Alicia received her salary on her day off today, which always coincided with Zack’s. After rent, she had a few irresponsible hundred of dollars to her name. The bright orange notes were like trays filled with hot coffee. One slip was all it took to burn herself.
Zack treated his salary more matter-of-fact-ly and suggested they buy groceries. But who in the right mind would trust Alicia to buy groceries? The girl who couldn’t discern the ripeness of an apple.
Whenever they left the motel, Dania tagged along to look after them. Zack hit it off with her after learning about their shared appreciation for animation. They discussed the work of artists they both liked, and introduced those the other hadn’t heard of.
Alicia watched them from behind whilst calculating the groceries they needed for the month. One packet of instant noodles equated to one meal, which came in packets of six. They cooked two meals a day (Dania bought them breakfast, and the kitchen offered free cups of milo), which meant they’d finish a packet of six in three days. A month would require ten packets.
Ten?
On top of those ten packets, she also needed to consider their toppings. Eggs, vegetables, meat… How many carrots were in five hundred grams of carrot? It gave her a migraine.
“What shows do you watch?” Dania asked. Zack was buying apples; he knew how to discern its ripeness.
“I don’t watch shows.” She said.
The conversation died after that.
Zack surfaced an oversight in her planning when he returned. She had calculated the amount of groceries they needed, but hadn’t discerned what they were and where to buy it. The labels identifying everything by name would’ve been helpful, if not for the fact that she recognised food by taste instead of name. Serena always filled the gap.
She recognised only one name. The name of the vegetable that made her throw up without fail: celery. She avoided it like the plague.
In the end, she picked a few at random and hoped for the best. It was only when Dania helped her calculate the groceries by the checkout could Alicia let her breath go. She could buy groceries.
Zack gasped with the excitement of a child seeing their favourite dinosaur. After they packed everything into plastic bags, he dragged them to a poster that caught his eye. It showed a robot with an uncanny expression that creeped her out.
It advertised a new art exhibition featuring some of his favourite artists, and a panel discussion on the use of artificial intelligence in art. There was also exclusive merchandise to be sold at the gift shop. He had to go!
Before he ran to the motel, he only got to visit these once in a blue-moon: when his mother’s schedule kept her out of the house all day, and he could afford the ticket fee with his savings (or the exhibition was free), and he found an ironclad alibi to explain his disappearance.
Even when he did, the paranoia of being caught by her or his relatives (her spies) prevented him from enjoying the exhibit in peace. But now, he could.
“It’s nearby too!” He showed the address on his phone. A ten-minute walk.
Alicia read the bottom of the flyer. Admission ticket, 25 dollars; expensive. Even if they had the money, they shouldn’t spend it. They needed to save as much as possible, just in case…
“Alicia. You don’t have to worry anymore. Your mother isn’t spying on you around the corner. All of that is in the past now. Now, we can enjoy things like this in peace.” He smiled from ear to ear. “Not just art exhibits, but things that you want to do as well! It’s our second chance. Remember that.”
“I have to stand for eight hours everyday until I get a headache! That is not better!”
He folded his arms. “Well, the exhibition is gonna close soon. I’ll use my salary to go attend, and you can save yours.”
Their lives were on thin ice. One slip was all it took to hit rock bottom. Overspending by accident, running out of groceries, not paying rent, underperforming at work, the manager changing his mind on a whim…
Serena did this everyday?
Zack spent his off-days getting to know the entire staff, from the concierge to the kitchen. Then, he’d come back and give her the highlights: Nadia writes poetry in her spare time. Chef Ahmad lost a finger in a childhood accident. Karim, their manager, had a baby last year; he’s overwhelmed by it.
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Alicia spent her off-days in bed, wondering when the ceiling fan would drop. She held her plush toy close to her chest, and watched the blades spin, spin, spin… Zack always invited her to things, like window-shopping or taking a walk, and she always declined.
He’d look all guilty and explain how his mother never allowed him to enjoy window-shopping or walking before. But he had a second chance.
“I’ve been where you’re at… and taking a walk always helped. Without my parents knowing, obviously.”
She still declined.
It’s been so long since she had researched tacos she forgot their recipes. Not that anyone cared anyway. Not that anyone asked her about it (except Kat, but that’s beside the point). Not that she could cook it.
