Kid

Temple took his hand off the panel and glared at his dad.

"A little diplomacy, Tem."

"You should have saddled someone else with this shit if you wanted nice," Temple shot back. "Is mom settled in?"

"I'm sure," the man sighed. "Do we really have to start all of this before the weekend even starts, Tem?"

"You made your fucking bed, old man," Temple sneered, then pushed past Jerid and went to his desk to sit at his computer. "Where's John?"

"On his way."

"I said eleven to noon, if he's not here, he gets locked out."

"Tem..."

"This isn't a fucking game!" Temple yelled back as other people began coming back into the room.

"Temple, darling, you look well," a woman called, crossing the room and leaning in to kiss Temple on the head. "I don't suppose you have opened any of the emails I sent you with prospectives?"

"You know I didn't," Temple muttered sulkily.

"Forever's a long time with no..."

"Drop it," Temple snapped.

"Jer Bear!" Lottie called excitedly, coming out of their room. "This is just so cool! Do you all really stay down here together a whole weekend once every three months? How come this is the first I've seen it?"

Jerid smiled and went to her, guiding her away from the glaring family who looked like they didn't want Lottie there at all.

Temple hunched closer to his computer and ignored everyone as they all converged in the living room to sit and talk and catch up. Jerid kept Lottie in the bedroom, pacing while she chattered at him.

I mostly tried to listen to the other conversations, but when I heard my name, I turned the volume down on the living room and focused on the monitor in Jerid's room.

"I haven't heard from her," Lottie was saying, her tone sad. "Why? Did you hear anything?"

"No... just wondered if you've talked to her mom."

"She's gotten a couple of texts, but Kinz won't return my texts. Not after she bitched me out for ditching her and leaving her alone... I mean, I know it was a shitty thing to do, but it doesn't deserve being ghosted, does it? I've kept her under my wing for just YEARS! I didn't mean to ditch her, I just... forgot. Your aunt was being so nice and..."

"Her mom hasn't called you at all?"

"She doesn't call, she texts. No, not in the last week. She said she heard from her and she's in Florida with a friend and she's gotten a few texts from her. I guess... from the sounds of it, she's met a guy."

"She said that? Your mom did? That she met a guy and she's dating?"

"I guess. Why do you care so much? You always acted like you hated her being around, always trying to get me to ditch her. Now you act like... wait... is this whole thing real? Is something bad happening? Is that why you're worried? Are you trying to find her for me so I won't lose Kinz? It's not that big of a deal, you have all kinds of servants down here, Jer."

"No, it's fine. We do this four times a year. I was just wondering is all. She definitely said she was dating someone, though? Did she say who?"

"Why does it matter? It's probably not true, you know Kinz. She never looked at anyone or talked about anyone, she didn't care about dating. She just didn't want her mom to worry. So, we're all trapped down here alone now, this is probably the best time for us to talk to your mom, right? About the wedding? You said we had to hold off until she said it was the right time, but I haven't been able to talk to her at all and she never answers my calls."

"I told you not to call her! She hates talking on the phone, she's an in person kind of person. Not this weekend, Lot, if you trap her she'll say you can't come next time. You have to wait for her to bring it up, I told you that! Just let it go this weekend, work on just trying to make nice with some of the cousins."

Lottie started whining and complaining, but I turned the volume down and looked back at the two screens that showed Temple.

Why was he so upset? Hiding from everyone like he was and trying to stay small? Why was he hiding me?

The day was excruciatingly long as I listened to them chat about things I knew nothing about. Temple stayed at his desk, focusing hard on his computer and ignoring everyone who tried to make conversation with him. Even his other brother who showed up barely in time.

He stood at 9 exactly, turning his computer off. "Lights out! Everyone to bed, energy reserve."

"Since when do we..." his brother began.

"John," his father snapped. "Do as he asks. Goodnight everyone, remember the lights come on at 8AM sharp."

Temple said nothing as they all muttered and went to their rooms. He waited until they were all gone, then headed to his own room.

Jerid stopped him, slipping back out of his room and following Temple into his room.

"Is she in here?" Jerid demanded, looking around.

"Go to bed and get out! Never come in here again!"

"Why is your room so much bigger than everyone else's?" Jerid scowled.

"Because I have to fucking LIVE here, dipshit, get the fuck out!"

