that was still missing on her vacation. Ellie still had not found someone to teach her how to surf, and it was the most important thing she wanted to do on the island. She asked Joel a few times if he can help her to find someone that could teach her, but so far he just avoids the conversation every time she talks about it.
After they go out of the forest, Joel takes her to a small restaurant on the north part of the island close to the sea to eat. Ellie thought on the way there how to convince Joel to help her, since he has been living here for a long time, he has to know someone that can teach her how to surf. She wanted to ask him again, but she didn't want to ruin the nice day they had.
"Soooo… you know a lot of people here? I mean, if you've been living here for a long time and know a lot about this place," asked Ellie while taking a bite from her food.
Joel takes a sip of his beer and looks at her. "I know some, but I don't really a people person, so most of the time I pass the time alone if I'm not working."
"But you give tours to tourists, so you must talk to people… right? I know that that is part of your job, but you don't have friends to hang out with? I mean beside Rodrigo…"
Joel smiles at her. "Well, the tour guide job is just getting started, so I've not been doing that for too long. And the few people that I give them a tour with, just want to enjoy their trip and don't like to talk much… on the friends' part, I have a few, but we don't hang out much… at least not now."
"Really! So you just passed your free time at your house?" she said with a surprised tone.
"It doesn't matter… I like to live the way I do… Besides, you're the only one that wants to know things about me… and don't know why?"
"I know this is only business, but since we're spending a lot of time together I really like to know more about you. I don't like to talk about myself much, but these five days have been great and I really enjoy your company… so I just want to know you better."
"Well, there is not much to talk about me… I mean nothing interesting. I just have a regular life like a lot of people I guess."
"And you really want me to believe that? C'mon… Joel… everyone has done something in this life. You don't have to tell me anything private… you can tell me something about your life in Texas before you come here… I don't know your parents' names or if you have any girlfriends there… or a wife!... Is there a Miss Miller out there? Or any kids?"
Joel lowered his beer and reclined himself back on the chair. "I don't see how my personal life can be of any interest to you… like I said there is nothing interesting about it, so why did you want to know so desperately?"
Ellie was a little surprised by his answer. She didn't expect him to be this closed about it. "Sorry… I didn't want you to get mad about it… I apologize if my questions make you feel uncomfortable, that wasn't my intention. It's only… that… You know what, just pretend that I didn't ask anything." Ellie lowered her head and continued eating her food.
Joel looked at her and quickly felt bad for snapping at her like that. After all, the girl is helping to improve his job and he really enjoys her company. He thought that maybe he was enjoying that too much, he needed to remember that he is just a job. Joel waited for a few minutes before speaking again. "Look… I'm sorry… I didn't mean to sound like that…" He turned his head and looked at the beautiful view. "I just… There are a few things in my life that I'm not want to talk about…" Joel turns his head again and looks at her. "Can we just keep this… never mind." Joel grabs his beer again and drinks the rest of it.
Ellie grabs hers and takes a sip. "I'm sorry, I understand your point… is okay if you do not want to talk about things in your life… there are things on my that I don't want to talk about either… so is fine," said Ellie before drinking the rest of the beer. "I know this is just business, but really… like us to be friends… that is all."
Joel looked at her with surprised eyes. He was just her tour guide so why did she want to be a friend of him? "That is nice of you… I'm sorry, I'm just an old stupid man that for some reason no want to get too close to people… but it wasn't my intention to make you feel bad after you enjoy your day so much."
Ellie put the empty bottle on top of the table and looks at him. "I get you… and I don't think that you are that old…" She remembers that he has not told her his age and at least she likes to know that. "I don't want to sound so… but how old are you anyway?" she finally asked.
Joel put his empty beer on the table and laughed a little. "Ouch!... that was…" he stopped for a moment. "Okay… if you're going to ask me that the last thing you can do is invite me for another beer," he said smiling.
"Oh… you have a deal…" Ellie starts to look around looking for the waitress.