She could’ve if she remembered to buy the ingredients earlier when they got groceries, but she was too busy thinking about how Serena did this every week.
Zack returned with a different offer. “Let’s go on a date. I’ve never—Have you gone on a date before?”
Her understanding of dates came from movies. Candlelight dinners, picnics, or long walks on the beach; it always ended in a kiss. Only couples did that, whilst everyone else dreamt of doing that. Except, she wasn’t everyone else anymore; she was the couple.
She would not let exhaustion prevent her from being a girlfriend, so she accepted.
“Dania offered to pay for the movie tickets. We won’t be wasting money, don’t worry. The movie’s 3D animated!” He chirped.
Knowing that this was a date, Dania trailed two steps behind in silence.
Zack had a bounce to his walk as he rattled off about the director’s previous works, and the inspirations he gathered from that man. One hand gestured, whilst the other held hers as tightly as he was excited.
All she understood from that rant was “Favourite director.” Context filled the gaps, resulting in, “Zack aspires to be like his favourite director.” To that, she ought to respond with something supportive.
Something girlfriend-ish. “I know you’ll get there in the future.”
“I guess so…” They bought their tickets (Dania waited outside) and took their seats. Zack lifted the cup holder between their seats so they could glue themselves together.
The warmth was comforting for only ten minutes before it got humid. Right as she tried to separate herself, Zack placed his hand around her back and squeezed her in. It rubbed her skin the wrong way, akin to how handshakes made her feel. She excused herself to the toilet.
This was new and weird.
She pulled the cup-holder back down when she returned. After the movie, he ranted about the movie for eternity, interspersed with questions on her thoughts.
But she had zero thoughts on the movie. “It was nice. The animations were pretty.”
Zack stared at her, wide-eyed. This meant people wanted her to carry on talking.
“I don’t have any other thoughts on the movie.”
“Oh, that’s it?”
She nodded.
“Ok… Cool.”
The conversation died after that. They strolled about silently for a minute, deciding which store to window-shop in with their eyes.
She asked if he liked tacos; he shrugged. She asked if he know how to cook one; he shrugged. She asked if he’d like to learn to cook one; he shrugged.
“What do you wanna do now?” He asked afterwards.
It was her turn to lead.
She blanked. She had ideas plagiarised from the movies, but she disliked them. A candlelight dinner was just a dinner in darker lighting, a picnic was just a meal, but eaten outside, vulnerable to the elements, and a walk along the beach would be fun if not for the texture of sand.
The ideas she liked, meanwhile, weren’t date ideas: cooking tacos, playing Cyber-Strikers, researching topics for fun trivia.
So, what now?
The ticking clock on the remaining hours of their day off and on Zack’s patience did not help with the brainstorming. She suggested they return to their room and research something. Find interesting trivia together.
Zack gave that look. He was not like Kat, even if he was her boyfriend. She suggested a more palatable option before he could disagree; ice-cream.
They bought ice-cream and had it together on the way back. The sun set in the distance, painting the sky a brilliant orange and melting their ice-cream faster than they could eat it.
There weren’t enough tissues in the world to keep the chocolate from running all over their hands and onto the floor. It also wasn’t enough to wipe the tears from their laughter.
It made no sense, but melting ice-cream was the funniest thing they’ve ever seen. The laughter only distracted them from eating, allowing more ice-cream to slip through their hands. Acknowledging this, they hurried one another to eat, which only induced more laughter.
It was a vicious cycle.
After they finished it and washed their hands, they huddled together on the bed whilst Zack sketched. They both agreed to do this again next week. Zack suggested they visited a museum. Alicia thought of cooking tacos together, but suggested they take a chance at the motel swimming pool.
“I don’t know how to swim.” He confessed, “No one taught me.”
“Oh, my mother taught me how to swim.”
“Tsk.” He turned away.
“Did I say something wrong?”
“Can you stop bringing up your mother or my mother? We’ve already been here a few weeks. Why are you still clinging onto the past? Just move on.”
“Sorry.” She turned away too.
“I’m not blaming you! It’s just—If you stopped thinking about it, maybe you’ll enjoy things here more and appreciate what you have, instead of being depressed all day. You might feel better.”
“I miss her.”
“Don’t. It’ll only make you feel worse.
The conversation died after that. The date didn’t end in a kiss. The fire grew weaker.