"Where is she? I need to talk to her! I have to..."

"Get out or I break your fucking nose again! Go to your room and stay there or you don't get the call when it comes down."

"Why are you being such a dick? Because I brought Lottie? Look, I have to keep up pretenses until I can get Kinzey and talk to her, then get her to Vegas! There's a good chance she's already pregnant, so we won't have to..."

"She's not," Temple sneered down at Jerid. "Get. Out."

"How do you know? Did she tell you? Where is she?!? I NEED to know, Tem! I can't..."

Temple punched Jerid in the mouth, not hard, but enough to shut Jerid up.

"What the fuck, man?" Jerid demanded, wiping blood off his lip.

"You dense asshole! GET OUT!" Temple raged, shoving Jerid out the door, then slamming it shut and locking it.

He stood at the door, trembling against it as he tried to regain control of himself. He used his own shower this time, even though it was tiny and I watched the steam fill the room on the other side of the frosted glass.

Was he going to let me out or would I have to sleep in here?

When he came out of the shower, he was slow to the armoir, as if he were debating. Opening the panel, he opened the door and stared down at the floor as he moved to let me out.

Dragging the blankets with me, I got in the huge bed, wondering if he were going to hold me or not.

I didn't have to wonder long, he got in the bed facing away from me, his whole posture tense.

"Temple?" I called softly.

"Go to sleep, Kid."

Sighing, I curled up and wiped away tears.

All of this was so fucked up!

Why was I here?

It was the small hours of the morning and I was still awake. I knew he was too, his breathing had never gone relaxed and neither had he. Finally, he turned to face me and pulled me close against him.

"Get some sleep," he murmured.

I wasn't sure why, the commiseration or the soft words, but I burst out crying softly. "I want my mama!" I told him hopelessly.

"Shhhh, Kid, you have to stay quiet. Hey, come on, that's enough. You need sleep, you didn't sleep last night either, you need to sleep!"

"Please! Can't I just go? I want my mama!"

"Shhh," he whispered, hugging me more tightly.

I cried into his chest as he held me until I finally settled down. As soon as I went quiet and still, just holding onto him, he let out his tired sigh and relaxed. I was asleep moments after he was.

He woke me early in the morning, leading me back into the little room.

I wanted to argue or ask to be left in his bedroom, but I said nothing.

Jerid avoided Temple, but snuck into his room twice during the day to look for me. He searched the whole bunker top to bottom, even opening large boxes in the giant storage room.

When Lottie found him and asked what he was doing, he told her he was just taking inventory, making sure everything was as it should be.

His family, especially the women, continued to treat Lottie horribly.

That night, Temple let me out again and made me shower quickly in the tiny shower with bad water pressure before holding me to sleep again.

I groaned when he woke me up in the morning and opened the little room.

"Can't I stay in the room and lock the..."

"No," Temple whisper-hissed. "He's still looking for you! Do you WANT him to find you?"

"What can he do with you and all your family here?"

"Do you want to find out?" Temple asked darkly, looking pissed suddenly. "You want him to get hands on you? You want to talk to him?"

"No?" I answered, confused.

"Sounds to me like you're wanting to find out what a life with him would be like," Temple sneered.

I scowled at him, pressing my lips together instead of saying what I wanted to. Stalking into the little room, I threw myself into the chair and crossed my arms, turning my back to him.

He snorted as if amused and shut the door on me.

That day seemed to take longer as I watched the others bicker and snipe at each other, already annoyed at the forced closeness. Jerid especially was picking fights with anyone who spoke to him, or was rude to Lottie. Lottie he was nice to. His whole family seemed to do nothing but bicker and get on each other's nerves, especially his catty aunts.

Sunday night, he seemed actually anxious to get me out of the room, opening it before he showered, then hovering near the door when I showered.

Pulling me to bed, he said nothing as he rolled into bed with me, wrapping me up and sighing right away in exhaustion.

Monday morning, he seemed grumpy and didn't want to get up when the lights came on. Squeezing me in closer, he pulled the blankets over both of our heads until someone knocked on the door.

"Tem! Tem, it's 9! We're ready to go and need you to let us out!" his dad called through the door.

Temple growled, but got up and led me to the little room grumpily.

