To Continue or To Leave

Leah
I woke up, stretching and giggling while Sugar licked my face eagerly. I had to admit, having her with me made it easier. I slept soundly, trusting her to keep me safe while I did so. I rubbed her ears before wrapping my arms around her neck. She plopped down on my chest, licking my face even more before jumping up to bound across the room to the door, where she scratched at the door, urging me to get up. I got up to let her out. I was grateful that Sugar rarely woke me up at night. She would hold her potty until I got up for the day to let her out, which I did quickly, giggling as she immediately squatted by the porch stairs and a heavy stream of urine reached my ears.
“Good girl, Sugar,” I cooed. “You’re such a good girl.”
I leaned against the porch railing with my ankles crossed while I watched her finish using the bathroom before running back up the stairs to me. I reached down to scratch her ears.
“Come on, girl. Let’s eat before my meeting with Mister.”
I took her into the kitchen, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.
‘Yeah, Mister,’ I thought to myself as I poured some kibble into Sugar’s bowl before pulling eggs and cheese out of the refrigerator.
In no time, I was sitting down at the bar with cheesy scrambled eggs and toast in front of me. I scarfed it down before going to get in the shower. As I washed myself up, I thought about the night before. I knew that R.H.M. had come back. I stood beside the window, watching until he did. I had almost given up, but when I saw him appear in front of my house again, I held my breath. The first time he showed up, I thought he was coming to finish discussing the supposed rules, but he hadn’t.
And upon that realization, I had scribbled the short note to him. I was so angry at him. I understood more than he thought I did. I understood loss. I understood his fear about not only trusting someone but also starting to develop feelings for them. I was scared too, but I didn’t want to live my life with constant fear. I was away from home. I was away from Will. And more than anything, I was finally free to live how I wanted to. I wasn’t trying to rush into anything, but I wasn’t going to fight my feelings if an opportunity presented itself to me, and I thought that finding R.H.M. was just that, an opportunity that had introduced itself to me. And I wanted to take it. But boy, was I mad.
After I was ready, I said goodbye to Sugar and left the house, walking toward Mister’s office. As soon as I stepped inside, the elevator doors opened, confirming that I was right on time for my meeting. I kept my back stiff as I walked off the elevator to see R.H.M. behind his desk, looking more rested than I had seen him since I arrived. I raised an eyebrow at him but didn’t address him as I took a seat across from him with my arms folded across my chest. He sat back in his chair, watching me watch him.
“Leah—”
“That’s not my name,” I snapped, making him groan.
“Princess—”
“That’s not my name either,” I said, falsely sweet.
He narrowed his eyes on me. “Alright, Phoenix, then. Mister will be right with you.”
“Mhmm.”
Sure. Mister. Did he think I was stupid? I might not tell him that I knew who he was, but I did. He talked way too much in his sleep. When the time was right, I would tell him that I knew. I waited for a few minutes, just glaring at him while he held my gaze. He finally sighed.
“I’m sorry, Phoenix.”
“For what?”
“For saying what I said to upset you,” he answered.
“What exactly do you think you said that upset me?” I asked, wanting to see if he knew why I was so upset.
It was stupid to be so upset over his persistence that he couldn’t act on whatever was between us since it was so fresh, and both of us weren’t in the best place to start a relationship, but I couldn’t help it. I liked him, and I knew that he liked me too. When he didn’t respond, I rolled my eyes.
“Of course you don’t know,” I mumbled.
I watched as he typed on his computer before turning back to me. “Phoenix, I’m sorry for intruding on your conversation with Armadillo to lecture you about the rules. I—”
“Send Phoenix back,” the robotic voice said from his speaker.
I got to my feet, still glaring at him as I practically stormed past him to go to ‘Mister’s’ office. He thought I was upset over that? I was, but the bigger reason I was upset was because the only reason that he showed up to bitch about the rules was because he refused to admit his feelings to either of us. Had he shown up and apologized for being a jerk in the private building over spending the night and told me that he didn’t like seeing me with Armadillo, I probably would have thanked Armadillo and sent him home before inviting R.H.M. inside and talking to him, but he didn’t, so I hadn’t. I squared my shoulders as I walked over to the chair in the middle of the lights to sit down.
