34: Overwatch

After they were done with the Chinese take away, they wanted to talk but couldn’t muster up the words. Aaron was in a relatively better shape than a few hours ago yet still too tired to speak on and Sophie wasn’t as drained yet she was too dazzled by the revelations. Her phone was buzzing like a trapped bee. She realized that it had been on silent mode since the morning. She turned the screen on to find eight missed calls. She was sure that they were from Chloe. She hadn’t left any clue for her regarding her whereabouts. She tapped on it and found out that seven of them were from Chloe and one from her father. It sunk her heart to see that. Her father had called her six hours ago. She decided to leave Chloe a message and gave a call to her father. She half expected to be left hanging. He picked it up on the first bell. Sophie was surprised.

“Hey How’s it going, Princess?”, Mike enthusiastically spoke as soon as he picked it up. He seemed to be in a jubilant mood. Sophie’s apologetic mood vanished as soon as she heard her father’s excited voice. Someone’s happy to hear from his daughter, she thought. “How’s the big city treating you!?”, he added. A flashback of all the ‘more than entertaining’ events she had experienced since she had set foot in NYC, played in her head. She wondered how her genuinely concerned father would react if she shared even a single one of them.
“It’s been great! Work has been a breeze. How’re you doing?”, she managed. Mike was happy to hear that. Aaron was witnessing the exchange. He wondered who it could be whom she trusted so blindly in those testing times. She caught him staring and mouthed, “Dad”. He was relieved. “How’s mom?”, she asked.
“Motherly as ever. She unearthed some old photo album from your childhood and keeps weeping all over it”, Mike responded. Sophie felt a tinge of sadness but shook it off. Her mom was known to throw melodramatic tantrums at the smallest of the issues. She was relieved that her family was going about as usual.

“I was thinking, maybe I should pay you a visit soon”, Mike suggested. It hit her like a truck and she forgot what she was about to ask next. She was not living a problem-less life as she claimed. Mike would find out in an instant that something was up. She could not let him near her especially in the state she was living in at the moment. Her proximity with her father might endanger him as well, she worried. “I’m getting on a plane as we speak. I can take a detour and spend a day with you tomorrow”, he continued. Sophie was panicking.
“No! No! Not tomorrow! I’ll be in a business meeting. I’ll be home late”, she tried to evade it. Aaron could understand what was going on.
“How about next week? I’ve my calendar clear for Thursday”, he suggested. Sophie was running out of excuses.
“I’ve a doctor’s appointment on Thursday!”, she blurted.
“Why? Is everything alright?”, he inquired, sounding worried. Sophie regretted the excuse. Now she was looking for a medical issue that wouldn’t worry him too much. She stuttered and decided to play it safe.
“Nothing! It’s just a random checkup!”, she responded.
“Alright! So Wednesday it is!”, he insisted.
“No!”, she blurted and she was out of excuses.
“Come on! I’ll pay you a visit at your office”, he forced.
“Dad! Now is not a good time”, she pleaded. She decided to stick with the half-truth. Mike was silent. ‘Damn it! Now I’ve hurt him’, she thought.
“Alright fine! Just hit me up when you feel like having a day off”, he suggested. He didn’t sound hurt at all. Sophie was relieved that she had somehow eluded his persistent father.
“Are you eating OK?”, he inquired. “Yeah “, she responded.
“Are you sleeping fine?”, he inquired and the answer was another “Yeah”.
“Your mother told me to ask you ‘implicitly’ if you have found someone you like but I’m gonna let that obscenity slide”, he said and chuckled. She giggled too but she had really found someone and he was sitting at an arm’s length from her. She couldn’t tell him about it yet.
“Not yet”, she responded with a giggle. There was a brief silence.

“Alright sweet pea! Make sure you hit me up when you get the time. Good night!”, Mike enthusiastically concluded the call and hung up. Sophie was pleased with the way it went. Mike wasn’t. His enthusiastic grin faded as soon as he put the phone down. His fears had just been proved correct. Something was definitely going on. Mike could smell it from a mile away. His daughter was hiding something. Keeping her father away from her, especially after the way they had parted, seemed worrying. He knew that he had to do something and do it fast. He decided to make a phone call.
The ‘Good night’ from her reminded Sophie that it was eleven in the night. Sophie was worried what she was going to do now. Going back to her place at that hour would be too big a risk.

“You can crash here tonight if you want”, Aaron spoke as if after reading her mind. She was shocked by the idea. Aaron realized what he had implied and was on the defensive immediately.
“I didn’t mean it that way!”, he said in his defense.

Sophie blushed. She saw him talk in slow motion. She felt his lips glow as he spoke. It was obvious that he was head over heels for her. He was always nervous when talking to her. She could sense that he was always extra cautious trying not to offend her. She couldn’t deny that the feeling was mutual. She was hiding for her life in a trashed place, with a person she didn’t even know existed a week ago yet she felt safe. She felt content. It was no secret to her that the only thing that made the arrangement bearable was the person she was hiding with. She looked at him trying his best to keep her with him and the option of spending the night with him became more of a want than a need. Aaron dashed to his broken cupboard and hunted for blankets and sheets. He pulled everything out in a panicking hurry. Sophie did her best to hold her laughter. He was determined to make her feel relaxed about the suggestion. He placed his best-looking blanket on the bed for Sophie and spread the worst looking one on the ground for himself. He picked a pillow from the bed and motioned at the bed to Sophie saying, “All yours!”. As soon as he was done, Sophie stood up and snatched his pillow from his grasp. Aaron was confused. She placed it back on the bed and motioned, “All ours!”. He hesitantly sat beside her, too shy to make eye contact. She inched closer and placed her hand on his. At first, he quivered but in a matter of seconds, her hand was passionately yet softly clasped by his. Their eyes met and they experienced one of the rare moments when a person doesn’t want anything else in the world other than the person sitting right in front of them.