"Aloud me…" he said, looking toward the bar and whistling. Soon the man there looked toward his table and showed him his empty bottle and asked for two more.
Ellie looks at him and smiles. "That was interesting… Do you know the people that work here?"
"I came here some time… for the view of course."
"Yeah… I bet," she said looking at the waitress there. "I don't think that the waitress being in a bikini here has something to do." Ellie looks at him and doesn't know why she finds him so interesting and attractive, even if sometimes he acts like a jerk. After a few minutes, the waitress showed the two beers and put them on the table.
"Thank you…" Joel said while smiling at her.
Ellie watches how the woman smiles back at him and doesn't know how, she feels a little jealous. "Okay. now that my part of the deal is complete… is time for yours."
Joel grabs the beer and takes a sip from it. "Yeah… I'm 40… I know what you're going to say, but believe that is old." said Joel while taking another sip from his beer.
Ellie looked with a musing smile. "Are you kidding? 40 is not that old and you don't even look-" She stops before her mouth says something embarrassing. "Believe me… you're not that old… and I bet that you're still doing a lot of things."
Joel reclined again in his chair again. "Yeah… I do. I think that this place is the best thing that happened to me. Look at all the freedom I have here… I mean, I can drive around the island in just one day, I can go to any beach every time I want… I can even swim naked in some of them if I like… not admitting that I do that… of course. But what better life than this?" he said while extending his arm to the side. This is a paradise…what more can you ask for?"
"Well, that sounds good for a teenager… but you don't want to have a family to share all this with you?… I mean find a wife, have kids?" Ellie said while drinking from her beer. After a few minutes of silence. "Tell you what, I will buy a round any time we say something about us." Ellie drinks the rest of her beer and starts to look for the waitress. Soon one of them goes to their table and Ellie tells her to bring another round. "I can see that you have a good life here… but it makes me curious why you don't find anyone to share all this. I mean you're a handsome man…" her face started to turn red at the last comment.
Joel didn't say anything and waited for the waitress to bring the beers. Soon the woman came and put the beer on the table and he spoke again. "Gracias…" he told the waitress as he grabbed the beers and passed one to Ellie.
"De nada señor… si desean algo más favor avisarme." said the woman before walking away.
"Gracias… tal vez otra ronda después de esta… te dejo saber."
"A usted señor… puedo recoger los platos?" she asked.
"Si por favor…" Joel waits for the woman to take the plates and walk away, to speak again. "So what about you? You said that you're here on vacation… why did you pick this island?" Joel asked.
Ellie saw his chance in the conversation, but she can use this to get more about him. "As I told you before, I was looking for a place with good beaches and saw these islands on the internet and thought it would be cool to go there and try," she took her bottle to her mouth and drank. "I mean… there's a lot of beaches here so I thought that I could find someone to teach me how to surf… sadly I haven't found anybody yet. But thanks to you, I really enjoy the other places we can see here," said Ellie taking another sip of her beer.
"Glad to hear that," said Joel while taking a sip of his beer. "What about yourself? Do you have any family? I mean are your parents still around? You never talk about them, just about your college in Arizona."
"Well, I can tell you a little about me, but I need to know more about you… that is fair no do you think?" she said while looking at him and drinking her beer.
"Yeah… I think it is fair enough… besides you're the one paying for the beers. I don't think that I ever have had a conversation like this with a client before, so this is a little strange for me."
"I don't mind talking about a few things about myself and I don't want to see you just as a guide, but also a friend, that is if you… well, that is if you want to."
"You want to be my friend? Why? You're only going to be here for a few weeks and never see me again."
"Well, that is true on some part… I mean yeah I have to go back to college after this vacation, but we can still be in contact, you know, to talk or something… You already have my phone number so… what do you think? I really would like to know more about you and your paradise life here."
Joel drinks the rest of his beer and put the empty bottle on the table. "That is a nice offer, but I don't know why you want to talk with an old man like me… you will be bored after a few calls."