“Your first task was to get three people to ask you for your name. Did you complete your task?” The robotic voice asked me.
“Yes.”
“Who asked you?”
“Doc, Armadillo, and Rosemary,” I answered, deciding to keep my answers short and sweet.
“Tell me about your time with them,” the voice then ordered, almost making me groan.
“Doc is sweet. She is a sweetheart. I love how she is with the animals. And they like her too. You can trust people that animals like. Especially dogs. Take Sugar, for example. She is not sure of R.H.M., which makes me wonder if he is as good a person as he claims to be,” I said, throwing that out there, knowing that he was listening to what I was saying. “Now, Rosemary is so nice. I think that I’m going to try to be her friend. She seems like the kind of woman I could develop a deep bond with.”
“And Armadillo?” The voice asked.
“Hmm? Armadillo? He’s the one I’ve spent the most time with, and I am looking forward to spending more time with him,” I answered.
I sat silently, waiting for the mechanical voice to speak again. I knew I had hit a nerve with what I said about Armadillo, but at the moment, I didn’t really care.
“What do you do with Armadillo?”
I purposely let a soft smile grace my face. “We talk. He really is a sweet guy. Yesterday we spent an hour talking about our pasts. It was nice finding someone that could relate with me and I could relate to too.”
“Are you in a relationship with him?” The voice asked.
“No. It’s against the rules currently. But who knows what will happen in the future?” I answered.
“Are you interested in a relationship with Armadillo?”
I took a moment to think about what I was asked, pretending to think about the answer, even though I already knew the answer.
“No,” I said slowly. “There is someone else that I see potential with.”
“Who is that?”
I shrugged. “That’s against the rules too.”
The voice fell silent again, and I sat still as I waited for his next question.
“Go back to your house and wait for your next task. Congratulations, you made it through Week 1.”
I kept my mouth closed as I walked out of his office. I strolled past R.H.M., not even bothering to look at him as I went to the elevator. When it didn’t open, I turned back around to R.H.M. with my eyes narrowing at him.
“I was told to go back to my house. Call the elevator,” I told him.
“Leah—”
I stomped back over to the desk, put my hands flat on the top, and met his eyes. “I haven’t given you the right to use my real name. If I give it to anyone, it definitely won’t be you. It will be Armadillo. At least he’s honest about how he feels. Now, please, call the elevator so I can go home.”
He narrowed his eyes on me. “I’m honest.”
I tossed my head back as hysterical laughter fell from my lips. “Honest? Yeah. I totally believe that. Every time we are alone, you hide. You are so wishy-washy. I don’t want someone who kisses me one day and then tells me he can’t do it the next.”
He stood up, glaring at me. “I don’t do that.”
“Yeah, sure you don’t. Just call the elevator. I’m supposed to be meeting Armadillo at my house in a little bit. I don’t want to be late.”
I turned around to go back to the elevator to wait, but he grabbed my wrist. My gaze snapped back to his, and I saw the anger in his eyes as I tugged at my wrist, trying to pull it away from him.
“And what makes him so much better than me?” He hissed.
I held his gaze as I continued to pull at my hand. “Let me go, R.H.M.,” I repeated as panic started to rise.
His thumb stroked my pulse in my wrist, and I knew that he could feel my elevated heart rate. He let me go, and I hurried back to the elevator to wait for it to open, refusing to look at R.H.M. again. When it did, I practically ran onto it before finally looking back at him.
“You want to know what makes him better than you? He’s not a coward. And that’s what I like the most about him,” I said as the doors closed.
My stomach rolled as the elevator took me down to the first floor, and as soon as the doors opened, I rushed off the elevator, stumbling to a stop outside to sink to my knees so I could vomit. I really hated feeling trapped.