Prolonged Entanglement

Chapter 5

     You stand outside Uzi’s home, getting cold feet as you stare at the closed door before you. You would give anything to avoid what’s about to happen, but you have to do it, for yourself. You bring up your hand to knock at the door, but hesitate, your hand dropping as you contemplate running back to your home. You tighten your hand, replaying the night you spent with V in your head, and knock on the door three times. Within seconds, the door slams open, showing that Uzi is the one that opened the door. 

     You didn’t know that drones could look tired, but Uzi had digital bags at the corners of her hollow eyes as she stared at you. Before you could speak, Uzi clasped onto you with a hug you weren't expecting, shaking as she spoke, “I don’t care what happened, we can work through this. Please just-”

     “Uzi,” N says from a little further in the home, using a gentle tone, “Let him come in. We have a lot to talk about.”

     You look up to see N was sitting on a lounge chair across the room. He looks similarly tired, but more put together than Uzi did. Giving your attention to Uzi, you put your hands on her shoulders and try to gently nudge her away from you, but she only holds onto you tighter. Realizing that trying to pry her off wasn’t going to work, you fight your logical side, and hug her back. After a little while she begins to calm, and you feel her grasp on you lighten some.

     “N’s right. We have a lot to talk about,” you try to match N’s tone, not wanting to start this already very hard conversation on the wrong foot.

     “Are you going to leave?,” Uzi asks, looking up at you with tears already beginning to run down on her visor.

     Seeing her like this makes your heart bleed, but you know what you need to do. You move her away from you, leaving only the parts of your clothes she has clenched in her hands to connect the two of you. You give her a look that shows how you’re feeling, and repeat yourself, “We have a lot to talk about.”

     Uzi seems to shut down at that response, her hold on your fading completely as her arms fall limply at her side. She hangs her head and walks over to N’s side and sits next to him on the wide lounge chair. N reaches towards her, but stops when he second guesses the idea. He looks frustrated that he can’t do anything to help Uzi, but tries to hide that when he waves you over to come in. You do as requested, and enter the room, closing the door behind you. 

     N avoids your gaze, but begins the dialogue, “So, I think it’s important to get this out of the way,” he looks at you with a hurt expression, “You and V?”

     “Oh yeah, she said you came by last night. I was asleep I think at the time, sorry,” you realize that an apology would sound like an admission of guilt and continue speaking, “But no. We just talked for a really long time, and she stayed the night.” You think more on it, and realize that you did cuddle with her, and while you don’t see anything wrong with cuddling a friend, that’s definitely a boundary a partner may not be comfortable with, so with nothing to hide, you explain yourself, “We did sleep in same bed, and we did hold each other. We didn’t do anything else, I swear.”

     Uzi brings her knee joints to her chest and assumes the fetal position as she listens to you speak. You wish you could piece together what’s going on in her head, but she’s being very guarded.

     N looks skeptical, “How did you feel about that? Wait no, how did you feel about it at the time?” 

     You think about the question for a second before realizing what he’s getting at, “I felt very vulnerable, hurt, and scared. V provided me with comfort, and when she started to relate to me, I comforted her. I don’t know if I’d call it emotional infidelity, but it might have been.” Leaving it there didn’t sit right with you, so you tried to clarify something, “I just see her as a friend, a close friend.”