Ellie drinks the rest of her beer too and put the empty bottle on the table beside Joel's. "You should not sell yourself so low… I think you're an interesting man. I don't have too many friends in college and the ones I had at home when I was little moved on with their lives, so I do not have much contact with them." Ellie leaned forward and put her hand on the table. "I don't want to sound desperate here, but I can use a friendship like yours… we can be like pen pals," she said with a smile.
"Pen pals?" Joel asked not knowing what that meant.
"Yeah… pen pals… like when you have a distant friend and write to him all the time. In our case, we can text each other or call from time to time, you know, things like that."
Joel laughed a little. "You said all that like you thought about it for a long time, but we only know each other for a few days." Joel leaned forward too. "Believe me, you do not want to be friends with me… you will be disappointed."
"I don't see why… besides I still have two more weeks left here and who knows… a lot of things can happen in that time." She moved back and smiled at him. "Just think about it, it could be fun."
Joel leans back on the chair and looks at her. "You really thought about this?" He looks at her face, looking for any sign that all that she said is some kind of a joke, but he can see that the girl was serious. Why did a young girl like her want to be friends with him? That does not make any sense. Then at that moment, he hears Rodrigo's comment in his head. I think she likes you… you should go for it man and try to get your life back. He thought that the old man was just messing with him, but listening to Ellie he was not so sure now. "Well, I don't think that will work… I don't even have a cell phone for all that… anyway," he said with a smile on his face.
At that moment the waitress walked toward the table and put two bottles of beer on it and picked up the empty ones. "Aquí tiene, si necesitan algo más me avisan."
"Gracias… puedes traer la cuenta en 10 minutos?" asked Joel while looking at her.
"Seguro…" said the woman before walking away.
Ellie grabs her beer and looks at Joel. "Hey, maybe you can teach me some Spanish… that will be helpful to me in my Spanish class when I get back to college."
"I don't think you can learn much in two weeks," said Joel while drinking his beer.
"You can be surprised what I can learn in that time… I'm a fast learner." she smiled at him, before drinking up her beer too. Besides you need to tell me more about you besides your age, that was the deal remember?"
"Yeah… but we can leave that for another time… we have to go."
After they finish the last beer, Joel takes Ellie back to her hotel. They talk a little more on the way back, about some other places Joel wants to take her after Adventure Park.
Soon Joel arrives at the front of the hotel, he parks his jeep in front of it. "Okay… Here you are safe and sound." he looks at his watch to see the time. "Okay, I will pick you up tomorrow before noon. "The place is closer to here, so it will not take long to get there."
"That sounds great…" She was going to open the door but stopped and looked at him. "Look… I know that you told me that you don't know anybody here that teaches surfing, but I really like to try that. That is the main reason I came here, so if you know someone that can help me… I really appreciate it."
Joel stays quiet for a few minutes, then looks at her. "I don't know why you want to learn that… I'm not against women surfing, it is a dangerous sport… and I don't think it is for you."
"Yeah… everyone continues telling me that, but I saw a lot of women competing in that sport and they are great. I just want to do it for fun, not to be a professional… Why can men understand that?" Ellie opens the door and gets out of the jeep and closes the door. "So if you can help me with that… I will be really grateful."
"Okay… I see what I can do, but no promises. As I said before, most of the people that come here to surf don't like women in that sport… especially the locals."
"Well, don't you think it's time to change that? Anyway… thanks for today's trip. See you tomorrow then," Ellie moved away from the jeep and watched Joel drive off after he said goodbye. She doesn't know why Joel always tenses up every time she talks about that. She knows that he means well, but why is he so against it? Well, that is something she needs to find out too, but for now, a good shower and bed will be nice.
Joel was going to drive home but decided to go visit Rodrigo instead. So he went to the closest store to buy a six-pack of beers. After leaving the store, Joel drove to Rodrigo's house which was close to the port town. It was already dark when he arrived at his house. So he parked his jeep in the front part and got out. Joel walks to the front door and knocks a few times.
