Advertisement
Yondi

The Actions That Follow Chapter 6

Jun 20th, 2017
198
0
Never
Not a member of Pastebin yet? Sign Up, it unlocks many cool features!
text 24.94 KB | None | 0 0
  1. —CHAPTER 6—
  2.  
  3. Ashi stared at the various shirts and dresses in her closet.
  4. She was never one to care about her fashion sense, but now she was really wishing she knew more about her wardrobe. All of these nice outfits her Father bought her, and she had no idea what she wanted to wear.
  5. She didn’t want to dress too fancy; Jack was a modest man, after all. He wouldn’t be impressed by luxury and fortune. Ashi knew he was better than that. She decided to dress quite close to how she normally would; she had on a collared jean vest over a striped long sleeve shirt, black leggings tucked into tall dark boots, and a beige scarf. It was starting to get cold at night.
  6. Looking at herself in the mirror, satisfied, she took out her phone to check the time. Quarter past five, that meant Jack had been off work for fifteen minutes. He hasn’t texted her yet though, maybe he was stuck in traffic? Or he could just be waiting until after he gets ready?
  7. It hardly mattered, she thought. Jack was definitely going to text her soon…right?
  8.  
  9. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  10.  
  11. Five minutes now.
  12. Jack had spent the last five minutes staring at his cell phone. It sat there innocently on the counter, but Jack stood there petrified.
  13. The minute his shift was over, Jack ditched his apron and rushed home, barely avoiding the evening rush. Upon returning home, he burst into his apartment, tossing his phone, wallet, and keys onto the counter. Once again hopping down the hall, only this time his pants were coming off. Once he succeeded, his shirt soon followed and he jumped in the shower. Once he was done, he brushed his teeth with extra care; as he put his toothbrush away, his electric razor plugged into the wall, caught his eye. He stroked his beard, finally realizing how long the tool had been dormant. But shaving now would be too drastic a change, he thought. Besides, she didn’t seem to mind his appearance all that much.
  14. Jack dried himself off and went to pick out something to wear; he finally settled on a light blue cotton shirt, half-buttoned over a white tee that was tucked into his grey jeans. He slipped on his brown dress shoes and he was ready for—well, he still wasn’t sure if it was officially a date, but he was ready for it regardless. He took one last look at himself in the mirror, actually content with his appearance for once, and went to his cell phone.
  15. All he had to do now was pick it up, text Ashi, and then…then what? As a matter of fact, what was he actually going to text her? Would a simple “hello” suffice? It had been established that they had plans to see a movie, but they never agreed on a specific time. Past five, sure, and it was now eighteen after; maybe he should be assertive and say he was ready to go. But she might not have been ready yet; maybe she had just started getting ready AT five, and wasn’t even close to done? Girls were very thorough in their preparations, and the last thing he wanted to do was rush her. But then again, he didn’t want to assume Ashi was going to take so much time to prepare just for him. She was always a modest girl, he thought. And again, it wasn’t explicitly agreed to be a date!
  16. Jack stood there, staring at his cell phone, as his mind drowned in a sea possibilities; then it went off, startling him, and he glanced at the caller ID. Thankfully, it wasn’t Ashi asking where he was, but Scotsman, having not checked in on his friend since they went out last night. After a deep sigh of relief, Jack picked up the phone.
  17. “Hello—“
  18. “THERE HE IS, THE LASS KILLER HIMSELF!” Scotsman blared through the phone, forcing Jack to hold it away from his ear for a moment. The Scottish amplifier continued, but at a less damaging volume. “So, how ya been since we left the bar? Ya musta gotten home alright if yer pickin’ up now. Ya worked today, didn’cha?”
  19. Jack moved a hair out of his face, “Well, it’s been an interesting time since you last saw me, to say the least.” He would’ve continued speaking, had he not been so used to his friend’s interruptions by now. “Oh really? Well come on then, Laddie! Tell me all about it!” He playfully demanded.
  20. Jack told him what happened as he was walking home, how he rescued Ashi from a group of thugs and got her number, followed by how he ran into her at his job, and finally that they ended up making plans. “…and now before you called, I was just about, um, text her.” Jack prepared for overwhelming enthusiasm from his friend, but all he heard was silence from the other end. What he couldn’t see was the Scotsman sitting on the other line making an expression reminiscent of a squealing fangirl. Jack wasn’t used to him being this quiet for so long; Jack’s “Hello?” brought his friend back to attention, while also granting him a realization. “So, let me get this straight; you’ve got a hot date with a pretty girl that ya knew when both a ya were wee kiddies, and you’ve just been sitting there, twiddlin’ yer thumbs, waitin’ for what? An invitiation? Are ye completely daft?” Jack interjected, “W-Well, we never said it was a ‘date’, per-se…”, but his friend wouldn’t have it.