I didn't even watch his family leave, hiding my head in my arms sleepily.

Temple came back in to get me as soon as they were all gone, pulling me back to the bed and curling around me after turning the light off.

He did something he'd never done and slept in until noon, until his phone rang.

I was fully prepared to keep sleeping right alongside him, but made myself get up when it did. Walking and stretching was nice, but I wasn't very happy with the state the kitchen was in. Nothing was left, none of the groceries I'd put away and knew where they were, the fridges, deep freezes and cupboards were bare.

"I'm refilling them today," Temple told me, coming in as he put his phone in his pocket. "How long until you're done?"

"Making breakfast?" I asked, trying to find some eggs and having no luck.

"No," he answered, pulling out a box of cereal. "The other thing. The... supplies I got you."

"Oh... umm... I don't know? Usually about three days, it should be wrapping up... why?"

"I just need to get a... calculation? I guess..." he stammered, blushing furiously as he poured milk in his cereal.

"Oh... like... for science or whatever, or you mean reality? Is all of this real?"

"Let's say it is," he shrugged, then side-eyed me for my reaction. "And let's say there are going to be 24 women down here for say... four years. And let's also say that I completely forgot about... this particular issue. How many... would each woman need per... monthly event? And how..."

"If you're counting your mom and aunts, I don't think you should count all of them?" I interjected, shrugging as if the conversation wasn't horrifyingly embarrassing. "I don't think they still have that issue."

"What? Why? They're women aren't they?"

"Yeah, but... they're older. Once you get past a certain age, women no longer... have their cycles. They go through menopause. I doubt you could ask them, really, but..."

"Would it be in their medical files?" he asked, going to the table as I fixed myself cereal as well.

"I don't know, I've never really had insurance or medical files to speak of. I'm sure it probably is. How old is your mom? I mean, I know she's had surgery to look younger, but she looks like she's in her 60's?"

"Shit, I don't know. I'll have to look, but I think she's in her mid 60's?"

"How... old are you?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

"Thirty six," he answered, glaring at his bowl.

Oh. Holy shit! I'd known he was a lot older than I was... but 14 years? I guessed it wasn't a whole lot, it wasn't like he was a grandpa or something.

Still.

"Anyway," I shrugged. "You might find out which of your Aunts is still... umm, you know. That makes a difference. Also, not all women are the same... Some have cycles that last a week or even like 10 days, and there's different flows."

"Flows?"

"Heaviness of the flow. It can be light, just some spotting, or really bad constant flow. That makes a difference too. Also... not all girls use pads, some use, you know, tampons or cups."

"Cups?!?" he asked incredulously.

"Uhh... yeah. Umm, Lottie does. Google it, they're actually less wasteful. I don't... didn't. Umm... It's never a big deal for me. You could probably google the average needed, you know? And apply it to the number of women, then like, double it just to be sure."

"We don't have a lot of extra room."

"Well, even if you leave some boxes out in the living room, it's better than the alternative, right?"

He snorted. "That'd go over real fuckin' well. No, nothing can be... ugly."

"Or what? They'll leave? What... what exactly is all of this down here?"

"Hurry up and finish eating, I need to run an errand."

"Do I have to hide when you leave?"

"He's probably waiting for me to leave so he can try to find you again. Is that what you want, Kid? For him to find you?"

"Can't you lock the door?"

I can from the inside, but not outside. He has the same code I have to get in if I'm not here."

"Can I lock it and unlock it when you get back?"

"You can go back in the Security closet," he scowled. "It's that or let him gets hands on you again. Your choice."

I sighed, but ate quietly.

"So... you use three a month?" he asked as he got up. "Three of the..."

"No," I interrupted quickly. "Umm... let's say ten. Ten a month."

"I thought you said three days?"

"Yeah... but you don't... ummm... keep the same one on all day? You have to change it as it... you know, gets full."

"Oh... right. OK. Ten a month for you... but you aren't an average, you're on the shorter end of it?"

"Yeah, I think so. Umm, Lottie would last a week most the time. My mom was like me though, threeish days. Ummm... you said you had my phone... could I text my mom?"

"Don't ask again," he grated. "Go wait for me at the door."

Huffing, I went to the door and glared at him when he came in to let me in.

He was gone less than twenty minutes before Jerid hurried in, looking around. He ran from room to room and looked through Temple's room over and over again as if looking for the secret room.

