Love In The Time Of Pandemic

Chapter 5

I stood there at the door, watching her in her bathing suit, giving Sissy a bath, and all of those emotions that I had stored back in the day in middle school, came seeping through. It felt like I was transported right back to that moment in time, when I was an awkward uncool tween trying very hard to get the attention of the hottest girl in my group. At least according to me.

Sissy seemed to be enjoying the attention being laid out by Cellie upon her, and I have to admit, I got a bit jealous at this point. Why does she get all the cuddles and the scratches? I want to be tickled as well, I wanted to say out loud. But I didn't want to disturb the serene scene in front of me. For the first time in days, Cellie has actually looked normal. And I want her to keep on feeling that feeling for a while longer.

I know I have been the bearer of bad news for her, and I really want to ensure that I don't dump any more on her than what she's dealing with already.

Sissy splashed some water onto Cellie, making her scream. Was the water cold? Oh yes, our hot water heaters were taking up too much power, and we had shut down for a bit, while our resident engineer/mechanic checked them out. He had been stuck in his cave fixing the heaters for a while now and hadn't had a chance to come out to visit me. I wonder what he would say when he saw Cellie. He was in our group as well, and I wondered if he had had a thing with Cellie behind my back. He knew that I loved her, maybe she knew that as well. Despite that, he had gone after her, and bedded her. It was a douchey thing to do, but we had never really been good friends. We aren't good friends now either. Just stuck together through circumstance.

I guess I was happy that I had had a chance to spend time with Cellie before he came back on the scene, and stole her away from me.

It seems silly even to me that I am worrying about things like these, when I have a mound of paperwork and other things to work on. But isn't love even more in times of strife like these? I think that's one of the most important things that everyone realized especially at the beginning of the pandemic. That relationships, love, and companionship is far more important than anything else we might give importance to. Not things we own, not the things we are, and not the things we want to be. But the people in our lives.

The more I realize my feelings for Cellie, the more I push her away and joke about it, the more I know that eventually my blasé attitude about this is going to come and bite me in the ass. Even now, I want to lock her away in my tent, and not allow her to go out. If anyone else saw her in that bathing suit, all soapy and wet, they would start getting ideas that I wouldn't want them to get. But I couldn't do that to her. She's a free spirit, she's always been like that. And she needs free reign in order to really blossom. In fact, I was surprised that she actually came back to the camp after the incident this morning. I thought she would run away, and I would never see her again. Maybe it was Sissy's influence. I should thank her with some treats when I get her back.

Cellie looked up and saw me staring at her. Maybe my face was red or there was something in it, but she blushed. "Hey, isn't that illegal to stare lustfully at the people in your camp? I could get you arrested for sexual harassment or something."

I wanted to make a joke as well, to defuse the electric mood right now, within me and between us, but I couldn't think of anything. I just stood there, staring at her without abandon.

Thankfully Sissy was there, she broke the ice by barking up a storm, and jumping up on me, getting foam all over my white t-shirt and jeans.

"Ah, Sissy, now look what you've done, little one. I just wore this pair of jeans." I started to take my t-shirt off, and saw Cellie watching me intently. Has she been waiting to see me naked? That's interesting.