"Hey… Rodrigo… soy yo… Joel… estás en casa?" Joel waits for a few minutes, then knocks again. "Hey… estás Aqui?" Joel yells again.
"Estoy en la parte de atrás." the man yells from behind the house. So Joel grabs the pack of beers and walks to the other side of the house.
Soon he got to the back of the house and saw the old man working on his boat tied up on his private pier. It was dark, but the old man had some poles with lights installed on the back of the house and the pier that illuminated a great part of the area.
"What happened to the boat?" asked Joel as soon he got closer to the pier.
"El motor… está fallando otra vez… my friend… but I don't think it is something bad," he said from inside the boat.
"No crees que es hora de conseguir uno nuevo?" Joel asked.
¿Sabes lo que costaría uno nuevo? Además este bebe solo necesita unos ajustes y quedara como nuevo." He said while moving out from the engine hole and standing up. "Los motores hoy día no los hacen como antes…" he said while sitting on the edge of the hole. "¿Qué haces aquí? No tienes turno en el bar esta noche?"
"No… hoy estoy libre… besides that Matt's partner is there tonight," he said while grabbing a beer and passing it to him. "Here… my friend."
The old man grabbed it and quickly took a sip from it. "¿Qué favor necesitas ahora?" he asked while taking another drink.
"No vine por un favores esta vez… solo quería pasar un rato con un amigo y beber un poco…" he went into the boat and put the pack of beer on the deck. He opens the one in his hand and takes a sip while passing around.
"Does something bother you?" the man salad with a worried tone. "Ha pasado mucho desde la última vez que viniste aquí y trajiste cervezas." said the old man while taking another sip on his beer. He looked at Joel with curious eyes. "How are things going out with your… beautiful girl?" he said with a smile. "I mean… Did you two have sex already?"
Joel spits the beer in his mouth and looked at him. "What!... are you fucking kidding me?"
"What? Is it going to be good to have another girl around here?" he said with a smile. "Besides, I think she is good for you… you don't see the connection?"
"There is no connection… She is just a client, nothing more…"
"Well, I saw the way she looked at you when you took her on the dive trip… Yo si puedo ver que hay algo más hay… So why don't you go for it, man…"
"I don't know what you're talking about… Besides she is only-"
"A young woman…" he finished for him. "So you don't have to think too much about that. Ella es una mujer adulta capaz de tomar sus propias decisiones."
"¿Puedes hablar en un solo idioma? Hablar en dos idiomas diferentes a la misma vez es algo irritante."
"Ha, ha, ha… mira quién habla… tú lo haces todo el tiempo… Además, necesito practicar." he said while finishing his beer and grab a new one.
"Como digas… de todas maneras ella tiene 21… yo 40. ¿Crees que eso podría funcionar?" Joel starts pasing around again while drinking his beer.
"La edad es solo un número… si en realidad hay una conexión entre dos personas, eso en realidad no importa."
"Como te dije antes, no hay nada entre nosotros… Solo soy un guia turistico y nada más." Joel drinks the rest of his beer and grabs a new one. De todas manera sus vacaciones terminaron y ella volverá a casa…"
The old man looked at him with curious eyes. "Well, that can work too… I mean you two can have sex without any attachment and when she goes back home you can get back to your boring and stupid life.
"Do you listen to yourself? She is not like that and I am not going to take the advantage of a 21-year-old girl," says Joel as soon he stops moving around and looks at the old man.
The old man rolls his eyes. "Yo no le veo nada de malo… esa chica es adulta y si ella quiere tener algo contigo… eso no debe preocuparte," he say while finishing his beer.
Joel finished his and grabbed another one and opened it. "Well… I'm not going to go that way…" he drank from his beer. "Maybe it is better to stop this guide job with her as soon as I can… she is asking a lot of questions about me… and making me remember things I don't want to remember."
