Forever After - By David Jester Page 0,49
head, rejecting whatever notion his mind had just offered. “You have feelings for this girl right?”
“Yes, of course. We get along.” Michael offered little, not wanting to commit himself to her before their relationship progressed.
“I think you should call it a day.” Samson deflated as he spoke, as if he knew his words weren’t going to be well received.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me!” Michael threw his hands down on the table. “What the fuck is this? First you leave me in the shit, drop me in the middle of fucking nowhere, tell me fuck all about what I’m doing here and what this place even is, and then this?” he stood up defiantly, his calves kicking back his chair which skidded with screeching fluidity across the floor before toppling over.
“Calm down,” Samson offered up his hands: “Calm down.”
“You fucking calm down,” Michael said angrily, throwing his hands. “How dare you come here and try to dictate my fucking love life!”
“It's not like that,” Samson tried to explain, growing more animated. “If you would just listen--”
Michael roared: “Get the fuck out of my sight!”
Samson stood slowly. He faced up to Michael, a pleading and sympathetic look in his eyes. Michael’s anger wouldn’t allow him to see it. He stared straight through Samson until the older man backed down, strafing around his former protégé and leaving through the kitchen door.
Michael heard Joseph and Mary on the other side, the smell of toast and sizzling bacon broke on a wave of muffled discontent.
****
He paced around his room with the timer held tightly in his hand. Nothing today; nothing all week, beyond that, who knew. It felt weighty and cold in his hand, an empty digital screen awaiting news of another demise.
He was angry, in that moment he hated his job and his responsibilities more than ever. He felt like a retaliatory teenager stuck in the throes of parental oppression. A small part of mature logic niggled at the back of his mind, trying to calm him down and telling him to come to his senses, but he ignored it -- forced it away on a torrent of righteous aggression. Samson had ignored him and then betrayed him, trying to end the one good thing that had happened since the curse of immortality had been bestowed.
He threw the timer across the room, revelling in the cathartic anger that surged from his muscle as the device was violently propelled against the wall. The plaster chipped, a bright white dent in the soft blue paint. The timer lumped to the floor without a scratch, its screen still alight and patiently waiting.
Michael ignored it. He grabbed his jacket and left.
When he returned in the evening he continued to ignore the device, kicking it under the bed where it nestled into an unseen clump of forgotten clothing. The following day he didn’t have breakfast at the B&B, instead he chose to dine on a sandwich and a coffee from a local cafe. On the second and third night he continued to ignore the timer. He also ignored Mary and Joseph -- the couple that had unconditionally sheltered him for a year -- and left the building as early as he could to avoid their attentions.
On the fourth night he saw Jessica for dinner. On the sixth he took her bowling. By the eighth day he was seeing Jessica every night, no longer concerned with his job or with the timer, which gathered dust underneath his bed.
****
After a few weeks Michael had almost forgotten about his argument with Samson. He was happy, ecstatic in his new relationship. He had been with Jessica for a month and had slept with her for the first time, then the second, third, fourth. When they started they couldn’t stop, he felt alive for the first time since his death.
He saw her every day. She had taken a break from her studies -- he suspected it was because of him, because of them, but he didn’t mind. He wanted what was best for her but the relationship was young and fresh, and seeing her took selfish priority over everything else.
They had been together for a month when Michael took her out for a slap-up meal. He spared no expense and blew a fortnight's pay on an expensive dinner. He didn’t have much money but what he did have he spent, and as he had abandoned his chance of finding more work -- if there was any, he hadn’t seen the timer