Lesson 105- Eat everything that’s on your plate so you can grow big and strong. Plus, no dessert until you’re done!
This time, I actually make it to his office. I knock on the door and wait. It takes him a minute to answer.
“Come in.” He answers softly. I step inside and close the door behind me. Torin looks tense, sitting at his desk.
“Hey, so we should talk.” I start. Torin immediately jumps to his feet.
“There’s nothing to talk about.” He says firmly. I cross my arms over my chest.
“Tori.” I say, exasperated. He shakes his head.
“Nothing. It was an accident, it shouldn’t have happened and it won’t happen again. Conversation over.” He says with a tone of finality. I scoff.
“Conversation not over. You don’t just accidentally kiss someone Torin! It doesn't happen.” I argue. Torin just shakes his head again, refusing to answer.
“Seriously? You’re just going to ignore me? Tori, you’re being childish.” I glare at him.
“Did you need anything else? Because there’s a lot to do around here. I need to basically re-do half the bar.” He says stubbornly and I groan in irritation.
“Fine, don’t talk to me. Maybe now isn’t the right time for this conversation, but it is going to happen Torin. You can’t avoid me forever.” I warn him. Torin just walks straight out of the office, leaving me to stare after him. Incredulous and frustrated.
A few hours later it reaches the time the bar would usually be opening. Torin is STILL here. I kind of expected him to just leave since he’s clearly not willing to talk to me right now. But nope, he stays put. I guess it makes sense, he might be freaking out a bit right now. But we haven’t figured out how the kelpie guy got through the wards. There’s no way he’s leaving me or the bar unprotected until he knows for sure what happened. I head to the bar where I’ve been able to hear him working and cleaning for the past few hours. I would have offered to help but I still don’t feel great and I’m fairly sure he doesn’t want me around right this second anyway. But I don’t want to hide in my room. I want to check in on Jane. I head straight into the bar and try to ignore how he tenses up as I enter. It kinda hurts. Maybe the kiss was a terrible idea after all, he seems so uncomfortable now. Is our entire friendship ruined? I really, really hope not. Neither of us can afford to lose any friends right now. Speaking of friends, I rush over to Jane’s trap door and knock. She flings it open and gives me what I can only describe as a hug. She kind of wraps one of her limbs around me affectionately. I’m always surprised by how soft and warm she is. I have no idea what Jane is, but she isn’t some slimy gross creature.
“Are you okay Jane? Is your home okay? I was worried about you.” I tell her affectionately. She just squeezes me a little tighter then lets go, purring happily which I take to mean that everything is fine.
“Oh, I’m glad.” I look around the room.
“Do you want to help clean? I’m pretty sure a few of these chairs are irreparable. They might make a good snack.” I suggest. Jane purrs louder and starts reaching out to collect the broken items. I have no idea how Jane actually SEES where things are. Even if she does have eyes, which I don’t know for sure. She’s in a hole in the ground behind the bar. How can she know where things are on the other side? But she always seems to. Well, that’s a mystery for another time. Either way, it’s interesting. With a sigh, I get to my feet and start to help with the cleaning, sticking to easy, low energy tasks. I have to take a lot of breaks but we slowly start to make progress. We make far more progress when Laura, Kyle and Catcher all show up. I let them all in and Laura tackles me in a hug.
“Rina, should you be up?” She demands. I nod.
“I’m okay, a little stiff and low on energy, but okay.” I promise her. She nods, but when we all return to the bar to help clean, she sits me at a table with glasses and a cloth to wipe them with. The glasses aren’t even dirty. She just wanted to give me an easy task. I would complain, but I’m starting to get tired again and my head is kind of aching. Also my throat feels oddly dry. Still, it doesn’t stop Kyle from reheating the food I haven’t eaten yet and dropping it off in front of me.
“Eat.” He insists. I give it another go, but I really don’t manage much more than I did last time. Kyle stands over me disapprovingly.
“Sorry, I really just don’t think I can eat anymore. I really did try.” I apologise, a little pathetically. Kyle grumbles and clears the dishes away. Then all of a sudden, Torin is there and in my face.
“Torin, what-” My words stop when he places a hand over my forehead. His own forehead creased with concern.
“You should go back to bed. You’re a little warm and your appetite is weird. You’re probably getting sick.” He says bluntly. I frown.
“I’m just a little tired is all. I’ll be fine.” I insist. Torin shakes his head.
“You’re getting sick. Go to bed.” He argues.
“But-” I start.
“Bed. Now.” He orders. I glare at him.
“Bossy much?” I complain. He sighs.
“Rina, you have been through a lot. You need all the rest you can get. Please, for the sake of everyone who is worried about you, will you please just go and rest?” He asks, more gently this time. I relent.
“Fine, but I’m taking Crash with me.” I scoop the kitten up from the floor where he’s been chasing and pouncing on everyone’s ankles and he curls up into me. Then I march myself off to bed.
I clean my teeth, brush my hair and do every pointless little task I can think of to delay lying down. I even try braiding my hair, but I’m still tired and stiff, so my arms get tired after only a few minutes and I just give up, tugging out the sections that I actually braided. Then I give in and trudge across the hall to my room. I change into pyjamas and climb into bed, pulling my covers over me. Despite my arguing, I fall asleep pretty quickly, then I have some very strange dreams. I dream about Laura standing over me, fussing about something. I dream about someone pouring something down my throat, making me choke and Kyle glaring at me for no apparent reason. I dream about Catcher coming in and humming a tune for me which was actually kind of nice. I even dream about Eli bursting in, bouncing around the room and harassing everyone. Basically, my dreams are filled by an endless stream of people coming in and out of my room. Weirdly I also dream about balloons. Why am I dreaming about balloons? Still, the only constant in the dream is Torin, who always seems to be there, in the recliner or standing by the wall. Watching me with his dark eyes and endless concern.
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