"Are you talking about Tommy?" The man stood up and walked close to him. "You need to stop with all that crap… His death wasn't your fault… I think that you are punishing yourself too much for that." he put one hand on his shoulder. "You have a good life… and a lot of friends and now look at you, stuck here with no future just because of that. You even lose Tess on that… so you need to stop torturing yourself and get on with your life."
Joel shakes his hand and moves away from him. "That is easy for you to say… but you're not one that sees his face every time you close your eyes… Fuck!" Joel furiously throws the beer battle toward the pier and it breaks as soon it hits the wood. "He was just 19 and I was responsible for him…"
The old man walked toward him again. "Yes he was young… but he was the one that came here looking for you to help him with his surfing ambition. You did all you can to help him… and sorry Joel, but he was not your responsibility. Tommy makes his own decision… and even if they were not the right one, what happened wasn't your fault."
Joel sat on the edge of the boat and put his hands on his head. "He was like a younger brother to me…" he said sadly. "Yo… debí tratar más para disuadirlo… de no ir."
The old man sat beside him. "Tu hiciste todo lo que pudiste amigo mío… y culparte por lo que pasó por el resto de tu vida no va a cambiar nada." said the old man before taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry my friend… but you need to stop punishing yourself and push everyone away as you did with Tess… She really loves you, but she could not handle your situation." The man put one hand on his shoulder. "But you still have time to fix your life and find someone to share it with." The man moved his hand on Joel's back and moved it slowly as he tried to make him feel better as he heard sniffing. "Todo va a estar bien… mi amigo… todo estará bien."
Joel lowered his head and put his hand on his face as some tears went out from his eyes. "I don't know if I can… do that," said Joel with a sad tone.
"Yes… you can, my friend… just open yourself up… and your heart… and you will get your life back on track," he said while looking toward the ocean and watching some light in the distance. "I know it is hard… Pero siempre hay una luz al final del túnel… solo tienes que seguir avanzando… y encontrar la felicidad que mereces."
xXx
Back in Ellie's hotel room, she was walking out of her bathroom with only a towel covering her body and another one on her head as she moved it to dry her hair. She already calls her mom as soon as Joel lets her in front of the hotel and she gets inside the room. They talk for one hour before Ellie hangs up the call and prepares herself to take a long shower. Now that she got all that done, she was planning to get into bed and relax a little and watch some TV. Ellie sat on the edge of the bed to finish drying her hair and put on her sleeping t-shirt.
After a few minutes, she put the wet towel from her head on top of the side table and got up from the bed to get her sleeping t-shirt from the room drawer. After putting it on, Ellie walks back to the bathroom and puts the wet towels there, and brushes her teeth. After she finished in the bathroom, Ellie walked back to the bed and lay there. She grabs her phone and opens the pictures file and starts looking at them. She has a lot of photos of the places Joel has taken her already and they were really beautiful. Ellie continued watching the picture until she got one that was Joel on it. It was one she took to the forest reserve when they were crossing a river on a wooden bridge. She took a few more of him when he was not looking and pretended to be taking a picture of her surrender.
Ellie starts to check the other pictures of him and finds one that she takes in the boat when they go diving. She smiled while looking at the picture. She doesn't know why she feels so attracted to him even if he is older than her and doesn't know much about him. After a few minutes on that picture, Ellie starts to look at others she takes when the phone starts to ring. She quickly thought about Joel but got a little disappointed as soon as she saw her friend's name on the screen. But even so, she was happy to talk with her college friend.
"Hey… Andrea, I'm so glad that you're calling," she said as soon as she picked up the call.
"Oh… so glad to hear your voice too," answered her friend. "How is your vacation going?" asked Riley.
"Great… too bad you could not come here with me… this place is incredible," said Ellie while sitting on the edge of the bed.
"Yeah me too, but you know that I have to go to my girlfriend's house to meet her parents. Maybe we can have a vacation together next time…" said Riley.
"Yeah… I know… how does all that work out?" she asked with a more serious tone. "I hope everything goes well… I really like Syntia… She is so good to you. "
"Yeah… me too. Well, I think that all goes well… even though her father didn't know that she has a girlfriend… but her mother and sister were so happy to meet me… so everything is good."