  21. “SHUT IT!! Now here’s what’s gonna happen: I’m goin’ to hang up this phone, and then YOU are gonna hold onto yers, and then yer gonna dial that girl’s number, call her—not text, CALL—and tell her that yer on yer way to her place, to show her the best damn time she’s ever had! GOT IT!?” Jack stared blankly as his friend went on, finally giving confirmation he was listening. “Y-Yes, I’ll…I’ll do that.”
  22. “Good! And if tonight goes well, then tomorrow, ye can propose!” Propose!? Where is he getting that from? The mere mention of that kind of commitment so soon filled him with dread. After a pause, Scotsman laughed, “HAHAHAA, I knew that’d getcha nerve’s goin’! I’m just messin with ya! Now go woo yer dream girl, partner!” And promptly ended the call.
  23. Jack knew his friend was right, time to stop overthinking this. He quickly dialed Ashi’s number, took a deep breath, and hit send. It rang a couple times, and she picked up. It sounded like she started to speak, but then there was a pause. Finally, she spoke, “Hello?”
  24. “Ashi! Hello! Er…how are you?” he asked shakily, but she responded confidently, “I’m doing well. Are we still on for the movies?” she inquired.
  25. “A-Absolutely! I had just finished getting ready actually. If you’re ready as well, I can come…now…to get you.” Jack spoke as though he were doing a hostage negotiation, careful not to ruin the exchange.
  26. “Yeah, I’m ready! Do you remember how to get to my apartment?” she asked, but Jack assured her he knew the way. After all, he played that night over and over in his head to remember how he got back to his place from hers.
  27. “Do not worry, I remember the way. So, I’m going to leave now…okay?”
  28. “Okay.”
  29. “Okay! So, I’ll see you in a bit then. Uh, Bye.”
  30. “Sounds great, see you soon!” And they both hung up, each with a sigh of relief. Jack grabbed a light jacket out of his closet, his keys and wallet off the counter, and headed out.
  31.  
  32. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  33.  
  34. About ten minutes later, Jack pulled up to Ashi’s apartment.
  35. He texted her to let her know he had arrived, and posted up against his motorcycle until she came down. She finally emerged from the front door of the apartment building, and Jack watched intently as she walked down the steps towards him. Ashi stood there for a moment as Jack remained entranced, unsure why he was just staring at her; “Uh…shall we?” she suggested, and Jack shook himself out of it.
  36. “O-Oh yes, hop on.” They both mounted the motorcycle, Ashi once again wrapping her arms around Jack’s waist. The engine roared and the bike launched forward, headed towards downtown.
  37. The movie theater was pretty crowded for a Sunday night. They found a spot in the far-left end of the parking lot; Jack waited for Ashi to get off the bike before he himself hopped off, and they both started towards the theater. As they approached the building, they saw a line of people stretching around the corner of the building. “It sure is crowded right now,” Ashi wondered aloud, and Jack agreed.
  38. Curious, he asked a boy standing in line, “Excuse me, what is everyone waiting in line for?” The boy looked surprised at the question, and others nearby shared the reaction. “You mean you don’t know?” he asked, incredulous. A teenage girl spoke up, “Tonight’s the world premiere of ‘Lazarus’, tickets are about to go on sale,” and a couple people in line shouted out in excitement.
  39. Jack looked at Ashi, “Have you heard of this?” but she shook her head. “I’m not very up to date on movies, but we’re going to have to wait on line regardless.”
  40. “You’re right, let’s get on now. We’ll have plenty of time to decide what to see while we wait”, and they walked around the building to the back of the line.
  41. The three most anticipated films of the night were being advertised there on the wall. “Lazarus”, of course, was listed first, followed by “The Tale of Ex Nine” and “The Flying Children”. Two more movies Jack and Ashi had never heard of. Jack joked that they were both really out of the loop, and Ashi giggled.
  42. Not sure which of the three movies they should see, Ashi had an idea; “Here, I’ll look up a synopsis of each, that way we can better decide which one to see”, she suggested, and Jack complimented the idea, causing Ashi to blush.
