Running for Cover | Jason & Bex
Archeos Island was a paradise most days, but today the rain was coming down in heavy sheets, preventing Jason from going out to sea. He hated when he was stuck on land. He would tell you that he prefered to be working and, while that much was true, the reason he liked to stay busy was so that he wasn’t alone with only his thoughts.
Andrea and Emily weren’t home tonight: they’d gone shopping for college supplies ... and Josh had gone with them. He didn’t like to think about that: he didn’t like to think about how he was slowly being replaced ... how one day, he’d waked up and they wouldn’t need him anymore.
He’d driven around Archeos with no real destination in mind: he just didn’t want to be at home. He slowed as he passed the resort. Bex would be there, he thought, manning the front desk. He could use the company. He also wanted to make sure that she was okay. He’d heard about her sister and he couldn’t imagine what she was feeling, just now. Bex had been through all of this once before: she shouldn’t have to go through it again.
Jason showed up in the lobby, wet from the rain, suddenly aware that he didn’t have the words to say why he was there. He didn’t know how to tell her how he was feeling and he didn’t know how to ask her how she was.
“Hey, Bex,” He said, after a moment, “Thought I’d, uh, check ... the batteries in the smoke detectors ... for, uh, you know ... old time’s sake." He shrugged. It was a sorry excuse. He used to help out around the resort, back when they were first getting started, but they were more successful now and they had a maintenance guy of their own. Sometimes they’d call Jason when they were in a pinch, but he hadn’t been needed here, either, in some time.
“Or do you want me to check on the basement? Does it still flood?”
Just don’t send me away.