METANOIA

SYNTHESIS

Taylor walked up to Misha, Silas, and Pete, slightly woozy as usual. She placed a gentle kiss on all three's lips, as was her custom with her closest friends. She wasn't as close with the rest of the group, so simple hugs would have to do.

Taylor had been both Misha's and Silas' roommate at different stages, which is how she knew the rest of the gang. Taylor had been a barista who worked at the coffee shop everyone loved, the Café Kafka. She had been working there for the better part of the three years. The two guys frequented the cafe to study, and over time, they became friends with Taylor. When she was desperate to find a place to stay, due to poor financial management, the guys offered she move in with them.

Taylor was fond of the boys. She lived a quieter lifestyle when she was with them. The boys' antics amused her, and the two of them treated her like a scatter brained older sister. Over time, they had become inseparable.

"Oh my god, I missed you boys. You all look great, as always."

Misha joked, "Never as good as you."

Pete said, "Yeah girl, how's it hanging? Still working at Kafka?"

"Sure," Taylor smiled. "I'm also doing some baking. I rented an old bakery, and I live there now."

"That's awesome, ma'am!" Silas enthused.

"Is Sarah coming?" Misha asked.

"No, but this guy I met, Barry, will be swinging by."

Taylor looked behind her to see if Barry was around.

Silas smiled with a raised eyebrow. "Guy you met?"

Taylor smirked, "Well, you know how it goes. He's kinda weird, though." She said this hesitantly.

If Taylor thought he was odd, he must have been really off, the boys thought.

As soon as she said that, Barry walked into the backyard with a six-pack of Corona.

Taylor rolled her eyes, "Well, here is Barry," she smiled.

At last, the two loose strings of destiny have met, and another circle closed. The two wrongs that make one right.

As Barry approached, Silas noted the bruised eye and the cut lip. He limped slightly and clearly was on something. That was no surprise, given that he was hooking up with Taylor. However, there was something in his eyes that sent a chill down his spine. It wasn't his obscenely yellow eyes or the red flakes. Something behind them; an intention that was sending him warning signs. He didn't need the water droplet to let him know something was off, but he chose to disregard it.

Barry, on the other hand, didn't think much of the shorter man before him. He seemed friendly enough. Barry extended his paw to him as he nodded to the rest of the group.

At last the thesis and the antithesis were face-to-face. If Hegel was there, I think he would have expected to see them fuse into a single person like Dragon Ball Z characters as they shook hands; alas, that didn't happen. As their hands touched, a giant invisible circuit was completed.

The phone zapped Silas' butt cheek emphatically, and through him, Barry as well. He thought it was a jolt of static electricity, and although Silas knew better, he didn't elaborate. He pulled the phone from his pocket as he introduced the rest of the group.

"I'm Silas, and this is my friend Misha..." One by one, Silas introduced the entire group. After a round of handshakes, Barry had already forgotten half their names.

He opened a bottle of beer and downed it in one go, in part to establish dominance and also partly because he thought Taylor would be impressed by this for some reason. Needless to say, the spray of beer that came out of his nose and mouth ten seconds later was not as impressive as he would have liked.

The group was more embarrassed for Barry than he was for himself. The man was clearly a mess. They unanimously thought Taylor could do better, and that included Taylor.

Barry tried putting his arm around Taylor again. He wasn't sure why he felt the need to make this display of machismo. He had never done that before. But something that had been emasculated for so long wanted out. Inside his head lurked an incipient feeling he was doing something wrong. But the ringing in his ears drowned out everything else.

Silas looked at Taylor's eyes for permission to intervene. With a bulge of her eyes, she signaled her distress.

For Silas, that was enough.

"Hey, Barry," he smiled. "Sir, I think you ought to give Taylor a break, huh?"

Taylor casually slid from under his arm as he said this. Barry looked at the small man before him. Something in his eyes, even behind the smile was domineering. Barry imagined he weighed twice as much as Silas did. Yet there was a presence he was not accustomed to hidden inside this compact man. He instinctively felt around for his gun. It wasn't there. Silas registered every single gesture as his hands traveled behind his back. Silas' eyes softened into a hollow gaze. His became more planted.

Barry, never breaking eye contact, noticed the shift in the man's essence. The warm smile was now just a hollow ghost of what it was. Barry instinctively knew things could escalate with a single wrong move. Taylor had been around the boys long enough to know Silas was prepped for this to turn ugly. She moved towards Misha, her guardian angel.

Barry tried one last time to look intimidating. He tried to use his height, his size as he stood squarely with his arms on his sides.

No change; in fact, he somehow felt more threatened by Silas' now expressionless face. He felt he was trying to intimidate a brick wall. A lump in his throat and the ringing in his ears became palpable. He swallowed his spit. It tasted like iron.

He nodded to the small man. Silas had won whatever challenge was being issued. He looked into Taylor's eyes to hear her say something to make him wanted. She only looked perturbed.

Silas softened immediately before him, "You should go mingle, sir, lot of good folk around the house."

Barry nodded.

Barry walked away, but not too far. He was spying on Taylor just inside earshot. He made a few attempts to pick up conversations here and there but eventually found himself walking toward the parking lot.

Taylor watched him leave. She was somewhat embarrassed by the whole affair; it wasn't long before Taylor decided to leave the party. The men escorted her around the house to the front entrance.

As she left, she kissed the guys again.

Barry was far out, and watched the whole ordeal, misinterpreting this. The way their bodies were placed, he only saw her kiss Silas.

A surge of rage coursed through his veins.

Lucy whispered into his ear, "He kissed M... I mean, Taylor."

Barry wanted to kill him; he had already taken two steps toward him when he heard the metallic voice of Seth behind him.

"There you are."

Barry was stunned as Seth approached him, his mouth was half agape with fascination at his propensity to show up when he didn't want him to.

Seth looked over his shoulder to see Silas. "Oh, great; you two have met already. You and Silas." Barry swallowed his pride.