The Beast

T H R E E : C R A Z Y

Theo heard a sigh. He looked over at the little woman who had entered his life so suddenly. She had been fidgety all day and he had the strong impression she was bored. It had after all been 3 days since she had given her elaborate breakfast apology and she had been stuck doing nothing.

"I get the impression that you're bored", he stated, raising a brow. She huffed and turned over on the couch she was in, placing the book she had apparently not been reading violently.

"I am! There's nothing to do around here!", she exclaimed, looking at him earnestly with her dark eyes.

"What do you want to do?", Theo asked, feeling a little bit guilty.

"Can I go home?", she asked promptly.

"No", he replied just as promptly. She sighed, probably knowing better than to try and argue with him on that decision.

"Can we at least talk?", she whined, making Theo put down his screwdriver. "I don't even know your name"

***

After she had uttered the last sentence, there was silence. She sighed and picked up her book, mentally preparing herself for a lifetime of boredom.

What was the guarantee that he was going to be interesting, anyways? It was better this way. Who was she kidding? She was going to gouge her eyes out if it continued like this.

"Theo"

For a moment, it seemed like you could hear a pin drop, it was so silent in the room.

"What?", Jessie asked.

"You said you didn't know my name", he answered in his usual gruff manner.

"Oh my God, okay. I'm Jessica, but I hate my name so I make everyone I know call me Jessie. It's shorter and cooler, I think. It suits me. Short and cool and all that", Jessie went on, then stopped, cursing herself. He was definitely not going to want to talk to her now. Why was she so weird?

She put her face in her palms, slowly and silently (because facepalming was going to make her seem even weirder) when she heard a kind of choking sound.

She jumped up from the couch and went towards him. "Are you okay?", she asked frantically, before stupidly realizing he was laughing and not choking.

"Stop laughing at me!", Jessie explained, though she was laughing herself.

Theo stopped laughing but there was a smile on his face. Jessie found herself smiling too. Then suddenly she stopped. This man, the one she was laughing with, did not want her to leave

***

Theo did not understand. One minute they were laughing over her silliness, and the next, her face was completely closed off.

He sighed and continued what he had been doing before they talked, fixing a loose cabinet door.

He heard her sigh too then go back to the couch she had been sitting on and pick up the book he knew she had not been reading.

"Did you know people can die out of boredom?", she asked randomly, looking at him now. Apparently, her grouchy mood had gone away.

He looked at her questioningly and she explained, "It's been proven scientifically. If you spend too much time doing nothing, you might die"