"Kinz? Are you here? Can you come out and talk to me, please? I just want to talk, I swear! I want to marry you, Kinz! I haven't been able to stop thinking about you, about us! I've read your letters so many times! And all of your online stories and poems! You're amazing, Kinz! I got your laptop from your house and I figured out the password, like, right away! My birthday! Kinz, everything you said... you were serious! I've read everything! Come out here and I can get you out of here! We can go and get married and I'll get you pregnant. We can have a great life! You know we can! I'm sorry for what I did, for how I acted when I was angry! I didn't know you had a thing for me too and that's why you couldn't look at me! You know I treat Lottie well, you've seen me! I don't even love her, imagine how great things are going to be for us when I actually love you! Kinzey, please come out? Our life will be amazing and our kids will be so beautiful! I love you too, Kinzey! I've done nothing but think about you, about us and how fucking perfect if feels when we make love. I NEED you, Kinzey! Please come out and..."

I turned the volume off and buried my head in my arms, trying hard not to cry.

When the door opened an hour later, I was still hiding in my own arms, sobbing brokenly.

Temple looked me over warily. "He came?"

Instead of answering, I darted past him and into the bathroom to shower. I felt gross and Jerid's words felt filthy pervading my mind.

He 'loved' me.

He wanted to 'marry' me.

It was what I'd always wanted! Always! Him to ask me to run away with him.

"Kid?" Temple asked from just outside the shower.

Jerking in fear from how close he was, I realized I was on the floor of the shower, huddling into the wall.

"Get up," he called in. "Come on. You're stronger than this bullshit. Get up and get out here! Lunch is late."

My heart ached and I was angry at how cold and insensitive he was being, but I got up.

I sat through lunch feeling grumpy and getting angrier and angrier at my situation, not speaking to the scowling Temple.

He said nothing either, just eating quickly and going back to his laptop to work quickly.

By evening, there were deliveries that the same servants who'd spent the weekend all brought down on dollies and doubling up to carry in and put in the huge storage hall.

I was banished to the bedroom while they were coming in and out, and that made me grumpy too.

The entire next day was full of deliveries and having to stay in the little security room.

Temple seemed more hostile than usual, not speaking to me except to snipe and be derisive.

I was coming to a breaking point by Thursday, all of me on edge and wanting to explode.

After lunch, I got up and looked in the kitchen, then decided to do it later. I wanted to go down to the garden.

"Kid!" he called angrily as I headed to the hall. "Clean up."

I stopped, shaking, then all of me just seemed to blow up as I spun to him. "You want it clean, do it yourself!" I screamed at him as he stood up straight in effront. "I'm not your servant, Temple and I'm not going to BE your servant! I'm a HUMAN BEING!" I yelled, then flinched as he rushed me from the other side of the room.

Taking a step back, I flung my hands up as he reached me. Gripping my wrist in one hand and my throat in the other, he drove me all the way to the wall, then grabbed my arms and lifted me up the wall to pin me to it.

I expected him to hurt me, yell at me, anything but what he did.

His lips pressed to mine roughly as he held me in place and I froze, holding my breath in confusion. My brain seemed to stop working as my rage and fear drained away to give way to uncertainty and then... a thrill shot through me.

He was kissing me!

Temple was kissing me!

That thought fled as well as his giant hands held me against the wall and I kissed him back, my arms sliding around his neck. His lips parted mine and his tongue teased as he showed me everything I'd been missing my entire life.

I'd been missing so much!

Time stood still it seemed, and I gave myself over to him completely. When he moved me to the couch, a small thrill sang through me, imagining more was about to happen. Laying me down, he continued to kiss me, soft and teasing as his hands and arms held me.

It was perfection!

When he finally pulled back, breathing heavily as he looked down at me, he gave me a smirk as I looked up at him wondrously.

It struck me then, remembering what Jerid had said. Temple liked girls who weren't subdued and submissive. Had he been being so bossy trying to get me to bite back? Had he been trying to get me to stand up for myself? Or was it happenstance?

Sighing happily, Temple sat up and pulled me up as well. "I have things I need to do... but we will continue this later," he told me muzzily, then kissed me again before getting up.

I watched him go to his desk, still wide eyed.