Ghostwriter

Chapter 17

WARNING:  They drink alcohol. No one gets drunk or acts stupid and they're both legal, but if you're still uncomfortable for whatever reason, feel free to read until it's mentioned, then skip the author's note at the end where I will provide a summary of what happens. 

Chapter 17: 

It's been two weeks since I had any contact with the world, and I can tell everyone that Laozi is completely wrong. Leaving society and only having contact two humans is maddening, not freeing. 

I'm also sure that once I go back, I'll be coughing up debt and drowning in others' problems. Both Maja and my job are long dead, their funerals unattended by me. I won't be able to support Hill or me emotionally. Who knows what's happened in Gwen's life, or if she's even going to bother to talk to me again. I bet my apartment's been sold to someone else with all my hard-earned belongings. I don't know if Momma J's ok or not; she's probably panicking over whether I'm ok or not (she always worried for me, and it's only intensified after Mari died).

Then there's the other side of the coin: what happens inside the safehouse. 

Colton got sick within the first week. He's never been sick before. 

I panicked. 

Jason rolled his eyes and took him to a doctor for me, and when they came back my nails were bitten down to the beds. Colton just had a winter cold, everything was ok, so long as I gave him some medicine that the doctor subscribed every day. I also learned that Colton's much more susceptible to disease since he's not being breastfed, which prompts me to scrub down all of Colton's stomping grounds at least once a day. On the bright side, he got better after four days.

Which brings me to another stress factor: this place is nasty. Jason's not visited here in a couple years. The bats were only the beginning: mice live in the walls, there was a dead rat under Jason's floorboard, and mold grew in the showers. Ants and beetles crawl in every dark corner. Jason smokes. 

Jason dealt with the dead rat first. The mold issue, resolved through bleach and hard scrubbing, took a couple days, but we've pulled through. 

The other living things, however, have become a part of our lives. I nicknamed the fat mouse with the brown spot on its ear "Gus-Gus." He lives behind the TV and chitters when the in-show audience laughs.

And after a large lecture and presentation about second-hand smoking causing asthma in kids, Jason's agreed to at least not smoke in the house for Colton's sake. I couldn't badger him into stopping completely, but I guess the current arrangement's ok. This is only temporary, anyway. 

I really, really want my old apartment back. 

There are benefits, however. I haven't gotten to spend this much time with Colton since I found my job, so it's nice to sit back and play with him. I eat more than just Raman Noodles here (probably my favorite perk, as bad as that sounds). I bury my nose in books now that I have the time, getting back to my old bookworm habits in the process (including but not limited to my stay-up-till-midnight-under-the-blanket-with-a-flashlight-and-a-book habit and my throw-book-at-wall habit) ((the last one only happens when a romance subplot doesn't turn out the way I want it too. It startled Jason the first time, but he ended up laughing once I explained)). I write all the time, and I love it when Jason brings back a message from Barbara about how the blog's taking off and how people are reacting.

Getting to know Jason, glaring flaws and soulmate fantasies aside, has been my second-favorite part. 

I like speaking with Jason. He hasn't brought up his soulmate misconception again, and he's cut back on the flirting. He's learnt my sense of humor like the back of his hand, and I'm starting to navigate his. We respect each other's taboo topics and pick apart everything else.