  43. “The Flying Children”, was about a pair of butterfly-like alien children that end up crashing to Earth. They meet a man who’s down on his luck, and he makes it his mission to see the children returned to their home planet. “A heartwarming tale”, said the critics, citing it as “…the E.T. of our generation.” But Ashi remarked that it looked a little juvenile, so they went on to the next one.
  44. “The Tale of Ex Nine” centered around a retired hitman, who now spent his days playing jazz and caring for a little pug named “Lulu”. But when his beloved dog is kidnapped by his old employer, the hitman must come out of retirement for one final job; he must face his greatest challenge in order to save the one creature to ever show him affection. It sounded interesting, but the critics say “You’ll never be the same after this movie”, and that it would “…leave you a heartbroken, sobbing mess on the floor”. That didn’t sound very appealing to either of them…next!
  45. And now for the one everyone was apparently here to see: “Lazarus”. A horror movie with state-of-the-art special effects, the story was also about an alien, but a monster composed of many giant leeches that moved in accordance with one another. A huge mass of slimy, slithering leeches that would devour people and turn them into yet more leeches, expanding itself. The critics raved; “Horrifying” they touted, “…the scariest movie you will ever see”. One critic, with a particularly weak stomach apparently, claimed, “I had to leave the theater, or I was definitely going to vomit.”
  46. Ashi was quite intrigued by that, and expressed her interest in seeing it, but Jack looked unwilling; “Are you sure about this, Ashi? That movie seems a little…gratuitous,” he said uneasily.
  47. “I know, but I want to see what all the fuss is about. Aren’t you curious?” she asked. His reply, “Well yes, but…”, told her that Jack wasn’t convinced, so she decided to fool around a bit. “But what, Jack? You’re not…scared, are you?” She shot him a smug look, and Jack turned to catch her smirk.
  48. “Of course not!” he stated defensively, “I just think we...shouldn’t limit ourselves to the more promoted films, there are other movies being shown than just these three.”
  49. “No, no, it’s fine, Jack. I totally get it”, explained Ashi, waving a hand dismissively. Jack raised an eyebrow at her; “Do you…?” he spoke warily. She smiled coyly, “I do! After all, there’s going to be a loooot of people in the theater. I certainly wouldn’t want to be seen screaming like a baby at such a packed showing, that would just be absolutely mortifying!” She looked up with the back of her hand on her forehead, speaking dramatically. “It’s okay, Jack. We can see ‘The Flying Children’, a PG movie is probably more your speed.”
  50. Jack stood in line, looking straight ahead with a blank expression. Ashi continued to look at him with a smug expression; finally, he pulled out his own phone, and turned to her. “How about this: I’m going to look through the rest of movies that are being shown. If none of them look any good, then we’ll see ‘Lazarus’. Is that okay with you, Ashi?” he said, sarcastically. Ashi shrugged, “Sure, whatever you say…coward.” Jack’s head snapped in her direction, with an intense look, and she simply smiled innocently in return.
  51. As Jack browsed the film selection, Ashi was looking up at the stars. The sun had gone down, and the streetlights were on; the last bit of light was disappearing over the horizon, creating a line of orange that bled into the dark blue above. She looked up at the them wistfully, and Jack took notice of this. Ashi had a glow in her eyes as she said, “Beautiful, aren’t they?”; he agreed, but he wasn’t looking at the stars.
  52. Finally, it was their turn to buy tickets. Jack put his phone back in his pocket, and pulled out his wallet; “Two tickets for…’Lazarus’, please”, causing Ashi to look up at him. “Finally gave in, huh?” she joked, and Jack playfully rolled his eyes as the vendor took his money and gave him the tickets.
  53. They entered the crowded theater with only ten minutes until the movie, and fortunately neither of them wanted anything from the snack bar; instead they headed right for the line to the usher, who would escort them to the correct theater. But while they stood on the second line, Jack noticed a family of three coming out of the last showing of “The Flying Children”; two parents, a Mother and Father, and their young son. The familiar sight reminded him of his inner hopelessness, and Ashi saw him looking sullen. Now she felt bad about pushing him to see “Lazarus”.
  54. “Hey, Jack. I was only teasing before, we didn’t have to see this if you didn’t want to. I’m sorry I pushed you into this”, she spoke apologetically. Jack looked confused for a moment, “What? No, it’s not that. I really don’t mind it.” He looked back at the family. “It’s just…I’m thinking about my parents. I miss them, and I can’t help feeling like I failed.”