"Well, those are great news… I'm so happy for you… so you will stay there all summer?"
"I don't know yet… but the state is close to Las Vegas so we probably spend a weekend, but enough of me… how is your vacation going? Find any sexy boy surfer that could conquest your heart?" She said the last part in a mocking way.
Ellie rolled her eyes. "I didn't come here for that… you know that."
"Yeah… I know, but it can't hurt to find someone there to pass the time with… I mean you know… have a real adventure."
Ellie waits a minute before answering her. "I don't know what you are talking about… I just come here on vacation to learn how to surf… I'm not come here looking for any romance," she said before the image of Joel passed into her mind.
Her friend started to laugh. "I not was talking about that… I mean that will be cool knowing you, but I was talking about sex…girl," she said with a giggle. "I bet that there are a lot of sexy boys all muscular and handsome… that can give you a good time… is not bad to enjoy a little sex."
"What! Do you think that I will just go and ask some men to have sex with me?…" she with her face turning all red.
"Why not… I don't see how a man can resist an invitation like that." she giggles again. Anyway, did you find a good surfer to teach you?" her friend asked her to change the subject.
"Well now that you mention that… I have been having trouble with that… There are a lot of men here that don't like women in this sport… so I haven't found anyone willing to teach me yet."
"What!... What a bunch of assholes… they don't know that there are a lot of professional women that surf around the word?"
"Yeah… that is what I said… but don't worry I have not lost hope yet… I know that I will find someone here to teach me."
"Well, I hope you find one before your vacation ends, but I'm glad that you're having fun there."
"I'm… I found a guide that showed me a lot of beautiful places here," she said happily, but regret it as soon as she mention the guide.
"Ohhhhh… so you have been hanging around with a man… is he handsome?"
"I didn't say that he was a man…"
"Ahhhh… but you did now… so that mean that you wanted to keep it secret… did you already have sex with him?"
"What! No!... I said that he is just a tour guide… so stop saying things like that. As I told you I didn't come here for that."
"Well, you should since you don't like any of the boys here… So find someone to have adventures with and have sex with him. I want you to enjoy your time there and forget the rest… at least for a while. So enjoy the beaches and have a lot of fun… you deserve that girl."
"Don't worry I will try to enjoy this trip, but my main goal is to learn how to surf. That is one of the things that I have on my to-do list… I promise to do all those things to my dad before he dies." she said with a sad tone at the end.
"I know that girl… and I know you're doing a lot of things because of that… but I'm sure that the most thing your dad wanted was you to be happy. So find someone to share life with… I'm not telling you to find it there, but if the opportunity shows… go for it. I want you to be happy and I'm sure you're dad too."
Ellie waits for a minute before talking again. "I am not sure yet of what I want to do in my life… I mean in a romantic way, but I'm not closing myself to that," she said with a serious tone.
"Okay… I need to go now… and you know that you can talk to me about everything… okay? I am here for you. And talk to your mom too, she loves you no matter what you think of her."
"Thanks for calling, I know you're busy over there… so I will call as soon as I can and let you know how things are here."
"Just enjoy your vacation… and for the love of God… have sex with someone there…I want to hear all the detail of that later… have a good night Ellie."
"Good night Riley… and said hello to Syntia for me," her friend hung up and Ellie put the phone on the side of the bed and looked at the ceiling. I know you want the best for me Dad and I promise that I will find my happiness with time. But right now I want to do the things we suppose to do together before you die. Said Ellie in a lower voice before moving to the side and putting the phone on the night table to charge. then turn off the light so she can go to sleep. Ellie moves to her side and grabs the sheet to cover herself with it.
Ellie closes her eyes, but before she falls asleep. She starts to think about the adventure trip she will have with Joel tomorrow. So a smile formed on her lips as she thought about the day she will have and how much she want to enjoy it.