"Thank you for showing me around town." I said, attempting to twist my face into a what I hoped looked like a smile. He's going to get you. Come after you. He's luring you into a trap. The voices tell me, as I begin tapping my thigh with my index finger, hoping to sooth the anxiety. Sooth the voices. Bad. Stupid.
"No problem... Let me take you out to lunch; we've had a long day."
"I... I have to go... The movers, they-" He can tell you're lying. He knows.
"Oh... Well, do you want to call them? You can use my cell phone."
"Okay." I said, taking it. He might be using it to track you. Track you. Hunt you down. Run! Hide. I stared at the phone, unsure of what number to dial; there was no moving company. He's looking at you. He sees you, indecisive. I dialed the first one eight hundred number I could think of; the one I had memorized by heart, the last phone call I had made before running. Before hitch hiking to here. Let's hope he wasn't tracking me, wasn't in cahoots with them.
"Pittsburgh Support Line how-"
"Yes, can you postpone the delivery? Yes, I, Sylvia Griffin. From Phoenix. Yes, Arizona."
"Pardon, madame, are you alright?"
"You lost it! In shipping? All my belongings, all my clothes, my memories. Replace? You can't replace sentimental things, the photos, my high school yearbook, my mother's wedding veil!" I began rambling off every nonexistent item I could thing of, angry words spouting from my mouth. I didn't have any possessions being shipped here from Phoenix, or anywhere else in the country, or world, for that matter; this was the best excuse I could think of. The voices complimented me on my quick thinking, as the support line lady spoke in a hushed tone, attempting to calm me down.
"Is everything okay?" He mouthed, concern filling his face.
"No." I mouthed back, shaking my head, to the lady I simply said: "Well, I don't give a damn if I signed it. Why, I- No! Ugh, don't you- Bye." Acting defeated, I couldn't remember what that emotion felt like, now knowing if people still felt it, I hung up, deleting all recent calls so he couldn't call them back, handing him back the phone.
"Did the company lose your possessions?"
"Yes and they said they couldn't compensate me due to the fact that I signed some waiver thing. I lost my job, so I moved here as a safety net, my savings account I... I don't know, Luke." I looked as his face, realizing that I'd misspoken. "Linus. Mr. Levanoid. Sorry."
"Please, call me Linus and it's fine; you're stressed."
Bad, you. Bad, bad, bad. Lying to him, he feels bad for you, yet everything you made up was a brilliant lie. Good lie. Good! The voices say, over, over, over, and over again. I had to lie, you shouldn't lie, it's bad, no, no, don't lie. I have to lie. The voices say so, I'm protecting me, protecting you... If, I... I had, I have to. I won't apologize for doing what I had to in order to survive.
"I..."
"I'll replace everything."
"Pardon?" He couldn't; I didn't know him, he might be working for them, I didn't even own the cabin, technically someone could buy it any day, leaving me without a place to squat and with winter coming... "I, I think I'm moving."
"You are?! You just got here."
"I need a fresh start, I'm going to lose the house..." I kept lying, making up stories to keep him at bay. He stood there, a trust fund baby who had never been exposed to the harshness of the world, who'd be taught that if you throw enough money at a problem, it'll disappear.
"Move in with me."
"NO!" Bad. Bad. See, it was a trap, it was, see? He's luring you in, he'll hurt you, harm you. "Gah, er, I mean, you barely know me; I couldn't abuse your kindness, you've already shown me around town..."
"Look, you seem like a nice person who happens to be a bit unlucky. I want to help; my parents bought me a McMansion, I have more space then I know what to do with..." Replace bit with extremely unlucky; that would describe the situation. Maybe, bad man.... Bad.
"I'll consider it." I said, biting my lip.
Sometimes you have to lie, to protect yourself, to save someone's feeling, to please the voices in your head... Please, don't make a habit out of it, if you don't have to...
With Love,
Sylvia Griffin
Ooh a McMansion? So cool. LOL. I wonder what Sylvia will do. That really stinks that her moving company lost all her stuff. -__-
ReplyDeleteYeah, she stubbled into the right person at the grocery store. :)
DeleteIt does, they "lost" her possessions, mostly because she didn't have any possessions since she ran away and didn't know how to explain that to Linus.
Oooh, that was a clever lie, although I doubt that Linus will ever leave her alone now. After all, once you find out that someone you've made a connection with suddenly has absolutely nothing, you'd at least feel compelled to try and help a little. Of course, a spot in a mansion is a heckuva lot more than a little!
ReplyDeleteI wonder if he's just that nice....or if he realizes that Sylvia is not well o_o;
It was; Sylvia's rather proud of herself for thinking of it, however now Linus is rather insistent that he helps, since he knows he has plenty and she has nothing.
DeletePerhaps he does realize that Sylvia's slight peculiarity and skiddish-ness are a more than slight or, perhaps, he just wants to help. ;)
Thank you for reading!