Silent

Chapter 13

So far he's been right, we've been on the road for about 3 hours and I'm still just getting used to the feel of moving at such a high speed with nothing surrounding me. I think I like it, it's hard to tell fear from excitement at this point. Once we got out of the city though the scenes where so beautiful that they were all I really paid attention too.

We've been on the highway for the past 15 minutes and in the distance I can see that a turn is coming up. Bracing myself I take a deep breath as we tilt to the left about 20 degrees. The sharper the turns, the farther we go down and this has been the sharpest yet.

After recovering I notice that we just took an exit off the highway. Street lights and buildings soon start appearing, it looks like a small suburban town. There aren't many cars on the road but quite a few people are walking or biking down the sidewalks.

We pull into a gas station and Gordon immediately hops off the bike, I almost fall from the sudden jolt, but luckily I catch myself. He takes of his helmet revealing a huge grin. *It's not funny.*I sign and he shrugs. "Okay, but don't expect me to stop laughing anyway." He says half chuckling.

I cross my arms and try to look as annoyed as possible but it only seems to amuse him even more, he mocks me, sticking his bottom lip out and making a pouty face. He turns and grabs his wallet from his pocket. I don't pay much attention to him after that, he just starts pressing buttons and stuff to pay the machine and pumps gas into the tank.

My eyes start wondering to the different shops and the people on the sidewalks. I've never really traveled, so it's extra exciting for me, soaking this all in. I like looking for the little details that makes every place unique; it's like reading a book. I remove my helmet of for a second and take a deep breath. The summer air is so nostalgic. I close my eyes and remember catching fireflies in the garden at night in my bare feet. Running through the soft grass in my nightgown and pretending to be a fairy princess.

*Vrrrrumm Vrrrrumm Vrrrrumm Vrrrrrrrrrrr* I jump, spinning my head around. Gordon is just standing there still gripping the handle, enjoying my expression. Seriously, he likes making fun of me a lot, he always has, I guess he's making up for the lost time. My heart is still beating unnaturally fast, but somehow the stupid grin on his face makes me burst out laughing anyway.

"I'm hungry!" He suddenly says out of nowhere. *That was random* I sign and he looks at me like, Thank you. "Let's go to Jumba House!" He says enthusiastically as he spots the small fast food restaurant down the street. "Do you like burgers and fries?" He asks. I remember learning the words burger and fries before but I think for a moment then shrug.

*I don't know, or remember, I'm not sure I've had that before.* I sign and he looks seriously offended. "You can't be serious!" he laughs unbelieving for a moment, then his eyes widen. "Never?" He asks me once more and I shake my head. The next thing I know were both walking into the brightly lit diner.

As I sit in a small corner booth waiting for Gordon to get our food I find myself watching a small family, they're singing happy birthday to a little girl. She looks so happy and content closing her eyes and blowing out the candles on her cake. Her eyes pop back open and everyone starts clapping, I'm smiling like a dork as I observe the adorable family outing.

I don't even notice how creepy I'm being until the girl looks up and we suddenly make eye contact for a second. Quickly forcing my eyes away I try to look all nonchalant, but I'm failing.

Almost ready to bang my head against the table top, a big tray filled with food dropping down in front of me yanks my mind back to alert mode. "I couldn't decide which one you should try first, so I bought a few."

My eyes pop at the sight of the, quite tall, pile of packages. I assume from the taunting aroma, that they contain the 'Burgers' also because the only other things on the tray are two empty cups with straws and a large, napkin covered basket, labeled 'Fries'.

My stomach turns; I can barely finish one whole meal. I feel sick thinking about what I'd have to do to fit even a quarter of these packages in my proportionally small belly.

He picks up the cups and hands one to me. "Have you ever used a soda-dispenser?" He asks motioning for me to follow him. I shake my head, no, and he points to a big machine with a ton of soda brands and levers. He shows me how to fill the cup up with ice and the drink. We both get ice tea, he grabs two lids from a large stack and hands one to me as we walk back to our table.

After we sit back down, he picks up one of the burgers that is wrapped in a shiny silver foil and hands it to me. "This one is a Chicken-Beef BBQ Glazed Double Decker with Spinach." He then says excitedly setting it down in front of me. *It's very big.* I sign, studying the large circular sandwich as I un-wrap it.

"Yeah, it's supposed to be!" He says encouragingly watching me intently, it seems kind of weird to be this excited about food, but when I bite into it, it makes a little more sense; it is delicious. It's like nothing I ever really ate before, and I'm used to gourmet food. Although I guess Gordon was too.

"Do you like it?" He asks anxiously. I nod my head and he seems suddenly at ease. He picks a similar one up for himself and starts eating. They're pretty messy and it's hard keeping the filling inside but it's very much worth it.

As we are enjoying our food he tells me more about the job, what I'll be doing, and what kind of salary I'll be getting, which is quite good. He also then just suddenly tells me that when we get there he'll have to be leaving right away; he's going, along with four other butlers, to escort Ms. Otoroka on her business trip, and they'll be gone for a month!

I freak out inside, the thought of being in this new place so far from everything I'm used to. I just know I'm going to screw things up bad, but he looks so worried for me, and there's nothing he can do anyway, so I just tell him I'll be okay. I guess it's possible everything will be okay, at least for the first month Ms. Otoroka will be gone, I would think that should make things calmer if no one will be home and now I'll have time to learn everything before actually working for anyone besides the head of staff.

We fall into silence and I realize that it's taken me about the same amount of time to eat the one burger as it's taken him to eat his and about 5 more. I do eat slowly but I think he eats extra fast. I'm so full, I quickly fold the wrapper and lean back against my seat.

"There's a lot more, why aren't you eating? Would you rather something else?" He asks looking at me curiously, encouraging me to say something. *Sorry I'm just too full to eat anymore.* I reply and he makes a funny face. "Oh, I forgot, you fill up abnormally fast." He says jokingly. "Don't worry; a little while with me and that will change." He adds.

"I'm going to go ask for a bag to bring this with us, okay?" he says and I nod.

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