  55. Ashi looked curious, “What do you mean ‘failed’?” But his answer had to wait, they were next in line. The usher scanned their tickets, and sent them down to theater 8. They found a pair of seats in the middle section, a little closer to the back. Once they were settled, Jack elaborated.
  56. “You see, they’re living in this awful, inhospitable complex. The neighborhood I grew up in was bought out and demolished to build it. But my parents sent me to live with my Uncle, who traveled all over the country in a mobile home. I lived for fifteen years on the road until I finally saw them again, but they had aged horribly, forced to work in a dreadful factory under horrible conditions. I’ve been trying to help them out financially, so they can get out of that horrible place, but my efforts are in vain. And it’s all because of AKu…”
  57. Ashi cringed, once again hearing her Father’s name as the catalyst of Jack’s unfortunate story. Did he really do such awful things to his family? She looked at him sympathetically as the lights dimmed. By this point, Jack had pushed aside the thoughts of his past, hoping to enjoy the movie. Ashi was still bothered by what Jack told her, but quickly became caught up in the film’s rising tension.
  58. Thirty minutes into “Lazarus”, and Jack was watching comfortably as the plot progressed. The titular monster had already claimed a handful of victims, but nothing so far made Jack react with anything more than a slight cringe. He would sometimes question the choices made by the characters, which clearly lead to their demise; “Why would you split up like that? A smaller group is less secure, and the creature can divide itself anyway”, Jack thought to himself, shaking his head.
  59. Meanwhile, Ashi was quite literally shaking in her boots. Leeches were already unpleasant creature’s, but the concept of thousands of them functioning together as one big monster, was extremely unsettling. She was completely immersed in the story, and every creeping second was accompanied by her racing pulse.
  60. The lead female was carefully stepping down a dark corridor, lined with many old wooden doors. Holding a flashlight tightly, she went to open a few doors, only to find all of locked. At the fifth door, the knob final turned all the way; the female opened the door carefully, the camera following over her shoulder so the audience would see the large puddle of leeches the same time as the heroine. She shrieked, Ashi shrieked, and much of the audience shrieked; at least Ashi wasn’t the only one.
  61. Jack chuckled to Ashi, “Okay, that got me a little!” But he noticed her shaky eyes were glued to the screen, and she was crumpled in her seat. He smiled at the irony of the situation, and held his left arm up next to her, and she clutched it without ripping her eyes away from the screen. They both watched as the male protagonist caught the female when she jumped across a broken bridge to avoid the leeches. Ashi was starting to calm down now; her heart was still racing, but not because of the movie.
  62.  
  63. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  64.  
  65. The movie ended around quarter to nine.
  66. Jack and Ashi, after leaving the theater, decided to cruise on for a bit to settle their stomachs, “because of the movie”. They rode for about a half hour through multiple neighbors, both strangely content just seeing the sights together.
  67. Eventually, they found a small pizza place that was still open. Ashi tapped Jack on the shoulder, but he had already decided to pull over; neither of them had eaten in a while, and their cinema experience was no longer fresh in their minds.
  68. Jack was about to pay for the food they ordered, but Ashi insisted on paying for their meal; “You work hard for that money, you deserve to hold onto it”, she beamed at him, and he thanked her. She wanted to pay him back for the movie tickets as well, but Jack wouldn’t accept it.
  69. Once the food was ready, Ashi grabbed a table while Jack got some napkins, and they went at it. Both of them were starving at this point, and eating rather enthusiastically as a result. Simultaneously, they looked at each other mid-bite, and became frozen. Eyes locked, pizza crumbs all over their faces, neither of them could suppress it anymore, and they burst out laughing. “Great pizza, eh?” said Jack, and Ashi kissed her fingers Italian-style in response, causing both of them to laugh again.
  70. Jack then offered a pizza toast, to which Ashi cheerfully obliged. They clinked slices, then proceeded to chow down, enjoying every bite.
  71.  
  72. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
  73.  
  74. After they finished their meal and cleaned themselves up, Jack and Ashi were back on the road, with no destination in mind.
  75. While they waited at a red light, Jack caught her looking up at the stars again. Suddenly he got an idea, and he made a sudden turn left, headed towards the Intervale. “Where are we going?” inquired Ashi, sensing Jack’s new direction was deliberate. He smiled to himself and replied, “You’ll see.”
