Sweet Escape

[Yanaike]

Simone observed how Stanley spread a thick layer of peanut butter over the slices of bread. So that was how she was supposed to eat the strange brown stuff: combined with bread. He made at least ten of those slices. She wasn't sure if some of them were made for her or if he made the sandwiches all for himself. In any case, Simone wasn't sure if she wanted to have that much of the unknown stuff during the first try. But by the way he at them, Simone could tell he had a pretty big appetite. Those ten sandwiches were probably all meant for himself.

"No, I actually haven't" was what Simone answered upon his question of she'd ever had peanut butter before. At least, that was what she believed. The food in the facility was mostly mushed together and thus it was hard to tell the ingredients of her meals. He pushed the plate of sandwiches towards her. So he actually also prepared the sandwiches for her. But she just shook her head and blushed a bit embarrassed.
"I like to make my own sandwich first, if you don't mind."

Simone took a single slice of bread and she grabbed a knife from the table. She twirled it around in the jar for a moment and then spread, a notably smaller amount of peanut butter, carefully over her bread, making sure the peanut butter was about equally spread. She folded the slice of bread, just like he did, and put it into her mouth. Quickly an intense flavor penetrated her taste buds. It was awful! She almost felt the urge to vomit, but she kept it in, chewing on the bread and trying to ignore the taste as much as possible.
She felt so bad. Stanley had done the best he could, it would be impolite to tell him that she didn't like the meal, especially since he mentioned he had no actual meal to offer her. Simone offered Stanley a faint smile, and then continued chewing on the slice of bread.
"Tastes good" she lied, with a full mouth.

She grabbed another sandwich, but kept the knife in her hand. Would it be bad if she just took a slice of bread without peanut butter? Wouldn't he dispraise her for that?

At that moment Stanley asked another question. She got a bit annoyed by his questions. She hated how all of the focus was on her and how his questions started to sound more and more like an interrogation. She felt how the knife started floating the palm of her hand as the anger inside her mind swelled up. Before Stanley noticed, she firmly grabbed the item. No! She couldn't afford any bad thoughts right now! Inside her mind she told herself how all of this was her fault and how Stanley was just asking nice questions trying to help.

"I don't know" Simone said eventually. "I kind of lost track of time. It could be a few hours, it could also have been a few days." She looked for a way to swift the attention towards him...
"I still don't understand..." she said, finally, as she stared into his blue eyes. "Why did you save me?"

 

[McHoegan]

Stanley (already working on his third slice) watched as Simone carefully made her own peanut butter sandwich and took a bite. Instantly the expression on her face turned to one of utter horror. She looked as if she had eaten a giant spider. But she bravely kept eating, and even told him it was good, although her face clearly showed that she felt otherwise.

Stanley thought it was hilarious. He tilted his head back, laughing loudly.

"You don't have to eat it." He said, grinning. "I won't be offended or anything. Most people don't like peanut butter. It's an... Acquired taste."

In fact, he was just fine if she didn't want it. Peanut butter was hard to find and expensive. The less he had to share, the better. He did feel guilty, though. He didn't want her to go hungry. He would have ordered takeout, but he couldn't afford that right now.

He ate another slice. "I don't have to work tomorrow. We can go to the store and get whatever you want."

Then Simone asked him a question: "Why did you save me?"

"Uhhhh..." Stanley rubbed the back on his neck. He couldn't answer her because he didn't really know himself. He hadn't actually saved her, after all. He just let her into his house. The real question was why he didn't take her to the police or to the hospital. She probably needed more help than he could give her.

He shouldn't have brought her here. But she was so pretty, and so grateful to him. She made him feel like a knight in shining armor.

"It was just the right thing to do." He said finally. "Don't worry about it."

 

[Yanaike]

But the fact that he told her she shouldn't worry, made her worry the most. If there was one thing Simone learned during her time at the facility, it was that people never did something because 'it was the right thing to do'. Everyone always had a deeper, more selfish reason, explaining their actions.

A voice in her head told her to be cautious. He was still a stranger. He could have evil intentions. Maybe he was even a part of the facility? Testing her by giving her a taste of freedom and then taking it all away at once. It wouldn't be the first time they played with her senses. But her thoughts got quickly overshadowed by a feeling of tiredness. She didn't care. She didn't wanna care. For all she knew, she'd been rescued by this stranger. Without him, she would still be running around in the forest. She needed some sleep, she just need to regain her strength. Tomorrow would be a new day, and she could do whatever she wished. For now, all that mattered was surviving.

Simone yawned openly. She searched eye contact with Stanley and then tilted her head to the side, fiddling her fingers with the edges of the clothes. It was as if she wanted to ask for a place to sleep, except she said nothing, hoping that he would be kind enough to offer it himself.