Page 29 of What Blooms in Barren Lands
Oh sod this, I thought.
“Most of them were eye shots, actually.” My voice shook, but rang loud, my words earning me a devilish grin from Einar. “But don’t worry, you didn’t offend me.” I turned to the young man I had corrected with a dismissive wave of my hand, only to be met with an eye-bulging stare fit for either a global celebrity or a real-life Santa Claus.
A guffaw or two sounded around me. Then applause, tentative at first but growing steadily in intensity. Accompanied by an occasional whistle of someone who clearly was a practised football fan.
Sod this even more.
I debated bolting out of there. Until Einar’s eyes captured my own with the efficiency of a fishhook. Almost as if I had plunged into their cool pools, and the world around froze over, all sounds were muted. I sat back down obediently under their look, which could be described as nothing but a glare due to its severe intensity, despite not being displeased in the least. Then, with just a hint of victorious tightening of lines around his lips, Einar raised his glass slightly in an inconspicuous salute.
“Enjoying your two minutes of fame?”
No Cheshire grin was to be found on Dave’s face despite the dry humour of his question.
“Oh shut up, you know I’m not.”
“Then don’t worry. It’s all the vainglorious bastard will ever let you have, you mark my words. I’d so gladly sew his own dick to his face if I didn’t think it would be an improvement on that nose. God, I’ve been here five minutes and he already makes me want to violate the Hippocratic oath?—”
“You were just a student. Have you even taken the oath yet?” I asked distractedly, thinking that I rather liked the nose in question as it contributed to its owner’s rough, rugged charm.
“You make an excellent point, hun.”
“Do me a favour and leave his dick intact until I’ve had a chance to give it a whirl, will you?”
It was only when Dave snorted out loud, choking on his water and spitting it on the table, that I realised what I had said. I pounded his back in an effort to prevent him from suffocating. Despite the fact that if he were to die, he would never get the chance to repeat my words to anyone. Nobody could accuse me of not being a selfless friend.
11
TREMORS
Many people left after dinner, but some remained in the hall to talk or to play board games. The large room hummed with companionable chatter. I stayed behind myself, meaning to choose a book to read, and was perusing the bookshelves when large hands enfolded me from behind, their touch soft and carefully inviting. Petrified excitement rippled through my entire body.
“It’s time, Ren.” Einar’s voice was no more than a whisper in my ear. “Come with me now, will you?”
It was not an order, but neither was it a plea. For a fleeting moment, I had to fight an urge to refuse, imagining just what would happen if I did. However, there was undeniably a part of me that was too intrigued to even humour the option of saying ‘no’. Suppressing my apprehension and forgetting all about the book I had so looked forward to reading, I followed Einar outside. He didn’t touch me again, and I walked slightly behind him to avoid strained conversation. Like in a trance, I followed him upstairs to his lodgings.
I expected the flat to be rustic and old-fashioned, but I couldn’t have been more wrong. The kitchen gleamed white, butcher-block countertops smooth and their polish unfaded. A stylish metal chandelier hung above the counter and its adjacent barstools.
A large TV was mounted on the wall of the living room, decorated in beige and white with sharp-edged furniture.
Through the door, I could see into the bedroom, the black satin covers of its king-size bed neatly made up and framed by a wooden headboard.
“Wow,” I said, but I was not commenting on the flat itself; after all, its design and equipment were hardly Einar’s to boast about.
No, I was rendered momentarily speechless by the abundance of candles, scattered around in neat little arrangements, lending the place almost a romantic air. Candles were the go-to source of light given that electricity was out, but not in such numbers and such a manner. This had been done solely for my benefit.
Despite my earlier bravado and the tentative reassurance of the candles, I was nothing short of terrified when he shut the door behind us. Only then did I fully appreciate the danger of the proposition. Positively towering over me in height, Einar was also easily twice my weight. He could do whatever he wanted to do with me, do to me, without a threat of any consequences come morning, and I was wholly powerless to stop him. I was in no position to refuse whatever it was, no matter how agonising or humiliating, no matter if he had no hygiene standards, and I found him off-putting.
God, I know we’re not on the best of terms, as it often did, atheism took leave of my mind in crisis,but can you please make it so that he doesn’t like anal? If you do, I may forgive you for everything else you’ve done ...
“Do you like red wine?” Einar interrupted my thoughts from the kitchen where he was already uncorking a bottle.
“Y-yes.”
“Don’t be scared,” he said a little gruffly as he approached me, putting the wine glass in my hand, wrapping his fingers around mine briefly. “I won’t hold it against you if there are some things you don’t want to do. I don’t want to harm you or make you uncomfortable. Aye?”
I was startled to see calm kindness in his eyes.
“What if I were uncomfortable with all of it?” I cocked my eyebrows at him challengingly, despite an enormous ball of ice lodged at the base of my throat.