False Paradise.

Chapter 18 - Matryoshka.

After finding the kid again, convincing him I wasn't a creep, then convincing him to go to the Great Lake with low expectations, and then becoming a babysitter for a few months as repayment, I went to the roof and decided to just... call it a night.

It hadn't been a good afternoon in general, and as I heard the people inside the building shouting the countdown towards Christmas Day like mindless sheep following a symbol, I found myself remembering the events of today.

... none of it was worth it.

I let out a sigh and fell back onto the rooftop, staring up at the starry sky. I briefly wondered how exactly they were made in a place like this, but I wasn't in the mood for thinking. I was too preoccupied replaying the previous scene in my head.

I had found my way to the main area again and successfully scouted out the kid in a few minutes, wasting no time to run over.

He looked like a nice guy from afar so I wasn't exactly scared of being embarrassed, and that made things easier.

“Hey, kid. I have to ask a favor of you, okay?” I remember saying, which gave me a weird glance from him. He seemed to recognize me after a few seconds because after staring in confusion a moment he laughed.

“Sure, what is it? It better not be to teach you some dance moves,” he joked, automatically making me hate him.

“That girl that was with me just now, you saw her, didn't you?”

He gave a quick nod. “It was Antoinette, I think. Are you two friends?”

“Yeah, we are,” I said, much more defiant than I expected to be. “And listen, she wants to see you. Do me a solid from man to man and go to the Great Lake to talk to her, would you?” And it was only after I said that that I realized I really should've planned something else in advance, because now I just sounded like a jerk.

He looked at me perplexed, looked back to his friends who urged him to roll with it, and then back to me.

“Uh... no, I mean, why? We don't really talak much during our shifts together - we do that, sometimes. Besides she's always been sort of... you know, aggressive. She looked ready to bite someone's head off. Hey, she's not a cannibal, is she?” he had asked me, but there was a joking smile on his face, reminding me of a buffoon.

Still, by his words I realized that he wasn't planning on going. And that would mean that I would be going back on my promise and by extent going back on Antoinette. I knew that I had to make it count, so I decided to simply speak without thinking, because that usually worked well.

“She's not a cannibal. Yes, she'd be willing to bite someone, but that's only if they deserve it. Honestly, it looks like you've got a dead wrong impression of her.” I took a pause and saw the face of mild surprise he wore.

So I continued.

“I get she might be a little hot-headed sometimes and can be pretty blunt, but personally... it's part of what makes her so great to be around. She's certain of who she is, and sure there's a prickly exterior to her, but underneath that I'd found someone with a big heart, and determined to go through with what she thinks is right even if no one would support it. Not to mention she's selfless - I mean she takes care of kids, so she's already a much better person than I could ever hope to be.”

I took a deep breath.

And once I had finished, I realized my neck was a lot warmer than what it usually was. Not only that, but I also had realized something else. Something that I wouldn't come to think about until much later that night.

He looked at me strangely a moment or two, and then finally nodded.

“Alright, alright, I'll go see Antoinette. The Great Lake, right? I'll go.” But just when I thought the ordeal was over he raised a finger at me. “If, and only if, you take my place tomorrow taking care of the younger kids, babysitting them.”