The Voices You Hear

... when the panic turns to a tease

They were both silent on their way back to her place. He was still embarrassed at the scene he caused in the restaurant. Their plates were thrown off as he grabbed on to the table cloth, the other guests all stood up as he was turning blue on the floor, and saw her panicking and screaming for help. One of the guests picked him up and did the Heimlich maneuver on him, effectively spitting out the chunk of beef that got stuck. He could not bring himself to explain to the restaurant management why he suddenly choked on the steak, just that he sliced a big piece and that it went in the wrong way. The management was even apologetic, and gave them a gift certificate the next time they come in to dine. And while all this was happening, Maine kept holding his hand, clinging to his arm, and did not say anything.

Inside his car, she kept looking out the window. He tried to focus on the road. There were very few cars, as it was already a little past midnight. He couldn't stand not hearing her voice anymore, so he parked the car.

She started sobbing.

"Maine? Hey, why are you crying? I'm sorry for what happened back there. I know I caused a scene, it was really embarrassing, I know..."

"You scared me! I thought you were going to die! And I couldn't do anything about it I was so useless and helpless in there! All I could do was scream!"

He took her in his arms. He thought she was so embarrassed about what happened, but here she was, sobbing uncontrollably because she thought he was going to die.

"I was so scared. I thought you were going to leave me..."

He kissed her hair, hugging her more tightly. His hands rubbed her back.

"Ssh, I'm fine. I'm not going anywhere. All the while I thought you were so ashamed of me for what happened."

She pushed him away and hit him on the chest, which wasn't all that forceful for she was quite a tiny creature compared to him.

"Ouch! What was that for?!"

"Why would you even think that I am ashamed of you?!?"

"Well, you weren't talking back at the restaurant after what happened, and I thought you wanted to leave immediately because you were holding my hand too tight..."

"I was making sure you were alive, you idiot! And I wanted to feel that your pulse was beating right!"

He looked at her and felt so overwhelmed realizing that she cared for him that much. He wiped the tears that were still flowing from her eyes. Her shoulders were still shaking as she let her emotions surface. He made her face him again and kissed her forehead, then her cheeks.

"Hmp. Don't ever swallow without chewing, you understand?"

"Hmm..." He kissed her nose.

"Didn't your mom tell you to chew properly?"

"She wasn't around that much when I was growing up. Besides, you want to know why I swallowed that big piece all of a sudden?" He kissed her eyes.

She was holding on to his arms, feeling breathless as his kisses made its way to her jaw, her chin.

"Hmmm...why?"

He held her face a few inches away, his thumb touching her lips. She held her breath.

"Because you sucked on the gravy on your thumb."

Her lips parted, smiled, then took his thumb in her mouth and started to suck. All he could do was watch. This wasn't what he thought how she'd react. She took out his thumb with a pop.

"You mean like that?"

He leaned in closer to capture her lips, but she was quick to dodge him. Smirking, she adjusted her seatbelt and looked out to the road.

"Nope. That's your punishment for scaring me. Let's go."

He groaned, shaking his head and fixed his pants, as he pulled back into the road. He still had a silly grin on his face as they drove for a few minutes before he signaled a turn to her street.

"Where are we going"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Aren't you taking me to your place?"

He turned to her, smiling.

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah...I think I want to..."

"Yes?"

"...see Remy again. I miss that fidgety thing. Do you think he misses me, too? Huh? Huh? What do you think, Richard? Will he be excited to see me, too?!"

He laughed at her attempt to mimic Remy as he drove to his place.

"Stop that, he'll be ecstatic when he sees you. But I don't think I want to share him with you tonight."

"Really? What did you have in mind, mister?"

"You'll find out soon."

"Hmm. Just make sure you don't choke."

The tires screeched as he drove faster.