Bliss

16 - Ingrid

I am afraid.

I am not terrified. I am only afraid. Only two words circle my mind. Foreign country. Is . . . Niall from a foreign country? Maybe he is. What about the other soldiers? Harry and the rest of them. They seem so different. It could be a possibility.

I try not to show the confused and concerned look on my face when Maya looks at me. I can feel my hands tremble.

But I fail. "Ingrid, is everything alright?"

I nod quickly.

"About Siena's sickness," I continue. "How do you think she got sick? How did she catch the disease?"

Maya shrugs. "Wherever you got the disease from. Again, I haven't seen influenza in fifty years. I'm not sure how you caught it since we terminated the diseases. Oceania hasn't had it until now." My mind races. Even though I just talked to him, I need to see Niall again. I nod and turn around towards the door. I open it, but I bump into Sky. She seems startled.

"Hi," she says and she pushes past me.

"H'lo," I mumble. "I'm going out,"

"You are not!" Maya tells me before I open the door. "We are having dinner."

"I'll have it later," I mumble as I open the door. I need to see him. No, I need to confront him. Sky would kill me if she found out. She made a promise and I did too. I've never broken a promise. Ever.

"No. We are having dinner together," Maya protests. I give her a puzzled look when Siena and Lily walk into the room. Sky looks at Maya strangely as well.

"Dinner together?" Sky asks. Maya nods.

"Yes," she explains. "We will sit at this table and eat together."

"Why?" Siena asks.

"It's something I used to do when I was younger," Maya replies. Her voice softens. "And, I don't know, I've missed sitting down at the dinner table and talking. I miss you girls, and I love talking to you." That word again.

"That was then, this is now," Lily says and she starts to walk away.

"We'd love to have dinner together," I blurt. "Every night. I think it will be good for us." Maya smiles at me and mouths a thank you.

"Whatever," Lily says. "Let's just get this over with."

"C'mon, Lil," Siena coaxes. "It'll be fun." Lily frowns and sits down at the table. Siena bounces over to where .

"Can we have steak tonight?" Siena eagerly asks. I nod and check the cupboard. No sign of the steak.

"No more," I say. I laugh when Siena's face falls. She gives me a pouty look. I look around. "Okay, who ate it all? Yesterday I saw five cans of steak and now there's none." I look at the four other blank expressions staring back at me. I wait for an answer.

"Come on, Ingrid," Sky says. "Obviously none of us could eat five cans of steak. It was the soldiers."

"True," Maya mutters. "All they eat is meat."

"Then we'll have ham," Siena decides. "With . . . brussel sprouts . . . and applesauce." Ugh. I hate brussel sprouts. But I love applesauce. I smile at her.

"Coming up!" I say and Siena beams at me. "It'll be ready in fifteen minutes."

Dinner is awkward, but I can tell that Maya is eager. She happily eats her dinner, tries to start conversation, and I go along with it.

"Sky, have you talked to anyone yet?" Maya asks suddenly. Sky looks up from her plate, eyes wide.

"What?"

"I asked if you have talked to any young men yet."

Sky looks up at me and bites her lip. I avert my eyes from hers. "No, not yet anyway," Sky replies. "I'm just not ready." I snort and Sky glares at me.

"Are you scared?" Siena asks. Sky nervously smiles.

"No, Siena."

"That Miles guy," Lily says. "Talk to him, you've only got so long to find a spouse."

"Maybe I will," Sky decides. "Maybe."