  76. They drove north for about fifteen minutes, leaving the city boundaries. If this wasn’t Jack, Ashi thought, she would be scared for her life. They finally came to a small field, adjacent to a farmhouse; not a single street light could be found this far out of town, and the stars were clear as clear as they were numerous.
  77. They pulled up next to an old shed, clearly not being used, so Jack’s motorcycle wouldn’t be out in the open. Ashi could barely see the hand Jack was offering, outstretched in front of her, but she took it regardless. He led her to the middle of the small field, and immediately plopped down on the grass; he looked up at her while patting the fluffy patch next to him, which she graciously accepted. Jack then laid back on the grass with his hands locked on his chest, and Ashi decided to copy him. When she looked up at the night sky, she immediately understood why he brought her out there.
  78. She suddenly remembered all the days she spent as a kid, laying out in her backyard, simply enjoying the sensations around. It was like she was eight years old again, letting the blades of grass lightly tickle her face. She took a deep, relaxing breath; she hadn’t felt like this in ages, yet it was different in many ways. For one, Ashi was not a little girl anymore, but a young woman. An older and wiser person, who still had to figure herself out. This also wasn’t the view she remembered. Instead of a picturesque blue sky with clouds and sunshine, the faint glow of the stars above amidst a deep blue hung overhead. Lastly, she wasn’t alone anymore.
  79. They sat in comfortable silence for about six minutes, until Jack finally spoke up; “So, you know what I do for a living. But what about you, are you working?” he asked innocently enough. But Ashi still hated the question, because she hated the answer she had for him.
  80. She turned away slightly, “I’m not, but I wish I was. All my motivation to work is shot though, I’ve been relying on my Father’s support for so long. He’s…a very wealthy man, he came back in to my life around when I was eight. And for a while, I thought having a real Father was all I ever wanted. But, he doesn’t care for me the way I always imagined a Father would. He treats money like it’s the most important thing, and thinks that if he just gives me a couple thousand dollars every now and then, I’ll be all well and good, but it’s not that simple, you know?”
  81. Jack looked at her sadly as she paused, and then she continued. “I’ll be honest…back then, when we took karate class together, I envied you.” Jack was confused, “Envied me? Why is that?” She turned to him aggressively, “You really don’t get it!? You were perfect! You were the best student, by far! I couldn’t touch you, it drove me insane! And my Mother was always on my case, telling me how I needed to stop being so weak and destroy you. But no matter how hard I tried, I never could. And you never had to worry about YOUR Mother criticizing you, Or your Father! You had to parents that loved and supported you, and I hated you for it. THAT’S why I was always so mean to you, I couldn’t stand to see you flaunt all those things in front of me. And the worst part about it all…” Ashi sat up and hugged her knees, trying as hard as she could to hold back tears, “…is that you never cared. About any of it. I always acted towards you with my silly grudge, but you never treated me any different. You were so nice and sweet to everyone, and you didn’t deserve that. Just like you don’t deserve everything that’s happened to you! Jack, I’m so sorry…”
  82. But she was cut off when Jack put his hand on her arm. She snapped her head to see him now sitting up as well, his torso turned so he was looking directly at her. “You’re wrong, Ashi. You say I never cared, but that’s wrong. You always looked so miserable, and I saw how frustrated you would get whenever we would spar. But you were always a great martial artist, and I wanted to tell you how good you were. Your Mother may not have spoken kindly to you, but I thought you deserved praise. I’m sorry you had to suffer like that.” Ashi had let go of her knees and turned herself facing Jack by now, and both of them were drifting together almost instinctively. “But my troubles are no fault of yours; I may be going through a difficult time, but you do not need to share my suffering. This is not your burden to bear.”
  83. Ashi inched closer, “But I want to, you don’t need to go this alone.” Jack moved closer as well, “Neither of us do. I want to be there for you, Ashi. I want to help you.” The space between their lips was slowly disappearing, “Jack, you already have…”
  84. Suddenly, a bright light shone on the field where they lay, accompanied by an angry shout; “WHO’S OUT THERE!? SHOW YOURSELVES!!” Jack and Ashi both turned and said, “Shit”, simultaneously getting up and running back, hand-in-hand, to the motorcycle. Jack started the engine, and they peeled out just as the irate farmer made his way over there to confront the two trespassers.
  85. They laughed the entire ride home.
  86.  
  87. —END CHAPTER 6—
  88.  
  89. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Advertisement
Add Comment
Please, Sign In to add comment
Advertisement