- "Oh you guys came! I'm so glad!" Jerry says in a cheerful happy tone.
- "Yeah. I convinced her to come" Zoe says as she goes into the other room, probably the kitchen. "I promised to make her dinner. Honey, what do you want to eat?" she asks Jerry.
- "Whatever our guest wants to eat!" he answers to Zoe and heads toward me. He offers to take my bag off but I say I'm fine. "Anything is fine Zoe!" I yell to the room where she is.
- "Come on, that's not an answer!... Oh my god how rude of me! I didn't even ask for your name!" She gasps as she comes out of the kitchen with a spatula.
- "Her name is Ema, honey! How rude of you to not ask her all this time!" he snaps a little at her.
- "It's fine! Really. We talked about other things on the way here." I say defending Zoe. "I would like to have some chicken please. You mentioned before that you have chicken "I ask her.
- "Well, of course we do!" Jerry answers, "Can you make some grilled chicken? I'll cook the rice" he suggests.
Everything about his demeanor is a little controlling. Maybe I'm being extra cautious because I know he hit Zoe but I have to act nice and thankful for her sake. Only for today though. I forgot keeping up an act is so draining since I never had to pretend when I'm on my own.
Jerry shows me his house and upstairs and downstairs. They use solar energy for electricity and ground water as a water source. They went sustainable even before the outbreak happened and for me, who lived in hiding for almost 2 years, this house was a paradise. This is the house Jerry grew up in. He had a bunch of family photos hanging on the walls. I haven't been to a house this comfortable in a very long time.
- "Dinner's ready!" Zoe yells from downstairs.
- "Oh how fast! Let's head downstairs" he says to me. He touches my back to guide me to the stairs.
And his hands stay there gently pushing me towards the stairs. I start to walk faster to dodge his touch and I succeed in running away when I reach the stairs. I just need to not be alone with him when I'm staying here! That'll solve most of the problem, I hope.
- "It smells so nice! Thank you Zoe" I say as I head towards the dining table. She had already set the table and I sat across from them. Zoe and I settle down first and she gestures to Jerry to sit beside her. But then Jerry takes his plate of food and puts it right next to me. I look at Zoe to see her reaction but she smiles gently and says nothing!
- "I'll sit here. Honey, can you pass me the salt please!" he asks Zoe.
And she just smiles and passes him the salt! I could tolerate some advances to me coz it's only for one night but this is straight out disrespect towards Zoe. If I was her I would leave his ass on the spot! I keep looking at Zoe, but she's acting like she doesn't care and just continues eating her food. "If she's not gonna do something I will" I think.
- "So, I heard you were 20 years old, Jerry. That's so young! Where did you used to study?" I ask mockingly. I want to make it clear that he's the youngest one here and don't you dare act cocky.
- "I had just graduated high school when the outbreak happened. I didn't plan on going to college anyway haha. What about you? What were you doing when it happened?" he asked me.
- "I graduated from art school and was working as an artist in Briem." I answer and stuff the food in my mouth so I don't have to talk further.
- "Oh my god! That is so impressive!" Zoe says.
- "I bet you draw very beautifully." Jerry says while looking at me. This guy!
- "Oh, enough about me! I want to hear about you two! Jerry, how did you manage to land this goddess?" I ask as I gesture to the tasty food.
- "Hahaha, well we met when we were at Crowell. There were a bunch of survivors gathered as a community and shared our resources with each other. Men protected and the women managed the community chores." Jerry answers.
- "I used to be the head chef. The community wanted to dine together. Almost 100 people! Everyday I was stuck in the kitchen without ever going out haha. Jerry used to bring me ingredients, that's how we met" Zoe says while smiling at Jerry. He reaches out his hands to hold Zoe's. She takes it and smiles at him warmly. And I'm sitting there feeling awkward in my stomach.
- "I used to watch her cook everyday. And just naturally fell for her" Jerry says while looking at Zoe.
- "Why did you guys leave Crowell?" I ask curiously. That gave them a pause. Zoe looks down, taking her hand back, and Jerry is silently looking at her. They must've realized how awkward they were being.
- "There were some people who tried to force themselves on Zoe. So we ran away together." Jerry was looking straight at my face while answering. There was some sort of forcefulness in his voice. I looked at Zoe to see her reaction when he said that. She was just silently eating her food.
- "Oh, how horrible! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?" I ask concerned.
- "I'm fine. Thank you. We ran away before the worst happened." Zoe says while shrugging it off.
- "Jerry saved me and brought me to his home. He was thinking of leaving that place anyway. And we've been living here for the last year." She's clearly leaving out so much detail. They're not telling me about what happened to the people who tried to hurt Zoe.
- "I'm sorry, I brought up a bad subject" I say. "Zoe! This food is the most delicious thing I ate in 2 years! I'm so glad you brought me here!" I say as I smile at her.
- "I'm glad too!" she says. I could really feel the warmth from her. I was almost finished with my food and the others were too. Jerry must've felt like he was being left out.
- "So anyway, we came here and continued farming the animals here. I took care of the "people" in the city. Zoe has been incredible at adapting here. And we are expecting soon, aren't we honey?" he says while staring at Zoe.
- "Oh my god! I didn't notice! Congratulations. This is a nice place to grow up. It's a very lucky baby if they're going to eat this kind of food everyday" I say jokingly to Zoe. They both laugh and the night ended in a cheerful tone.
After hearing about the baby I feel even disgusted with Jerry's acts. Hitting her, making her leave the house in the night alone. But after that talk he was being affectionate enough toward Zoe. Jerry guided me to my room. It was upstairs, right next to their bedroom. He showed me the way to the shower and told me I could use it. I'm shocked at the thought of getting a shower. It must've been over half a year since I last showered. I thank him for it. He looks happy that he impressed me with something.
- "I'm so glad you could come. Do you have anything you need from the city? I can bring it to you tomorrow!" he suggests.
- "Do you have a stationary shop in the city? I need some pencils and paint." I ask
- "Oh right! There is one! Right next to the city center. I can show you the way!" he says. I did not want to be with him alone.
- "Can Zoe come also? I have things to ask of her about recipes and stuff." No way I'll be alone with him.
- "Zoe might want to rest, but I'll ask her in the morning! I'll leave you to it then! Good night." and I say goodbye back to him.
I took a long hot shower. I tried not to think about anything unnecessary, and just enjoyed the shower. The happiest 10 minutes of my life! I put on the new clothes I took from the clothing store and start to settle in the bed. I turned off the lights to notice that my room door was open! When did it open? I'm sure Jerry closed it when he left. I take my knife from my belt and hide it under my pillow. There was something going on in this house, between those two. No matter how submissive you are, there's a limit to how someone can treat you. And as for Jerry, he's clearly just being an asshole. Does he even love her? Arghh, I will not think about it. It's their private matter! I don't want to be a part of it. I'll leave tomorrow anyway, so no need to worry. Just endure tonight and I'll regain my freedom!
As I was thinking that I heard a small moan right from the next room. God fucking damn it! It's gonna be a long night.